Chesapeake sees large potential in US plays

April 9, 2008
A Jurassic Haynesville shale play in Louisiana, with only a few wells producing gas so far, could eventually be worth 7.5-20 tcf of recovery net to Chesapeake Energy Corp., the company said in late March.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 9 -- A Jurassic Haynesville shale play in Louisiana, with only a few wells producing gas so far, could eventually be worth 7.5-20 tcf of recovery net to Chesapeake Energy Corp., the company said in late March.

The 20 tcf figure depends on the company's securing 500,000 net acres in the play, compared with the 200,000 acres it held in late March. Haynesville could have "a larger impact on the company than any other play in which it has participated to date," said the large Oklahoma City independent.

Chesapeake also has become involved in five unconventional oil projects, four of which were developed internally, in four states that range in size from 100,000 to 1 million acres and have a collective 1 billion bbl recovery potential net to the company. Two of the plays are producing, and the other three are to be drilled in the next 12 months.

The company also is pursuing the Colony and Mountain Front Granite Wash plays in the Anadarko basin in Oklahoma and Texas, each of which could mean 1 tcfe of net recovery. About 40% of the energy content of the Colony play is in oil and natural gas liquids.

Chesapeake expects to drill 250 more net horizontal wells on 60,000 acres in the Colony play, now producing 40 MMcfd, and 400 more net horizontal wells on 75,000 acres in the three-discovery, 150-mile Mountain Front play.

Chesapeake disclosed few details about the plays due to competitive considerations.

The company also said it is ready to accelerate drilling in the Appalachian basin, where it owns 1.1 million net acres in the Devonian Marcellus shale and 500,000 net acres in the Devonian Lower Huron shale, where the combined ultimate recovery could exceed 10 tcf net. It plans to drill 165 wells in the two formations this year and next.