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What is this?
Gas well could be 'extremely big'
Published Tuesday, July 27, 2010
NATCHEZ — A drill tip aimed 22,000 feet below the surface in Jefferson County would have undeniable effects in the Miss-Lou if it finds what its operators are after.
Mainland Resources of The Woodlands, Texas, started drilling last week at the site of a former Chevron gas well near Rodney Island. The site is a part of the Haynesville Shale, a natural gas field responsible for booming business in the Shreveport, La., area.
President Mike Newport is hopeful the vertical test drill will be complete in five to six months, but he’s not yet ready to predict exactly how much gas his company may find.
“I’d hate to say,” he said. “It could be extremely big. It has a lot of potential.”
History
Natchez resident Jack Cox is quite familiar with the Jefferson County site.
He was working for Chevron in 1981 when the company drilled 22,000 feet down, found gas, hit trouble and abandoned the site for fear of an uncontrolled blowout.
The high-pressure, high-heat well that took nearly a year and a half, according to Cox, was too much for 1980s drilling equipment, but with new technology comes new opportunities, he said.
“I’ve done some additional review and started re-looking at the data,” said Cox, who has owned and operated Anderson Oil Company in Natchez since leaving Chevron after work at the site in 1981.
Cox knew Mainland Resources was working on the Haynesville Shale near Shreveport, and gave Newport a call. The men met, Cox offered his help, and work to acquire a lease in the area began.
The dig
Mainland Resources leased 17,500 acres, some of which is in Tensas Parish, La. Their work in the area began more than a year ago. The well has been named the named the Burkley Phillips No. 1 well.
Mainland is an independent oil and gas exploration, development and production company formed in early 2008.
Its stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board an over-the-counter trading platform.
With data from the Chevron dig in hand, the company has contracted with RAPAD Drilling and Well Service of Laurel and Jackson to do the initial drilling.
Several Natchez drillers confirmed that no local company has a rig big enough to do the work RAPAD is doing.
The completed well cost is estimated at $13.5 million, Newport said.
“If this works, we could be very busy over there,” Newport said. “We could have an excess of 225 locations on an 80-acre site.
“This could be ongoing; it takes a while to drill and complete the well, and we are taking all the precautions with this first well. We want to be extra careful, and we’ll learn from this first well.”
Mainland Resources already completed an approximately 15-mile road to the dig site, and more such work may be coming, Newport said.
If the site is a success, Mainland may look to local workers for everything from roadwork to drilling needs, he said.
Economic impact
If the natural gas find is a big one, the Miss-Lou and surrounding area stands to see tremendous benefits, area oil and gas experts said.
“If they were ever to find something out there that was in quantities that would become commercial, that would lead to several things,” W.T. Drilling President Leo Joseph said. “The state tax commission would receive the severance tax, and that would in turn help local communities.”
The oil rig workers on the site now are likely already impacting businesses in the immediate area with simple things like lunch purchases, Joseph said.
Oil field suppliers and drilling companies from Brookhaven into the Miss-Lou will benefit, along with those in the logging and land industry.
Local geologists and rig workers could be hired as the process goes on.
Right now, the dig work is so deep that most Miss-Lou companies are unable to assist, Energy Drilling Company Drilling Manager Jody Helbling said. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be had later on.
“If it became a big player, I don’t think it would boom right away,” Helbling said. “Not a lot of rigs can handle that. But if it became a big deal and they could prove it to be a widespread thing, in the future, it would definitely be good for our industry.”
Joseph agreed.
“If it’s a success, it can’t be anything but good.”
Comments
Posted by a0271636 (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 1:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BUY STOCK NOW!!!!
Posted by stateofnatchez (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 5:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
drill "bit", not drill "tip"
Posted by Tenerani (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Surely Mr. Joseph knows that there is NO Place to purchase lunch, or anything else, within twenty miles of this well site!!!!!!!
Posted by Bone (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If it is true and something good comes out of this you can bet everybody and their mother are going to try and claim a piece and here we go again the LAWSUITS. Let's just pray that they will find gas and put some of out local mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters(home grown people) to work.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Be careful about oil boom stock plays. This is risky business and there are plenty of tricks to make money from anticipation that do not translate into long term money.
The Haynesville Shale in Louisiana is much shallower, some down to around 14,000 ft, and that translates to a much more expensive process here. The reason the Haynesville was so productive in Louisiana is horizontal drilling techniques that are difficult and expensive but very productive.
That said I heard that the Cadillac dealers in some parts of Louisiana sold out when the Haynesville was hotter in Louisiana. Leases went through the roof, some -- I can still hardly believe it -- some over $30,000 per acre because the Haynesville there is almost a 100% production hit for a horizontal driller. Gas prices dipped and some producers there were overextended and lost a bundle.
Posted by snowgarden (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard there is a goldmine in the Haynesville Shale. The question is, how dangerous is it?
Posted by UpNorth (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Hanyesville shale is very dangerous with high pressure. I have been drilling in it for 5 years. It is safe to drill in if you have the right equipment.
Posted by daytripper (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 7:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sure there is a lot of pressure and temp down there, they are getting close to you know where, H E double hocky sticks !
Posted by ntzslums (anonymous) on July 27, 2010 at 8:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmmm, wonder if they will use hydraulic fracturing...Might not be too long until the fine folks in Jefferson County have flames coming out of their faucets instead of palatable drinking water. Anyone see the HBO documentary about those poor souls in Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, etc???
Posted by keepinup (anonymous) on July 28, 2010 at 6:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Be careful. I just a heard a program on MPB talking about this kind of drilling, if I'm not mistaken. They discussed the problems that have occurred. Mainly the water tables being poisoned and the health problems people were having that went along with that. Not to mention wildlife dying off.
Posted by Time_Theif (anonymous) on July 28, 2010 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"The site is a part of the Haynesville Shale, a natural gas field responsible for booming business in the Shreveport, La., area".... comepletely false.
Posted by consider_reason (anonymous) on July 28, 2010 at 4:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Haynesville Shale is a rock formation mainly composed of consolidated clay-sized particles deposited and buried in northwest Louisiana and East Texas.
The Haynesville Shale came into prominence in 2008 as a potentially major shale gas resource. Producing natural gas from the Haynesville Shale involves drilling wells from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and to 13,000 feet (4,000 m) deep.
The Haynesville Shale has recently been estimated to be the largest natural gas field in the 48 states with an estimated 250 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. Production has boomed since late March 2008, creating a number of new millionaires in the Shreveport, Louisiana region.
There most certainly is a booming business in Shreveport, and numerous gas companies, drilling companies and related businesses are working hundreds of sights in and around the Shreveport area.
The only thing completely false about it is your statement.
Posted by gardencity (anonymous) on July 28, 2010 at 9:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is amazing that the same people always comment on every article in a negative format and they really don't have a clue what they are talking about. Just my opinion. Good article, ND
Posted by gardencity (anonymous) on July 28, 2010 at 9:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is amazing that the same people always comment on every article in a negative format and they really don't have a clue what they are talking about. Just my opinion. Good article, ND
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