American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 59

Unconventional Resource Science
Marble Falls production rates exhibit
protracted hyperbolic decline profiles
with moderate initial production rates and
steep initial declines, but with subsequent
shallowing of the decline profile. This
production profile is more similar to unconventional reservoirs, which are effectively compartmentalized and only produce when the compartments are connected by hydraulic fractures to allow hydrocarbons to be transmitted through the
reservoir matrix.
In the Marble Falls, this type of decline
profile could be explained by:
* A very high degree of interconnectivity between fractures along the entire
fractal spectrum, with initial higher-rate
contributions of hydrocarbons from the
largest-scale fractures and subsequent
lower-rate contributions from progressively smaller-scale fractures; and/or
* Highly tortuous permeability pathways resulting from high angles between
induced fractures and different sets of nat-

Continental Resources
Completes STACK Well
OKLAHOMA CITY-The Ludwig 122-15XH well, completed in the STACK
play of Oklahoma targeting the Meramec reservoir, tested at an initial production rate of 1,580 barrels of oil and 3 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, Continental Resources Inc. says. It adds that
equals an equivalent production rate of
2,705 barrels of oil equivalent a day
from a 9,711-foot lateral.
Continental says the well, drilled in
Blaine County, Ok., is its first in the
STACK play targeting the reservoir. The
company says it has 136,400 net acres in
the play, primarily in Blaine and Dewey
counties, with 60 percent of the leasehold
held by production.
"The Ludwig's performance is exceptional. The Ludwig and other completions in the area demonstrate that high production rates are repeatable and identify
STACK as a new resource play for Continental," says Glen Brown, the company's
senior vice president for exploration.
Continental reports it has finished
drilled its second STACK well, the Marks
1-9-4XH, and has begun to drill a third,
the Ladd 1-5-8XH. The company adds it
expects to spud as many as six STACK
wells by year end. ❒

ural fractures, or from baffling caused by
asperities and partial mineralization along
the fracture planes.
Regardless of the cause of the atypical production profiles, the Marble Falls
does not fit into the standard classification scheme and may warrant modifying
the Type I category with a new subtype

ULYSSES "TREY"
HARGROVE

Ulysses "Trey" Hargrove is geology
manager at Fort Worth-based Newark
E&P Operating LLC, which in addition
to its operations in the dry gas and liquids-rich core areas of the Barnett
Shale, holds more than 100,000 net
acres in the Marble Falls play. He
joined Newark in 2008 as a geologist,
and was promoted to geology manager
in 2012. Hargrove previously served as
a geologist at ADEXCO Operating Co.
He holds a B.A. and an M.S. in geology
from Texas Christian University and a
Ph.D. in geosciences from The University of Texas at Dallas.

BEAU
BEREND

Beau Berend is operations geologist
at Newark E&P Operating. He joined the
company in 2012 as a geology intern, and
previously worked as a mud logger and
well site geologist at NW Grimes Geological Services and a geologist at Collier
Consulting Inc. Berend holds a B.S. in geological and earth sciences from Tarleton
State University and an M.S. in geological and earth sciences from The University of Texas at Arlington.

or the addition of an entirely new category. The petrophysical and geological aspects of the Marble Falls formation may
not be entirely representative of a resource
play, but the regional distribution of
wells and the characteristics of the production decline curves are certainly reminiscent of one.
❒

CRAIG
ADAMS

Craig Adams is president of Newark
E&P Operating, and was previously
president of Newark Energy LLC. His
previous industry experience includes
serving as president of Adexco Production Company, executive vice president
of Beartooth Energy Partners, and a geologist at Amoco Production Company.
Adams holds a B.S. in geology from Texas
Christian University and an M.S. in geology from The University of Texas at Arlington.

WILL
GREATHOUSE

Will Greathouse is a senior production and completions engineer at Newark
E&P Operating. Before joining the company in 2012, he was an operations engineer in the Barnett Shale play at WPX
Energy and an engineer at Frac Tech
Services working in the Haynesville,
Central/East Texas and Eagle Ford
plays. Greathouse holds a B.S. in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University.
JANUARY 2016 59

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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