The Fayetteville shale play could be the new Barnett, and the land grab is far from over. Acquirers who thought it's too late and the best acreage is all held by major players have missed opportunities, says Houston-based Petrohawk Energy Corp.'s Steve Herod, executive vice president of corporate development. "It's like the Barnett was three to four years ago," he said at the sixth annual A&D Strategies and Opportunities conference recently, presented by Oil and Gas Investor and A&D Watch. "There's a huge amount of activity out here. It's really exciting." Many E&P companies have the mistaken perception that the best opportunities in the Fayetteville are already gobbled up, specifically by Southwestern Energy Co. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. "A lot of people say everything in the Fayetteville is leased-Southwestern's got it all or Chesapeake's got it all. That's not really the case." A year ago, Petrohawk had no position in the play until acquiring 7,000 net acres as part of a merger with KCS Energy Inc. in July 2006. It began drilling in the first quarter of 2007 with excellent initial results. Following two negotiated deals this summer, it currently controls about 85,000 acres and more than 90 operated sections with eight producing wells. By year-end, Petrohawk expects to have a four-rig program with 25 operated and 40 nonoperated wells. For more on this, see the October issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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