American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 56

pand its midstream gathering and processing capabilities in the Delaware Basin in
preparation for additional drilling, said
Charles A. Meloy, then executive vice
president, during the company's early
May earnings call.
"We really are waiting on commodity
prices," Meloy comments. "We are in a
very good position on infrastructure, although there is still a lot of work to do to
upgrade it and continue to expand to
keep up with the drilling program."
He reported Anadarko added 30,000
bbl/d in oil handling capacity during the
quarter, and anticipated operations begin-

ning in the second quarter on its Mi Vida
cryogenic gas plant. Anadarko holds a 50
percent equity position in the plant, which
is designed to add 200 MMcf/d in gross
processing capacity.
"The combination of those two pieces
of infrastructure, along with our position
in the Mi Vida plant that is starting up, has
given us a very nice, efficient and quick
response-type of position in the basin,"
Meloy states.

Downspacing Pilots
Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy
Corp. continues to perform downspacing

pilots and rely on enhanced completion
techniques to boost Permian production,
which was up 12 percent for the first quarter, while the company focuses on
Delaware Basin acreage being exploited
by 13 rigs in mid-May.
The company is testing eight wells per
section in the lower Second Bone Spring
interval, which is the traditional landing
zone, Chief Executive Officer David A.
Hager said during Devon's first-quarter
earnings call in early May. Appraisals also
continue on the stand-alone commerciality of the upper portion of the Second Bone
Spring. Hager noted that about 70 percent
of Devon's inventory of more than 5,000
risked, undrilled locations was in the
Bone Spring formation.
Hager credits deploying an enhanced
completion design, with significantly
higher concentrations of proppant per
lateral foot, in the Bone Spring as being
chiefly responsible for first-quarter production growth in southeastern New Mexico.
Development wells were fractured
with 1,900 pounds of sand per lateral foot,
compared with 1,600 in the fourth quarter and an historical average of 600
pounds per lateral foot. A few wells tested up to 3,000 pounds per foot, according
to Hager. The company also continues to
monitor production and optimize frac
variables such as fluid types and volumes.
"Initial 30-day production rates from
the 16 Bone Spring (basin) wells brought
on line in the first quarter averaged nearly 1,200 boe/d," Hager reports. "We have
tested larger completions on more than 60
Bone Spring wells since mid-2014."
Based on those results, Hager says Devon is raising type-curve expectations in the
Bone Spring basin for both 30-day IPs and
estimated ultimate recoveries. "IP rates now
are expected to be around 900 boe/d,
which is approximately 60 percent higher
than wells with the old design," he affirms.
Multiple Intervals
Devon also completed six Bone Spring
wells on the slope farther east during the
quarter. Those wells averaged 30-day IPs
of 600 boe/d.

Coming In July

Financial Performance Profiles
special reports, highlighting independents' business and financial
game plans-from property acquisitions, to hedge monetization programs, to stock offerings. The reports
include an update on bank lending to
support independents' strategies in
the second half of 2015.
56 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015

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