Treaty Energy Corp. (fka TECO)

[geopressure]

The play is not economic at this time, even in the sweet-spots. Extremely long laterals (8000ft) are required to get close to breaking the economic line. These really long laterals require really large drilling units +/-1240 acres (it can vary).

TECO would have to take on a partner in order to drill such a well... Horizontal wells (especially 8000ft horizontal wells) are very complicated to drill. First, 3D seismic is required, so you can plan the lateral. Then a large drilling rig with a top-drive is required to drill horizontally. The TMS is very challenging to drill a straight hole through due to it's high clay content (the well-bore is always trying to cave-in on you) this problem is compounded exponentially when you try & drill an 8000 ft horizontal through the formation. ONce drilled, these wells become even more challenging with 30-stage frac-jobs. $10-$11 Million of drilling/completion cost yet Devon nor Encana have drilled an economic well to date. It is fair to say that TMS wells are among some of the most technically challenging wells in the world.

Basically, like tdbowieknife suggested, these leases are about 30 miles North of the Northern Extent of the TMS's productive fairway. A TMS is not in TECO's future unless they obtain leases farther South (about 30 miles South & at least 80 miles East)... Using the well log I posted in a recent post, the resistivity in the Lower part of the TMS is between 3 & 5 Ohms, when the productive parts of the formation have resistivities of 100 Ohms or more... I have highlighted the 100 Ohm "Productive" line on the well-log below...

For simplification, imagine the Greater Gulf of Mexico Basin as a large bowl, with the TMS out-cropping (being on the surface) at the edge of the bowl. On one side of the bowI it out-crops in Tuscaloosa, Al (hence the name) and it's equivalent outcrops around Austin, TX on the opposite side of the bowl. Everything in the bowl has the TMS under it, but only the parts in the middle are capable of producing hydrocarbons. From that point, as the TMS gets deeper & deeper, the crude oil has a higher & higher API gravity, until it finally becomes wet-gas, then dry-gas though by then it has become so deep that it will never be economic to drill. Right now the productive fairway (working from memory) is from about 11K feet to 13K feet (it goes deeper, but it will not be economic to drill horizontals deeper than that at any time in the foreseeable future).