Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., plans to boost its North Texas gas production by 25-30 MMcfd during the next 12 months from 100 MMcfd earlier this year.
Its program involves placing spare productive capacity on line, stepping up the pace of well completions, increasing deliverability in gathering systems, and serving more gas markets in the area.
The program stems from Mitchell's buyout last July of a premium priced gas sales contract with Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (OGJ, July 24, p. 23).
In addition to payments with a present value of $176 million, Mitchell received control of Natural's gathering system serving Mitchell's 1,500 North Texas wells. That allows Mitchell to increase gas production by better integrating drilling, production, gathering, and gas processing.
Old way, new way
"In the past, we sold most of our North Texas gas to Natural under a fixed volume contract," said Chairman and Chief Executive George P. Mitchell. "Natural operated the gathering system and controlled the pace at which they added our new wells to their system. They had no incentive to move rapidly. As a result, we always had a large backlog of unconnected wells."
Things have changed sharply since the buyout, Mitchell said.
"Now that we control the gathering system, we can accelerate tie-in and completion of a number of these wells, turn on spare capacity...and change the movements of gas within the field by developing new sales outlets."
Equally important for the long run, Mitchell said, is the potential for increased deliverability with added compression, as well as interconnecting, looping, and expanding the area's gathering system.
Mitchell has already begun using spare productive capacity. That has increased gas volumes and natural gas liquids production from the company's 100% owned Bridgeport gas processing plant in Wise County.
As part of this program, the company expects to trim the time it takes to drill, complete, and connect a well to only 6 weeks from as long as 6 months.
Mitchell's backlog of completed wells awaiting hookup has fallen to nine from 24. Sixteen Mississippian Barnett shale wells also were awaiting fracture treatment July 1. The present program aims to reduce that number to five during the next couple of months.
Gathering, marketing
Several planned gathering system improvements will increase deliverability into the 205 MMcfd capacity Bridgeport plant, which has 30% spare capacity at present.
The improvements involve:
- Connecting a Mitchell pipeline to the Natural system to move production from Denton County.
- Reconfiguring gathering lines and compression to optimize line pressures in Southeast Wise County.
Studies under way will add to these capacities in the months to come, Mitchell said.
To increase its marketing flexibility, Mitchell will tap the Dallas-Fort Worth gas market by using two lines that connect the Bridgeport plant with Lone Star Gas Pipeline Co.'s system near Alvord, Tex.
Mitchell also will increase the capacity of a connection with a Tufco pipeline by diverting gas to a larger diameter line and increasing its pressure.
Studies under way will add to these capacities in the months to come, Mitchell said.Those two projects combined are designed to allow the company to move 50 MMcfd to local - and possibly higher priced - markets by the end of this month.
