Haynesville Shale

The U.S. rig count fell four units to 790 during the week ended Friday (Jan. 31), led by a slowdown in the natural gas patch, according to the latest numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).

With the backing of Japan’s largest natural gas utility, Castleton Resources LLC has 222,400 net acres of gassy leasehold to explore, develop and potentially export from the Haynesville Shale/Cotton Valley after completing a deal with Royal Dutch Shell plc.

Natural gas-heavy Goodrich Petroleum Corp., whose primary exploration is in the Haynesville Shale, is planning a $55-65 million capital budget for 2020, down 35% from the midpoint of this year’s spending.

Comstock Resources Inc. has beefed up its Haynesville Shale inventory with the all-stock acquisition of an undisclosed operator, but going into 2020 it plans to run fewer rigs in the natural gas-heavy play.

DTE Energy CEO during a third quarter conference call Monday touted the company’s recent midstream acquisition in the Haynesville Shale, claiming its “extremely strong” resources hold “at least 10 years of drilling available at sub $2/MMBtu prices.”

The midstream arm of Detroit-based DTE Energy is reaching its tentacles into Louisiana to acquire an existing natural gas system and a gathering pipeline under construction that would move Haynesville Shale supply to the Gulf Coast.

Houston-based Elevate Midstream Partners LLC agreed to build roughly 19 miles of 16-inch diameter gas gathering pipelines in the Haynesville Shale of East Texas to support a new shipper deal with Sabine Oil and Gas Corp.

Weakened natural gas prices failed to deter Haynesville Shale-focused Goodrich Petroleum Corp. during the second quarter, as the independent more than doubled output while it sharply reduced operating expenses.

Comstock Resources Inc., which this year became the No. 1 operator in the natural gas-heavy Haynesville Shale, said second quarter output from the play was 88% higher than a year ago and 19% higher sequentially, but confronted with continued low prices, the company is playing defense.