Barnett Shale Update in the Midland Basin
After being bombarded with Barnett shale hype in the Permian Basin for the past 5 years including trillions more MCFs from pundits, analysts', cheerleaders and another United States Geological Society assessment, here...
...let's take a look at how this play is working out so far.
The Barnett Shale is Mississippian Age, not Permian and its top lies at close to 11,000 feet below the surface, deeper than typical HZ targets in the Permian like the Wolfamp. Its dispositional environment is totally different and tends to be dense mudstone (shale) without the usual high carbonate content. It can be over pressured and difficult to drill because of different pressure gradients going to TD. There have been several losses of surface control events drilling Barnett wells in the Midland Basin.
Its goodies typically lie in thicker sections of the Barnett correlative interval and those areas of thick gross shale may even be structural related (AAPG).
A lot of Barnett wells drilled in the Midland Basin have been picked from 3- dimensional seismic data. Below is an isopach map on the top of the Barnett Shale laid next to the USGS' always larger-than- reality estimates of its areal extent.
So, after 5 years here's what we've got: 107 active producing oil wells in the Barnett in four counties, Andrews, Ector, Midland and Martin. There are a number of shut-in wells (not DUCs) reported for reasons I don't know.
Correlate the concentration of wells with the isopach map, above. There are several published 3-D seismic shoots available to the public, for a hefty price, and all correlate to the concentration of wells. No wells have high enough initial GOR to be classified as gas wells.
To date, May 2026, these Barnett wells have produced 23 MM BO and 90 BCFG. They are averaging 213,000 BO and less than 1 BCFG after 2.5-3.25 years, when the Barnett boom started in late 2022 and got to rolling in 2023. There are some exceptions; a couple of 2.5-year-old wells than have made 340,000 BO and 1.4 BCF, but they are few. These results are a tad better than the typical Wolfcamp A well in the Midland Basin, but not much. It's too early to tell but I have seen gas EURs for Burnett wells in the Midland in the high 6s to low 7s.
Barnett wells in the Midland Basin often require three strings of pipe, are deeper, problematic to drill and cost more money. Reported costs are in the $1100-$1200 per lateral foot range
That's the reality, after 5 years. So far, not so good. But its early, as pundits would insist. The Barnett and Woodford are believed to be great sources for data center and LNG feedstock...today's Henry Hub-WaHa gas would be netting producers less than 80 cents per MMbtu. NGL's in the Midland Basin, after ALL costs are deducted, not sector investor presentation bullshit, is around $15 per bbl.
We'll look at Delaware Basin Barnett production next, but you'll be very disappointed.