Warm Fuzzy Data . . .

Yep, warm fuzzy data.  There is a post on Haynesville Shale Forum about Austin Chalk and how much oil is in the formation, recoverable oil, gas and gas liquids (aka "drip gas").  Gas liquids are probably the most valuable stuff, followed by oil and then gas.  Gas is so plentiful now days, it is now worth much.  It says there are 19 or so billion barrels of oil and gas liquids to be had.  Makes your eyes light up.

The warm fuzzy data says there is a lot of oil in the Austin Chalk formation.  Getting to it is another matter.  It not appears that the LaCour #43 is shut down.  That is not to say it is abandoned or shut in, it is not reporting any production and that is a bad indication.  Anadarko, the production company, spent a lot of money on drilling that well and the Edenburg well too.  LaCour #43 produced  sporadically for a year or so with rapid declines from its initial testing.  Apparently the Edenburg well, across the Atchafalaya River from McCrea in Pointe Coupee was an all out dry hole.

So it appears Anadarko took its toys and went else where to play.  It seem to be doing okay in Vernon Parish.  Maybe they will learn how to get the wells to produce minerals.  There is a lot of speculation on the LaCour and Endenburg well's low or non-performance.  Some seem to think that the long laterals are collasping and cutting off production.  There are techniques such as packing the laterals with sand and gravel to support the structure, yet allow the minerals to perculate out of the well.  Pryme, an Australian Exploration Company,  has resorted to shorter laterals and slotted casings.  If that should work, then we have a better grasp on getting the stuff out of the ground.

The other interesting geology is the different formations.  North of the Mississippi River as it flows through the upper boundaries of Pointe Coupee along the "Coast of Pointe Coupee" the formations of interest in West Feleciana Parish is the Tuscaloose Marine Shale (TMS).  Yet on the South side of the river in Pointe Coupee Parish the formation of interest is Austin Chalk which is above the TMS. 

Shale is harder than chalk as a general case.  Chalk seems to have natural fractures in it to collect the oil and gas.  Shale traps the gas and oil but does not have the same natural fractures found in the Austin Chalk formation.  Shale has to be "fracked" or fractured to open up cracks and crevices to allow the minerals to escape.  There is plenty of TMS in Pointe Coupee Parish but it is further down and takes more money to drill while the Austin Chalk is a rich formation higher up and thus less expensive to drill.

This all brings us to "dips."  The Lower Cretaceous formation that includes TMS, AC etc. is basically the ancient edge of the Gulf of Mexico.  Pointe Coupee deep gas is found along the "down dip" of the formation.  That is pretty deep stuff, like 20,000 feet down from the surface.  Fields like Moore-Sams, Pointe Coupee, Morganza and Judge Digby (Parlange Plantation/Wurtelle area) fields are all down dip locations. The edge of the Edward's Shelf kind of area.  We out on Pointe Coupee region are above the edge or down dip of the Edwards Shelf, ergo the interest in Austin Chalk formation.  We are on edge but not in the zone kind of thing.

Austin Chalk is above TMS and TMS is above the Tuscaloosa Trend.  There are formations above that like the Moncref formation.  Livonia and Frisco Fields are in those zones and not as deep.  I suspect that formation is full of traps that capture the minerals, principally oil.  Not being a Geologist, I can only guess and surmise.

So the future for Pointe Coupee is bright but possibly a very long way off.  It may not occur in my life time.  Pity but we just have to poke along and accept lease money until somebody figures out how to get the minerals unlocked and can raise them to the surface.