Chalk. 196, pp. Over the last year, the Eagle Ford Shale play has seen a lot of renewed interest in investment as well as M&A activity. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money. How do these numbers corroborate with the basins closest peer, the Permian? While in the area you'll also want to partake of one of the great restaurants known for serving delicious family style country cooking. Individuals should consider whether they can afford the risks associated to trading. The Eagle Ford is in prime position to step up natural gas exports to Mexico, and several pipeline projects are designed to do just that, including the 2.1 Bcf/d NET Mexico Pipeline that went. , in 2021 market conditions shifted in Dorados favor. (1987) Stratigraphy of the Eagle Ford Group (Upper Cretaceous) and its source-rock potential in the East Texas Basin: Baylor Geological Studies Bulletin 45, Waco, Texas, 57 p. Hentz, T. F., Ambrose, W. A., and Smith, D. C. (2014). The Eagle Ford Shale is a hydrocarbon producing formation of significant importance. [2], Petrohawk Energy Corp. completed the Eagle Fords first well in October 2008. The EFS takes its name from the town of Eagle Ford Texas where the shale outcrops at the surface in clay form. Denne, R. A., Breyer, J. 186. Organic, rich calcareous shales, laminated dolomitic shales, and occasional reworked ash beds form this basin, which is also the source rock for the Austin Chalk.4, The discovery of the Hawkville field in South Texas by Petrohawk Energy led to the first commercial production from the Eagle Ford shale in 2008.5 In just 10 months, the company assembled approximately 160,000 acres, and its first horizontal well in the basin produced 7.6 million cubic feet (MMCF) of natural gas and 250 barrels of liquids per day.6 The successful results and a wide range in the basins depth from 4,000 feet to 14,000 feet, along with excellent petrophysical properties, suggested that the basin had the right ingredients for a promising shale reservoir.7, In just a few years, Eagle Ford became the fastest-growing shale basin, surpassing even the Permian by producing close to 3 MMBoed in 2014.8 More than 50 percent of Eagle Fords cumulative production came from three counties: Karnes, DeWitt, and La Salle (see Figure 2).9 The basin attracted all types of operators due to its highly balanced oil-to-gas production mix of about 55:45.10 With 50,000 full-time job additions and contributions of over US$25 billion to the South Texas economy in 2013, David Porter, the then Railroad Commissioner of Texas said, The Eagle Ford Shale has the potential to be the single most signicant economic development in our states history.11, However, with the sharp fall in oil prices, things changed. Night light there is a combination of electric illumination of drilling pads and natural gas flaring at some drilling sites. Please correct the marked field(s) below. During his tenure at Deloitte, Vivek has contributed to several oil and gas white papers focused on aspects such as Internet of Things, cybersecurity, capital migration, and portfolio management. First, northwest of the play, covering Dimmit, Webb, and La Salle counties, Second, the central section, covering McMullen, Atascosa, and Live Oak counties, Third, on the northeastern side, covering DeWitt, Karnes, and Gonzales counties, Step 1: Identify significance of each completion variable (random forest), Step 2: Discover ideal design combinations and ranges (cluster analysis), Step 3: Model the significance and ranges into well type curves (well curves). Reelfoot Lake State Park is located at 2595 Hwy 21 E, Tiptonville, TN 38079. This was closely followed by Devon Energys, (NYSE:DVN) acquisition of Validus Energy last year for $1.9 bn. There are more than 1,000 underperforming wells with perforated interval of more than 7,500 feet in both the tiers and landing zones.18 Similarly, there are about 3,000 underperforming wells with proppant loading of less than 1,000 lbs/feet.19 In fact, there is notable design divergence in nonperforming wells from the same operators, reflecting the challenges faced by many in the well delivery process. The Eagle Ford Shale is a hydrocarbon producing formation of significant importance. The Eagle Ford is predominantly composed of organic matter -rich fossiliferous marine shales and marls with interbedded thin limestones. The southernmost contains natural gas. few hundred feet of pay zone. The shale contains a high amount of carbonate, which makes it brittle, and it is thus easier to use hydraulic fracturing to produce the oil or gas. Growth continued at a rapid pace, and in 2013, oil production in the Eagle Ford reached 1 million barrels per day.