PITTSBURGH, Pensylvania – A startup exploration company is banking on record production in shale gas. Wolderman Oblinio Westerman Inc, or WOW, has a brand new take on drilling shale gas, and they are set to take the stage as a leader in the Marcellus and possibly Eagleford fields in 2013. A new strategy called the W.T.F.D.L.W.A. program (Why The Frick Drill Long Wells Anyways) has a few supporters at least, and is catching all kinds of media attention.
The W.T.F.D.L.W.A. program is a two fold attack on costs and production. Although WOW has no production staff to help or with which to consult, it seems their short radius, short well approach may be gaining traction in the communities, due in no small part to the number of surface leases W.O.W. will need to build and fund. The program is best described by self declared ‘Guru’ Smitty Candguuds, formerly of Sun Valley Shine Corp, a major producer of shoe polishes in southern California.
Smitty Candguuds at his New Market location.
We consulted a reservoir engineer, or a geologist, or whatever he was, and he was very expensive. He said in the first meeting that the heel was important. Now I know shoes, and I agree. No different in the oil patch I figured, a heel is a heel.
So we plan to drill over 400 wells with just a heel, no real ‘leg’ to speak of. Why bother if the heel is so important. It means a lot of dirtwork, but hey, when we decimate Cheaterson, Wilder and Wilder, and Bendovus out there, who is gonna feel dumber? Exactly.
The following graphic was made available by WOW’s marketing team that constrast their planned concept with conventional development practices.
WOW has planned 487 locations for the 2014-2015 drilling season, banking on multi-rig savings from Precision Drilling and Nabors if they are willing to put 10 rigs each to work on the program to make the timelines required by current lease structure and farming complications. Candguuds has been overheard expecting a 5 day timeline per well, with an average cost of just over $1.3M per location drilled, with another $650K to find, buy, build, and remediate each location for each well drilled. The current staff at WOW will need to expand Candguuds admits.
Our current staff is roughly 41 or 43 people, depending on how many ‘temps’ I have in here on a given day. We’ll need at least 6 more people to make this fly. We’ve made an offer to a viable Project Manager (Kip Rippling) to lead WOW to its greatest achievement. To prove you don’t have to have all the school and talent and technical expertise in the world to make a buck drilling these simple wells.
Blue Piece is in uproar over the suggestion of more surface lease and far more wells and frac jobs to be completed in the eastern gas fields. Proved Plus Probable will be watching WOW very closely over the next period of time in hopes that at least some great news stories can be garnered from such an ambitious project.
It’s a good thing that Mr. Candguuds didn’t believe that the toe was the most important part of a drill. I wonder how that drilling strategy would have turned out?
It’s a good thing that Mr. Candguuds didn’t believe that the toe was the most important part of a drill. I wonder how that drilling strategy would have turned out?