re: Tuscaloosa Marine Shale

Current LLS pricing will definitely make the TMS more attractive if it can show any signs of maintaining that premium over WTI. I'm not very bullish TMS right now, but when the science catches up a bit, and world demand strengthens Brent, there will be a time for TMS. It has a ways to go right now though...IMO.

Totally agree with you on that. This play will have it's day. They still have producing vertical wells drilled back in the early 70's, 80's & 90's.
Wouldn't be surprised to see other oil majors partner up with the current operators to get it figured out. Eagle Ford giant, EOG, has started acquiring acreage in TMS, late in the game. I'm confident they will find ways to cut cost in the coming years.
I hear the quality of crude is good, with a low sulfur content & API of 39 to 40. Lt Sweet Crude is good stuff!

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Encana told us that the cost of drilling each well could be as low as 7 million if everything goes according to plan and as high as 12 million if there are mistakes or unexpected slow downs. So the $10mil estimate could be high in some cases.

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I saw where Encana management reported that the first well drilled, Weyerhauser 73, cost $8 mil to complete. I believe in Eagle Ford, they are around $6 mil.

I mean it just seems like costs tend to scale with production and oil prices by and large. They find oil, leases go up. Oil might not go up, but basic finance dictates that the costs to get to it do, and they clearly do. Obviously it depends on when companies decide to get into plays and how early/late they are to the find, but still. They find lots of oil, they need more equipment or services to get said oil out. They may be able to be more company-specific efficient after the learning curve is conquered but with the unbelievable onshore demand for oilfield services (nat gas prices being shitty or not) I don't see how you could possibly squeeze margin out of an inherently risky play. Look at a company like EGN that has been acquiring acregage in various parts of the Permain for the last 2 years. That's clearly one of the more developed (speaking of the whole basin) areas and they still talk about well cost variability due to water disposal, unpredictable GOR ratios
(which are obviously critical with natty being what it is currently) and water flow, and hitting the areas they are trying to hit (Avalon Shale, 3rd Bone Spring, etc) and generally not knowing how economical those wells might be still. And those are $7-9MM/well @ (someone correct me if I'm wrong, for 3rdBS) like 12.5k feet. Aren't we talking about the same kind of depth? I'm not sure what kind of porosity or natural fracture is in the TMS, I fully admit that, I'm just generalizing.

IDK maybe the o&g professionals can comment on the contract structure of the services firms more and the geology of the play relative to the other more recent areas of activity. The firms we work with have been making money hand over fist; its not like the product pricing is opaque. If I'm HAL or BHI I'm not going to toss already stretched resources at a discount when the same company is breathing down my neck for shite in EF, Bakken, Permian, ML, etc etc. eta: On the flip, if I'm [insert E&P co here], why would I want to direct those contracted resources to TMS when EF etc are paying out like they are? These are sophisticated companies, not a bunch of wildcatters on a whim; there's no way that shite isn't already built into their economics.

It's deeper than Eagle Ford with similar thickness. With it being deeper, I couldn't see how it ever be as economical as Eagle Ford. Most reports I've read claim it to be 11,000 to 14,000 across the play.
Porosity ranges between 5% and 10%.
Less brittle and easier to frac, but higher risk.

The problem with the TMS is depth and clay.

I have very limited knowledge of the TMS, but have a small mineral interest in the play and have been trying to follow developments. Stumbled across this article LINK
Is the expansion of this NuStar facility related to TMS and AC activity?

Thanks for the reply; I was speaking with a gentleman several months ago who retired from the industry. His advice was to not hold my breath until we begin to see significant investment in infrastructure associated with the developing plays. I assume he was referring to the transportation of oil and gas? What will be the method(s) of moving the oil, provided the production rate is good?

The answer to whether Louisiana’s Tuscaloosa Marine Shale oil formation will see a rapid increase in activity could come Wednesday during Devon Energy’s analyst day, said Doug Leggate, senior U.S. energy analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Devon Energy is expected to reveal if it has figured out how to economically produce in the shale formation, Leggate told those who attended Merrill Lynch’s oil and gas industry update Wednesday at Juban’s Restaurant. If so, drilling activity can be expected to accelerate.

“Watch this one very closely,” Leggate said, “because they’re the ones who are going to tell us if this play is working or not.” LINK

I did not attend the event and have not heard what was said. Anybody??