Eagle Ford Leads the State

June 1, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Texas Railroad Commission released its latest statistics showing the state’s oil and gas production continues to impress, with the Eagle Ford leading the way.

Original drilling permits issued for April dropped from 1,919 last year to 848. Of the April total, 721 permits were for new oil and gas wells, 9 to re–enter existing well bores and 118 for re–completions.Broken down even further, April permits included 218 for oil, 51 gas, 530 oil and gas, 40 injection, zero service and nine other.

Statewide, well completions were up in April 2015, with operators reporting 1,867 oil, 314 gas, 125 injection and one other completions. In april 2014, there were 1,012 oil, 92 gas, 21 injection and four other completions. Total well completions for the year are still down by several thousand over this time last year.

Activity in the Eagle Ford continues lead the state in April with 176 permits to drill oil and gas, 222 oil completions and 94 gas completions.

“Texas’ prime production conditions have provided an environment well-suited for a dynamic, thriving oil and gas industry. Today, Texas continues to drive America’s competitiveness in the world’s oil market and ultimate independence from OPEC.”

— Railroad Commissioner, Cristi Craddick

The Commission estimates that final production for March 2015 was 84,879,948 barrels of crude oil and 533,174,979 Mcf of gas, with Eagle Ford counties remaining on top:

COUNTY – CRUDE OIL (BBLS)

KARNES – 6,755,884
LA SALLE – 4,586,791
DE WITT – 4,571,129
MCMULLEN – 3,252,014
GONZALES – 3,072,829
ANDREWS – 3,045,628
MIDLAND – 2,885,602
MARTIN – 2,883,997
UPTON – 2,703,478
10. REEVES – 2,155,608

EIA: Eagle Ford Oil Field Largest in the U.S.

April 28, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford tops the list of the 100 largest oil fields in the country, with Eagleville overtaking Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay for the number one spot.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) made it official, reporting that the shale oil boom has contributed significantly to the U.S. oil and gas reserves as production numbers skyrocketed between 2008-2013.

A new report released in late March and based on the latest data from 2013, shows the top 100 oil fields accounted for 20.6 billion barrels of crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves, which was 56% of the U.S. total. The top 100 gas fields provided 68% of U.S gas reserves in 2013 with 239.7 trillion cubic feet of total natural gas proved reserves.

At the top of the list are two fields from the Eagle Ford Shale Play in Texas, Eagleville and Briscoe Ranch. Eagleville spans 14 counties in South Texas and is the country’s largest oil field, which produced 238,050 million barrels in 2013. These fields also made the top 20 list for natural gas with Eagleville coming in at 12 and and Briscoe Ranch at #13. Just a few short years before, these Eagle Ford fields did not even appear in the top 100.

“EIA defines a field as an area consisting of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs grouped on, or related to, the same individual geological structural feature or stratigraphic condition. There may be two or more reservoirs in a field that are separated vertically or laterally by geologic features. However, this definition is not used by all states; consequently, areas classified as individual fields by some states may be combined in EIA’s study.”

Read full report at eia.gov

Eagle Ford Reaches One Billion Barrels of Crude

December 9, 2014 Elizabeth Alford

Amidst falling crude prices and dire predictions about the future of the industry, Wood Mackenzie announced that Eagle Ford reached an impressive milestone in November as production topped one billion barrels. Over the past two years, production in the Eagle Ford play has exploded and elevated the area as a major force in the world energy market.

“It puts the Eagle Ford in elite company on the world scale. It makes it even more clear that this is a world-class play.”

— Analyst, Cody Rice

The boom in shale production from Eagle Ford began in 2008 as horizontal drilling was introduced in La Salle County and now encompasses a 30 county area across South Texas. The national impact of Eagle Ford shale cannot be overstated, and it is estimated that 16% of total U.S. oil is now coming from the play. Analysts predict that production will remain high through 2015. Energy research consultancy IHS estimates U.S. shale production will grow by 700,000 b/d at an average price of $77 per barrel in 2015.

In additional to Eagle Ford’s contribution to the global market, it is likely that the greatest benefit from this historic drilling boom is being experienced by local Texas communities. Billions of investment dollars are bringing jobs and economic growth to many small Texas towns and revitalizing formerly depressed areas.

Forest Oil Eagle Ford Drilling Shifting Gears in 2014 Due to Faulting

February 28, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Forest Oil Eagle Ford Acreage Map Year-end 2013

Forest Oil is shifting gears in the Eagle Ford, after three gross (1.5 net) wells hit a fault line in the company's southern acreage during the fourth-quarter.

In 2013, Forest reported results on 44 gross (22 net) wells, with a 30-day average gross production rate of 408 boe/d. By contrast, 17 gross (8.5 net) wells drilled during the fourth-quarter had a 30-day average gross production of 304 boe/d. That's about ~25% less for the fourth-quarter, compared to the full year. Both gross production rates included the results from three gross (1.5 net) wells impacted by faulting.

