Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. received approval fromthe Texas Railroad Commission for field rule amendments that willenable the company to more aggressively develop its Barnett Shalegas reserves in North Texas. The new field rules permit Mitchell todrill wells in the Newark East (Barnett Shale) field on as littleas 40-acre spacing. As a result of increased well density, or”in-fill drilling,” the company expects as many as 100 wells withabout 80 Bcf of estimated net gas reserves will be added to theproved undeveloped category. The new locations bring totalundeveloped well locations to about 200 for the field. The companyalso has identified another 100 probable locations that may beadded in the future.

“The tighter well spacing will allow us to recover a lot moregas reserves from the Barnett Shale than we had originallyexpected,” said George P. Mitchell, CEO. “Results of a pilotprogram we started in mid-1996 have given us confidence thatin-fill drilling is economically attractive. Over the next fewyears we’ll be testing areas to the west, south and east of thiscore area to expand the economic limits of the field. This couldlead to a major expansion of our natural gas reserves in Wise andadjacent counties.”

Mitchell has been actively developing the Barnett Shale sincethe early 1990s and has drilled more than 350 wells to date.

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