Hilcorp Joins Monster Western Haynesville; Mitsui Rigs Up
Hilcorp Energy has bagged two horizontal tests in the mega-Bcf far western Haynesville play north of Houston, while Mitsui E&P USA has pulled four permits and rigged up.
Hilcorp picked up its leasehold in the new play’s target area in January 2024 from XTO Energy, gaining 486 early 21st century, mostly vertical wells producing about 28 MMcf/d.
Mitsui joined the play in June 2024 with 47,000 acres from Vanna LLC and Sabana LLC.
New Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) files show Hilcorp recompleted two vintage horizontal wells XTO had made in 2010 near where Comstock Resources kicked off the play in 2022.
In 2010, E&Ps were testing the prolific deep Bossier overlying the Haynesville with laterals after producing from it with verticals in the decade before.
Hilcorp’s Varibus #8H had produced 3.4 Bcf before shut-in in 2022 while it was making some 33 Mcf/d. Varibus #10HR had produced 3.1 Bcf before shut-in in 2019.
The Varibus wells are about six miles northwest of Jewett, Texas, in Leon County.
Both are landed in the Bear Grass-CV Consolidated Field, while Comstock and Aethon Energy have been landing in the Bald Prairie-CV Consolidated Field.
Hilcorp reported to the RRC the Varibus #8H was taken through Pettit, Travis Peak, Cotton Valley, Bossier and Cotton Valley Lime to more than 14,000 ft.
Perforations were made in the Bossier, while the Cotton Valley was isolated. The well was completed without a sleeve, it added.
Casing pressure prior to the frac was 9,500 psi, while maximum pressure during the frac was 7,075 psi. Proppant was 40/70.
Hilcorp’s Varibus #10HR recompletion also added perforations in the Bossier, the recompletion report showed.
New production data was not reported yet to the RRC on either well.
Mitsui permits
Meanwhile, Mitsui’s four permits are for the Baker #101H, O. Henson #1H, Lipsey #1H and Whitaker #1H.
Two are in Leon County, Texas; two, in Freestone County, Texas.
“Mitsui intends to undertake full-scale development of the asset post-2026, based on the well performance from its initial exploratory wells,” Arun Jayaram, a J.P. Morgan Securities analyst, reported in a recent look at the play.
The Mitsui permits are to up to 30,000 ft, which allows making hole as deep as basement in the area.
The western Haynesville play to date is at an average depth of 16,000 ft, while the original Haynesville play in northwestern Louisiana is at an average of 12,000 ft, Jayaram noted.
Results to date
Jayaram found six-month cumulative production from western Haynesville wells to date by Comstock and Aethon have averaged 0.459 Bcf per 1,000 ft, while the average from the original Haynesville play was some 0.266 Bcf per 1,000 ft in 2024.
He found break-even for the new play at $4.02/Mcf for a 35% IRR if EUR is 3.6 Bcf/1,000 feet with D&C costs of $2,650 per ft.
“If D&C costs were to fall by 10% [or] 20% in the western Haynesville, we estimate that the break-even would fall to $3.75 [and] $3.48/Mcf.”
Comstock’s oldest well in the play, Circle M #1H in Robertson County, produced 19 Bcf in its first 37 months online from a 7,816-ft lateral, according to RRC production data through April.
The E&P holds 520,000 net acres in the four-county southwest-to-northeast Bossier Trend beginning north of Houston and extending south of Dallas.
Bald Prairie-Cotton Valley Consolidated Field in Robertson County and Dowdy Ranch CV in Freestone are among many prolific gas producers in the four-county Freestone Trend play in Freestone, Limestone, Robertson and Leon counties in Texas.
