Pioneer CEO Confirms Condensate Exports to Europe

September 4, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Pioneer Resources CEO Scott Sheffield confirmed this week the company has exported its second round of condensate exports - this time to Europe - during an investor webcast presentation. The first exports were to the Asian market in South Korea in July.

In June, Pioneer and Enterprise Products Partners, a midstream service provider, received permission from the U.S. Commerce Department (U.S. DoC) to export minimally processed condensate to foreign buyers. Other major operators in the Eagle Ford like BHP Billiton have also applied for permits, but have not gotten the nod from the U.S. DoC.

“I expect the commerce department to approve several more permits, primarily for condensate, in the Eagle Ford, as long as it goes through the distillation process. I am optimistic this administration or the next one will remove the export ban.”

— Scott Sheffield

he pressure to lift the oil export ban is mounting from other industry executives. This week, Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden urged Barack Obama to lift the ban during a speech he gave at Columbia University.

“Would reinforce the long term future of North American energy production, and help make the global energy system more stable.”

— Van Beurden on lifting the ban,

Under the oil export ban, refined products can be exported. Pioneer's minimally processed condensate exports are considered a refined product by the U.S. DoC.

Listen to the Pioneer Webcast

Eagle Ford's Sanchez Energy Reports Record Revenue in Q2 2014

August 13, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Eagle Ford-focused Sanchez Energy reported record revenue of $151.7 million in the second quarter of 2014, with portfolio-wide production increasing 164% year-over-year to 20,437 boe/d.

At the end of the quarter, the company closed its massive Eagle Ford acreage deal with Royal Dutch Shell for 106,000 net Eagle Ford acres in Catarina. The acquisition almost doubled the company's acreage in the play. Total purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $639 million, less approximately $85.5 million in normal and customary closing adjustments.

“As of August 1, 2014, Sanchez Energy has officially taken over all operations at Catarina after a brief transition period with Shell. The transition of operations has gone smoothly and the ramp up of Sanchez Energy operations is ahead of schedule. We have fully staffed our operations at Catarina and now have drilling, completion, and artificial lift installation in progress. Additionally, now that we have achieved critical scale from the Catarina assets, we are utilizing a dedicated frac spread as well as direct sourcing of chemicals and proppant. We expect these factors will reduce completions costs by an additional 30%, allowing flexibility to increase fracture stage size or improve returns from a lower development cost.”

— Sanchez CEO, Tony Sanchez, III

With the Catarina acquisition, Sanchez increased its proved reserves 170% to approximately 117 MMBOE as of June 30, 2014. Crude oil constituted 49% and NGLs constituted 24% of the company's proved reserves. 56% of the company's proved reserves were classified as proved undeveloped, compared to 70% at same time last year.

Sanchez Eagle Ford Q2 Operations Update

Sanchez Energy currently has 6 gross rigs running across its Eagle Ford acreage, with 419 gross producing wells and 38 gross wells in various stages of completion.

By area, the company's Cotulla, Marquis, and Palmetto Eagle Ford operating areas comprised approximately 42% of the crude oil cut from total second quarter 2014 production volumes. Company officials expect the percentage of oil expected in the company's third quarter production volumes should decrease as the impact of the production volumes from Catarina are recorded.

The company's third quarter production guidance range portfolio-wide of 37,000 to 41,000 boe/d has been revised to 36,000 to 40,000 BOE/D while its fourth quarter production guidance range of 45,000 to 49,000 boe/d has increased to 48,000 to 50,000 boe/d. Production guidance for 2015 remains the same at a range of 53,000 boe/d to 58,000 boe/d.

Eagle Ford Deal Closings - June 2014

July 1, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Several significant Eagle Ford acquisitions were announced in April and May of 2014. In June of 2014, the details of these acreage deal closings were announced by the buyers, which included Encana Corporation, Sanchez Energy, Panhandle Oil & Gas and Warwick Energy.

Encana Corporation

The Encana deal was by far the largest. The company completed its acquisition of ~45,000 net Eagle Ford acres located in the oil window of Karnes, Wilson and Atascosa Counties from Freeport McMoran on June 20, 2014 for $3.1 billion.

In the first quarter of 2014, the acreage produced 53,000 boe/d. Company officials estimate a drilling inventory of more than 400 locations. The company plans to update its production guidance in its next quarterly report on July 24, 2014.

Read more about the deal: Encana Purchases Eagle Ford Assets from Freeport McMoran

Sanchez Energy

Sanchez Energy announced on June 30, 2014 that it closed its massive Eagle Ford acreage deal with Royal Dutch Shell for 106,000 net Eagle Ford acres.

