more research from saf..Good analysis of Eagle Ford by Newfield....

more research from saf..


Good analysis of Eagle Ford by Newfield. Multiple rigs & multiple plays.

Newfield Exploration Company Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript Feb 17, 2010

Lee Boothby ? President and CEO

?This was a true team effort, and both the technical staff and our legal team worked very hard to ensure that we?ve made it to closing. This large transaction marks our entry into Eagle Ford Shale and Maverick Basin of South Texas. We are excited about the tremendous opportunities that we see in this vast acreage position.
Over the last 12 months, we have significantly reduced our activities in conventional exploration plays in South Texas, electing to shift our capital toward material plays of scale in our portfolio. Throughout 2009, our onshore team was focused not only on maximizing the value of our existing property base, but also transforming itself by identifying plays of the future.
The Eagle Ford Shale, the Maverick Basin, and TXCO itself were specifically targeted in early 2009. So when the TXCO opportunity presented itself, we jumped on it. This acquisition allows us to apply core competencies we have developed across the organization as well as an asset base with lots of running room and upside.
Newfield has a proven history of creating value through similar transactions, and I would reference our EEX Corporation transaction in 2002 and the Inland Resources Monument Butte transaction in 2004 as relevant recent examples. So what did we buy? We now have more than 300,000 highly prospective net acres in Maverick and Dimmit counties, Texas.
Just saying 300,000 acres understates the value that we see in this acreage. We have multi-play, stacked potential on our acreage, and our ideas range, and formations in the gas window through the wet gas window and onto oil. Prospective targets range from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in the Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford Shale, Georgetown, Glen Rose formations, and Pearsall Shale.
All of these are known oil and gas producers, and recent industry successes in the Eagle Ford and Pearsall are extending the trend north and west. This acquisition also brings current production of about 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, about 90% of which is in the Maverick Basin and 60% of which is oil.
The acreage is vast. In fact, it?s more than 300,000 net acres and has a larger net acreage footprint than our Monument Butte, Woodford Shale, and Granite Wash plays combined. The chance to capture large contiguous position in an oil and gas from a state like Texas doesn?t come around very often. I?m very confident that we will continue to find additional opportunities in this acreage set, even beyond those we can see and contemplate today.
Our 2010 plans here are aggressive. We will immediately go to work on this acreage and we will invest more than $100 million in 2010. We expect to be running at least three operated rigs here by summer. Our early efforts will be primarily focused on three primary targets; the Eagle Ford and Pearsall shales and the Georgetown formation.
We have 300,000 net acres prospective for Eagle Ford. Our interest is greater than 90% or more than 300,000 acres in the Eagle Ford. By June, we expect that multiple rigs run in to assess this potential. Recent successes around us provide early encouragement as to the potential of our acreage. We plan to drill at least 12 wells in 2010 in the Eagle Ford, and we will test the formation in multiple depths, prospective for both gas and oil. We will apply our experiences in horizontal drilling and completions in the Woodford and Granite Wash, which will accelerate and compress the learning curve.?

http://seekingalpha.com/article/189106-newfield-exploration-company-q4-2009-earnings-call-transcript?page=-1&find=eagle+ford+shale