The company had plans for 2014 to more than double its oil production in the Eagle Ford; however, due to faulting's negative impact on production in the fourth-quarter, the company is pulling back the reins.

77% of the company's $290-310 million capital budget was slated for the Eagle Ford, but new estimates have been set at 36%. Forest is re-allocating its budget to liquids-rich opportunities in the Ark-La-Tex, where it has a high degree of confidence in the geology.

“We are electing to defer Eagle Ford drilling activity as we complete the reprocessing and interpretation of 3D seismic data and also evaluate the success of recent well completion designs. Importantly, we maintain a balanced portfolio of projects that provides attractive risk-adjusted rate-of-return opportunities. This will enable us to reallocate capital to our liquids-rich opportunities in the Ark-La-Tex to maintain a consistent level of drilling activity in 2014. This decision will result in lower oil growth for 2014; however, we believe this is a prudent capital allocation decision”

Forest Oil Eagle Ford Outlook 2014

While seismic is being reprocessed and optimal well design is being evaluated, Forest will reduce the pace of drilling in the Eagle Ford. The company plans to drill 48 gross (24 net) wells, and expects that the net capital allocated to the Eagle Ford for drilling and completion activities in 2014 will total $95 million.

Forest Oil Eagle Ford Highlights

Faulting in southern Eagle Ford acreage impacts Forest Oil's allocation of 2014 capital budget and production plans
Eagle Ford capital budget slashed from ~$220 million to $95 million in 2014
48 gross (24 net) wells to be drilled in the Eagle Ford in 2014
Forest shifting focus in 2014 from Eagle Ford to Ark-La-Tex
25% less 30-day average gross production in Q4 compared to full year 2013
Net sales volumes in Q4 2013 of 2,950 boe/d

EOG Resources Increases Eagle Ford Resource Potential by 1 Billion BOE in 2013

February 25, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

EOG Resource's Eagle Ford resource potential went up 45% to 3.2 billion boe from 2.2 billion boe in 2013.

In 2014, EOG will be focusing a large portion of its $8.1 - $8.3 billion capital budget in the Eagle Ford Shale. This decision comes on the heels of increased well productivity and initial production rates in the play in 2013.

The company has plans to drill 520 net wells across its Eagle Ford acreage. At that rate, the company has a drilling inventory in the Eagle Ford of more than 12 years.

EOG Resources Reserves in the Eagle Ford

EOG's resource potential increased from 2.2 billion boe to 3.2 billion boe. That's a significant increase, and it gives EOG a lot of running room to develop the play and produce better results over a long time frame.

“To put our Eagle Ford position in simple terms, our current reserve potential is almost four times what we estimated four years ago when EOG discovered the play. With approximately 7,200 total identified individual net well locations, we still have about 6,000 net wells to drill across EOG’s 120-mile crude oil window,” said CEO, William Thomas. “Our in-house talent keeps finding ways to improve development of this world-class shale asset where we hold a critical mass of very desirable acreage.”

n 2013, EOG continued its downspacing efforts in the Eagle Ford. Even with downspacing, net reserves per well increased to 450,000 boe from 400,000 boe in 2013.

“Forty acre spacing per well is how we are moving forward [for the immediate future].”

— Thomas

EOG Eagle Ford Well Highlights

Boothe Unit #3H, #4H and #17H (Gonzales County)

Initial production began during the fourth-quarter - 2013

2,630 - 3,375 b/d crude oil
365 - 520 b/d NGLs
2.1 - 3 mmcf/d natural gas

Rudolph Unit #1H (Gonzales County)

4,230 b/d crude oil
505 b/d NGLS
2.9 mmcf/d natural gas

Nichols Unit #3H (Gonzales County)

3,830 b/d crude oil
390 b/d NGLs
2.3 mmcf/d natural gas

Wilde Trust Unit #1H, #2H and #3H (Gonzales County)

960,000 b/d crude oil over 200 day time period

Fleetwood Unit #1H and #2H (Karnes County)

3,630 - 3,435 b/d crude oil respectively
345 and 350 b/d NGLs respectively
2.0 mmcf/d natural gas each

Naylor Jones Unit 42 #1H, #2H and 60 #2H (McMullen County)

1,755 - 2,050 b/d crude oil
195 - 205 b/d NGLs
1.1 - 1.2 mmcfd of natural gas

Further Unit #1H and #2H (LaSalle County)

2,605 - 2,550 b/d crude oil
125 - 155 b/d NGLs
725 - 900 mcf/d

EOG has approximately 68,000 net acres prospective for natural gas. If the price of natural gas stays high, then EOG may decide to spend more in this area.