By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 1 -- Penn Virginia Corp., Radnor, Pa., is producing 13 MMcfed from 20 horizontal Cretaceous Selma chalk wells in Mississippi.
The 20 wells averaged initial 30-day rates of 815 Mcfed compared with 272 Mcfed for vertical wells.
Production in the quarter ended Mar. 31 averaged 23.3 MMcfed, up 14% from the fourth quarter and 17% from the first quarter of 2008.
Results to date indicate that one horizontal well replaces two to three vertical wells and recovers four to five times the reserves of a vertical well. Laterals average 3,000 ft and have seven to eight frac stages.
Penn Virginia plans to cement casing and perforate all future completions. The first 15 wells are open-hole completion and the last five have cemented casing and perforations.
Open-hole completions averaged 761 Mcfed after 30 days and 804 Mcfed after 60 days, while cased-perforated completions averaged 1 MMcfed after 30 days and 1.2 MMcfed after 60 days.
Spud to sales averaged 41 days for the three wells drilled in the 2009 first quarter compared with 49 days for the first 17 horizontal wells. Drilling and completion cost has fallen to $2.5 million/well from $3 million.
