Murphy Oil (MUR) held a conference call on January 26, 2012, and discussed the company’s operations in the Eagle Ford Shale in 2011 and 2012. The company plans to make substantial investments here in 2012.
“We currently have 16 rigs drilling in North America, including seven in the Eagle Ford Shale. We exited the year near production of 9,000 barrels of oil per day net from the Eagle Ford Shale, as we ramped up our rig count from 3 to 6 over the year.”
“We now have seven rigs running, and we'll add two more by early March and average eight for the year. To date, we have drilled 56 wells, with nine awaiting hydraulic fracturing operations. Well results continue to be very encouraging and are trending better than our type curve for wells in the play. Costs are being worked down with improved service contract terms as well as improved efficiencies in drilling and completion operations. I expect to see further improvements in cost as gas rigs and equipment stand down across industry this year.”
“Our total capital budget for 2012 is $3.5 billion, with over $300 million earmarked for the exploration program. $3 billion will be spent largely on development projects, with $1 billion slated for the U.S., primarily in the Eagle Ford Shale.”