American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2015 - 118

SpecialReport: Mid-Continent Activity Update

A 2011 acquisition of Crow
Creek Energy put Eagle Rock
Energy Partners LP in the core
of the SCOOP in what historically was known as the Golden
Trend Field. Eagle Rock Chief
Executive Officer Joe Mills says
the Golden Trend Field accesses the Woodford, Sycamore, Viola and Hunton formations, as
well as Bromide and Springer
Shale targets.

learned in the Bakken, the Uinta Basin in
Utah, and in the Eagle Ford. That helps the
economics because we were able to drive
cost out of the system."
Packer says Newfield has reduced its
cost per lateral foot by 48 percent since
2012. He says its cost to drill and complete
a STACK well is $8.5 million, and $7.6
million-$8.9 million in SCOOP.
Newfield employs about 50 fracture
stages per 10,000-foot lateral and has reduced its cluster spacing to 50 feet. "It increases the stimulated rock volume,"
Packer attests. "It costs more, but it increases estimated ultimate recovery."
He adds that Newfield has raised its
type curve by 20 percent. EUR is 950,000
boe in STACK, 1.2 MMboe in the SCOOP
oil window, and 2.0 million MMboe in the
wet gas window.
"This play has a tremendous upside,"
Packer enthuses. "We are talking about an
expanded program. Even at today's prices,
it is still very attractive. In fact, more than
70 percent of our capital budget will be invested in the Anadarko Basin this year."
Since most of the company's acreage
in the Bakken, Uinta Basin and Eagle Ford
is held by production, Packer says Newfield has the option to focus on its most
economic areas. "We are fortunate to
have SCOOP and STACK in our portfolio," he acknowledges.

Packer claims both plays, but especially the STACK, have flatter decline profiles
than classic resource plays. "It is not typical," he affirms. "We have not seen a material decline after 30, 60 or 90 days."

Multiple Targets
Houston-based Eagle Rock Energy
Partners LP is a pure-play upstream master limited partnership with long-lived,
high-working-interest properties, including SCOOP. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Mills says his company,
which has been traded on the NASDAQ
since 2006, started as a midstream MLP.
"We started growing our upstream
presence, and last year we sold our midstream business to Regency Energy Partners," he explains. "In 2011, we made an
acquisition of Crow Creek Energy that put
us in the core of SCOOP in what historically was known as the Golden Trend
Field."
Mills says the Golden Trend Field offers what he calls the "big four" targets:
the Woodford, Sycamore, Viola and
Hunton formations, plus Bromide targets,
which he says are several tight oil sands
that lie below the big four. "We like the
multiple pay zones," he relates, "and the
serendipity factor (the subsequent discovery of the Springer Shale)."
He says he believes all big-four zones

118 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

could be horizontal targets, and notes some
companies are starting to test the Marchand
as well, which is a channelized sand
above the big four and another potential
SCOOP horizon.
"The Bromide is very oily, but it is very
hard rock to drill, so the economics are not
suitable for horizontal drilling at this
time," he adds.
"When Continental drilled its discovery well, it didn't take us long to figure out
where we needed to be," Mills emphasizes.
"We picked up an additional 6,000 acres.
Today, we have 20,000 acres inside
SCOOP in Grady, McLain, Stephens and
Garvin counties, and it is all held by production. We have drilled six horizontal
Woodford wells as the operator, and have
participated in a large number of wells with
Continental, Newfield, Marathon, and
Vitruvian Exploration. Ninety percent of
our nonoperated wells have been with
Continental and Newfield."
Follow The Leader
Mills credits Continental and Newfield
with developing the two-section laterals
that he says have improved production results and lowered unit development costs
in the SCOOP play. He adds that the decline curves are shallower and initial
rates are higher on two-mile laterals,
compared with a single-section lateral.
He also is quick to point out these wells
are deep and the targets are complex geologically. Even with the drop in drilling
costs, SCOOP wells can cost $10.5 million-$12.5 million each to drill and complete, he allows.
"We are really fortunate to partner with
Continental and Newfield," lauds Roger
Fox, Eagle Rock's senior vice president of
operations. "They are premier operators
and really know how to land the lateral in
the correct spot."
"Depth matters a lot," adds Mills.
"The 15,000-foot wells are the best, but
they are the most expensive."
He says the Woodford is 200-300 feet
thick with a target window of 300-600 feet,
and wells have EURs in the 2 MMboe
range. Although the SCOOP play is technology-driven, Mills says operators benefit from the large number of vertical wells
that have been drilled in the area.
"This area has been producing since the
1940s," he observes. "There is a lot of
wellbore control, geology and mapping.
There have been a number of 3-D surveys
shot and reprocessed. Seismic matters be-

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