U.S. independent Murphy Oil Corp. plans to drill in the Austin Chalk formation in South Texas later this year, with an eye to derisking about 100 more locations in the play.

Murphy Oil

The company plans to drill four wells on its Eagle Ford Shale acreage in the fourth quarter, one of which is to target the Austin Chalk, CEO Roger Jenkins said during the 2Q2021 earnings call. 

The company’s recent Austin Chalk wells drilled in Karnes County have “nicely outperformed” its average type curve, Jenkins said on the call.

“Additionally, other public operators near our Catarina acreage in the Western portion of our Eagle Ford Shale acreage have reported strong Austin Chalk results from their recent wells,” he said.

Executive Vice President of Operations Eric Hambly described the...