Haynesville Basin Data, History & Stats

Chesapeake Energy discovered the play at the beginning of 2008, which resulted in a significant uptick in local leasing activity. Another gas formation just above the Haynesville, the Bossier Shale, has also been successfully developed by operators. Many refer to the play as the Haynesville/Bossier Shale, despite the fact that they are two distinct producing formations.

With an estimated 250 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, the Haynesville Shale was considered to be the largest natural gas field in the 48 contiguous states in 2008. Although now the Appalachian Basin and Marcellus Formation are seen as having greater gas resources. Recoverable reserves in the Haynesville were estimated by some experts to be 6.5 billion cubic feet on average per well. According to a prediction by the US Energy Information Administration, the typical well would yield 2.67 billion cubic feet of gas.

Since 2008, production has increased dramatically, minting several new millionaires in the Shreveport, Louisiana, area. In November 2011, the amount of gas produced in the Haynesville peaked at 7.2 billion cubic feet per day. 9.3% of the US’s total gas production, or 6.2 billion cubic feet per day, was produced in January 2013 from this formation.

Production in the Haynesville has gone through two distinct phases, with an early peak in 2011 and huge production growth from 2017 through today bringing total production up to 12 bcf/d. The second phase has been driven by both well productivity improvements and developments at the surface.

Longer laterals and VERY intense completions have resulted in large production improvements. The Haynesville stands alone with many wells completed with over 3,500 lbs/ft of proppant. This type of completing results in the Haynesville wells having production in the ballpark of the Marcellus – a huge accomplishment.

At the same time, the Haynesville has benefited from better price differentials and offtake capacity. The Haynesville is situated adjacent to the Gulf Coast market, and producers realize pricing very close to Henry Hub. Additionally, LNG export terminals have been built and more are under construction in the area, providing another offtake option and improving local prices.