The Woodbine play in East Texas poses a highly variable stratigraphy, but the results can be robust if you know how to play it, says Crimson Exploration chief executive Allan Keel.

“We don’t see the Woodbine play as being a blanket play like the Eagle Ford, Bakken or Haynesville shales—it changes as you move across the area.” However, “the results we’ve seen from our operations and from our neighbors’ operations are outstanding,” Keel told an audience at an IPAA/Tipro luncheon in Houston recently.

Crimson holds some 18,000 net acres in Madison and Grimes counties. Here, the Woodbine, an oil redevelopment opportunity, is a sandy formation overlying a silty shale. Moving north and east away from Crimson acreage, the Woodbine is more of a true shale, he said, affecting how operators such as Apache Corp., Devon Energy, ZaZa Resources, Chesapeake Energy and Encana Corp. are approaching it.

Crimson drilled its first horizontal well two months ago. The Mosley #1H came on at 1,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day and in has since cummed more than 60,000 barrels equivalent, one of the top producers to date in the play out of more than 100 industry horizontal completions.

“We’re excited,” he said. “This is a fantastic area.”

Keel reported that Crimson’s abutting neighbor to the west of its acreage, Woodbine Acquisition Corp., drilled a subsequent well that tested at 1,800 BOE per day.

The reason for such strong initial production results: Laterals exceeding 6,000 feet and perf-and-plug completion technology, he emphasized. Using results from 40 wells drilled since 2009, newer wells employing these techniques consistently fell above an average 680 BOE per day IP rate.

“If you use perf and plug and longer laterals, you’re going to get a higher recovery.”

The average estimated ultimate recovery for all Woodbine wells to date is 400,000 BOE. Newer wells fell above that with a projected 500,000 EUR.

With well costs ranging from $6- to $7 million, Crimson estimates returns of 99% to 150% based on $95 oil and $3 gas. That compares with 30% to 75% returns estimated in its Eagle Ford shale program.

Another prospective formation on its acreage—the Georgetown—is a blanket play with a lot of potential as well. “We think the Georgetown play is going to take off,” he said.

Nearby, Devon Energy’s Mathis #2H well IP’d at 763 barrels of oil and 1.2 million cubic feet of gas per day from the Georgetown. Crimson will test the formation later this year.

Keel estimates acreage in the vicinity is trading for an average $4,000 per acre.

More than half of the company’s $74 million in 2012 capex will be targeted to the Woodbine, in which Crimson will drill seven to nine gross wells this year. It has upside to more than 100 locations in the play.

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