November 3, 2014: in the middle of an oil price slump, in which Saudi Arabia has just announced it will lower the price before cutting production,
Bakken.com is suggesting that the
next big thing is the Cline:
While the Permian Basin
is known as the U.S.’ largest oil producer, operations seem to be
shifting from the western side of the basin to the eastern side, and the
shift has a lot of people preparing for another boom.
The Cline Shale formation, also known as the Lower Wolfcamp or
Wolfcamp D, is located on the eastern edge of the Permian Basin. The
formation runs about 140 miles north to south and is around 70 miles
wide. Counties included in the Cline Shale are Mitchell, Coke, Fisher,
Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Nolan, Reagan, Scurry and Sterling. Other
reports also mention Upton, Tom Green, Crockett, and Schleicher
counties. The formation is said to run 200 to 550 feet deep.
With the Cline Shale becoming more and more popular, many oil
companies are moving in and setting up shop.
Some of those companies
are Apache Corporation, Laredo Petroleum, Firewheel Energy, LLC and
Pioneer Natural Resources. With these large companies moving into the
area, Greg Wortham, mayor of Sweetwater, didn’t want the same problems
that happened in Midland, Odessa and surrounding towns that weren’t
prepared for the oil boom, to occur in towns around him. Worthham
formed the Cline Shale Alliance in hopes of bringing together the area’s
small towns to start preparing for the next oil boom.
April 19, 2014: there are reports that Devon has pulled out of the Cline --
One of the most surprising events is that Devon has all but pulled its operations out of the Cline Shale, predominantly due to "a lot of
variability" in production at test sites. While this has tempered
expectations for some, supporters of the play say not to be swayed, as
larger energy companies have been known to divert their attention from
unconventional or unproven plays. Just last year, Royal Dutch Shell disclosed that it would be pulling out of the fastest-growing formation on the planet, the Eagle Ford.
June 27, 2013:
random update on the Cline. -- 30 billion bbls recoverable -- current estimate
May 25, 2013: mywest.com update on a "whale of a shale."
The Cline Shale is about 140 miles long, 70
miles wide, and 200-550 feet thick stretching through the Permian Basin
and southward. Test wells are exceeding expectations and indicate the
shale could contain 3.6 million barrels of recoverable oil per square
mile or as much as 30 billion barrels in total. Yes, billion. That's
multiples of the likely production from other well-known shales such as
the Bakken up north or the Eagle Ford here in Texas.
Fact check, compared to the Bakken:
- the better Bakken: 6 wells/section x 600K EUR/well = 3.6 million bbls/square mile
- middle Bakken: 60 feet thick; Three Forks: 300 feet thick
- CLR: estimates of 24 billion to 48 billion bbls of recoverable oil
- Williston to Dickinson: 130 miles
- Williston to Stanley: 70 miles
- 30-second sound bite: the Cline is probably another Bakken
April 29, 2013: update from Sweetwater, TX, 100 miles ENE of Midland, where it appears they are getting ready to drill the Cline.
Original Post
A reader alerted me to the Cline Shale in Texas which was news to me. From multiple sources:
From Ohio.com:
Investor site StreetAuthority is gushing over the potential of other
shale fields in the United States. It says one shale formation in
particular now being explored in Texas could hold as much as 30 billion
barrels of recoverable oil and fuel, dwarfing the estimated 4.3 billion
barrels in North Dakota's Bakken shale.
Street Authority writes: "Devon's wells show that the formation
contains 3.6 million recoverable barrels of oil per square mile. As the
Cline is roughly 9,800 square miles in size, this works out to estimated
reserves in excess of 30 billion barrels.
The Clineshale.com website.
From drillinginfo.com:
The Cline Shale oil play lying at roughly 9,250 feet below the
surface along the eastern flank of the Midland Basin could possibly be a
key component for energy independence for the U.S. The play area runs
roughly 140 miles north-south and about 70 miles wide through Howard,
Glasscock, Reagan, and Sterling Counties.
Devon and Chesapeake recently reported impressive test well results.
Devon’s wells show the formation contains 3.6 million barrels of
recoverable oil per square mile. A rough approximation, taking into
account the 9,800 square mile area of the Cline, indicates over 30
billion barrels of recoverable oil. This exceeds both the Bakken and
Eagle Ford by far.
The USGS estimates the Bakken Shale to hold up to
4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and the Eagle Ford has estimates
at as much as 7 to 10 billion barrels of total recoverable reserves.
John Richels, president of Devon, gave an expected type curve value of
570 MBOE for a Cline Shale well, with 85% being oil and NGLs.
