Southwestern Energy Co. said gross production from its Fayetteville Shale wells in Arkansas has reached about 50 MMcf/d, up from about 20 MMcf/d May 1. The increase was due to the increased pace of development as additional drilling rigs were placed in service and improved fracture stimulation techniques. Southwestern said it expects continued improvement as development proceeds.

“Our activities in the Fayetteville Shale play are accelerating,” said CEO Harold Korell. “We are continuing to move up the learning curve and have seen marked improvements during the quarter in both our drilling and completion of our horizontal wells. As a result, our production volumes from the Fayetteville Shale have increased dramatically.”

Southwestern invested a total of $344.2 million in its exploration and development program during the first half of 2006, compared to $179.6 million in the first half of 2005. During the first six months of 2006, the company participated in 170 wells, 68 of which were successful, 98 were still in progress and four were dry at June 30. The company’s drilling program continues to be highly effective, with a 94% success rate through the first half of 2006.

In the first six months of 2006, Southwestern invested $119.7 million in its Fayetteville play, which includes $88.6 million to spud 86 wells, $17 million for leasehold and $14.1 million for seismic expenditures, office equipment and capitalized expenses. Through July 31, Southwestern has drilled and completed a total of 105 wells in the Fayetteville, of which 54 are designated as horizontal. The wells are in 21 separate pilot areas in eight counties in Arkansas. Of the 54 horizontal wells, 50 were currently producing. Seventy-three wells were in the drilling or completion phase at July 31, including 42 wells that had been drilled through the vertical section with a smaller rig and will be re-entered with a larger rig capable of drilling the horizontal section.

During the second quarter, the company moved away from completing wells using nitrogen foam fracture stimulations in favor of larger slickwater and cross-linked gel stimulations, based upon the improved well performance experienced with those treatments (see Daily GPI, June 28). Through July 31, the company had performed 29 slickwater or cross-linked gel fracture stimulation treatments on horizontal wells currently on production. The average initial production test rate for these 29 wells was 1.7 MMcf/d, 20 of which had been on production for more than one month. The average rate for these 20 wells after 30 days was 1.6 MMcf/d.

©Copyright 2006Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.