Formation northwest of Abilene draws attention of oil exploration companies
With interest in oil and gas production rising along with the price of oil, the industry is turning an eye to a rock formation northwest of Abilene, local experts said.
In the Abilene region, “the biggest thing is a leasing play occurring in northern Fisher County and western Nolan County and Mitchell and Scurry counties for a potential shale that may be oil and gas productive,” said Allan Frizzell, a district vice president for the Texas Oil & Gas Association and vice president of Abilene-based Enrich Oil Corp.
Such a “leasing play” is a rush to acquire mineral rights from landowners.
“It’s pretty speculative, but the lease bonus money being paid to mineral owners is pretty high and is injecting a lot of revenue into local banks,” said Frizzell, explaining that “it’s in its infancy, as far as the drilling and completion phase.”
Mark McKeehan, past-president of the Abilene Geological Society, said about the geologic formation that “everybody’s known it shows oil and gas for long time.”
But now producers have the ability to use techniques such as hydraulic fracturing, commonplace in exploring rock formations such as the Barnett Shale and Eagle Ford Shale in Texas.
In the area northwest of Abilene, “the technology’s catching up with it: the ability to go in there and ‘frac’ the thing and open it up has caused it to be a potential moneymaker for the people in that area,” said McKeehan.
Such fracking techniques have come under fire from environmental critics who have complained about potential contamination of groundwater from fracking or waste produced by the fracking process, with the Environmental Protection Agency studying any potential harmful effects.
Frizzell emphasized the depth of the formation.
“It’s very deep.