NEW ORLEANS — One of the largest leaseholders in the Tuscaloosa marine shale oil field that spans central Louisiana and southwest Mississippi says it has run into problems with a key well in the area.
Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp. said in a statement that test results for a well in Amite County, Miss., near the Louisiana border will be delayed until early 2014 as the company works to unclog it.
The Times-Picayune reported the well, called Huff 18-7H-1, was near completion and had started to produce oil and gas when it became clogged with debris during the drilling.
The news is a letdown for investors who hoped to see results of Goodrich’s activity before year’s end.
Goodrich is one of several companies trying to use new horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to tap into oil and gas trapped in the hard layer of rock that makes up the Tuscaloosa marine shale.
Experts estimate the deposit holds 2.7 billion barrels of oil.
But companies have struggled to find the right formula to drill profitable wells.
Oil in the shale deposit is deeper underground and the rock is full of naturally-occurring cracks that make it easier for debris to fall into and clog wells.
The cost of drilling a well in the Tuscaloosa deposit remains much higher than in other parts of the country.
Goodrich made a big move into the area in August when it bought more than 270,000 acres largely in Louisiana from Devon Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City for $26.7 million.
Goodrich has a history of using new techniques to lower the cost of drilling in areas such as the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas and the Haynesville Shale in northwest Louisiana.
Company executives have said they believe they can do the same in the Tuscaloosa shale deposit.
While Goodrich works to clean out debris that clogged the Huff well, it continues to drill another prospect in St. Helena Parish. The company expects to complete that well in January.
Goodrich said in October that it plans to spend about $300 million on drilling and completion activity in the Tuscaloosa deposit in 2014. The company has two drilling rigs under contract in the area and expects to have five running by late 2014.
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