Halcón Resources Plans to Drill 20+ Wells in Utica
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The top executive from Halcón Resources Inc. reports that its first two wells in the Utica shale should be tested in April, "with more wells following each and every month."
During a conference call Thursday, Floyd C. Wilson, chairman and CEO of the Houston-based company, told analysts that Halcón is delineating the 130,000 acres it holds in the Utica play, which includes drilling operations in Trumbull County in Ohio and Mercer County in western Pennsylvania.
“During the first half of this year, we’ll drill 10 or 12 wells across our holdings in the play,” Wilson reported. Two wells -- the Phillips 1H well in Mercer County and the Allam 1H in Venango County, Pa. -- are completed and in a designated “resting” period, he said.
Two other wells are either completed or being completed while two more are being drilled, he said.
“We remain highly confident that our research is pointing us in a good direction in this great new play,” Wilson said.
Halcón will drill the first 10 wells "to delineate acreage, which will allow for a more focused approach to wells drilled in the second half of 2013," the company said in its Feb. 28 earnings release. Halcón currently operates two rigs in the play and expects to add one to two additional rigs by year end.
Halcón reported that it intends to invest $200 million and drill or begin drilling between 20 and 25 new wells in the Utica. It operates two sites in Mercer, Pa., and is finishing a new well in Hartford Township in Trumbull County.
Meantime, Halcón Field Services, a subsidiary, is working on developing an infrastructure plan for this region of the Utica, Wilson added. "Infrastructure ownership is our goal whenever practical, and a multi-modal approach to transportation to the best market is planned,” he elaborated. “A complete infrastructure solution in this complicated area is a year or more away."
Wilson addressed analysts' questions about Halcon's earnings for the full year 2012 and the three months ended Dec. 31.
Halcón reported fourth-quarter net income of $10.5 million, or two cents per diluted share, on revenues of $124.7 million.
For the full-year 2012, the company reported a net loss of $4 million, or three cents per diluted share, on revenues of $247.9 million (CLICK to read earnings release).
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.