Encana advances condensate-focused Montney program

April 21, 2017
Encana Corp., Calgary, expects its Montney acreage in western Canada to produce 70,000 b/d of liquids, most of which will be condensate, as well as 1.2 bcfd of natural gas by 2019.

Encana Corp., Calgary, expects its Montney acreage in western Canada to produce 70,000 b/d of liquids, most of which will be condensate, as well as 1.2 bcfd of natural gas by 2019.

The program is part of the firm’s 5-year, four-basin plan, and is fully self-funding. At a flat $55/bbl West Texas Intermediate oil price and $3/MMbtu New York Mercantile Exchange gas price, Encana expects its drilling program will generate non-GAAP operating margins of $14/boe.

The firm says its latest completion designs across its condensate-rich Montney areas are delivering 60-day initial production rates of 500-1,200 b/d of condensate. Encana now has four wells in Pipestone that have each produced more than 100,000 bbl of condensate in fewer than 100 days.

In addition to examining further oil and condensate growth in Pipestone, the firm is eyeing growth opportunities in the Cutbank Ridge area beyond 2018 and the stacked pay potential of the Montney zone within the Duvernay.

In Cutbank Ridge, two Veresen Midstream Ltd. partnership processing plants, Tower and Sunrise, remain ahead of schedule to be operational in the fourth quarter. A third facility, Saturn, is expected to be operational in early 2018. Encana has secured firm downstream transportation capacity for its expected gas and liquids growth, including service on the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. system.

Encana’s total net position in the Montney is about 600,000 acres. The firm also has a major presence in each of the Duvernay play of Alberta, Permian basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, and Eagle Ford shale of South Texas.