Trends in U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Upstream Costs

Trends in U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Upstream Costs

March 2016

Independent Statistics & Analysis

U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585

This report was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA's data, analyses, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the United States Government. The views in this report therefore should not be construed as representing those of the Department of Energy or other federal agencies.

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Trends in U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Upstream Costs

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Contents

Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 1 Onshore costs .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Offshore costs.......................................................................................................................................... 5 Approach.................................................................................................................................................. 6 Appendix - IHS Oil and Gas Upstream Cost Study (Commission by EIA) ................................................. 7

I. Introduction....................................................................................................................... IHS-3 II. Summary of Results and Conclusions ? Onshore Basins/Plays................................... IHS-7 III. Deep Water Gulf of Mexico........................................................................................... IHS-23 IV. Methodology and Technical Approach......................................................................... IHS-29 V. Bakken Play Level Results............................................................................................... IHS-35 VI. Eagle Ford Play Level Results......................................................................................... IHS-53 VII. Marcellus Play Level Results........................................................................................... IHS-69 VIII. Permian Play Level Results............................................................................................. IHS-85 IX. Deepwater Gulf of Mexico............................................................................................. IHS-103

Figures

Figure 1. Regional shale development has driven increases in U.S. crude oil and natural gas production . 2 Figure 2 Percentage breakdown of cost shares for U.S. onshore oil and natural gas drilling and completion .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3. Average well drilling and completion costs for the 5 onshore plays studied follow similar trajectories.................................................................................................................................................... 4 Figure 4. Cost per vertical depth and horizontal length ............................................................................... 5

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Summary

The profitability of oil and natural gas development activity depends on both the prices realized by producers and the cost and productivity of newly developed wells. Prices, costs, and new well productivity have all experienced significant changes over the past decade. Price developments are readily observable in markets for oil and natural gas, while trends in well productivity are tracked by many sources, including EIA's Drilling Productivity Report which focuses on well productivity in key shale gas and tight oil plays.

Regarding well development costs, there is a general understanding that they are sensitive to increased efficiency in drilling and completion, which tends to lower costs, shifts towards longer wells with more complex completions, which tends to increase them, and prices for oil and natural gas, which affect markets for drilling and completion services through their effect on drilling activity. However, overall trends in well development costs are generally less transparent than price and productivity trends. Given the role of present and future cost trends to determining future trajectories of U.S. oil and natural gas production under a range of possible future price scenarios, it is clearly important to develop a deeper understanding of cost drivers and trends.

To increase the availability of such cost information, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) commissioned IHS Global Inc. (IHS) to perform a study of upstream drilling and production costs. The IHS report assesses capital and operating costs associated with drilling, completing, and operating wells and facilities. The report focuses on five onshore regions, including the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Marcellus plays, two plays (Midland and Delaware) within the Permian basin1, as well as the offshore federal Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The period studied runs from 2006 through 2015, with forecasts to 2018.

Among the report's key findings are that average well drilling and completion costs in five onshore areas evaluated in 2015 were between 25% and 30% below their level in 2012, when costs per well were at their highest point over the past decade.

Based on expectations of continuing oversupply of global oil in 2016, the IHS report foresees a continued downward trajectory in costs as drilling activity declines. For example, the IHS report expects rig rates to fall by 5% to 10% in 2016 with increases of 5% in 2017 and 2018. The IHS report also expects additional efficiencies in drilling rates, lateral lengths, proppant use, multi-well pads, and number of stages that will further drive down costs measured in terms of dollars per barrel of oil-equivalent ($/boe) by 7% to 22% over this period.

EIA is already using the observations developed in the IHS report as a guide to potential changes in nearterm costs as exploration and production companies deal with a challenging price environment.

1 The Bakken is primarily located in North Dakota, while the Marcellus is primarily located in Pennsylvania. The Eagle Ford and the two Permian plays (Midland and Delaware) are located in Texas.

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Onshore costs

Costs in domestic shale gas and tight oil plays were a key focus of EIA's interest given that development of those resources drove the major surge in crude oil and natural gas production in the United States over the past decade, as shown in Figure 1. The IHS report documents the upstream costs associated with this growth, including increases associated with the demand for higher drilling activity during expansion and decreases during the recent contraction of drilling activity.

Figure 1. Regional shale development has driven increases in U.S. crude oil and natural gas production

Crude oil production million barrels per day

Marketed natural gas production billion cubic feet per day

10 Rest of U.S.

Federal Gulf of Mexico 8 Permian region

Eagle Ford region

Bakken region 6

90 Rest of U.S.

80 70 Rest of U.S shale 60 Marcellus region

50

40 4

30

2

20

10

-

-

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Drilling Productivity Report regions, Petroleum Supply Monthly, Natural Gas Monthly Note: Shale gas estimates are derived from state administrative data collected by DrillingInfo Inc. and represent the U.S. Energy Information Administration's shale gas estimates, but are not survey data.

The IHS report considers the costs of onshore oil and natural gas wells using the following cost categories: land acquisition; capitalized drilling, completion, and facilities costs; lease operating expenses; and gathering processing and transport costs. Total capital costs per well in the onshore regions considered in the study from $4.9 million to $8.3 million, including average completion costs that generally fell in the range of $ 2.9 million to $ 5.6 million per well. However, there is considerable cost variability between individual wells.

Figure 2 focuses on five key cost categories that together account for more than three quarters of the total costs for drilling and completing typical U.S. onshore wells.2 Rig and drilling fluids costs make up 15% of total costs, and include expenses incurred in overall drilling activity, driven by larger market conditions and the time required to drill the total well depth. Casing and cement costs total 11% of total

2 Typical U.S. onshore wells are multi-stage, hydraulically fractured, and drilled horizontally. The costs identified relate, in part, to the application of those technologies.

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