[4]. It is capeabe of producing both gas and more oil than other traditional shale plays. Shale Experts is the only tool you will need to track,predict and analyze US & Canada activities. | TRAIL Statewide Archive of about 4000 feet, the shale has been exposed to sufficient heat and pressure to convert some of the organic To sum up, the relatively unfavorable response of rocks in the Eagle Ford basin requires a careful mapping of formation type with the best operating completion designs. formation. The number of permits issued per year increased dramatically until 2015. After Petrohawk's success, drilling companies began to use hydraulic fracturing to induce fractures Before joining Deloitte in 2005, Mittal worked with Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited, a subsidiary of Standard & Poors, as a lead industry researcher in petrochemicals and petroleum sectors. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. Deposition of the Austin Chalk after this erosional occurrence caused a sealing of the East Texas petroleum reservoir and the creation of a middle Cretaceous unconformity. Eicher, D. L., and P. Worstell (1970) Cenomanian and Turonian foraminifera from the Great Plains, United States: Micropaleontology, v. 16, p. 269324. United States Dry Shale Gas Production: The graph above shows the growth of dry shale gas production in the United States, color-coded by rock unit, since calendar year 2005. [2], After the significant drop in sea level (marine regression) associated with deposition of the Woodbine during the Early Cenomanian, the sea level began to rise (marine transgression), allowing for the deposition of Lower Eagle Ford organic-rich marls in South Texas and limestones of the Terrell Member of the Boquillas Formation in West Texas starting at about 96 million years ago. This explains the geographic distribution Within the Eagle Ford play, the decline during these twelve months was from 200 to 76 rigs. the Eagle Ford is between 4,000 feet below sea level and 14,000 feet below sea level. The broader positive relationship between completion design and well productivity is accepted by operators, but which completion variables better explain productivity is still an area of debate. This increasing depth of burial has exposed the shale to heat and pressure that has matured the organic material in the shale into oil and natural gas. However, intensifying designs for these wells in the Eagle Ford doesnt seem to improve capital efficiencyin fact, EUR/well cost fell by 1217 percent.32 This also seems to affirm the point highlighted earlier that responsiveness of many mature Eagle Ford formations toward completion designs is relatively weak and hence leads to suboptimal designs on the economic frontmodeling 500under-engineered wells for superior designs led to productivity gains of 211 percent, but with a 25 percent increase in cost.33 This implies that making a lot of tweaks to under-engineered wells in the basin may not make economic sense every time. The Eagle Ford began to shake off its sleepy, "end of life" reputation with Penn Virginia and Lonestar Resources merger that gave the combined company an Eagle Ford pure-play that. An important aspect to this play is well cost. Superior formation quality is a value add but not the sole performance differentiator in the Eagle Fordabout 60 percent of drilled wells in Tier 1 zones of the Eagle Ford had an initial 180-day productivity (normalized to 10,000 feet perforated interval) of less than 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). The materials provided on this Web site are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice. The potential drilling area of the Eagle Ford Shale is shown in green above along with the depth of the formation in feet below sea level. Moreman, W. L. (1942) Paleontology of the Eagle Ford Group of north and central Texas: Journal of Paleontology, v. 16, p. 192220. Shale Experts is the only tool you will need to track,predict and analyze US & Canada activities. The well was completed in the equivalent of the Eagle Ford Formation. Between 2008 and the present, the Eagle Ford Shale has become one of the most heavily drilled rock units in the United States. Norton, G. H. (1965) Surface geology of Dallas County, "in" The geology of Dallas County: Dallas Geological Society, Dallas, Texas, p. 40125. Like in the Permian, there is a mature congruence between the statistical significance of completion variables and the action of companies in the Eagle Ford, at least on proppant types. The analysis focuses on aggregate performance indicators across the plays. The average well was estimated to produce 2.36 billion cubic feet of gas. This short video shows the development of the Eagle Ford Play from 2008-2017. [1], These distinct windows are essential to the Eagle Fords current success. The shale is named for the town of Eagle Ford, Texas, approximately 