DJ basin beats Bakken, Permian, Eagle Ford on commerciality of fraclog
HOUSTON -- The heart of the DJ basin, Weld County, exhibits the most commercial fraclog with an average completion cost per barrel of $4.70, according to a study by Rystad Energy.
Simultaneously, Weld County also tops the ranking list by inventory size with almost 600 oil wells awaiting completion crews. The large size of the inventory is primarily driven by intentional completion delays initiated by Anadarko Petroleum, which operates almost half of Weld County’s fraclog. PDC Energy, Noble Energy and Whiting Petroleum each operate about 10% of the fraclog.
Rystad estimates that the DUC inventory in Weld County turns economical at an average WTI price of just $30/bbl. Other counties that exhibit favorable fraclog economics are Reeves County in the Permian Delaware and McKenzie County in the Bakken, with average completion costs of $4.80/bbl and $5.10/bbl, respectively.
This implies that the major part of the U.S. shale DUC inventory is commercial in the current oil price environment, and significant support to the U.S. Lower 48 oil supply can be expected in the near months as market sentiment gradually moves in a positive direction.
