Thought I would pass along some info I dug up that may or may not be relevant…
Back in 1985, Westland Oil Development drilled a vertical well named the C. Richards Estate 1. This well was located 4 miles southwest of Crockett. It was drilled to 18,240 TVD, but was completed as a Glen Rose well with perfs from 10,206 to 10,244. Production was minimal.
In 2008, Chesapeake re-entered this well, extending the TVD to 22,290 feet. They then frac’d a 2,890-foot vertical section from 18,596 to 21,486. Once again, production was minimal and the well was plugged in 2009. I was not able to locate any well logs, so I presume Chesapeake still has them. The depths that were frac’d could possibly be in the Bossier/Haynesville interval, but I don’t know for sure.
This well is located about 15 miles southeast of the Yancey well. Could Chesapeake currently be using log data from this well along with data from the Yancey well?
Here’s a map highlighting the surveys in which these two wells were drilled. Yancey is at the top left and Richards is at the bottom. In between are the surveys in which Cypress Energy has leased and recorded about 4,000 acres since September, 2024. We know that Drake Exploration wrote the lease for the Yancey well plus other areas, but nothing has been recorded yet. It is quite possible that the Drake leasing area encompasses some or all of the area between these two wells, but we won’t know until the Drake lease memos are recorded.
Their was also a deep test well drilled on smith land in Leon County. I believe it was Chesapeake that drilled it and it was around the same time as thess wells were drilled. It was rumor at that time they hit gas and had a hard time keeping it from blowing out. The Monroe Leathers #1 was drilled to 12,388 which is the deepest well and first well drilled in the Alabama ferry field. Monroe had a strong interest in this well and Baxter wasn’t going to bring it in but when Monroe put pressure on them saying if they didn’t he was. Most of the other wells in the Alabama ferry field is drilled to 10,500 ft. with production ranging from 9,200 to 9,800 ft.
I spoken with a retired geologist in 2003 that read most of the seismograph reports from this area. He say the eagle ford field and the Barnett Shale field west of ft worth. The ford field will move NE and the Barnett field will move SE and will come together in western leon county and move east to Mississippi. It will become the largest gas field in the US if not the world. But he said it deep and natural gas prices will have to be 4 to 5 dollars CF before they drill for it. Plus he said if they ever get the technology to turn natural gas to a liquid it would drive the natural gas industry higher than just oil.
So far everything he has told me back then has turn out true. And with all the deep natural gas wells in deep east texas in the same formation they are hitting here make me believe he knew what he was talking about. I will i remember his name. I meet him at the Navasota livestock sale barn. He knew everything about our area land owners to our local store in the centerview community.
Here’s a funny story: I just dropped off some clothes at a local dry cleaners. When I went in, the owner was speaking with a couple. I figured out they were speaking about running title. When they left, I asked the owner why they were running title: “For oil/gas leases.” Who do they work for: “Drake Exploration.” The couple were gone by that point, so I couldn’t ask them about their Houston County leasing.
Is it possible that Drake has begun running title here in Anderson County in preparation for a leasing project? Seems improbable that I would encounter someone working with Drake here and it not be related to title work here.
Palestine (Andersen Co.) has a lot better selection of Motels, Shoping, and places to eat than Crockett by far also! But I would agree that Drake may also be working Andersen Co. as well. Drake is a Broker most likely or hoping to flip leases in the future. All over East Texas there are a lot of brokers doing research for those Solar Farms and probably not just oil and gas. I know that is the case in Houston County. Thank you.
Drake has begun leasing in the Latexo area. This is about 5 miles north of Crockett in Houston County. This is an old Chesapeake, Anadarko, Devon and EOG lease play area from back about 2012. Most likely Bossier like it was back in 2012.
