OilVoice - Pioneer Natural Resources Continues Successful Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Program

Pioneer Natural Resources Continues Successful Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Program

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Pioneer Natural Resources Company announces its fifth successful well in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The Chesnutt Gas Unit #1 well, which is located in Karnes County, Texas, tested at an initial production rate of 15.6 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day (including 14.1 million cubic feet of gas per day and 255 barrels of condensate per day) on a 24/64 inch choke with approximately 5,600 pounds per square inch wellhead flowing pressure. The liquids-rich gas contains 1,200 British thermal units per cubic foot. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of approximately 13,300 feet and completed in a 4,100-foot lateral section with a 12-stage fracture stimulation. Production from the well is expected to flow to sales beginning in the third quarter after completion of a Pioneer-operated gas treating facility where the condensate will be separated from the gas.

Scott Sheffield, Chairman and CEO, stated;
'We are very excited to have successfully drilled another highly productive well in the Eagle Ford Shale. The Chesnutt #1 provides additional confidence in the development potential of the 1,750 Eagle Ford Shale locations we have identified across our large 310,000 acre position. This well also further validates the attractive liquids yields we expect to realize in the condensate window of the play, where approximately 70% of our acreage lies. With a gross resource potential of more than 11 trillion cubic feet equivalent, we expect the Eagle Ford Shale to add significant production and reserves while enhancing shareholder value.'

Pioneer is a technology leader in this play with greater than 2,000 square miles of 3-D seismic data, logs from more than 150 operated wells, proprietary core samples and micro-seismic results. The Company is targeting liquids-rich areas with two rigs currently drilling horizontal wells in Karnes and Dewitt Counties and one well currently awaiting completion. To further accelerate Eagle Ford Shale development, the Company is actively pursuing a joint venture, with an announcement expected by the end of the second quarter of 2010. Plans call for drilling to be aggressively increased to six or seven rigs by the end of 2010, ten rigs by the end of 2011 and 14 rigs by the end of 2012.

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