In a race to produce increasing amounts of natural gas to keep up with the nation’s growing demand, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. reported last Tuesday that it is continuing its work to find and produce new gas reserves from oil fields. The company announced its Fife Unit #2 well in Central Texas, which just came online, is producing natural gas at a rate of 51 MMcf/d.

Located in the Navasota River field of Washington County, the Fife well reached a total vertical depth of 14,080 feet, then was drilled laterally for almost 5,000 feet. The well, in which Anadarko holds a 100% interest, began production on March 24.

“The Giddings area is a prime example of how perseverance pays off,” said John N. Seitz, Anadarko president. “Although this play has been around for a long time — and perhaps misunderstood in the past — Anadarko has revitalized the area and is producing sustained volumes of much needed natural gas. By drilling deeper, we’re finding much stronger results than anyone previously thought were possible.”

With the Fife well, the company’s net volumes in Central Texas have swelled to more than 235 MMcf/d and 14,700 bbl/d of oil. Currently, Anadarko said it has nine rigs operating throughout its Central Texas play, including the Georgetown formation and the Buda formation, which produces gas and oil.

The company said that its Fife well is a confirmation of the nearby Becker No. 1 Georgetown re-entry discovery drilled by Anadarko in 2000. That well produced at a rate of 50 MMcf/d and is still a strong well producing 25 MMcf/d. Its cumulative production since being redrilled in July 2000 is 5.7 Bcf. Anadarko has three more wells and one re-entry well currently under way in the immediate vicinity.

The company pointed out that of the 130 development wells planned for 2001 in the Giddings field, two-thirds will be re-entries of existing wells, tapping new reserves at very economical costs. With holdings of 750,000 net acres in the greater Giddings area and more than 1,200 wells, Anadarko said there is significant potential to exploit deeper opportunities through horizontal re-entries.

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