Marathon Oil sees promise in Oklahoma's Scoop, Stack plays

Oct. 21, 2014
Marathon Oil Corp. is using extended-reach laterals to improve initial production rates in the emerging South-Central Oklahoma Oil Province (Scoop) resource play.

Rachael Seeley, Editor

Marathon Oil Corp. is using extended-reach laterals to improve initial production rates in the emerging South-Central Oklahoma Oil Province (Scoop) resource play.

In the second quarter, the company brought online one extended-reach lateral Scoop well with a 30-day initial production rate of roughly 2,000 b/d, 64% liquids, compared with 1,300 b/d for its typical Scoop wells. The company did not disclose the exact lateral length but said it was between 7,000 ft and 10,000 ft.

Marathon brought four gross Scoop wells online in the second quarter, including the extended-reach lateral.

According to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Scoop play targets the Woodford shale across a seven-county area south of Oklahoma City. The Woodford is more than 10,000 ft deep in this area and, like the Eagle Ford shale, has areas prospective for oil, wet gas, and dry gas.

Marathon is also exploring the Stack play in an area to the north where the Woodford shale thins and other horizons are targeted-including shale zones in the younger Mississippian Meramec formation.

During the second quarter, Marathon turned to sales three pilot wells targeting the Southern Mississippi trend and one pilot well targeting the Granite Wash formation. Three more Southern Mississippi trend wells are planned later this year.

The majority of Marathon's Oklahoma program is focused on delineating and expanding its leasehold position. In the second quarter, the company increased its Oklahoma leasehold by 30,000 net acres to more than 300,000 net acres. About 80% of this position is prospective for the Scoop and Stack plays.

Marathon Chief Executive Officer Lee Tillman told analysts the company will not share many details about its program until leasing has concluded. But, he added, "We're very bullish on Oklahoma."

Oklahoma resource play production increased 30% year-over-year to 18,000 boe/d. Tillman said most of the rigs in Marathon's four-rig Oklahoma drilling program are focused on ensuring Scoop acreage is held by production before initial lease terms expire.

Marathon is also active in two other US unconventional resource plays-the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas and the Bakken tight oil play in North Dakota. Production from all three plays averaged 170,000 boe/d in the second quarter, a 29% improvement from the year-earlier quarter.

US unconventionals are expected to play a key role in enabling Marathon to reach its goal of increasing production by 30% in 2014.