6 miles west of Dallas, Texas, where it can be seen on the surface as clay soil. The Eagle Ford outcrop belt trends from the Oklahoma-Texas border southward to San Antonio, westward to the Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park, and the Quitman Mountains of West Texas. Mittal is an Oil & Gas research manager with Deloitte Services India Pvt. Add the jobs created in surrounding counties and the picture of a modern oil boom begins to take shape. At depths greater than about 14,000 feet, the heat EOG, which controls about 516,000 net acres in the Eagle Fords oily areas and another 160,000 net acres in the basins dry gas window in Webb County, has estimated that its Dorado discovery has about 21 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and a breakeven cost of less than $1.25/MMBtu. Generalized Stratigraphic Section: This illustration shows the geologic units in the subsurface of the Texas Gulf Coast region. U.S. Shale Production Costs Are Finally Falling, Mystery Middlemen Make Billions From Sanctioned Russian Crude. slide below. Oil & gas production is bringing new found wealth to the region. Shales like the Eagle Ford will propel the United States into a net exporter by the late 2020's. According to a new report from the International Energy Agency. This is very competitive with other shale players. These could change notably once analyzed at formation or county level and hence should not be directly leveraged for technical analysis. [9][10], The Eagle Ford was deposited in an inland sea (or epeiric sea) that covered much of modern-day Texas. Mexico has numerous other potential oil and gas plays in shale. However, in todays age of resource abundance and sustained volatility in oil prices, companies that have a faster and efficient learning curve are likely to emerge as winners. Some operators refer to the play as the Eagleford. The Eagle Ford is the most active shale play in the world with over 100 rigs running. Using the tabs below, learn more about the growth in oil and natural gas production across the region and its effects on employment, income and economic activity. From record drilling levels to wells producing over 4,000 b/d of oil initially, the play is redefining South Texas as an oil industry hotbed. Petrohawk Energy is given credit for drilling the first modern-day EFS well in 2008. Jennifer Hiller, "Hard Times Hit Eagle Ford," ", Jennifer Hiller, "Spending in Eagle Ford has dropped by 67 percent", "San Antonio Express-News," July 22, 2016, pp. The statistical relevance of various completion variables is based on the number of variables fed to the model. are ready. The national oil company Pemex first began exploring in 2010. Among the company groups, the top five operators and large independents have a slightly higher proportion of wells in ideal ranges compared to their smaller peersnevertheless, the scope for improvement is significant for all. The East Texas and South Texas regions were divided by an extension of the Llano Uplift known as the San Marcos Arch. The same is also evident from the fact that well productivity differs significantly both across the Tier 1 zones and within a zone. Beyond the global climate impact, Eagle Ford has run into several local issues including water shortages, highly polluting flaring systems, and economic inefficiencies. The Eagle Ford Shale (also known as the Eagle Ford Formation) is a black calcareous shale with a high organic carbon content that underlies much of southeastern Texas. As a result of these increases, the Eagle Ford now accounts for 5.4 percent of all U.S. natural gas production. The northernmost window contains oil. Disclaimer: This data is a snapshot in time displaying production data from the RRCs Production Data Query System (PDQ) based on the extract date. While several Eagle Ford operators have enhanced their production, what more can they do to operate optimally in the basin? [14], Towards the end of the Late Cenomanian, the bottom waters of the Texas shelf and the Western Interior Seaway became oxygenated,[20] which may be related to the sea-level maximum associated with the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event. Oil and natural gas extraction is booming in Eagle Ford Shale. As an executive director for the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions, Deloitte Services LP, Andrew works closely with Deloittes Energy, Resources & Industrials leadership to define, implement, and manage the execution of the Center strategy; develop and drive energy research initiatives; and manage the development of the Centers eminence and thought leadership. The analysis presented here is an analytical perspective to shale development and hence cannot be a replacement to sophisticated technical models. var write_html = `