Companies continue to reposition their assets around the country in search of the perfect portfolio of unconventional shale. This can be seen as companies like Shell, Newfield and Goodrich with acreage in the Barnett, Woodford or Haynesville make acquisitions or joint ventures in the Eagleford. We are also still seeing the influx of capital in shale plays from large international companies. All of this has created a flurry of acquisition and divestiture due diligence for landmen. Hiring of company landmen in Houston has picked markedly up in the last 3 months as budgets start to expand. It looks like we should have a slow but steady recovery this year with more landmen being hired in all phases of landwork.
In RRC District 5(Barnett Shale), Chesapeake and XTO are the most active operators. Many of the smaller operators have not yet signed new rig contracts waiting on gas prices to rise. Landmen are busy conducting title curative to shore up title on drill sites and units. It has been reported that an estimated 200+ landmen have been hired to work the Barnett since the first of the year.
The activity in RRC District 6 for the “Texas Haynesville” continues to expand with XTO leading the way. Devon, NFR and Chesapeake are keeping a modest drilling schedule. The courthouses in the area are packed with landmen running title and preparing runsheets. Samson, Anadarko and Cabot are busy developing the Cotton Valley/Travis Peak reservoirs as well as the deeper Haynesville. In the Deep Bossier Trend XTO, EnCana and Gastar have had a lot of success.
In South Texas RRC Districts 1 and 4, the Eagleford activity seems to be taking center stage with less companies focusing on the conventional Wilcox and Vicksburg formations except for infield drilling programs. New companies from the Midcontinent and Rocky Mountains are showing up in the Eagleford play for the first time. Leasing activity in the Eagle Ford is very competitive but selective as a result of soft gas prices. Many companies are focusing on the oil leg of the Eagleford with oil prices north of $80/BBL. The number of rigs drilling in the Eagleford has increased with Petrohawk, St. Mary’s, and EOG leading the activity. Other companies with significant acreage in the trend are ConocoPhillips, Murphy, Hunt, Chesapeake, Common Resources and Pioneer.
The size and number of field land crews is starting to increase and we are seeing landmen from the Barnett move to the Eagleford and Haynesville plays as the demand for landmen increases. In-house landmen, with contract experience and management experience are still in demand and their hourly rates vary depending on whether or not the project is due diligence or higher levels of land work including negotiating and drafting agreements or managing in-house projects.
"[Cinco] has impeccable credentials, is extremely accommodating and [has] helped us on several very short notice projects. Randy is very well connected and his business practices are commendable."
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