Project Profile
Location: Fayetteville, county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, USA
Production rates: 3,014 Mcf per day
Area: 915,884 net acres
Southwestern Energy Company discovered the economic viability of the Fayetteville Shale and was the first company to drill and successfully produce its natural gas. At December 31st 2010, Southwestern held leases for approximately 915,884 net acres in the Fayetteville Shale play area (367,206 net undeveloped acres, 423,692 net developed acres held by Fayetteville Shale production, 123,442 net developed acres held by conventional production and an additional 1,544 net undeveloped acres in the traditional Fairway). During the second quarter of 2011, Southwestern placed a total of 149 operated wells on production in the Fayetteville Shale play, all of which were horizontal wells fracture stimulated using slickwater. At July 25, 2011, the company’s gross production rate from the Fayetteville Shale play was approximately 1.8 Bcf per day, up from approximately 1.4 Bcf per day a year ago. The company is currently utilizing 18 drilling rigs in its Fayetteville Shale play, including 12 that are capable of drilling horizontal wells and 6 smaller rigs that are used to drill the vertical portion of the wells.
Also during the second quarter of 2011, the company’s horizontal wells had an average completed well cost of US$2.8 million per well, average horizontal lateral length of 4,839 feet and average time to drill to total depth of 8.2 days from re-entry to re-entry. This compares to an average completed well cost of US $2.8 million per well, average horizontal lateral length of 4,985 feet and average time to drill to total depth of 8.4 days from re-entry to re-entry in the first quarter of 2011. In the second quarter of 2011, the company had 10 operated wells placed on production which had average times to drill to total depth of 5 days or less from re-entry to re-entry. In total, the company has had a total of 55 wells drilled to total depth of 5 days or less from re-entry to re-entry.
The company’s wells placed on production during the second quarter of 2011 averaged initial production rates of 3,014 Mcf per day, down 7% from average initial production rates of 3,231 Mcf per day in the first quarter of 2011, primarily due to shorter lateral lengths, increased well density and location differences in the mix of wells. In 2011, Southwestern plans to invest approximately US$1.4 billion in the Fayetteville Shale play, which includes participating in approximately 560 to 570 gross horizontal wells, 470 to 480, of which will be operated by the company and midstream capital investments.
Operators:
Southwestern Energy Company: Operator
Midstream Capital Investments