Eagle Ford Facts That Might Surprise You

September 25, 2013 R.T. Dukes

A recent article published at Motley Fool shared "5 Mind Blowing Facts About the Eagle Ford" and we thought they were worth sharing here.

If you aren't intimately familiar with the Eagle Ford, you might be surprised to hear it could be the largest onshore discovery EVER in the U.S. and more capital is invested in the play than any other oil & gas development in the world.

The takeaways include the following:

If the Eagle Ford lives up to its potential and reserves are greater than 10 billion barrels, it will be the largest U.S. onshore discovery ever
It's the fastest growing shale play in the world and has grown to almost 700,000 b/d of oil production in five years since its discovery
Light, sweet crude oil production near the Gulf Coast petrochemical complex make it more valuable than other grades that must be transported longer distances
Wells are getting cheaper as companies gain experience and shift to pad drilling
More is invested in the Eagle Ford than any other play in the world - Eagle Ford Capital Spending Makes the Play To the Largest in the World

Heard At The Eagle Ford Well & Frac Design Conference - Day 1

August 29, 2013 R.T. Dukes

We spent yesterday afternoon at the Eagle Ford Well & Frac Design Conference in Houston. The biggest takeaway was it is still early in the life of the Eagle Ford and operators are learning more with every well. Don't be surprised if the extent of the Eagle Ford grows as more is learned.

A few of the things we noted include:

The boom is expanding into Brazos County & the surrounding area. Watch for activity from more than just Halcon later in the year
Operators are targeting the Pepper Shale interval of the Woodbine/Eagle Ford in the Eaglebine area
Hitting your target is very important in the Eagle Ford. One operator found just 60% of fracks were successful when above the target zone and just 15% successful below the zone
Operators are seeing improvements by pumping more sand per foot of lateral. Up to 1,500-2,000 lbs/ft
Stage spacing is difficult to determine. You can't change it once you start the completion
Much more clay can be present than previously thought
The Eagle Ford and its equivalents stretch 2,000 miles into the Northeast
Fina had a well with a production contribution from the Eagle Ford Shale in the 1920s
214 of the approximately 6,400 wells have been dry holes to date
Common well failures include: Lateral collapse, casing collapse, out of zone drilling, geologic faults, and operators unable to drill out plugs
ZaZa calls it "Slow back" - controlling reservoir pressures early on is an important factor in stabilizing the reservoir

You can learn more about the conference HERE

Eagle Ford Shale Well Map - TX RRC - May 2013

June 27, 2013 R.T. Dukes

An updated Eagle Ford well map was published by the RRC in mid-May.

Over a 98 day period between February and May, an average of almost 8 oil wells and almost 5 gas wells came online per day. It is obvious higher gas prices have been welcomed during the first half of the year.

The number of gas wells online has grown by almost 50% in just over three months.

Between February and May:

768 oil wells came online – 3,462 producing
448 gas wells came online – 1,443 producing
5,497 permits had been approved and were pending development
More than 10,402 well permits have been drilled or are pending. Permits expire after two years, so many more have have been permitted over the past five years.

Data from the RRC is always a little delayed, so the numbers reflected are not be 100% accurate. The RRC is at the mercy of companies reporting data in a timely fashion. I suspect we have well over 5,000 producing Eagle Ford wells today.

Eagle Ford Well Map - TX RRC - February 2013

February 20, 2013 R.T. Dukes

An updated Eagle Ford well map was published by the RRC at the beginning of the month.

Since December 2012:

254 oil wells have come online - 2,694 producing
77 gas wells have come online - 955 producing
5,379 permits are approved and pending development
8,101 well permits have been issued to date in the play

Data from the RRC is always a little delayed, so the numbers reflected are not be 100% accurate. The RRC is at the mercy of companies reporting data in a timely fashion. I suspect we’re close to 4,000 wells producing.

TX RRC Eagle Ford Well Map - Dec 2012

December 24, 2012 R.T. Dukes

The Texas Railroad Commission's Eagle Ford Shale well map was updated with the most recent data through December 11, 2012.

Since November 12th, the commission has issued 40 permits. That's much slower than the almost 5 permits per day during the previous four months, but a slow down is expected this time of year.

A total of 3,318 wells had been reported producing as of December 11. Over 200 wells were brought online in the past month. That's 176 more oil wells and 35 more gas wells than we had in November. Interestingly, that's a pace of more than 7 wells coming online per day.

Data from the RRC is always a little delayed, so the numbers reflected might not be 100% accurate. The RRC is at the mercy of companies reporting data in a timely fashion. I suspect we're closer to 4,000 wells producing by the end of the month.