American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2023 - 52

SpecialReport: Permian Basin Playmakers
As a background, Devon drilled the
Boundary Raider wells a few years ago
in the Bone Spring Sand. " Those were
the two most prolific wells ever drilled
in New Mexico, " Raines relates. " One
produced almost 13,000 boe/d. "
The Exotic Cat Raider project consists
of six wells drilled with three-mile laterals
in the Upper Wolfcamp, two of which
are in the same area as the original Boundary
Raider wells. Raines says the sixwell
project has exceeded predrill expectations,
with the best well reaching as
high as 7,200 boe/d.
" It is too early to know what these
wells can produce before they start declining, "
he adds, " but I am confident
they will surpass 2 million boe. "
Devon has drilled more than 1,000
wells in the Delaware and will drill approximately
another 225 wells this year.
" We are always trying to get better, "
Raines says. " Our team learns from each
well we drill and complete. "
Devon's completion design targets 2,500
pounds of frac sand per foot in the Upper
Wolfcamp, " We continually strive to get
better in stage and cluster architecture and
dial in our sand volumes, " Raines explains.
Appraisal Process
Part of Devon's success, according to
Raines, is its appraisal of a formation before
it enters the development phase. Its
development also utilizes existing infrastructure
most of the time, whether thirdparty
or Devon's own gathering systems.
" We have multiple areas, so it helps
to lay out a multiyear plan, " he offers.
" We want our gathering systems running
at or near 100% capacity. That way we
are not overbuilding and can keep our
infrastructure spending down. "
Raines maintains there are downstream
constraints, however. " We need
more pipes to get the gas out of the
basin, " he contends. " Another pipeline,
the Matterhorn, is expected to come on
line later next year. It is needed. If you
look at spot gas prices, the Permian is
discounted. You need to get the gas to
market. Devon is lucky to have firm
transport and price protection for the
vast majority of its volumes. But as
prices come down, other operators that
don't have the same protection may
have to pay someone to take it. "
Devon operates in Loving, Winkler
and Reeves counties in Texas as well as
Lea and Eddy counties on the New Mexico
side of the state line.
" At Devon, we do not get over our
skis, " Raines explains. " It is very important
that we understand our rock. We
have a very intentional appraisal program
that looks out two-three years. When
we get ready to develop, we are confident
of our rock, the landing zone and the
proper spacing. For example, we've
found that some zones within the 1st
Bone Spring, 2nd Bone Spring and Avalon
'talk to each other' and need to be
developed together. "
So how does Devon appraise new
zones? " We have seismic on 95% of our
assets, " he states. " We are just now starting
to develop the Deep Wolfcamp, but that
work started four years ago. We started
doing inversion of our seismic data to
make it sharper. That is like comparing
your television 15 years ago to 4K highdefinition
TV today. We also utilize a
petrophysical model that we're always
improving. When we drill one well, we
will drill deeper to take a core of the
Deep Wolfcamp. We will drill one well
to validate it is what we think it is, and
then we will drill multiple wells. "
Raines says Devon may at times drill
only two wells on a pad, but it will return
later to ultimately drill as many as 8-12
wells on a pad, giving the company the
ability to use existing facilities. " That allows
us to fully develop the reservoir
with a minimal increase of our facilities'
footprint, " he remarks.
Companywide, Raines says Devon has
a 10-year inventory of 4,500 drilling locations,
55%-60% of which is in the
Delaware Basin. He notes that does not
take into account the deeper Woodford
and Barnett, or other formations as the
company continues to explore the opportunities
the multiple stacked pays offer
in the Delaware.
Location, Location, Location
Like selling real estate, location can
mean everything in drilling oil wells.
Fort Worth-based HighPeak Energy operates
in the northern Midland Basin,
with acreage in Howard, Borden and
Scurry counties in Texas. Mike Hollis,
president of HighPeak, says over 90%
of the company's 113,500 acres are located
in Howard County and southern
Borden County, which offers a number
of advantages.
In the Delaware Basin, Devon Energy has completed the Exotic Cat Raider development
in the Todd area in Lea County, N.M. With three-mile laterals targeting the Upper Wolfcamp,
the six-well project has exceeded predrill expectations, reaching as high as 7,200 boe/d.
52 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
HighPeak went public about three
years ago and has since more than doubled
its acreage position. " Our acreage doesn't
have as much associated gas, " Hollis relates.
" Our first-quarter 2023 production

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2023

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