E&P Berry is targeting the Uinta Basin’s stacked pay with laterals now as potential production growth from its long-held leasehold has new takeaway capacity. The company has lowered its drilling costs in the Uinta Basin at approximately $500,000 per well as the company expands its drilling program with three-mile laterals.
Fuel cost advantages, the use of a dual fuel fleet for D&C as well as the utilization of produced water in completions contributed to the 20% in cost savings.
The Uinta in northeastern Utah has witnessed a resurgence in recent years, with oil and gas producers using horizontal wells to chase some of the basin’s in-place resources, as estimated by the US Geological Survey. The move to horizontal development comes as the basin’s oil is no longer capped. New railway capacity to the Gulf Coast and other markets has resulted in Uinta production growing.
The renewed interest and increased activity targeting stacked pay zones are while many E&Ps look for new drilling locations outside the Permian Basin. Horizontal drilling has expanded the emerging play’s viability over the past decade, with activity gradually moving south toward its 100,000-acre position.
Recent horizontal activity north and east of the company’s position is led by Scout Energy Partners in the Uteland Butte Formation; FourPoint Energy in the Castle Peak, Uteland Butte and Wasatch formations; and Wasatch Energy Management in the Uteland Butte and Wasatch formations.
Berry is targeting shallower intervals with average oil saturation of 70%. The company has about 1,200 existing vertical wells on its acreage that produce from multiple intervals.
