Oil & gas companies drilling in the Haynesville Shale

Oil & gas companies drilling in the Haynesville Shale

Posted: May 29, 2008 08:43 PM Updated: June 17, 2008 10:15 AM

Source: KSLA http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?s=8399052

The boundaries of the Haynesville Shale are not exactly known., but it's believed to stretch from Sabine Parish all the way up through DeSoto, parts of Red River, Caddo, Bossier and Webster Parishes. Surveying and exploration continues, and companies aren't sharing their estimations for proprietary reasons. But they are snatching up land and mineral leases.

Here is a list of oil & gas companies currently working and drilling in the Haynesville Shale :

*Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: GDP) Goodrich announced May 29th the acquisition of additional interests in the Cotton Valley trend, which increases its net exposure in the Haynesville Shale to approximately 30,000 net acres. The Company also announced updated Haynesville drilling activity at Bethany-Longstreet and plans for the Longwood field. They also announced the signing of a definitive purchase and sale agreement with a private party to acquire approximately 3,250 net acres in the Haynesville Shale. The Company has plans to drill two new vertical wells and re-enter another to test the Haynesville Shale at Longwood by the end of the year.

*Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is the third-largest U.S. natural gas producer in the U.S. The Oklahoma City-based company says its Haynesville Shale site in Louisiana "could potentially have a larger impact on the company" than any previous project. Chesapeake already has 300-thousand acres leased in the Haynesville Shale, with a handful of wells already drilled. The company plans to have a total of a half a million acres and 15 rigs up and running by the end of 2008.

Chesapeake and Goodrich Petroleum Corp. announced June 16th plans to enter into a joint venture to develop crude oil and natural gas prospects in northwest Louisiana. Chesapeake will pay Goodrich about $178 million for working interests in deep strata of the Bethany-Longstreet field. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake also will pay an undisclosed amount to a third party for rights to the deep strata of the Longstreet field.
The purchases, expected to be completed by July 15, will give Goodrich and Chesapeake each a 50 percent stake in the deep strata of the two fields, located in Caddo and DeSoto parishes.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: HK) has entered into agreements with several private parties to acquire additional leasehold interests in the Haynesville Shale area of North Louisiana. These agreements also include rights to other formations. These additions bring Petrohawk's acreage position in the Haynesville Shale play to over 70,000 net acres, including approximately 30,000 net acres in Elm Grove field, historically the Company's largest producing property with natural gas production from the Hosston and Cotton Valley formations.

Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) Oil and natural-gas producer Exco Resources Inc.'s board approved a $123 million increase in its 2008 capital budget, to $923 million. The increase includes $90 million for the more drilling in the company's Haynesville Shale position in Louisiana, $30 million for additional drilling in its Vernon Field in Louisiana, $2 million for additional Cotton Valley drilling in Texas and $1 million for information-technology initiatives, Exco said. (AP)

XTO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: XTO), announced late last year it would pour most of it's capital budget into emerging gas plays in East Texas and Louisiana, including the Haynesville shale. Their primary producing horizons in the Eastern region include the Pettit, Rodessa, Travis Peak (Hosston in La.), Cotton Valley Sand, Bossier (Gray Sand in La.), Cotton Valley Lime and the Haynesville, ranging in depth from 5,000 to 13,000 feet.

Cubic Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:QBIK) is based in Dallas and described as a "junior explorer" that recently reported positive results from three deep wells it drilled in the play. The company announced May 12th plans to drill two new wells to the Haynesville Shale in the Company's northwest Louisiana acreage. The company is evaluating and planning for some horizontal drilling in the Haynesville Shale for possibly later this summer. www.cubicenergyinc.com

GMX Resources Inc. (GMXR) The Company expects to add a sixth leased rig in early 2009 which will focus exclusively on horizontal development of the Haynesville/Bossier gas shale in the Company's operated acreage. In 2006, GMXR and its joint development partner Penn Virginia Oil and Gas, L.P ("PVOG") had drilled and completed 19 vertical test wells across its acreage completing the Haynesville/Bossier Shale in most of the wells.

Rest of the story here: http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?s=8399052