BP Unlocks a New Shale Gusher in New Mexico
- BP ‘delighted’ by well results in Mancos shale in New Mexico
- Mancos has been largely ignored as U.S. gas drilling surges
The BP Plc company logo sits at a fuel station in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company, posted third-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates and raised its cost-cutting target for the year, sending the shares to a 16-month high.
Photographer: Frantzesco Kangaris/BloombergWhile other natural gas drillers are paying a premium for acreage in prized U.S. shale formations across Texas and Pennsylvania, BP Plc may have just found a gem in a largely ignored corner of New Mexico.
The London-based oil giant started producing from a gas well in New Mexico’s Mancos shale that could turn out to be a “significant new source of U.S. natural gas supply,” according to a statement Monday. The well averaged 12.9 million cubic feet a day in its first month, the highest output achieved in the San Juan Basin in 14 years, the company said.