Extract from Devon's latest quarterly conference call:
"On the exploration front, from our 600,000 net-acre position in the Mississippian to north central Oklahoma, we have some very encouraging results to report. In the first quarter, we brought 24 wells online, bringing our total operated well count in the play up to 53 producing wells. To date, the majority of our activity has been focused in Noble, Payne and Logan counties, within the joint venture with Sinopec, in which they carry the majority of our capital cost.
At quarter end, we had approximately 71 wells in various stages of completion or tie-in, due to the timing of pad drilling and related infrastructure build-out. It is important to note that because of constraints in the gas-gathering infrastructure and maintenance restrictions, production rates for many of our new wells have been limited. However, even with the constrained flow rates, our results from this play continue to support or exceed our target economics.
Recently, we have seen several wells that have been producing between seven and 30 days, with rates from 600 to over 1,100 barrels of oil per day. That is not barrels equivalent. That is the oil production only. In addition, these wells produce significant volumes of high BTU gas. To date, we are also seeing a higher component of propane and heavier liquids in the NGL barrel, as compared to other liquids-rich plays.
Our recent well results confirm our belief in the important of 3D seismic in the area. With the incorporate – with the incorporation of 3D seismic into our geological modeling and our selection of drilling locations, we are beginning to see significant improvement in well results.
Our recent success has confirmed our plans to concentrate our activity in areas where we have incorporated 3D seismic into our program. In addition to the benefits of 3D seismic, we have strong evidence our improving completion techniques are resulting in higher EURs.
In summary, strong results from the Mississippian trend confirm our belief that this area will provide the next leg of large-scale – large scale highly economic oil growth for Devon. "
