Story By Mella McEwen | Midland-Telegram Reporter |Devon Energy has begun detailing the results of a 21-well multi-zone development in Loving County.
“It’s the largest project we’ve executed to date,” John Raines, Devon’s vice president for Delaware operations, told the Reporter-Telegram.
Devon began bringing online the 21 wells in its CBR 12-1 project in the Stateline area late in the second quarter and into the third quarter, a 60-day process designed to manage any localized facility constraints. The wells targeted six different landing zones within the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations. Initial 30-day rates from this multi-zone development averaged 3,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with per well recoveries exceeding 2 million oil-equivalent barrels.
The CBR 12-1 wells co-developed the Wolfcamp A, Wolfcamp B and shallower zones in the Bone Spring and have given the company additional insights in its Delaware Basin holdings that will help advance its resource development.
“For multiple reasons, this multi-zone development creates opportunities. We’re able to put more wells on a pad, we have more efficient, faster drilling, fewer rig mobilizations, we can leverage simul-fracs,” said Raines, noting that the CBR 12-1 development was finished 10 days ahead of schedule.
He said the company also saw efficiency gains on the subsurface as it learned about the Delaware Basin, especially which zones are commercially interdependent while mitigating future depletion risks.
“You’ll see us do this more and more and be our new philosophy,” Raines said.
Efficiency gains allowed Devon to reduce drilling activity from 16 rigs to 15 rigs with plans to drop an additional rig in the first quarter of 2025.
With Devon’s holdings in the Delaware Basin, Raines said its teams are working to develop landing zones in multiple secondary targets across the area.
Devon’s oil production in the third quarter reached 335,000 barrels per day, exceeding guidance by 4%. Total companywide production averaged 728,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in the third quarter. Devon’s growth and outperformance in the third quarter were primarily driven by its Delaware Basin asset, which accounted for 67% of companywide volumes at 488,000 BOE per day. This production result represents a growth rate of 6 percent quarter-over-quarter.
The company’s third-quarter performance generated $786 million of free cash flow, of which $431 million was returned to shareholders.
LOVING COUNTY, TEXAS
Loving County is located in west Texas, situated in the Permian Basin region of the state. It’s the least populous county in the United States, with fewer than 100 residents as of recent estimates. The county is primarily focused on oil and gas production, particularly in the Delaware Basin, making it economically significant despite its tiny population. Geographically, it spans approximately 669 square miles in the western part of Texas, bordering New Mexico.
