Overview of Arkansas Fayetteville Shale

Fayetteville Shale in Central and Eastern Arkansas in the Arkoma basin covers an estimated 4,000 square miles. The play has black organic-rich rock from the Mississippian age with similar geological traits as Barnett Shale in Texas' Fort Worth basin. Energy Information Administration in the U.S. Department of Energy ranks Arkansas as the seventh largest producer of natural gas in the U.S.

Arkansas produced 187 bcf of natural gas from 2004 to 2008. Since then, the state has seen that increase by almost 140 percent. Over two-thirds of the natural gas drilling and production occurs in Fayetteville Shale. The bulk of the shale action occurs in Conway, Van Buren and White counties.

Oil and Gas Companies in Fayetteville Shale Play

Southwestern Energy Company is the first to drill and produce natural gas in Fayetteville and it's currently the largest gas producer in the play. The company has 106 natural gas wells in production that produce 1,330 MMcf per day. Southwestern reports it will invest $1.5 billion in Fayetteville Shale where it plans to participate in about 650 wells.

Southwestern worked with Ecosphere Technologies, Inc., which has completed a six-month Biocide Free Frac Program in a testing program on 40 wells to treat bacteria without using harmful liquid biocides. The program uses the company's Ecosphere Ozonic technology to eliminate the use of biocides during the fracturing process.

One of the largest natural gas producers, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, currently has the second biggest presence in Fayetteville Shale with over 400,000 net acres. The company has seen its Arkansas production climb over 10 percent between fourth quarter 2009 and first quarter 2010. In just one year, the natural gas producer saw its production go up 70 percent. The company has 12 operated rigs with more on the way.

Petrohawk Energy holds 157,000 net acres in Fayetteville Shale making it one of Petrohawk's three core operating areas. The other two include Haynesville and Eagle Ford.

Arkansas Top Natural Gas Producers

The top natural gas producers as of 2009 according to the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission are as follows:

1. SEECO (subsidiary of Southwestern Energy)
2. Chesapeake
3. XTO Energy
4. Stephens Production
5. Forest Oil

The players will most likely change in the next few years as some devote efforts in other shale plays while others invest more resources into Fayetteville.