Gulfport's New Production Results Fall Below Antero's
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gulfport Energy reports it recently placed three Harrison County Utica wells in production and the gas, already sold, is flowing into the pipelines.
However, the latest production results are substantially weaker than earlier wells the company drilled while competitors tapping into this southern portion of the Utica have turned up massive production numbers.
The southern tier of the Utica shale play is commanding the most attention among major energy companies, largely because of robust production results in the region encompassing, Monroe, Noble, Belmont and Harrison counties.
In November 2012, Gulfport reported that its Shugert 1-12H well in Belmont County tested at a peak rate of 7,482 barrels per day of oil equivalent, at that time the most powerful Utica well drilled.
But last month, Denver-based Antero Resources LLC reported that its Yontz 1H well in Monroe County tested at an astounding peak rate of 8,879 barrels of oil equivalent per day and was producing 38.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, by far the strongest well found in the Utica to date.
Four other Antero wells in Monroe County also tested strong. The Rubel 1H tested at 7,917 barrels of oil per day, the Rubel 2H (2) well tested at 7,816 barrels of oil per day, the Ruble 3H (2) well tested at a rate of 7,097 barrels of oil per day, and the Norman 1H well tested at a rate of 6,181 barrels of oil per day.
Gulfport said this week that its Wagner 3-28H well produced an average seven-day sales rate of 9.7 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, 214 barrels per day of condensate, and 1,067 barrels per day of natural gas liquids.
Production at the Wagner 3-28H well stood at 2,607 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the company said. The well was drilled at a vertical depth of 8,535 feet with a 6,867-foot horizontal lateral.
The Wagner 3-28H is the third well drilled on Gulfport's Wagner pad and the second put into production there. The first, the Wagner 1-28H, was completed last year and tested at a strong peak rate of 17.1 million cubic feet of gas per day, 432 barrels of condensate per day, and 1,881 barrels of natural gas liquids per day, or 4,650 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Gulfport also reported that its Clay 3-4H and Lyon 3-27H wells were recently put into production.
The Clay well produced at an average seven-day sales rate of 2.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, 392 barrels per day of condensate, and 323 barrels per day of natural gas liquids, or 1,019 barrels per day of oil equivalent.
The Clay 3-4H was drilled at a vertical depth of 7,932 feet with a 6,715-foot horizontal leg.
Gulfport's Lyon 3-27H produced at a seven-day sales rate of two million cubic feet of natural gas per day, 477 barrels per day of condensate, and 274 barrels per day of natural gas liquids for a combined average of 1,014 barrels per day of oil equivalent, the company said.
Last week, Gulfport reported that it lowered its overall production guides for the third quarter because of pipeline permitting delays and "higher than anticipated downtime" in other wells in the Utica.
The company said it would reduce overall production guidelines to between 12,250 and 12,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It had in initially forecasted production of 14,000 to 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the third quarter.
Nevertheless, Gulfport said it is still on target to achieve its projected year-end average production rate of between 13,699 and 16,438 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shares of Gulfport were trading slightly higher at mid-day at 62.73.
Gulfport has contracted with MarkWest Energy Partners in Denver as its midstream partner in the Utica. MarkWest is constructing a massive processing complex in Cadiz, Ohio, in Harrison County.
The first phase of the complex is finished and gas is being processed there.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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