Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Corp. has been watching the producer activity around its more than 3,600 acres in Frio County, TX, and is working to raise capital by the end of the year to start drilling some wells of its own, the company said Wednesday.

Houston-based Eagle Ford recently acquired an 85% working interest in 3,684 acres in Frio County for $6.26 million (see Shale Daily, June 12). The acreage lies within the historic Pearsall Field in south-central Texas, one of the most prolific oil fields in Texas. Although there is no current production on the acreage, the Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford Shale and Buda Limestone formations are all present within the acreage and all are productive in the immediate area, the company said.

“This leasehold will be the foundation upon which we build the company, the acreage has all the features that are essential for a small company like Eagle Ford,” said Ron Bain, head of the company’s technical team. “We have 3,684 contiguous acres and hold rights to all depths; we have a majority working interest and are the operator; we have multiple target formations that have all proven to be major producers in the area, an abundance of subsurface data from nearby legacy wells, compelling well economics with internal rates of returns approaching or even exceeding 100% and the potential for dozens of well locations.”

During the last 18 months well permitting and drilling activity on nearby acreage has been increasing and includes wells in all four target formations. “Dozens of successful wells have been drilled in the area with nearly 100% success rate in all formations,” Eagle Ford said. Because the leasehold is within the historic Pearsall Field, well data exists that documents both the presence and structure of all three oil-saturated formations as well as the porosity and fracture systems within the reservoirs.

Austin Chalk wells drilled by others have exhibited initial production (IP) rates of up to 500 b/d of oil, Eagle Ford said.

In the Eagle Ford Shale, a major independent recently drilled 29 successful wells about 10 miles south of the company’s leasehold with average IP rates of 697 boe/d with stated estimated ultimate recoveries of 380,000-550,000 boe, Eagle Ford said. Also to the south, another independent has completed at least 19 wells with an average IP of 850 boe/d.

The Buda Limestone is being aggressively drilled by other companies about four miles south of Eagle Ford’s project area. Completed wells have consistently demonstrated IP rates of 300-1,000 boe/d, according to Eagle Ford.

And in the Pearsall Shale reported IPs are 450-720 b/d of condensate with 4.2-6.2 MMcf/d of gas, the company said.

“We are focusing all our attention on securing project development financing and moving ahead with a drilling program.” said CEO Paul Williams. “We remain very pleased with the leasehold in Frio County. The fact that other oil and gas companies have demonstrated an almost 100% success rate in fields adjacent to or very close by our leasehold with successful wells in all four formations present within our leasehold demonstrate how important this acquisition is to Eagle Ford Oil & Gas.”