EnCana Corp. has achieved significant cost savings in the Montney and Duvernay plays, executives told analysts while discussing EnCana's third-quarter earnings conference. Separately, Talisman Energy Inc. executives also reported encouraging results from its latest Duvernay wells.
EnCana Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles expects the company will schedule a February 2015 conference call to discuss how EnCana has improved well performance and reduced costs, particularly on the Duvernay.
"If you look from the start of the year until now, our most recent well and our best well actually took half the time to drill," as a Duvernay well drilled in January, Suttles said.
In its earnings comments released Nov. 4, Talisman Energy Inc. said two Ferrier wells in the company's southern Duvernay acreage were completed in the third quarter, and a Bigstone well in the north Duvernay, drilled in the first quarter, was completed and brought onstream.
Talisman anticipates improvements to the drilling and completion designs may yield even better results on future wells.
EnCana finishes water pit
"Due to the availability of water this summer, we're obviously a bit late on the completions," Suttles said of EnCana's Duvernay operations. "We'll see those coming on early in the New Year." Future water problems are unlikely because EnCana has completed one fracturing water pit and has four more water pits under way.
"We actually fill these pits seasonally so we shouldn't expect to see that problem," Suttles said. "But I hope in the first quarter we can start talking about more-with well results from these. We actually have, as you know, three multi-well pads now. We have two eight-well pads and a nine-well pad."
Mike McAllister, chief operating officer, said the pace of EnCana's liquids growth in the Duvernay and Montney likely will continue.
"In the Montney, a coordinated schedule of various plant turnarounds and pipeline apportionment migration strategies resulted in a cost savings of about $10 million," he said.
EnCana applied high-intensity completion wells piloted in the Cutbank Ridge across other areas of the Montney, McAllister said.
"In Cutbank Ridge, eight wells brought onstream in the third quarter are producing at 100% above" previous wells. Recent wells had average initial production rates between 12-14 MMcfd, McAllister said.
As of Nov. 12, EnCana's latest Montney well initially produced 13 MMcfd and 340 b/d of liquids. Of the liquids, 93% was condensate, he said.
The Montney in the WCSB in Alberta and British Columbia is estimated to hold 2,200 tcf of gas, almost 29 billion bbl of natural gas liquids, and over 136 billion bbl of oil. Producers are most interested in a tight liquids-rich area that contains condensate and NGLs.
Talisman updates Duvernay results
Talisman Energy Inc. Chief Executive Hal Kvisle calls the Duvernay "about as interesting and exciting a play as I've ever seen."
The company's first Ferrier well recorded a 24-hr test of 2.7 MMcfd of gas and 1,216 b/d of liquids.
"Due to operational constraints on this two-well surface location, the second Ferrier well saw limited flow back, with a final rate of 1.9 MMcfd of gas and 600 b/d of wellsite liquids," Talisman said. Construction of well production equipment was expected to be completed in November.
Talisman said it has seen improved flow rates in the Duvernay when wells are left shut in for a period of time after completion.
Consequently, Talisman intends to leave the two Ferrier wells shut in for up to 60 days to determine if improved flow rates are observed.
The Bigstone well recorded a 24-hr raw gas test of 11.3 mmcf/d and 670 bbls/d of liquids. The well is onstream but will be produced at lower rates while the company debottlenecks liquids-handling facilities at Talisman's Bigstone plant.
Alberta's Geological Survey estimates the Duvernay may hold 443 tcf of gas, 11.3-billion bbl NLGs, and also 61.7 billion bbl of oil.