Gastar Exploration announces results from initial Meramec well

Gastar Exploration Inc. has announced the results of the Deep River 30-1H well, its first operated test of the STACK formation Meramec Shale in Oklahoma. The well commenced flow back in October 2015. It has been gradually increasing oil and gas production to a recent initial peak 24-hour rate of 1094 boe/d (71% oil) and 1549 barrels of completion fluids recovered per day. The Deep River 30-1H was producing at a most recent 10-day average oil and natural gas rate of 1042 boe/d (71% oil) and an average of 1364 barrels of completion fluids per day. Gastar has a 100% working (80% net revenue) interest in the well. This Meramec Shale test well, located in Kingfisher County, was completed with 34 frack stages, placing approximately 12 million pounds of proppant in an approximate 5100 ft lateral, for a total cost of US$6.4 million. The company anticipates that its future wells targeting the Meramec Shale, assuming a 5000 ft lateral length, should cost approximately US$5.5 million to drill and complete.

"Our Deep River Meramec test well is an important success and moves the productive outline of the Meramec play much further northeast than previously defined," said J. Russell Porter, Gastar's President and CEO. "It is also worth noting that the percentage of oil in our area is much higher than the production associated with acreage that has been involved in industry transactions recently completed at very high valuations. Plus, the robust gas production shows that our acreage has good reservoir pressure to drive high oil production volumes and increase reserve recovery. This should allow future drilling of the Meramec play to generate both positive cash flow and strong returns on our investment, even at current commodity prices."

"With the completion of this acquisition of additional interests in Oklahoma, we have expanded our exposure to the STACK play as well as the Hunton and emerging Osage and Oswego plays. We estimate that, based on 320-acre spacing, we now have approximately 194 net locations on approximately 62 200 net acres that are prospective for the Meramec/Osage formation within the Mississippi Lime, an increase of 49 net locations. Now that our Mid-Continent AMI is dissolved, we control all future drilling plans on that acreage and are taking over operatorship of a majority of the wells previously drilled within the AMI."

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/17122015/deep-river-30-1h-well-results-500/