HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZaZa Energy Corporation (“the Company” or “ZaZa”) (NASDAQ: ZAZA) today announced comprehensive drilling updates in its core Eaglebine and Eagle Ford properties.
“Over the past several months we’ve significantly strengthened our capital structure, and, as a result, are in a much stronger and more stable position to further develop and prove up our Eaglebine assets while supplementing our existing activities in our Eagle Ford acreage. With the improvements in our balance sheet and new positive developments in our operations, we are sufficiently capitalized to execute on our strategy and unlock value from our Eaglebine assets,” stated Todd A. Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of ZaZa.
Eaglebine/Woodbine Stingray Well – Drilling Completed; Hydraulic Fracturing to Begin Immediately
ZaZa has completed drilling and running production casing on its Eaglebine Stingray A-1H well in Walker County, Texas (11,780 feet - True Vertical Depth (TVD) / 17,060 feet – Measured Depth). The Company has drilled a pilot hole through the objective section (12,242 feet – True Vertical Depth), taken sidewall cores, and run a full suite of logs including a Schlumberger Quad-Combo, Elemental Capture Spectroscopy Sonde, Dual-Oil-Based Micro Imager, Sonic-Scanner and a post-processed ELAN Shale Oil Evaluation (ELAN) for the empirical measurement of hydrocarbons in place. In addition, ZaZa has completed drilling an approximately 4,700-foot, in-zone lateral in the objective section of the well and commenced completion operations.
ZaZa expects to begin hydraulic fracturing operations on November 12, 2012, with initial production planned for late November 2012.
Results from ZaZa’s extensive technical evaluation of the Stingray A-1H well are very encouraging with the ELAN analysis estimating 21 BCF and 29 MMBO per section in place. These current estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision based on actual production and additional data.
Additionally, based on initial information gathered from the Stingray A-1H well, the Company has entered into a multi-well rig contract with Nabors Drilling USA, is preparing to install production facilities, and has entered into a multi-year lease for a field office and yard near its Eaglebine acreage in Walker County, as it further appraises and delineates its Eaglebine acreage position.
“Today, the Eaglebine play is one of the most exciting, emerging, liquids-rich resource plays in the country, and the data we have in-house supports this sentiment. As the first mover in the Eaglebine play, ZaZa holds what it believes to be some of the Eaglebine’s most promising and untapped acreage. We have amassed a dominant, nearly contiguous land position of ~90,000 net acres located in the thickest part of the play. Although early drilling in this area has initially proved challenging for some operators, ZaZa has overcome these obstacles through new drilling processes and technological innovation developed by its experienced operations team, a team with a collective knowledge-base derived from successfully drilling over 7,500 horizontal wells. As a result of these new processes and innovations, ZaZa now has the ability to control and further develop these assets and unlock both short and long-term value. All of our data indicates high productive potential and we are now focused on making the Eaglebine our core, foundation asset,” Mr. Brooks continued.
The Company also disclosed today that upon establishing production in the Eaglebine, it expects to further its negotiations and move towards the execution of a substantive joint venture agreement for its Eaglebine acreage. Additionally, based on production results and initial appraisal data in the Company’s Sweet Home Black Hawk Field Extension play, ZaZa will continue its asset prioritization process beyond the Paris Basin and will allocate resources consistent with a highest and best value creation philosophy.
Eagle Ford Boening Well – Delineating Sweet Home / Black Hawk Field Extension Project Area
Having completed the drilling of the Stingray A-1H well, ZaZa has moved the same rig to DeWitt County and has begun drilling a 5,000 to 6,700-foot, in-zone lateral section in its Boening A-1H well, which has encountered 200 feet of Eagle Ford shale in the wet gas window of the Eagle Ford play, where adjacent drilling results to-date have been excellent. The Boening A-1H pilot hole has already been drilled, logged, and whole-cored. Initial Production is anticipated mid December. With the completion and production results from the Boening well, ZaZa can further appraise and prioritize its ~34,800 net acres in the Sweet Home Eagle Ford Prospect.
In November 2011, ZaZa drilled the vertical pilot hole for the Boening A-1H well to 12,210 feet TVD to evaluate the Eagle Ford open hole section, recovering 471 feet of whole-core, and performing similar Schlumberger evaluations as outlined above. The ELAN evaluation resulted in an estimation of 40 BCF and 5.1 MMBO per section in place. Again, these current estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision based on actual production and further data.
Marquis Eagle Ford Land Position – Further Moulton Development
Upon completion of drilling the Boening A-1H well, ZaZa plans to move the rig to its Eagle Ford Moulton Project Area (~11,600 net acres), located in the proven area of the volatile oil window in Gonzales & Fayette Counties, in order to drill its 8th well in the area, where EURs are 501 MBOE (~94% Liquids), before moving the rig back to its Eaglebine Prospect Area in Walker County to continue drilling Eaglebine appraisal wells.
About ZaZa Energy Corporation
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Corpus Christi, Texas and Paris, France, ZaZa Energy Corporation is a publicly traded exploration and production company with primary assets in the Eagle Ford and Eaglebine resource plays in Texas. More information about the Company may be found at www.zazaenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts" and similar references to future periods. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about ZaZa’s ability to execute on exploration, production and development plans, estimates of reserves, estimates of production, future commodity prices, exchange rates, interest rates, geological and political risks, drilling risks, product demand, transportation restrictions, actual recoveries of insurance proceeds, the ability of ZaZa to obtain additional capital, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While forward-looking statements are based on our assumptions and analyses that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results and developments will meet our expectations and predictions depend on a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, performance and financial condition to differ materially from our expectations. See "Risk Factors" in our 2011 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risk factors that affect our business. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future development, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.