Eagle Ford Shale

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling And Completion Costs May Drop

Halliburton (HAL) reported earnings for the first quarter of 2012 on April 18, 2012, and made comments during the conference call on recent pricing for hydraulic fracturing services in the Eagle Ford Shale. 

Halliburton said that pricing for these services are becoming more “challenging” for the company as contracts are renewed by customers.

“As we renew contracts and win new work, we expect to see frac pricing become more challenging, but the impact will vary by basin. The dry natural gas basins will be the most challenged, followed by those more easily accessible oily basins that are located close to natural gas basins, such as the Eagle Ford. We expect pricing pressure in some of these markets in the near term but believe that these pressures will decline over the remainder of the year.”

Murphy Oil Comments On Eagle Ford Shale

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.”

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Hess Corporation - Eagle Ford Shale Comments - Q4 2011 Conference Call

Hess Corporation (HES) held an earnings conference call on January 25, 2012, to discuss the company’s fourth quarter of 2011 and full year earnings.  The company disclosed some additional information on its Eagle Ford Shale operations.

“In the Eagle Ford Shale, we plan to continue to delineate our acreage position, operating a 3-rig program and drilling approximately 25 to 30 wells in 2012.”

“So our current focus remains on continuing to delineate our acreage, particularly the Northeast as we move into 2012. And we're pleased with the results to date. We've got 109,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford. We've drilled 29 wells. We've got 22 completed and on production now, 18 with 30-day initial production rates, and those are ranging between 350 and 650 barrels per day, with an average of about 500 barrels per day. So, so far, so good on the Eagle Ford.”

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