Sweet spot identification and delineation continue to be the focus as more companies enter play

"The sweet spots are still being defined because these normalized production rates have not shown signs of flattening, which means the limits of the play have not yet been fully delineated and operators are still learning how to best produce from this reservoir," said Reed Olmstead, manager of the North American Supply Analytics Service at IHS Energy, and the principal analyst behind the analysis.

Located in the western portion of the Permian Basin that straddles the Texas-New Mexico border, the Wolfcamp Delaware is an emerging hydrocarbon play that, according to new IHS analysis, has the economic potential to sustain some operators through this period of distressed oil prices.

Unlike more developed unconventional plays such as the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, the Wolfcamp still has some growing to do to be considered mature, according to the IHS Energy Wolfcamp Delaware Review. The Wolfcamp Delaware, noted the IHS analysis, has some of the best production of any U.S. onshore play, with average peak normalized productivity (production rate per 1,000 feet of lateral well drilled), which is nearly double that of the Midland Basin average. See the graph below to observe the normalized productivity for plays in the Permian as a whole.

In the Central Gas and Southern Liquids sub-plays, two early sweet-spots developing in the play, IHS said normalized productivity has increased by more than 40 percent since first-quarter 2013. The Southern Liquids sub-play has had more activity, with nearly twice the number of producing horizontal wells of the Central Gas sub-play (127 wells and 60 wells, respectively).

"The Wolfcamp Delaware has promise, but right now, it is considered an adolescent in terms of its maturity," said Olmstead,. "The sweet spots are still being defined because these normalized production rates have not shown signs of flattening, which means the limits of the play have not yet been fully delineated and operators are still learning how to best produce from this reservoir."

For more information read the press release or contact Sheana Hamill at sheana.hamill@ihsmarkit.com to see the upcoming webinar.

Staff Writer for IHS Energy Performance Evaluator and North America Supply Analytics.
Posted 9 July 2015

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.