American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2022 - 49

SpecialReport: Haynesville Playmakers
chiefly of conventional production-included
legacy companies that Baldwin, partner
Greg Madden, and other investors sold to
Ocean Energy in 2001, Comstock Resources
in 2005 and Forest Oil in 2008.
Early on, the group assumed the Haynesville
was the exclusive domain of
larger companies with deeper pockets,
Baldwin says. With economics on the rebound
in 2018-19, the company had second
thoughts after an internal study considered
the impact of changing technologies
and the group's skill at establishing
positions with existing production.
EnSight Haynesville Partners was formed
to help fund EnSight IV. After acreage
trades, the company drilled its first Haynesville
well in the third quarter of 2018
and has since drilled 20 operated wells and
participated in about 50 others. The secret
to amassing a position in the bustling play
is to keep looking, Baldwin points out.
Last year, the company sold a large
Haynesville package in the GreenwoodWaskom
area along the Louisiana-Texas
line. Excluding its position on the market,
the group has 200 conventional wells
and 4,500 Haynesville acres in
Louisiana's Bossier, Webster, Bienville,
DeSoto, and Red River parishes and
plans to continue development with an
eye on bringing more assets to the
market in the future, Baldwin offers.
" Opportunities to acquire acreage
will continue to exist as technology, including
tighter stage spacing and larger
fracs, extends the boundaries of the
play, " says Vice President Chris Singletary.
Haynesville operators continue
to improve drilling and completion efficiencies,
he adds.
To maximize the value of its acreage
position, EnSight IV continues to drill
both dual- and single-section laterals and
reap strong results, Singletary says. A
pair of single-section lateral wells on a
pad in southern Bossier Parish turned to
sales Jan. 3, making 20 MMcf/d each,
with both averaging about 7,500 psig.
Above-Plan Results
A newcomer to the Haynesville in
2021, Southwestern Energy Company
plans to do what it does best across a
257,000-net acre position: utilize expertise
honed in Appalachia and elsewhere to
accelerate development and improve operating
efficiencies, says Chief Operating
Officer Clay Carrell.
Southwestern already is realizing gains
in the basin from renegotiating arrangements
and securing additional future takeaway
capacity to the LNG corridor.
" We are off to a good start in the Haynesville,
quickly integrating our teams
and the acquired assets and delivering
above-plan results since starting operations
in September, " Carrell says.
Southwestern entered the Haynesville
with its $2.7 billion purchase of Indigo
Natural Resources, which included 1,000
locations in inventory on approximately
150,000 net acres and estimated daily
production this year of 1.1 billion cubic
feet equivalent.
In late December, the company added
GEP Haynesville in a $1.85 billion deal
that provided even more exposure to the
LNG export terminals and growing demand
centers along the Gulf Coast. GEP
came with 700 locations in inventory and
700 MMcf/d of production across a
stacked-pay Haynesville and Middle
Bossier position.
This year, Southwestern is spending
55% of its nearly $2 billion capital
budget in the play, with plans to maintain
eight or nine rigs (including two it owns)
and three or four frac crews to drill,
complete and turn 70-75 wells to sales,
Carrell relates.
Fourth-quarter results not reflecting
the GEP purchase included seven Bossier
and three Haynesville wells with initial
production averaging above 26 MMcf/d.
Laterals averaged 6,900 feet and cost
$1,600 per completed foot, he says,
with performance metrics reflecting inherited
development plans. Greater
drilling efficiencies are expected this
year as the company develops its own
projects, Carrell says.
The company already is optimizing
flowback and completion techniques to
confirm Tier 1 reservoir quality, he notes.
Additional improvement is expected as
the company uses all its technical subsurface
data to ensure optimal drawdown
and appropriate pressure maintenance on
initial IPs, Carrell adds.
" With higher pressures, we are able
to see greater rates in the greater commodity
price environment that we are
experiencing right now without any
Marcellus heavyweight Southwestern Energy Company entered the Haynesville last year
with its acquisition of Indigo Natural Resources, and then expanded its position to one of
the largest in the play with its acquisition of GEP Haynesville in December. Southwestern
plans a 2022 capital budget in Haynesville of almost $1 billion to place 70-75 wells to sales.
MARCH 2022 49

American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2022

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