Matador Provides Operational Update in Eagle Ford

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company currently focused on the oil and liquids rich portion of the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas, provided an update on various aspects of its operations.

Matador released a summary of the 24-hour Initial Potential (IP) test results for wells it has drilled and completed in 2012, including the eleven most recent Eagle Ford wells it has completed and placed on production since its operational update providing similar information on September 27, 2012. This data is summarized in the table shown below. These results are from wells for which Matador has filed, or will soon be filing, IP test results with the Texas Railroad Commission. With the exception of the number of frac stages, the results of these tests are a matter of public information via W-2 and G-1 forms filed by the Company with and available from the Texas Railroad Commission. Such results are provided as both an update and a convenience to the Company’s investors who may not have easy access to the information provided by the Company to the Texas Railroad Commission. This data is summarized in the table shown below, which also includes test results from the fourteen wells previously released in September. The summary specifies the name of the well, the county where the well is located, the completion date, the lateral length, the measured depth of the top perforation, the number of frac stages, the oil IP per day, the gas IP per day, the barrels of oil equivalent potential per day, the choke size and the flowing pressure.

As noted in the August 14, 2012 earnings release and the September 27, 2012 operational update, Matador has begun flowing back wells on smaller chokes after stimulation than it did initially, which appears to provide for better bottomhole pressure management, should keep the wells flowing longer before requiring artificial lift and may improve their long-term performance. The Company is pleased with the initial productivity of these recent wells, most of which have met or exceeded its expectations. As would be anticipated, flowing the wells back on smaller chokes typically results in lower flow rates but higher flowing pressures on these IP tests as compared to similar IP tests on earlier wells drilled in the same areas. Nevertheless, the results from several of these wells are particularly noteworthy. As a group, the Company’s six recent wells drilled and completed in DeWitt County have averaged 1,775 BOE per day at an average flowing pressure of approximately 5,800 psi, and as a specific example, in Karnes County, the Sickenius Orca 2H (completed September 16, 2012) had an IP rate of 944 BOE per day at 2,000 psi flowing pressure on a 16/64 inch choke compared to an IP rate of 875 BOE per day at 820 psi flowing pressure on a 26/64 inch choke on the Sickenius Orca 1H well (completed March 16, 2012), suggesting a significant increase in well productivity for the Sickenius Orca 2H well. Although still early in the life of these wells, the Company attributes the improved performance of these more recent wells to a combination of improved stimulation design, better reservoir pressure maintenance and improved completion techniques, which appear to be arresting initial decline rates and may lead to better long-term performance and increased value for its Eagle Ford wells.

IP data points should not be used alone to make an investment decision, but these points are provided in an effort to show the overall results of the Company’s Eagle Ford drilling program in 2012. As to future releases, Matador does not expect to release IP data as each well is drilled but rather once or twice a year in an effort to provide more comprehensive information and perspective about its overall drilling program. The Company is also pleased to announce that its average production rate during the month of December 2012 was approximately 5,800 barrels of oil per day and 34.6 million cubic feet of gas per day, or approximately 11,500 BOE per day. The average oil rate for December of 5,800 barrels per day was about 10% higher than the midpoint of the Company’s 2012 exit rate guidance of 5,000 to 5,500 barrels per day. The December 2012 average daily oil rate is up about 75% from Matador’s third quarter 2012 average daily oil production of approximately 3,300 barrels and up almost 13-fold compared to its fourth quarter 2011 average daily oil production of approximately 450 barrels.

As discussed in its December 6, 2012 Analyst Day presentation, the Company anticipates that it will be necessary to shut-in 15% to 20% of its current production capacity during 2013 as it resumes the drilling and completion of development wells on certain properties where wells have previously been drilled. Currently producing wells will be shut-in from time to time as a precautionary measure to reduce possible hydraulic interference between these wells and the stimulation operations associated with newly drilled offsetting wells. The majority of the shut-in periods will occur during the first and second quarters of 2013. The Company will continue to evaluate these shut-in periods in order to determine an optimized shut-in schedule for producing wells within close proximity to ongoing stimulation operations.

For more information about related Opportunities and Key Players visit Oil Shale Projects