High hydrocarbon content of Apache’s assets
While no one should expect Lubbock County to boom overnight, the area will continue to see economic growth as the residual effect of area drilling.
Apache Corp., one of the largest stakeholders in the Permian Basin, began Permian operations in 2010, after advances in multi-stage fracking and horizontal drilling reversed the slow, steady decline in drilling that began in the mid 1970s.
John Christmann, Apache’s Permian Basin vice president, said expectations for the entire area are unknown, and largely dependent on geological variations and technology.
Apache’s 2013 drilling plan focuses on the Wolfcamp and Cline shales, and will add an additional 34 drilling rigs to the area.
Apache’s Permian assets include more than a million leased acres. The high hydrocarbon content of Apache’s assets is irrelevant if there is not a way to bring production costs down, Christmann said.
“Shale plays are elusive prizes,” Christmann said. “There is tremendous potential in the Cline, and we will be testing other areas, but there are lots of variables that factor into the overall impact of the play, and it will take advances in technology to have expectations for the Cline come to fruition.
“When we find something that works, it takes off quickly,” Christmann said. “We will go into the area with the most potential first, but only if we can keep production costs low enough to justify the investment and expense.”