Eagle Ford Shale

Comstock Resources - Eagle Ford Shale Update - Third Quarter of 2011

Comstock Resources (CRK) released an update on the company’s operations in Texas where it is developing the Eagle Ford Shale.  The company purchased an additional 6,000 net acres in October 2011 and now has 28,000 net acres prospective for this formation in the oil window of the play.

Comstock Resources has drilled 12 net Eagle Ford Shale wells and completed 8 net wells in the first nine months of 2011.  The company reported that these wells had an average initial production rate of 683 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day.

During the third quarter of 2011, Comstock Resources completed four Eagle Ford Shale wells and has five other wells being completed.

In 2012, Comstock Resources plans to add one rig in the Eagle Ford Shale, increasing the company’s rig count here to three. Comstock Resources has budgeted $227 million of a $396 million capital budget for the South Texas region:

$207 million – Drill 32 gross or 28.9 net wells.

$14 million – Complete 6 gross or 5.6 net wells drilled in 2011.

$6 million – Exploration of other plays in South Texas.

El Paso - Eagle Ford Shale - Northern Oil Acreage

El Paso (EP) has 170,000 net acres in Texas that are prospective for the Eagle Ford Shale and separates the leasehold into three areas based on location and whether it produces primarily oil or natural gas.

North Oil

El Paso has 31,000 net acres in what the company calls the north oil area of the Eagle Ford Shale and has disclosed financial and operational details on the play in this area.

Eagle Ford Shale wells in the northern oil area are typically drilled to a depth from 6,000 to 7,000 feet with a horizontal lateral of 4,500 to 5,500 feet. The average well costs from $5.0 million to $7.5 million and has a gross estimated ultimate recovery ranging from 400,000 to 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per well.

Eagle Ford Shale wells drilled by El Paso have an initial production rate from 400 to 800 BOE per day and average between 300 and 600 BOE per day during the first thirty days of production.

El Paso estimates that northern oil wells have an internal rate of return from 25% and 45% at prices of $4.00 per MMBtu for natural gas and $80 per barrel for oil.  Finding and development costs for wells here range between $14 and $22 per BOE.  

EOG Resources Reports Nine Eagle Ford Shale Completions

EOG Resources (EOG) issued an operational report on its development of the Eagle Ford Shale during the first quarter of 2011.  The company has 595,000 net acres under lease in La Salle, Gonzales, Karnes and various other counties in Texas.  

EOG Resources reported the results of nine wells recently completed into the Eagle Ford Shale.  The names and production rates are as follows:

Beynon Unit #2H – 1,747 barrels of oil and 1.4 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Beynon Unit #3H – 1,100 barrels of oil and 700,000 cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Dullnig Unit #5H - 1,353 barrels of oil and 1.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Joseph #3H – 1,317 barrels of oil and 1.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Naylor Jones Unit 95#1H - 790 barrels of oil and 800,000 cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Naylor Jones Unit A#1H – 955 barrels of oil and 1.3 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

HFS #3H – 1,345 barrels of oil and 800,000 cubic feet per day of natural gas.

HFS #5H – 1,620 barrels of oil and 1.3 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Hill Unit #2H - 1,233 barrels of oil and 685,000 cubic feet per day of natural gas.

EOG Resources reported production from the Eagle Ford Shale of 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day at the end of the first quarter of 2011.