BP has started production from a prolific new natural gas well in the Mancos Shale of New Mexico, a discovery that points to the area’s potential as a large new gas supply source for the United States.
Early production rates at the NEBU 602 Com 1H well in San Juan County are the highest achieved in the past 14 years within the San Juan Basin, a large oil- and gas-producing area spanning southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico that includes the Mancos Shale. The well achieved an average 30-day initial production rate of 12.9 MMcf/D.
The successful well test took place on assets that BP acquired from Devon Energy in late 2015, which expanded the company’s position in the basin and provided improved access to the Mancos.
A 10,000-ft Lateral
The NEBU 602 Com 1H well was drilled with a 10,000-ft lateral in an area known as the Northeast Blanco Unit (NEBU), a section of federal lands in New Mexico’s San Juan and Rio Arriba counties and an area where BP has been present since the 1920s.
“We are delighted with the initial production rate of this well,” said Dave Lawler, CEO of BP’s US Lower 48 onshore business. “This result supports our strategic view that significant resource potential exists in the San Juan Basin and 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 US Geological Survey has estimated that the Mancos could constitute the second-largest gas resource in the country behind the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern US.
BP’s Mancos drilling operations have targeted a layer approximately 4,000 ft beneath the large coal zone that has supported coalbed methane production in the San Juan Basin for many years. The company has said it could drill some 1,600 horizontal wells with 5,000-ft lateral sections across the basin.