American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2017 - 80

SpecialReport: Mid-Continent Activity Profile
the STACK in 2010 and 2011 while drilling
gas wells in southeastern Oklahoma's
Arkoma Basin. "In the early days, companies avoided the oil side of the shale
plays," Campbell recalls. "As the industry
accumulated more data, it gave us the
idea that there could be an oil play updip
from a gas play. The Cana-Woodford was
a well-known dry gas play. Our idea was
to go 15-20 miles updip and find mobile
and commercial oil. We kept it quiet for
nearly two years and were able to lease
our acreage for less than $3,000 an acre."
He says Newfield has drilled 140
wells; completing the first 100 with similar
techniques, using 1,000 pounds of proppant and 1,000 gallons of liquid per foot.
Today, however, the company is utilizing
2,000 pounds of proppant and 2,000 gallons of liquid per foot and is experimenting
with even larger completions. It also is
drilling mostly two-mile laterals.
With the enhanced completions, Campbell reports that Newfield's wells are outperforming the company's type curve.
"We are trying to solve what is the optimal
number of wells drilled per section," he
adds.
According to Campbell, Newfield was

testing eight-12 wells a section and expected to have results by late May on
two wells drilled in tighter spacing. "We
have planned nine development pilots,"
he details.
Newfield is running four SCOOP rigs
and five in the STACK, he indicates.
Campbell goes on to note that SCOOP is
a little more mature than STACK, and so
the company plans to come back in and
drill two or three additional SCOOP wells
on tighter spacing.
Campbell indicates Newfield never uses
the term "over-pressured," but according
to other companies' classification, he says
the company's record-setting Burgess well
lies outside the over-pressured window.
"It has more to do with depth," he
claims. "The key understanding is getting
the science right. One of these developments is an $80 million-$100 million investment, so we have to make sure we
understand the science. Otherwise, you
can outrun the science."
Recycled Water
Water and take-away capacity are key
SCOOP and STACK considerations. Newfield announced in March that it had bro-

ken ground on a water recycling facility
in its STACK acreage in Kingfisher County, Ok. The complex, named the Barton
Water Recycle Facility, is expected to
process 30,000 bbl/d of water upon completion in the third quarter.
The company says the facility will
utilize aerated biologic treatment technology to convert produced fluids into
water that can be used for hydraulic fracturing. The treatment process relies on
natural and enhanced bioremediation-or
useful bacteria and nutrients-to separate
and break down any of the produced water's existing impurities. The result, Campbell describes, is a high-quality water
nearly free of impurities-very similar to
that initially found in the reservoir rock.
Newfield reports it has invested more
than $40 million in STACK play water
management. Campbell says the new recycling facility is a multi-million dollar
investment on a 30-acre site that will
connect to seven pits with nearly 6.5 million barrels of storage capacity and utilize
more than 70 miles of underground
pipeline by the end of 2017.
According to Newfield, the company
also has secured a 10-year contract with
a subsidiary of Enable Midstream Partners
LP for 205,000 dekatherms a day of firm
natural gas transportation from the SCOOP
and STACK. The 10-year contract is associated with Enable Gas Transmission's
Cana and STACK Expansion (CaSE)
project that was announced last fall. Together with existing and third-party system
capacity, CaSE will provide residue takeaway from across the active, multi-stacked
region. The proposed project provides
transport options for volumes of 190,000490,000 dekatherms a day.
Multiple Targets

Gastar Exploration Inc.'s 2017
drilling plans include 30 STACK
wells, all with one-mile laterals.
The company is drilling one well
on each unit to hold the acreage
by production and plans to test
tighter spacing.

80 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Gastar Exploration Inc. announced in
March that it had closed its capital and
refinancing transactions with funds managed by affiliates of Ares Management
L.P. The deal with Ares includes new financing to Gastar in the form of a $250
million secured term loan, the issuance
of $125 million secured convertible notes
and a $50 million purchase of Gastar
common stock.
"It allows us to restructure our balance
sheet," explains Gastar chief executive

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2017

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