The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, an Emerging Play

摘要

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), a source rock, occurs above the prolific deep Tuscaloosa sands and averages 150-200 ft in thickness. The shale is uppermost Cenomanian to early Turanian in age (92-94 million years ago) and was deposited during a major transgression during the Tuscaloosa "A" Sequence. In 2010, Devon Energy commenced a large lease acquisition effort across the TMS play. Active operators are Encana, Devon, Goodrich, EOG, and Halcon. To date, over two million acres have been leased. The most significant completion to date has been the Goodrich Crosby 12H-1 with an initial potential of 1300 barrels of oil equivalent per day and a thirty day average daily rate of 1137 barrels of oil equivalent. EOG has drilled three consecutive wells with an average of 31 days. The longest lateral of 8932 ft was achieved by Encana. First year declines range from seventy-eight to eighty-five percent with recoverable reserves ranging from 400,000-800,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Thirty-five wells have been permitted with twenty-four completions. At this early stage in the play, economics are not confirmed. Drilling new wells and performing additional analyses will lead to the definition of the play boundaries and "sweet spots." Economics will define the full development of the shale. It is believed, that once the play is fully de-risked and in a development mode, costs will range from $9-12 million per well.