The Eagle Ford Shale is a geologic formation of sedimentary rock that contains oil and natural gas. The productive area is roughly 50 miles wide and 400 miles long has an average thickness of 250 feet. Much of Chesapeake’s acreage is located in Dimmit, Frio, LaSalle, McMullen, Webb and Zavala counties in the oil and wet gas, or liquids rich, windows of the Eagle Ford Shale.
Oil and Natural gas drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale became economically feasible for development when advanced drilling and completion techniques, such as horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing, were developed. Chesapeake wells in the Eagle Ford Shale range in depth from approximately 5,000 to 11,500 feet below the surface.