Nighthawk, the Bristol-based oil and gas production and development business with assets in the US state of Colorado, blames “worse than average winter weather” and a decline in output from its wells for a fall in production of around a third in the three months to March 31.
The firm’s second-quarterly production update, said production fell from 3,086 barrels of oil to 2,062.
The company has a 50% working interest in a shale oil project in Colorado called the Jolly Ranch Group project. Colorado-based energy firm Running Foxes Petroleum holds the remaining working interest and is the operator of the project.
Some 19 wells have been drilled in a core 50,000-acre area and the current work programme involves various testing procedures to determine the optimum production plan. Nighthawk says, however, that plans to drill a further seven development wells have been delayed by tight drilling rig availability.
The company adds that it will update the market when the programme is expected to commence. In the meantime, further activities “intended to enhance production from the following wells are now planned and being undertaken”.
An independent reservoir simulation model of the company’s core Craig Ranch area, totalling approximately 3,200 gross surface acres, concluded that there were approximately 30,000 barrels of oil in place per acre in the Cherokee and Atoka shale horizons and the average model area recovery rate was 7.5% on 40-acre spacings with vertical wells.
