Will the horizontal Spraberry rival the Wolfcamp? Report

Insight 06 October 2015

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Report summary

The Permian-aged Spraberry is one the of earliest targeted formations in West Texas but more than seven decades of vertical drilling and EOR activity have only yielded modest production growth. Now, a select set of operators, who are able to identify and target favourable geologic zones, are revisiting the complex formation with horizontal wells and modern fracturing techniques to generate production growth that rivals their Wolfcamp positions. Permian pure players are not the only companies promoting the potential of the Spraberry. ExxonMobil has been steadily increasing its position in west Texas and specifically cited strong Lower Spraberry results as one of the drivers for recently acquiring an additional 48,000 Midland Basin acres in August 2015.

Executive summary
Regional geology influences success
- Geologic comparison of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp
Operator enthusiasm re-ignites drilling activity
Establishing scale will be challenging
- Appendix - Evolution of Spraberry development
  - Many techniques have been tested but horizontal drilling could be the most significant
    - 1949 to 1950's: Discovery
    - 1950s to 1990s: Marginally economic and modest supply growth/EOR
    - 1990's to 2000's: Rise of the Wolfberry
    - 2010 to present: Horizontal Wolfcamp overtakes vertical Wolfberry development

Tables and charts

This report includes 2 images and tables including:

The most promising horizontal Spraberry wells are located in Midland, Martin and Howard Counties
Will the horizontal Spraberry rival the Wolfcamp?: Table 1