Drillers defining Tuscaloosa shale’s productive areas

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Drillers defining Tuscaloosa shale’s productive areas
BY TED GRIGGS

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. and other players in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale are making excellent and rapid progress in defining the most productive area to drill in the oil-rich formation, according to the company’s chief executive officer.

So far, the most productive wells have been drilled in a 60-mile by 20-mile area that stretches from Tangipahoa Parish to Wilkinson County, Mississippi, Goodrich CEO Walter Goodrich said during a conference call with stock analysts and investors.

Those wells generated initial production rates of more than 1,000 barrels per day, Goodrich said.

In the past two years, 44 horizontal wells have been drilled in the formation. Twelve additional wells are either being drilled or completed. In 1997, LSU’s Louisiana Geological Survey Office estimated the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale could produce 7 billion barrels of oil. Data gathered in recent years ups that potential to 9 billion barrels, with drillers using modern technology and drilling techniques to systematically get a feel for developing the formation.

Goodrich officials have said previously that the formation has some advantages over the highly active Bakken shale in North Dakota and Eagle Ford in Texas, where oil accounts for 87 percent and 85 percent of production, respectively vs. the 90 percent-plus in the Tuscaloosa.

Other Tuscaloosa advantages include lower royalty rates and lower severance taxes in Louisiana and Mississippi; a higher-quality crude that fetches a higher price; and low transportation costs.

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