CEO: Berry Gears Up for Horizontal Drilling in Uinta Stacked Pay
Berry Corp.’s legacy roots are in California’s Central Valley—but its growth engine is in Utah’s emerging Uinta Basin, CEO Fernando Araujo told Hart Energy.
Berry Corp.’s legacy is in California’s Central Valley, but its growth engine, CEO Fernando Araujo believes, is in Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Dallas-based Berry aims to grow in the Uinta and drill more horizontal wells through farm-ins and other partnerships, Araujo told Hart Energy.
Around 80% of Berry’s production still comes from Kern County, California, where the company was founded and first struck oil over a century ago.
It’s harder to drill for oil in California today than it was in the early 1900s. Regulation and red tape mires the fossil fuel industry in the Golden State—though Berry still finds ways to operate successfully in California, Araujo said.
But to continue growing, Berry has looked outside of California from time to time. In 2003, Berry acquired assets in Utah’s Uinta Basin, where the company manages production from roughly 1,200 vertical wells.
Berry’s Utah production averaged 4,700 boe/d during the third quarter; California output averaged 20,100 boe/d.
Berry made its first moves to horizontally develop in the Uinta earlier this year.
During the second quarter, Berry acquired a 21% working interest in four, 2- to 3-mile horizontal wells directly adjacent to its existing Uinta operations. The wells were landed in the Green River Formation’s Uteland Butte reservoir—the most popular bench among Uinta horizontal operators so far.
By August, the results indicated better wells than Berry’s pre-drill estimates. The wells IP’ed at 1,100 boe/d each, 90% oil.
But they were landed in a shallower end of the basin with relatively lower reservoir pressures, so IP’s are slightly lower than wells in the northern end of the deep basin, Araujo noted on an investor call.
Impressed with the early results, Berry doubled down on the Uinta. In November, Berry exchanged certain leasehold interests in Duchesne County, Utah, for that of another Duchesne County operator’s.
Berry received a 17% working interest in three, 3-mile drilling spacing units (DSUs) in exchange for a 75% working interest in one, 2-mile DSU, according to regulatory filings.
The second farm-in agreement calls for up to 12 horizontal wells; The first two Uteland Butte wells are expected to be online by early next year.
“Another six wells will be drilled in ’25 and the rest of the wells will be drilled in ’26,” Araujo said.
Berry farmed into four horizontal wells directly to the east of its Uinta position in the second quarter. In November, Berry executed a second farm-in covering 5,800 gross acres in the Uteland Butte reservoir. (Source: Berry investor relations)
Most of the wells covered under the second farm-in agreement will target the Uteland Butte. But one or two wells are planned to target the deeper Wasatch Formation, Araujo said.
Secondary Uinta benches include the Castle Peak, Douglas Creek and Wasatch intervals.
“We’re exposed to the Castle Peak, as well,” Araujo said. “We’ve got the Uteland Butte, and we’ve got the Wasatch in a couple different places.”
Some operators are exploring even deeper underground. Private operator Anschutz Exploration landed two laterals in Mancos Shale outside of the Uinta’s core oil play, state records show.
The Mancos underlies the Wasatch and Green River formations.
(Left) SM Energy sees 17 potential targets for horizontals in XCL Resources' property. (Source: SM Energy) (Right) The Mancos shale underlies the Uinta’s most popular benches, the Green River and Wasatch formations. (Source: Scout Energy Partners)
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