Oil and gas group Range Res. (LON:RRL) said this morning that production rates were beginning to stabilise from its Russell Bevly # 1 well following fracture stimulation work on two of the lower pay zones inside the well. Russell Bevly, which lies on Range’s North Chapman Ranch Project in Texas, US, is now producing at a rate consistent will a targeted rate of 4 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcfd) plus 320 barrels of oil per day(bopd) per well, based on current production of approximately 1.9 MMcfd and 160 bopd from the lower two zones. The upper two zones, which have a larger pay zone, are still on track to receive fracture stimulation later this month.
Range’s executive director Pete Landau, said: “Results to date from the Russell-Bevly frac job have provided encouragement for additional development drilling in the field, which will continue with the drilling of the third well in the coming months. Because North Chapman Ranch wells have a high condensate yield, Range and its partners are able to capture currently high oil prices while remaining positioned for the eventual rise in US natural gas prices.”
Range has high impact exploration projects in the Puntland region of Somalia and the Caucasus state of Georgia. In the US, it holds stakes in the Smith #1 and Russell Bevly wells on the North Chapman Ranch plus a 21.75% stake in the East Texas Cotton Valley prospect. At North Chapman Ranch, Range holds a 25% interest in the initial Smith #1 well and a 20% interest in further wells. The project area encompasses approximately 1,680 acres in one of the most prolific oil and gas producing trends in Texas. Drilling of the first well resulted in a commercial discovery with independently assessed gross recoverable reserves in place (on a 100% basis) of 240 billion cubic feet of natural gas, 18 million barrels of oil and 17 million barrels of natural gas liquids.
Last month Range announced that drilling was under way at the East Texas Cotton Valley prospect. The Ross 3H well will be the company's first horizontal well and first in the shallow oil prospect, which covers approximately 1,570 acres and encompasses a recent oil discovery. The Range Resources share price fell by 3% during the morning to 22.75p but remains well up from its 8.5p trading…
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