Last week, briefly, a rig appeared in South Arkansas and drilled a well with a single bit. Smoked it down in three days or so. It was the one and only well being drilled in the state and apparently the only operating rig in the entire month for the state. That has to be a record that surely has stood since the 1940s or earlier.
Nevertheless, the well was not a success at that. A vertical test, the operator has an opportunity to consider going back in, and “turning the corner” and attempting a horizontal completion. There is potential but the appeal was that the driller, who simply is going to park the rig on the location until the decision is made, has offered to drill such a horizontal rig “cheap”. So they may go back to the commission this month and see if they can re-enter the well and attempt a horizontal completion. It is a novel idea and if successful could offer a glimmer of hope for drilling a few wells in the Smackover trend.
The logging company from Louisiana actually had two logging trucks running (which is all they have) and said that it had been over a year since both were running. And all the crews were older people. The youngest was near 60. The industry is flat on its back.
This has to be the worst of the worst and the result is going to be a rise in prices eventually and virtually no response from a prostrate industry. So enjoy the cheap gas…I predict about 2 – 4 years of it. Then look for a sudden and unstoppable rise in prices.