Henry Petroleum Strikes Wolfberry Oil

Expected to produce a billion barrels of oil, the Wolfberry Play is one of the most sought after  areas to drill in the Permian Basin. But it may have never been discovered if it wasn't for a major risk taken by local oil company Henry Petroleum.

After having a lot of success in the Spraberry trend, which is now one of the largest onshore oilfields in the world, oil companies wanted to drill a little deeper into the Wolfcamp. They'd been trying since the 1950's.

But at a cost of $1.3 million, drilling simply wasn't economical. After decades of disappointment, most had given up hope. But in 2002, things were about to change.

A company called CMS, who was in a drilling agreement with Texaco, ran into some financial troubles and farmed out 14 Wolfcamp wells to Henry Petroleum

The wells didn't produce much, but they did help Henry Petroleum get one step closer to locating Wolfberry oil. "It was in the center of the Basin, so the wells only turned out fair," says Jim Henry, President of Henry Resources.

And so, it was back to the drawing board. While Henry Petroleum Engineer Dennis Phelps and his team worked to improve a new fracing technique, geologists searched for the best place to drill. "Dave Feavel and his crew had the idea of moving it over to the edge of the Basin and trying over there where they thought the Wolfcamp would produce better," says Henry.

And so in 2003, a rig went up, roughnecks went to work and Henry Petroleum's test of fate began.  "We drilled the very first well, named after my daughter Beverly, the Beverly No.1 and it came in and produced extremely well. And we knew we had something then."

But the story of the Wolfberry doesn't stop there. You'll want tune in to Big 2 News next Thursday at 10pm to hear about the events that followed Beverly No. 1. We'll also find out how Henry Petroleum was able to lease up hundreds of thousands of acres to drill in the Wolfberry before anyone else found out about what it was capable of producing.