It’s been said business follows a simple formula: Revenues - Costs = Profits.  If profits are positive, you’re headed in the right direction, but if they’re a negative number, you’re going out of business.  Increasing revenues or reducing costs become principle strategies for success, but as oil and gas professional understand, the basis for revenues can change quickly in a commodity business.

Producers in natural gas-rich shale basins pioneered the potent combination of horizontal drilling and multi-stage completions.  Yet their success put too much gas in the market too fast and overwhelmed demand.  Now, over a decade later, the Haynesville has become economical leasehold again.

The DUG Haynesville Conference & Exhibition demonstrated how renewed interest and investment was rising in February 2018 when a near-capacity crowd jammed Shreveport’s convention center, the largest venue in the Ark-La-Tex region.  Now, with increased export activity (domestic LNG exports rose nearly 65%, on average, in 2019 compared to a year earlier), the DUG Haynesville conference is poised for a repeat performance May 19-20, 2020 in Shreveport.

2019 Event Metrics:

  • 950 attendees
  • 48 exhibitors
  • 45 sponsors
  • 21 presenters

A growing roster of end-users around the world now look to the U.S. as a prime source for their natural gas–and Haynesville producers enjoy advantages over dry gas producers in other regions.

Location, location, location–plus timing

Haynesville shale producers’ foremost edge is proximity to the Gulf Coast’s massive petrochemical complex and growing number of LNG export terminals.  Pipeline tariffs are lower and time-to-market is faster.  

There are other advantages.  At the 2019 DUG Haynesville conference, Goodrich Petroleum President and COO Rob Turnham said, “The reputation used to be the Haynesville was a high-cost basin. Not anymore. It’s low finding cost.” 

Goodrich’s finding and development (F&D) cost is $1 or less per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), he said, and being in South Louisiana helps capture spot prices within 15 cents of Henry Hub.  Combined with plentiful takeaway capacity, “that’s a big, strategic advantage… against the Marcellus,” Turnham said.

A six-well pad of 10,000-footers will IP between 150 and 180 MMcf and Goodrich’s LOE [lease operating expense] is about 5 cents per Mcf.  “Your operating expenses are extremely low,” he said, insisting these wells pay out—in terms of cost— within months.

“Of all the speakers, Rob Turnham was the most forthcoming in presenting valuable info on current well performance, technology, and economics of the Play. As a geologist, the information he presented was most valuable to me. However, I thought all the sessions were great.” – quote from 2019 post-event attendee survey

These are the sorts of topics addressed on-stage by seasoned leaders from E&Ps, midstream operators, financial firms and technology providers at the DUG Haynesville conference. Full-conference attendees get unparalleled access to presenters in candid Q&A sessions.  Employees of E&P companies, pipeline operators, refiners and utilities get complimentary access to the exhibit floor.

Hear from the most active producers

Several large transactions changed the roster of Hayneville players in the past year. Comstock Resources paid $1.1 billion to acquire private producer Covey Park Energy (and at year’s end was reported to be in talks to acquire Chesapeake Energy’s remaining assets in the region).  

Royal Dutch Shell sold off its last package of Haynesville assets to Castleton Resources on Dec. 30 as the supermajor finished its exit from the shale play, a strategic move that began in 2016.  In another end-of-year transaction, Osaka Gas acquired Houston-based Sabine Oil & Gas.

With ownership changes like these, there’s reason to get your own “boots-on-the-ground” look at this market by attending the 2020 edition of the DUG Haynesville Conference & Exhibition. For updated speaker information and to view the full agenda, please visit HartEnergyConferences.com and click the “Events by Date” tab.

Producers committed to speak (as of March 1):

  • Craig Jarchow, President & CEO, Castleton Resources
  • John D. Jacobi, C-CEO, Covey Park Energy
  • Doug Krenek, CEO, Sabine Oil & Gas
  • Manish Raj, CFO, Velandera Energy Partners
  • Alan Smith, President & CEO, Rockcliff Energy
  • Rob Turnham, President & COO, Goodrich Petroleum
  • Phil Martin, CEO, New Century Exploration
Hundreds of petroleum industry professionals will converge May 12-20, 2020 at the Shreveport Convention Center for the third annual DUG Haynesville Conference & Exhibition.
Hundreds of petroleum industry professionals will converge May 12-20, 2020 at the Shreveport Convention Center for the third annual DUG Haynesville Conference & Exhibition.