Total consideration for the acquisition was approximately $553.5 million, comprised of the $639 million purchase price less approximately $85.5 million in normal and customary closing adjustments. The transaction was funded from cash on hand from a portion of the net proceeds from the company's previously issued $850 million senior unsecured 6.125% notes due in 2023.

Panhandle Oil & Gas

Panhandle Oil & Gas announced the closing of its Eagle Ford acquisition on June 17, 2014. The deal includes a 16% non-operated working interest in a 11,100 leasehold acres (1,775 net) block that company officials say is held largely by production with 63 producing wells.

Net to the company's interest, May 2014 production in the newly acquired acreage was 825 boe/d , with an 80% oil cut. The property is currently being developed with a one drilling rig program by the operator, Oklahoma City-based Cheyenne Petroleum Company.

Warwick Energy

Read more about the deal: Warwick Energy Buys Eagle Ford's R/C Sugarkane for Undisclosed Amount

Closing details: Warwick Energy Closes Deal for 7,300 Net Eagle Ford Acres

Sanchez Nearly Doubles Eagle Ford Acreage in $639 Million Deal with Shell

May 22, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corporation announced in May of 2014 that it has entered a deal with Royal Dutch Shell subsidiaries in the Eagle Ford to purchase 106,000 net acres for $639-million. The acquisition increases Sanchez's total net Eagle Ford acreage to 226,000, and adds 60 MMBOE of proved reserves, nearly doubling the company's acreage position and proved reserves in the play.

During the first-quarter, the acquired assets had production of 24,000 boe/d (60% liquids). Sanchez estimates there are at least four years of drilling inventory from 200 "de-risked" wells in the new acreage, which extend across Dimmit, La Salle and Webb Counties.

“The addition of this asset includes at least 200 identified drilling locations and up to 800 additional potential locations that can be added through our planned appraisal work on the rest of the asset and will take us to a total of almost 3,000 potential drilling locations. The estimated 200 de-risked ready-to-drill locations will provide at least four years of drilling inventory at a 50-well-per-year pace. We expect that this drilling activity will generate well-level rates of return in excess of 35% - 50%.”

— CEO, Tony Sanchez III

This most recent acquisition is the largest for Sanchez in a string of acreage deals beginning early last year. In March of 2013, the company purchased 43,000 net acres in Dimmit, Frio, La Salle, and Zavala counties from Hess Corporation for $265-million. At that time, the acquisition from Hess also doubled the size of the company. In June of 2013, Sanchez stuck another deal for Eagle Ford acreage, acquiring 10,300 net acres in Fayette, Lavaca, and Gonzales counties for $28.8-million.

Shell Exiting the Eagle Ford

In September of 2013, Shell announced it had plans to sell 106,000 acres in the Eagle Ford. The oil giant, unlike many other companies in the Eagle Ford, didn't meet its internal targets for size and profitability in the play. With the divestiture of its primary Eagle Ford assets, Shell retains 147,000 acres of non-operated leases in Maverick County.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014, with an effective date of January 1, 2014.

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 267 - Shell Will Exit the Eagle Ford - Oct 4, 2013

October 7, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by two rigs from 269 to 267 running last week. Without a major change in commodity prices, watch for the rig count to remain flat to up a bit throughout the rest of the year. Also, watch for companies to begin releasing 2014 development plans. We're hearing several companies might add rigs early in the year.

The most interesting announcement of the week was from Shell. The company plans to sell over 100,000 acres and operated production of ~30,000 boe/d gross in the play. They company stated their position simply hasn't met their criteria for size and investment returns. My bet is a smaller company can make the position work better than a super-major with competing interests around the globe. Read the full article Shell's Eagle Ford Acreage Is For Sale.

The U.S. rig count increased 12 rigs from 1,744 to 1,756 running over the past week. A total of 378 rigs are targeting natural gas (2 more than last week) and 1,372 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 830 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (227 rigs). 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 near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count increased by one from 38 to 39 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices were trading around $3.60/mmbtu on Oct 4th.

The oil rig count decreased by three rigs from 230 to 227 running. WTI oil prices were trading just below $103/bbl. Oil prices have been above $100 for 13 weeks now. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $100.25/bbl on Oct 4th.

A total of 232 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 22 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 13 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 31 and 30 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

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Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

SmithBits no longer reports its operated rig count, but we'll have updated number for you from a new source soon. Until then, you can reference our numbers from mid-April. There has not been a significant change in the overall rig count since this date:

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 and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.