In a nearly four-hour-long analyst presentation during the last week of February, EOG Resources laid out a multitude of information on its far-flung drilling programs. For me, one of the most interesting disclosures was its announcement of a horizontal discovery at its #1-32H Buffalo Ditch in northcentral Colorado’s Jackson County, in the North Park Basin. The company drilled a lateral in the Niobrara in the little intermountain basin, which has seen only light activity. The well, in Section 32-7n-80w, featured a 4,000-foot single lateral and was completed with multi-stage fracs. The discovery initially produced 550 barrels of oil per day; during its first month on line, it averaged 320 barrels per day. Gravity is 38 degrees. Going forward, EOG expects to drill $6-million wells that will recover some 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent each. It is shooting a 36-square-mile 3-D survey at present. This year, it plans to keep one rig busy and drill seven such wells on its 100,000-acre position. The thick, oil-saturated shale could yield 10- to 80 million barrels in recoverable oil, net to EOG. That’s just 1% to 5% of the original oil in place! Amazing. It's yet another testament to the dramatic changes horizontal drilling and multi-stage completions are bringing to the domestic oil business. --Peggy Williams, Senior Exploration Editor, Oil and Gas Investor, pwilliams@hartenergy.com
Recommended Reading
Congress Kills Biden Era Methane Fee on Oil, Gas Producers
2025-02-28 - The methane fee was mandated by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which directed the EPA to set a charge on methane emissions for facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons per year of CO2e.
Trump Fires Off Energy Executive Orders on Alaska, LNG, EVs
2025-01-21 - President Donald Trump opened his term with a flurry of executive orders, many reversing the Biden administration’s policies on LNG permitting, the Paris Agreement and drilling in Alaska.
Oil Industry Veteran Beyer Appointed to Key Interior Department Post
2025-02-05 - Energy industry veteran Leslie Beyer has been appointed to assistant secretary of land and minerals management at the U.S. Interior Department, where she will oversee key agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
API: Congress Needed for Long-Lasting Policy Changes
2025-01-14 - The American Petroleum Institute lays out its political plans as the next presidential administration prepares to take office.
Report: Trump to Declare 'National Energy Emergency'
2025-01-20 - President-elect Donald Trump will also sign an executive order focused on Alaska, an incoming White House official said.