Goodrich producing gas from 7 new wells

Allen Baker

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. has drilled eight wells in its Cotton Valley acreage in eastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana, with all successful and seven already in production. The Houston-based independent announced those results Oct. 12.

Two more wells are currently being drilled in the area and are expected to reach total depth sometime this month. Altogether, Goodrich plans to drill 14 or 15 wells on its 40,000 acres by the end of the year.

The wells aren’t big producers, and they typically lose about half of their initial flow rate in the first year, but each well then hits its stride and can continue producing for two decades or more. Each well is expected to produce between 750 million and 1.25 billion cubic feet of gas over its lifespan.

Seven of the eight wells completed so far have been perforated, fracture stimulated and put into production, with initial flow rates of about 1.1 million cubic feet per day, though the average daily production will likely be in the range of about 800,000 cubic feet. The eighth well is awaiting fracture stimulation.

Goodrich also announced that its Burrwood/West Delta 83 fields in southern Louisiana are back in production after a five-day shut-in due to Hurricane Ivan. With those fields and the Cotton Valley production, Goodrich is now producing 24 million to 26 million cubic feet of gas equivalent daily, with 63 percent of that natural gas and the remaining 37 percent crude oil and natural gas liquids.