The Texas Granite Wash Play: The Place to Be for Big Oil and Gas

Wednesday 11 July 2012, Amsterdam

Drilling permits in the Granite Wash play have been on the increase as production levels continue to soar, states the new Granite Wash Shale in the US - Oil Shale Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020 report.

According to the report, the Texas portion of the play has rewarded oil and gas companies such as Chesapeake Energy and Forest Oil Corporation with high quality liquids in return for their endeavors in the area.

The Granite Wash play (Texas) has emerged as one of this fastest growing liquid plays with an approximate 33.3% boost in production from 2009 to 2010. Crude oil grew by 12.7, from 1.37 MMboe (Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent) in 2009 to 1.54 MMboe in 2010, whereas condensates grew from 2.69 MMboe in 2009 to 3.86 MMboe in 2010 – an increase of 43.7%.

It is no surprise then that oil and gas companies have redoubled their Granite Wash drilling activities over the last year. In 2011, 495 drilling permits were issued, but this jumped by 18% to 574 by the end of the year. The most popular spot in the play is Wheeler County, which alone had 287 permits issued in 2011, representing a surge of 38.6% over the previous year.

Most of the drilling activity in the Texan play occurs in the Anadarko basin where companies such as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Linn Operating Inc and Devon Energy employ innovative drilling techniques to extract large quantities of natural gas. Improved technology and better simulations in horizontal drilling has aided development in the play.

The report expects overall gross production from the Texas section of the Granite Wash to reach 42.8MMboe by the end of 2015, and climb higher still to 73.6MMboe in 2020 when production levels are predicted to stabilize.

This report provides insight into the oil and gas exploration and development potential in the Granite Wash play.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by a team of industry experts.