Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by obed w odom on November 1, 2013 at 7:06

According to my map, the Sharp is about 3 miles east and 7 miles north of Farmerville.

Permalink Reply by shaleshaleshale on November 1, 2013 at 10:38

thank you!

Permalink Reply by dbob on November 1, 2013 at 14:09

I'll add my comments here after stating:

I have no idea if the LSBD will be economic or not.  I don't have any work in that area currently, but could in the next few years.  

That said, what I recall is Skip suggesting that, the LSBD was not going to be successful in a widespread area.  The current results still suggest that.  Whether you consider it conventional or unconventional, its still hit or miss.  Now if SWN can replicate the success of the Sharp well, or come close, in an area that has some geographic separation, great.  

For those not following, while they are different formations, the lessons in the Eaglebine might be worthwhile - there is lots of good potential rock, but for whatever reasons, operators have not consistently been able to complete good wells.  By my own estimation, there have been in excess of 100 modern era wells there, and its still hit or miss.  

The question then for SWN becomes is how many duds will they drill for each Sharp, and how much of their leasehold can they do it on?

Permalink Reply by Land Rat on November 1, 2013 at 14:16

This is getting really old. Who cares? You guys sound like a bunch of middle schoolers. The resource play era is over...no more Haynesville/Marcellus/bakken hysteria. Talk about the play or get bent. It's fricking stupid.

Permalink Reply by Volkswagon guy on November 1, 2013 at 14:49

Absolutely. One person here needs to take a chill lozenge. Lets stop watching the scoreboard and realize that one should not question others' motives for simple opinions.
See what the hope of money does to people? Sad.

Permalink Reply by Paul Peterson on November 1, 2013 at 16:14

I agree with talking about the play. I read the q and a part of the transcript and found several things interesting. When pressed swn said 120,000 to 150,000 acres in the high pressure zone, They said high pressure was what makes for a good well but not a must  and didn't rule out the other acreage, with that being said they talked about drilling corner post wells and working their way back to the middle of the high pressure zone, It does appear to me they are really going to be staying in this area and are not sure about the other acreage. I also feel that based on the information he gave on the hollis well about the fracs being good that they do feel like they can repeat the success from the sharp well. These are my opinions from what I read . Does anybody have other opinions or insight from the transcript? 

Permalink Reply by pip318 on November 2, 2013 at 11:21

I was surprised that they are hoping to get well costs down to 6 million.  If they are talking about vertical wells, I thought those were cheaper than 6 million. 

Permalink Reply by Aubrey C. Sanders, Jr. on November 4, 2013 at 5:50

Based on recent experience in Smackover one should be able to drill and complete well vertically in LSBD for less than $3,000,000.

Permalink Reply by obed w odom on November 2, 2013 at 17:07

I would think a lot will depend on how their corner wells turn out. So far they haven't tried their vertical fracking technique outside the high pressure region. Also, high pressure alone must not be enough, since the BML and Doles, with their long laterals, aren't nearly as good as the Sharp vertical. As Mueller said, there seems to be a lot more to learn about what makes an economic well.

Permalink Reply by Matthew Kable on November 4, 2013 at 5:40

I'm working from memory here, and haven't reread the transcript of SWN's earnings announcement since last Friday, but if I recall correctly, company management did indicate several specifics which they said led to the improved well results for the Sharp relative to the earlier horizontals, and which they expected should be transferrable to other future well locations.  As already mentioned, that included drilling in the high pressure zone - which they say helped, but may not essential for future wells.  They also stated that the drilling of vertical wells instead of horizontals had benefits - (1) it reduces well cost (SWN specifically stated this), and (2) it allows the well bore to contact the entire thickness of the formation, which takes some of the guess-work out of deciding whether to target the upper, lower, or middle portion of the LSBD formation in any given area while also giving them exposure to the entire formation(my own take; SWN didn't specifically state this, but it should hold true).  SWN management also indicated that they used a different frac method than previous.  They described it somewhat, but as I recall, they also didn't really want to go into detail because they saw it as a potential competitive advantage. 

Permalink Reply by G Meaux on November 2, 2013 at 0:34

   If this continues the trend and vertical wells become economic, how should unit size be affected?

Permalink Reply by Matthew Kable on November 4, 2013 at 6:06

G Meauux,

SWN management stated that even with the higher well costs which include additional science work, etc., the Sharp vertical well IS economic.

The true question isn't whether the vertical wells will become economic, but whether future vertical wells are also economic, and over what geographic extend that proves to be true. 

SWN management is suggesting that for starters, drilling in the 100,000 - 150,000 acre high pressure zone should yield similar economics, and that there may be areas beyond that which could also be economic. We shall have to wait and see...

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