Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) made the following comments on the Lower Smackover Brown Dense formation during the company’s third quarter of 2012 conference call held on November 2, 2012. The company has drilled six wells and is working on the proper well design to stimulate wells in this play.
“We've drilled and completed six wells in our Lower Smackover Brown Dense play in Southern Arkansas and Northern Louisiana. And as a reminder, from our second quarter call, we drilled Wells 4 and 5 as vertical tests to see if we would encounter the same high pressure that we saw in our third well, the BML #31-22 #1-1H. Both vertical tests did encounter this high pressure.”
“In our fourth well, we tried several different fracture stimulation recipes, primarily involving different combinations of linear gel. And in our fifth well, we completed 3 vertical stages totaling 12 feet of preparations with white sand and slick water in the sand stages. Production from this well has stabilized at approximately 200 barrels a day and 1.2 million cubic feet of gas for the last 10 days. We're now using these wells to obtain additional log data and core samples over the formation and study the effectiveness of different fracture stimulation treatments on the contact area and to learn more about the fracture height growth. At a later date, we'll reenter these wells and turn them into horizontal wells some time in 2013.”
“Our sixth well, the Doles 30-22-1H #1, located in Union Parish, Louisiana, was drilled in September to a vertical depth of 10,673 feet with a 4,700 foot completed horizontal lateral. This well is being completed now and will begin flowing back shortly. We expect to begin selling both oil and gas from the Doles 30-22-1H #1 well and the BML #31-22 #1-1H well around the end of November, with the expectation of learning more about the decline characteristics of both wells before year end. And I can tell you we remain highly encouraged and looking forward to learning more on our path to commerciality.”
