BP Points to New US Shale's Potential
BP has brought online a highly productive shale gas well in New Mexico, it said August 7.
It said the well showed the potential of the Mancos Shale to be a significant new US gas source.
Early production rates at the well (NEBU 602 Com 1H) are the highest achieved in the past 14 years on the San Juan Basin which spans southwest Colorado and northeast New Mexico and includes the Mancos Shale, said BP. The well achieved an average 30-day initial production rate of 12.9mn ft3/d
In 2015, which is when it acquired its Mancos acreage, BP began operating its US Lower 48 business as a separate business, introducing innovative drilling and completions techniques which it said had boosted production; it also added acreage through acquisitions.
BP Lower 48 Onshore CEO Dave Lawler said the result “gives us confidence to pursue additional development of the Mancos Shale, which we believe could become one of the leading shale plays in the US.” The business expects to open a new headquarters in Denver, Colorado in 2018 closer to the majority of its operated oil and gas assets and proved reserves in the Rocky Mountain region.
Mark Smedley