Goodrich Petroleum Corp. officials said they were “extremely pleased” with results from several wells in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), while the company’s “balanced portfolio” saw net crude oil production climb to 1.1 million bbl in 2012, a 70% increase over 2011.

Last month the Houston-based company said it plans to spend between $175 million and $200 million on capital expenditures (capex) in 2013, most on drilling for oil in the Eagle Ford Shale and the TMS, and a small portion on dry gas in the Haynesville Shale (see Shale Daily, Jan. 4).

“As we have stated before, we do not believe current natural gas prices justified drilling for dry natural gas reserves,” CEO Gil Goodrich said during the company’s 4Q2012 earnings conference call on Thursday. “All of our 2013 drilling plans are associated with our oil-rich Eagle Ford and TMS plays.”

Goodrich said “a series of frustrating mechanical issues” prevented repairs to a parted casing connection at a TMS well, Denkmann 33H-1, and the company plans “to come back and develop this acreage at a later date.” He later emphasized that the well was not being abandoned. The company holds a 75% working interest (WI) in the well, which is in Amite County, MS (see Shale Daily, May 24, 2012).

But Goodrich said the company was “extremely pleased” with a second TMS well, Crosby 12-1H, in which it has a 50% WI. COO Robert Turnham said the Crosby well, in Wilkinson County, MS, peaked at an average 24-hour rate of approximately 1,300 boe/d, which included 1,200 b/d of oil and 600 Mcf/d of natural gas. Turnham said the well was averaging 1,200 boe/d over the last 15 days.

“Based on the current production trend, we expect the wells to produce an excess of 30,000 to 33,000 bbl of oil in the first full 30-day period,” Turnham said. “This well is capable of producing at a much higher rate on a more open choke size, but as we have seen in our other shale plays, we feel prudent to maintain a conservative early flowback plan, which will maintain maximum reservoir integrity.”

Turnham added that the company was also excited by the performance of two more TMS wells, Anderson 17H-1 and 18H-1, which are both in Amite County, MS.

According to Turnham, the Anderson 18H-1 well reached cumulative production of about 100,000 boe during the first seven months of production. “[That is] significantly better than industry performance in the oil window of the Eagle Ford [Shale],” he said. “[It also] compares very favorably to upper-tier Bakken [Shale] wells, which reach a similar amount of production in about 12 months.”

Meanwhile, Turnham said the Anderson 17H-1 well reached cumulative production of more than 80,000 boe in seven months, an amount he said was “similar to many of the best Bakken wells at roughly the same point in time.”

Turnham added that the company was so confident in the TMS, it was moving up plans to spud its next well in the play, Smith 29-1H, to April. “We will roll out TMS slides in our management presentation next week as the conference season kicks off in earnest,” Turnham said. “[The slides will] show you why we are encouraged about the play and develop the potential of our 135,000-acre block.”

During the Q&A session with analysts, Turnham said the company’s plan in the TMS “is to drill the initial well, delineate the acreage and bring in either a financial partner or an industry partner at the right time and at the right price. This certainly strengthens our hand.”

For 4Q2012, Goodrich reported that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion, amortization and exploration expenses (EBITDAX) grew to a record $50.5 million, a 5% increase from 3Q2012 and 18% over 4Q2011. The company’s adjusted revenues totaled $64.5 million in the fourth quarter.

Production for 4Q2012 was 6.6 Bcfe, with an average production of 3,600 b/d of oil and 50.3 MMcf/d of natural gas. Volumes were negatively impacted by issues with the Denkmann well.

Goodrich reported proved reserves of 333.1 Bcfe and proved developed reserves of 158.4 Bcfe as of Dec. 31. Both had declined from the end of 2011 (489.8 Bcfe and 208.5 Bcfe, respectively) due to production, divestitures and price and technical revisions.

According to company reports, Goodrich holds 156,000 gross (134,200 net) acres in the TMS, along with 52,707 gross (38,300 net) acres in the Eagle Ford Shale and 10,000 net acres in the emerging Pearsall Shale. The company also has 35,678 gross (18,110 net) acres in what Goodrich considers its Haynesville core in North Louisiana. Additional acreage that may be prospective to the Haynesville includes two areas in East Texas: 40,156 gross (38,450 net) acres in the Cotton Valley area, and 48,319 gross (30,300 net) acres in the Angelina River Trend, also known as the Shelby Trough.