Since resuming drilling and completions in second half 2022 after pandemic, Marathon Oil has brought online 23 wells in northern Delaware Basin as of early May, including 18 extended laterals averaging 9,000 feet. Enverus reported that the extended laterals are delivering cumulative oil volumes that outperform the Delaware Basin’s top quartile of wells by 30 percent. One well in Red Hills area of Lea County, N.M., produced more than 380,000 barrels of oil in its first 180 days, which executive vice president Mike Henderson said last month was the best of any 2022 Delaware Basin well in the industry.
Henderson said Marathon’s 18 extended laterals are evenly split between Red Hills and Malaga. “As we benefit from coring up our acreage footprint and high-grading our development program,” he continued, “we’ll almost exclusively be drilling extended laterals. With these results, the asset is now effectively competing for capital against the best in the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, which is no easy task, and enhancing the long-term outlook for our company.”