Devon to Drill 8 Wells on a Single Unit in Oklahoma

US onshore-focused junior oil firm Magnolia Petroleum reported Monday that partner Devon Energy is to drill eight wells on the same spacing unit in Oklahoma as the Marion 1-23 HW well. This will be to maximize the recovery of reserves from both the Mississippi Lime formation and the lower-lying Woodford formation, the firm said.

Magnolia, which has a 4.1-percent interest in the area being drilled, said this will be the first time it will have participated in eight wells on a single section in Oklahoma. It added that it expects to receive similar proposals for other leases and is "confident that the strong growth in production and reserves seen to date will continue".

Magnolia Chief Operating Officer Rita Whittington commented in a company statement:

"With the Woodford formation lying below the Mississippi Lime, we believed it was only a matter of time before we received proposals from operators to drill eight wells per spacing unit on our leases in Oklahoma. Just as it has become established practice to drill eight wells on a single unit to maximize the recovery of reserves from both the Bakken and the lower lying Three Forks Sanish formation in North Dakota, we believe more and more operators will do the same in Oklahoma, targeting the Mississippi Lime and Woodford.

"This has the potential to significantly increase the number of drilling locations on our leases in Oklahoma, as was the case with our North Dakota leases, which in turn has positive implications for our production and reserves growth going forward."