Exxon Mobil the sleeping giant awakens
Exxon Mobil is preparing to drill dozens of new oil wells across the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale. Over the past week, the supermajor filed for 53 drilling permits with the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state agency that regulates the oil & gas industry.
Exxon’s shale drilling arm XTO Energy is targeting the Eagle Ford geological in eight new horizontal wells planned for La Salle County in South Texas. Out in the Permian Basin, XTO is targeting the Spraberry formation on 33 new horizontal wells planed in Martin County, another eight in Midland County and three more in Upton County.
A directional well planned in the Permian Basin’s Andrews County targets the Fullerton field.
With some 10,450 leases across the state, Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Irving, is ranked as the top driller in Texas in terms of drilling permits. The company’s wells produced nearly 44.3 million barrels of crude oil and more than 591.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2018.
Permian Basin
Denver oil company Felix Energy plans to drill 21 horizontal wells in on its Smoking Joe lease in Loving County. Located about 12 miles west of Wink, 16 of the wells target the Phantom field of the Wolfcamp formation while remaining five target the Two Georges formation of the Bone Spring formation.
Eagle Ford Shale
British oil major BP is planning to drill 17 horizontal wells on South Texas leases it recently bought from BHP Billiton. The company is targeting the Eagle Ford Shale with10 wells planned for Karnes County. BP is targeting the Austin Chalk formation with six wells in Karnes County and one in neighboring DeWitt County.
Haynesville Shale
The recently formed Austin oil company Eagle Valley Development is preparing for its first drilling project in East Texas. The company is seeking permission to drill a horizontal well on its Moss Creek Unit lease in Nacogdoches County. Located about five miles west of Chireno, the well targets the Carthage field of the Haynesville Shale down to a total depth of 15,000 feet.
Barnett Shale
Houston oil company Lime Rock Resources is planning to drill four horizontal wells on its Shifflet lease in Denton County. Located about 5 miles northwest of Ponder, the wells target the Newark East field of the Barnett geological formation down to a total depth of 8,700 feet.
Conventionals
Midland exploration and production company Unitex Oil & Gas is preparing drill four vertical wells on its Howe lease in Winkler County. Located about four miles northwest of Kermit, the wells target the Kermit field down to a depth of 5,000 feet.