Comstock Doubles Its Eagle Ford Rig Count In the Second Quarter

Comstock Eagle Ford Drilling Plans 2013
Comstock Eagle Ford Drilling Plans 2013

Comstock Resources ran three rigs in the Eagle Ford in the first quarter 2013 and ramped up to six rigs running at the end of the second quarter. The increase in activity is no surprise. Comstock will drill as many wells this year (72 gross) as the company had drilled in the previous three years combined.

Since the beginning of the year, Comstock has completed 25 gross (15.4 net) wells in the Eagle Ford. The average well has come online with an initial production rate of 796 boe/d. Four wells in McMullen County have come online at more than 1,100 boe/d, while wells in Atascosa County have come online at rates of less than 500 boe/d.

Eagle Ford production grew 26% from 4,500 boe/d in the first quarter to 5,800 boe/d in the second quarter. Expect much of the production growth to carry over into 2014. Comstock plans to complete ~30 wells in the second half of the year, but 12 of the wells will come online as part of multi-well pads that will not be completed until December.

Well costs continue to fall in the play. The average Eagle Ford well for Comstock cost $11.4 million in 2010 and the equivalent well is estimated to have a $7.7 million cost today. The cost savings has come even though Comstock has increased the lateral length utilized from almost 4,600 ft to over 6,800 ft over and increased the amount of proppant used in each completion from 4.4 to 8.9 million pounds.

Comstock also closed the sale of West Texas assets to Rosetta Resources in the second quarter for $823 million.

Read the full press release at comstockresources.com