OKLAHOMA CITY—Devon Energy holds a wealth of inventory in Oklahoma’s Stack play. The Oklahoma City-based operator has more than 5,700 risked (11,000 unrisked) potential Stack locations, said Wade Hutchings, senior vice president, speaking at Hart Energy’s DUG Midcontinent Conference & Exhibition in Oklahoma City.

“In our view, the Stack is the best emerging development play in North America today,” he said. “The depth of inventory and the quality of wells, it's just very exciting.”

Devon has several large-scale Meramec projects in the works between now and mid-2018. Showboat, the inaugural project, is already in progress in Kingfisher County. It will encompass up to 25 wells across two drilling units. Its additional Meramec projects include Coyote (about10 wells) and Horsefly (10-15 wells), both planned for spud in first-quarter 2018 in Blaine County, and B-Hardt (10-15 wells), planned for mid-2018 in Kingfisher County.

“We see a massive runway of multi-zone opportunities ahead of us, literally keeping us busy for years to come,” said Hutchings. Earlier this year, Devon brought on its Privott well in Kingfisher County, which posted a 30-day IP of 4,800 boe per day. “It was a record level for us and the play. That gives us a lot of optimism for the upcoming Showboat project,” he noted.

Currently, the company is focusing its Meramec activities in the over-pressured oil window, but it also is considering future drilling in the liquids-rich gas window.

Meanwhile, Devon is continuing to develop its Woodford acreage in Canadian County. “As we've drilled wells up-dip of the original Cana-Woodford development area, we've been finding—not surprisingly-- higher liquids mix and also improved well performance, compared to results from several years ago. We're seeing liquid mixes in the Woodford condensate corridor on the order of 55% to 65%,” said Hutchings.

Devon’s recent 39-well Hobson Row development is in the early flow-back phase. The IPs on those wells are ramping up, and production is currently 30% oil. “This is giving us optimism that we'll be able to continue to push the Woodford economically,” he said. The company’s next big Woodford development will be Jacobs Row, set to spud fourth quarter 2017. This project will have 40 to 50 wells, each with a lateral more than 10,000 feet long.

The two plays, as befits the Stack name, also overlay each. “We clearly see there are places in our position where we will be able to develop both Meramec and Woodford together.”

Source: Devon Energy

For Devon, technology and innovation are central to its full-field development approach. It has created standards of operational excellence throughout the company in the areas of drilling, completions technology, reservoir technology, operations and facilities planning. It has leveraged those-- in partnership with other external third parties-- to find innovative technology solutions that it has rapidly deployed across the company, said Hutchings.

Devon believes that the next frontier of efficiency gains will be realized as it moves into multi-zone, full-field manufacturing. Overall, the company sees the potential to raise net present values by up to 40% via the manufacturing model. The benefits of this model flow from such aspects as lower lease operating costs, increased recoveries and optimized surface facilities. The massive scale of these resource-play developments also allows for new approaches on sand and water sourcing and logistics.

Devon has already saved 15% on its costs at its Hobson Row project by shaking up the methods traditionally used to source and move materials.

“Despite all the progress we've made, we actually feel like we're just literally scratching the surface with the potential of advanced analytics and other technologies,” said Hutchings.