This is a little section of Midland County, south of Midland, via a TRRC GIS map. The westerly most flank of the Midland Basin can be seen in the far left, bottom corner where HZ laterals get scarce on the Platform. Everything east of that flank is primo, heart of the watermelon, Grade 'A' Spraberry... the Four Seasons Spraberry of the Midland Basin. To party with the big boys, this is the place to be. Pioneer calls this area, Saudi America.
Midland County is the top producer in the sub-basin, the 2nd largest producer in the entire Permian and most of this comes from the Spraberry. Midland County had 3,500 HZ tight oil wells drilled in it the past decade.
Its getting watery down to the south and southwest...
and gassier than the dickens elsewhere.
And as I have previously pointed out, Midland County's overall HZ tight oil productivity is falling, I believe from over drilling:
Realized production data and analytical chart presentations thanks to shaleprofile.com
There are three benches in the Spraberry/Dean and three in the Wolfcamp in Midland County and Pioneer says it has gazillions of locations left to drill, in spite of ever increasing GOR. If so, why spend $8B the last six months buying more acreage from Parsley and Double Point, as Pioneer has?
All those little dots in those 640 acre sections are vertical Spraberry wells on 40 acre spacing drilled in the late 70's and early 80's, some as far back as the 1950's. They all made lots of gas and that gas was flared all thru the 1950's and 60's. Beginning in the late 1970s, these wells were all frac'ed. Been there, done that. We stage frac'ed the snot out the Spraberry over long, gross intervals. They made a little money, not much, but now represent big pressure depleted sink holes in each section with wells that have communicated with each other laterally AND vertically. Don't kid yourself if you think that hasn't happened.
So, if for instance you think you want to snake a $9MM, Lo. Spraberry lateral through a section full of vertical wells perforated and frac'ed in the Up. Spraberry, or vice versa, you are on your own but I strongly suggest you use other people's money.
HZ drilling permits in Midland Country thru 5.2021 indicate the focus is still on high grading sweet spots, on packing more sardines into little cans. HZ tight oil "wildcatters" don't seem to have the balls to get very far away from the house, even at $75 oil and gushing free cash flow, so they say.
What's the point here?
The Eagle Ford shale play is done, stick a fork it that. The Bakken might as well be 'done; it is through growing and soon to be sliding down hill as well. All of America's oil eggs now lie entirely in the Permian Basin basket and that basket consists of 4-5 counties in the Delaware Basin and 4 counties in the Midland Basin, including Midland County. When those counties are drilled up (and its happening, I assure you!) and declining like a ship anchor dropped in the open ocean... da da, dat's all folks!
"Looney" is a good synonym for exporting 70-80% of Permian Basin HZ tight oil production to Asia.