Not to let the cat out of the bag but this is why

Not to let the cat out of the bag but this is why the lease prices are increasing.

So what is the Cline Shale?

The Cline formation, at approximately 6,000 to 9,000 feet, is one of a number of deeper zones, along with the Fusselman, Strawn, and Atoka, that lie below the Wolfcamp, which has been a target for horizontal drilling in the Permian Basin. The Spraberry starts to thin out in Glasscock County, some 35 miles east of Midland, where vertical wellbores have previously extended into the Wolfcamp and the other deeper zone s.

Three-Finger Black Shale

Cliff Smith, the owner of L.C.S. Production, Smith Pipe, and SPA Drilling in Abilene, said smaller operators and geologists in Texas Railroad Commission District 7B have known about the Cline Shale for years. Only they called it the Three-Finger Black Shale.

“It was a known oil and gas show while we were drilling for the Palo Pinto Reef,” offered Smith, who acknowledged the Three-Finger Black Shale was never considered economic. “The rock was so tight we couldn’t make it productive.”

Then the new technology of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing opened up new reserves and re-opened old areas. When drilling activity began in Glasscock County, the formation was called the Cline Shale, according to Smith, so that name has now been adopted for the Three-Finger Black Shale.

Smith said he believes the Cline Shale extends all the way from Sterling and Glasscock County to the Abilene area in Taylor County, including Howard, Mitchell, Nolan, and Fisher counties. He added that it may extend even farther east and north into Jones and Shackelford counties.

God Bless you all