Penn Virginia Increases Eagle Ford Acreage & Drilling

Penn Virginia Deal with Devon

Penn Virginia plans to increase its Eagle Ford production, acreage, and drilling with the purchase of assets from Devon Energy Corporation.

Eagle Ford Producing Best Well Results to Date for Baytex

Devon announced on Monday that it will divest $1 billion worth assets, including 19,600 acres in Lavaca County. US-based Penn Virginia will acquire these high-quality Eagle Ford assets for $205 million.

This strategic acquisition is an excellent fit and an important step in our long-term growth strategy for Penn Virginia. It is particularly attractive as it materially increases our Eagle Ford production, acreage and drilling. The transaction is also accretive to all key per-share metrics including earnings, cash flow and net asset value.
— John A. Brooks, Penn Virginia Interim Principal Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer

Highlights of Lavaca County Acquisition
 

  • Includes approximately 19,600 net acres contiguous to Penn Virginia's core operations
  • Increases net production by approximately 30%, or approximately 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (“BOEPD”), of which approximately 64% is oil
  • Net production value of approximately $105 million ($35,000 per flowing BOEPD)
  • Midstream assets valued at approximately $20 million
  • Expands Penn Virginia's core leasehold position by 35%

Penn Virginia Corporation is an independent oil and gas company with a primary focus in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. According to the company website, they entered the play in August 2010 and have over 330 producing wells.

Baytex: Eagle Ford Producing Best Well Results to Date

Baytex Q2 2017

Baytex Energy announced a great second quarter, including outstanding results from its Eagle Ford operations.

Study: Oil and Gas Still Essential to Eagle Ford Shale Economy

For the second quarter of 2017, Baytex Energy focused 76% of its capital expenditures towards its Eagle Ford assets and they got a great payoff. Company executives credited their strong results to these assets during an earnings call this week, saying they have delivered some of the best well results to date in the Eagle Ford.

Operationally, we have delivered outstanding results in the Eagle Ford. As I’m sure most of you are aware, our Eagle Ford assets are located in Karnes County, Texas, which ranks as one of the premier oil resources place in North America. It is the asset that generates our highest cash netback and contains over a decade of drilling inventory with new perspective trends and opportunities still emerging.
— Edward LaFehr - President and CEO

Second Quarter Highlights in Eagle Ford

In the second quarter, Baytex earned a $9.3 million profit, compared with an $86.9 million net loss in 2016 Q2. The following are noted Eagle Ford results:

  • Production averaged 38,500 BOEs per day, a 7% increase over the first quarter of 2017
  • Averaged four to five drilling rigs and one to two completion crews
  • Commenced production on 35 gross wells with 30-day initial gross production rates of approximately 1,500 BOEs per day, per well
  • Costs to drill, complete, equip, and tie-in a well range from $4.7 million to $4.9 million, well below prediction of $5 million per well
  • Three recently completed current city pads totaling 11 wells

The negative economic impact felt throughout the Eagle Ford Shale after the oil price bust of 2014-2015 bottomed out last year, according to a new study. Though the region experienced significant losses, oil and gas activity is still essential to local county economies.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Falls Back in the 80's

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count falls for the third week in a row, ending at 89 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday. 

In recent Eagle Ford Shale news, a new study indicates that economic health of Eagle Ford counties turned a corner after bottoming out in 2016.

Study: Oil and Gas Still Essential to Eagle Ford Shale Economy

A total of 958 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, eight more than last week. 192 rigs targeted natural gas (six more than the previous week) and 766 were targeting oil in the U.S. (two more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 462 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

10 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading lower at $2.94/mmbtu.

79 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $49.71.

A total of 86 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and three are vertical.

Karnes County lost 4 rigs but is still ahead of other counties with 16 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-July 28, 2017

Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-July 28, 2017

 

 

Eagle Ford Shale News

Study: Oil and Gas Still Essential to Eagle Ford Shale Economy

Natural Gas Production Down in Texas

Bankruptcies Spike Across Texas; Shrink for Oil & Gas

Crude Oil Spill in Bastrop County

Eagle Ford Shale Counties Rank First in Oil, Gas and Condensate

Eagle Ford Oil Production Up

What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.

Study: Oil and Gas Still Essential to Eagle Ford Shale Economy

Eagle Ford Shale Economy

The negative economic impact felt throughout the Eagle Ford Shale after the oil price bust of 2014-2015 bottomed out last year, according to a new study. Though the region experienced significant losses, oil and gas activity is still essential to local county economies.

Bankruptcies Spike Across Texas; Shrink for Oil & Gas

The 2017 Eagle Ford Shale Economic Impact Study, published in June, provides the most up-to-date data on the economic impact of the oil and gas activity over the region for 2014, 2015 and 2016. 

A team of researchers led by Dr. Thomas Tunstall examined the 21-county area as a whole including Atascosa, Bee, DeWitt, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Karnes, La Salle, Lavaca, Live Oak, McMullen, Maverick, Webb, Wilson, and Zavala, Bexar, Jim Wells, Nueces, San Patricio, Victoria, and Uvalde. Dr. Tunstall summed up the study by saying that the region's decrease in economic impact bottomed out in 2016 and appears to have turned the corner.

Highlights from the Study 

  • Gross output from Eagle Ford activity jumped from $87 billion in 2013 to $123 billion in 2014
  • Gross output fell to $80 billion in 2015
  • Gross output fell again in 2016 to $50 billion
  • Jobs supported by the Eagle Ford fell from 191,153 in 2014 to 108,213 in 2016
  • Industry sectors have grown in the area that are associated with oil and gas activity
Although we experienced a decrease in jobs and economic impact in 2015 and 2016, we continue to see that the oil and gas industry is essential to the livelihood of South Texas. With more than 100,000 jobs and $55 billion in economic output last year, the results of the UTSA study further illustrates the importance of the oil and gas industry to South Texans.
— Omar Garcia, President and CEO of STEER

The study was commissioned by the South Texas Energy and Economic Roundtable (STEER), The University of Texas at San Antonio's (UTSA) Center for Community and Business Research (CCBR). The research team plans a second phase of research for all 21 counties individually and compares inter- industry relationships from 2010-2015. The comparison of different multipliers demonstrates how employment and production have been affected in the area.

 

 

 

 

Natural Gas Production Down in Texas

Texas oil and gas production

Texas natural gas production has dropped by over 1 million mcf per day over the same time last year, according to the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC).

Eagle Ford Shale Counties Rank First in Oil, Gas and Condensate

In May, 93,397 natural gas wells in Texas averaged 18,079,106 mcf a day, compared to the 19,378,929 mcf daily average of May 2016. These are the preliminary numbers reported by the Texas Railroad Commission last week. 

Webb County in the Eagle Ford continues to outproduce other Texas counties for natural gas, though it dropped from 61,866,541 in April to 39,627,806 for May. 

Karnes County also lost ground for crude oil production moving behind MIdland County in May.

Texas Crude Oil Production by County | Source-Texas Railroad Commission

Texas Crude Oil Production by County | Source-Texas Railroad Commission

Total crude oil production for May 2017 averaged 2,463,933 barrels daily, compared to the 2,359,072 barrels daily average of May 2016.