Goodrich Petroleum Corp. Wednesday confirmed that a recently drilled well in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) of Louisiana and Mississippi had an initial flow rate exceeding 1,000 boe/d.

The company said Wednesday that Encana Corp.’s Encana-Anderson 17H-1 well (in which Goodrich has a 5% working interest) in Amite County, MS, had a 72-hour production rate of 1,082 boe/d (975 b/d of oil, 425 Mcf/d of natural gas) on a 15/64 choke with 2,119 psi flowing casing pressure.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity Energy Research said the well could recover about 550,000 boe. “We base this estimate on a full review of extended production history for several horizontal Tuscaloosa wells,” the firm said, adding that the well “should generate economics similar to an average Goodrich Eagle Ford [Shale] well.”

Canaccord said it expects Goodrich to run a three-rig program in the play and drill about 20 wells per year. The TMS is too big for the company to handle on its own with current capitalization (about $500 million), the analysts said. “In our view, a larger entity could buy Goodrich in its entirety, or the company could enter into a joint venture and issue equity to fund Tuscaloosa development.”

The well was drilled with a 7,300-foot lateral and 30 hydraulically fractured stages, noted Wells Fargo Securities analyst David Tameron. “While only on production for a limited time, our model indicates this well is tracking slightly ahead of previous 30-day rates reported by [Encana] of 700-800 boe/d.” Tameron said in a note Wednesday.

Tameron said the well results bode well for Devon Energy Corp., which as 285,000 gross acres (190,000 net) in the play and plans to drill about 10 wells this year. EOG Resources is reported to have 80,000-210,000 net acres in the play, Tameron said.

Houston-based Goodrich has acquired an additional 17,000 net acres in the play, bringing its total to about 120,000 net acres, at an average price of $225 per acre, the company said.

Goodrich is participating with Encana for an estimated 25% working interest in the Joe Jackson 4H-2 well, which is currently drilling in Amite County. It said it also plans to begin operated activities by June 1 on its Denkmann 33H-1 well (75% working interest) in Amite County, followed by the Crosby 12H-1 well (75% working interest) in Wilkinson County, MS.

TMS drilling dates back to 1962, and the first horizontal well was a recompletion of a well originally drilled in 1998 (see Shale Daily, Feb. 28, 2011).

At the beginning of this year Goodrich said its oil-directed activity would be concentrated in the Eagle Ford with $155 million allocated to 29 gross (19 net) wells (which assumes a combination of 6,000-9,000-foot laterals) and the TMS, with $20-45 million allocated to four to six gross (two to four net) wells (see Shale Daily, Jan. 5).

Late last year Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources was boasting of early well results in the play and predicted that better news would be coming (see Shale Daily, Dec. 20, 2011).