Mitchell begins infill drilling program in East Texas

Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., said Tuesday it has started an infill drilling program in East Texas' North Personville field. Depending on rig availability, 18-24 wells are planned this year, and a total of 110 infill locations could ultimately be drilled.

The first infill well, spudded in February, had initial production of nearly 4 MMcfd of gas and is still producing at over 3 MMcfd. Mitchell expects the infill program to increase daily production from North Personville by 25% to 50 MMcfd by yearend.

If successful, 100 bcf of reserves to the field through infill drilling. "This is a good example of our ability to exploit our large lease blocks using new technology and operating expertise," said Mitchell Chairman and CEO George P. Mitchell.

North Personville and several smaller fields make up Mitchell's second largest producing area with about 74,000 acres under lease. Nearly 300 wells have been drilled in the area since the late 1970s, primarily targeting the Cotton Valley limestone formation.

Mitchell will use its light sand fracture completion technology that has been perfected over the last 2 years at its North Texas operations, the company said. This new technology reduces the cost to drill and complete a typical limestone well by about $350,000 or 30%. That will allow Mitchell to increase production and reserve recovery. Only 33% of gas in place is being recovered from the dense limestone formation on the current 160-acre spacing pattern.