• Longer laterals and “propageddon” are the new normal.
  • E&P companies are extending the tight formation completion recipe to complex regional conventional plays.

Remember the Haynesville? A decade ago, publicity about the nascent Ark-La-Tex play put the exclamation point on unconventional shales as a viable oil and gas target and not just a one-off North Texas anomaly.

The Haynesville was the first shale play where $25,000/acre leases became the new normal. Billiondollar joint ventures financed the developmental scramble, and the parallel land rush became an analog for how E&P companies positioned themselves in subsequent tight formation plays.

The Haynesville faded with the collapse in natural gas prices in 2011—a precursor to the general industry collapse in 2014.

Coming off the bottom, Haynesville activity led all regions in the percentage gain. Rig count more than tripled to 49 units. While multiple factors influenced the regional renaissance, much centered on big-boy enhanced completion techniques. “Propageddon,” the use of 5,000 lb of proppant per lateral foot on longer laterals of 3,048 m (10,000 ft) and closer stages of sub-52 m (sub-170 ft), debuted in August 2016 and brought about the reassessment of Haynesville prospects.

The completion recipe was an adaptation to a lower commodity price environment that used increased downhole intensity to lower the cost of hydrocarbon production per unit. The recipe was exported to Appalachia and the Eagle Ford in 2017, adding new zest to both plays.

Picture the Ark-La-Tex renaissance as the return to Jurassic-aged Park (with a side of Cretaceous). E&P companies are expanding Tier I acreage in the Haynesville and Bossier tight plays. Others, such as PetroQuest Energy Inc. and Range Resources Inc., are applying horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing to the conventional Cotton Valley and Terryville formations. Finally, intriguing developments surround a reviving Austin Chalk play in South Central Louisiana as E&P companies extend multistage fracturing to a traditional naturally fractured carbonate reservoir.

What have we learned?

The law of diminishing returns applies. Although 5,000 lb of proppant per lateral foot works, the sweet spot is likely between 2,500 lb and 3,500 lb. For perspective on propageddon, consider that the light sand slickwater fracture that characterized multiformational development pre-2012 was perfected in the nearby Cotton Valley more than 25 years ago.

While lateral placement is the primary factor driving improved recovery in most basins, lateral length trumps all in the geomechanically homogenous Haynesville. Choke management was not invented in the Haynesville, but its implementation by Petrohawk in 2009 has become standard industry practice in improved reservoir recovery. BP cites 198 MMcm (7 Bcf) in cumulative recovery over 14 months on a new Shelby Trough well incorporating choke management versus 254.8 MMcm (9 Bcf) cumulative over half a decade in a neighboring well.

Elsewhere, BP is running four rigs on dual well pads codeveloping overpressured high-temperature Haynesville and Bossier laterals in the deeper Shelby Trough with a true vertical depth of 4,877 m (16,000 ft ) and a total measured depth of 7,620 m (25,000 ft). BP will drill 25 wells this year, which is double its total in the last 18 months.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. will run three rigs this year and grow production 30% in the traditional Haynesville core. After a decade, the company has developed only 25% of its acreage. The rest is open to enhanced completions on multiwell pads, which have improved firstyear cumulative recovery per well more than 100%.

Picture the unfolding Ark-La-Tex renaissance as Haynesville Version 2.0.

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