fourfold increase ?, page-49

I wonder if the four plays include the Atoka ?? or will we find a 5th ? These are excerpts from a subscription that is under copyright.


"Pioneer, and others, are targeting the Atoka as yet another zone to add to their vertically commingled wells in the Spraberry Trend --Atokaberry?" notes analyst Dan Morrison in a Sept. 2 report. "At those rates, we began to ponder the horizontal potential of the zone."

After taking a peek at the production histories in the Midland Basin, GHS saw that several vertical Atoka wells had been drilled and produced over time in an area of Midland, Martin, and eastern Andrews counties.



"As we focused in on this area, we discovered a well in western Martin County permitted in February by a private operator as a horizontal completion in either the Strawn or Atoka intervals. We could not obtain any information as to which zone the well was actually completed in, or how productive the well may--or may not--be. But we did notice the same company filed four additional permits in July for similar horizontal wells, suggesting they are seeing some encouraging results."

"There are far fewer Strawn producers in the same area and just a handful of Mississippian wells. A new, deeper zone is always a possibility too. But Pioneer's recent vertical success also adds to our confidence in the horizontal potential of the Atoka. Thinking of the 150 BOE/d vertical completion as a single stage, the potential rates available from 5 to 10 multiple stages in horizontal completion starts to get one's attention."

"We've focused on the area where the Atoka has been successfully produced vertically," Morrison says. "But an important aspect of horizontal completion technology is its ability to potentially commercialize areas that are non-commercial under vertical development. The Atoka could have horizontal potential over a much larger area. So add Atoka to Wolfcamp, Avalon, Bone Spring, Abo and others as new horizontal plays to watch in the Permian."