Aurora Spuds Its First Operated Eagle Ford Well

Aurora Oil and Gas Operated Eagle Ford Acreage

In March of 2013, Aurora acquired operated acreage in the Eagle Ford and on May 31st the company spud its first operated well in the play.

A Nabors rig is being used on the company's Heard Ranch to drill the JP Heard Bower #19H. A total of three wells will be drilled from the surface pad.

A vertical pilot whole will be drilled first to log the Eagle Ford. The log will be used in determining placement of future horizontal wellbores.

“Initial development will include two horizontal wells spaced 330 ft apart (40-acre spacing). A zipper frac that completes alternating sections of the two wells will be used. ”

Aurora has an interest in 79,700 gross (21,800 net) acres in or near the Sugarkane field in the Eagle Ford. Aurora operates approximately 2,700 net acres at its Heard Ranch and Axel Tree prospects. Marathon Oil operates the majority of the company's non-operated acres.

A total of 14-19 operated wells and 30-32 non-operated wells will be drilled in 2013.

Rosetta Resources Plans Eagle Ford Development at 55-Acre Spacing at Gates Ranch

Rosetta Eagle Ford Map | June 2012

Rosetta Resources continues to evaluate its well spacing tests across the Eagle Ford, but results to date show no interference from wells tested at 425-565 ft apart or 50-65 acre spacing. Without signs of interference, the company is going forward with development at 55-acres spacing. The lower down-spacing interval will allow the company to drill 428 wells across its Gates Ranch properties; a 29% increase.

Rosetta expects it had approximately 800 net wells to be completed throughout its Eagle Ford position at the end of 2011. Over 30% of those are located in the Gates Ranch area of Webb County where the company has two rigs running continually. The company's rigs are spread throughout the Briscoe Ranch, Central Dimmit County and the company's Karnes County acreage.

Marathon's Eagle Ford Production Grows 50% in Three Months

Marathon Eagle Ford Acreage Map Q2 2012

Marathon Oil's second quarter production levels in the Eagle Ford grew 50% from the first quarter of the year. 50% quarter over quarter. In the second quarter, Eagle Ford production averaged 21,000 boe/d, with 75% attributable to crude/condensate and 11% attributable to NGLs. By the end of July, production had stretched to more than 31,000 boe/d. Marathon is on pace for 50% quarterly growth again.

2012 will be marked as the year in which the company hit its stride in development of the play. Through the first half of the year, the company has started drilling on 107 wells and brought 72 to production. The company has completed more than 210 miles of gathering lines and five central battery plants, with five more in progress. As of the second quarter, the midstream build out had allowed the company to move 60% of its crude production through pipelines.

Marathon Testing Down Spacing at 40-acres

MRO Eagle Ford Down Spacing Pilots

Marathon is also testing optimal well spacing. The company has ten spacing pilots planned and active. Five of the pilots are producing at 40 to 100-acre spacing and five more are planned at 40 to 80-acre spacing. A few things happen when wells can be drilled at tighter spacing intervals:

• Recovery rates rise
• More wells can be drilled from a single pad, lowering total surface disturbance
• Well costs fall with the efficiencies of more centralized operations

Expect to hear more at the end of the year from Marathon and others in regards to acreage spacing. Also listen for results from other tests involving lateral placement, stimulation design, and toe placement of the well.

Marathon Drilling Times Drop to 23 Days

By our count, the company averaged 18 rigs running in the second quarter and reported drilling 61 gross wells, with 50 brought to production. The company plans to lower its rig count for the remainder of the year, but will still meet its well targets. Marathon can lower the rig count and drill the 230-240 wells planned because the company has lowered its spud to spud drilling time to 23 days from more than 40 days less than a year ago. At the end of July, the company was running 22 rigs, but plans only call for only 18 rigs to run through the remainder of the year.

The company also closed the $750 million acquisition of Paloma Partner's Eagle Ford Assets on August 1st.

Cabot Oil & Gas 400 ft (55-acre) Spacing Test Yields Best Well To Date

Cabot Oil Gas Eagle Ford Shale Map

Cabot Oil & Gas reported initial results from its two well 400' (55-acres) spacing test and plans to drill additional wells. The best of the two wells provided the highest initial IP rate of any of the company's 33 wells to date. The second well is trending higher than the average of the company's program to date.

Downspacing across the play is looking more and more viable in the volatile oil and the condensate trends of the play.

Cabot now plans to drill a second set wells utilizing 400 ft spacing to continue its evaluation. I suspect we'll know more by the end of the third quarter and we'll know if the company will shift its development program by early 2013.

Read the full quarterly press release at cabotog.com.