Swift Energy's successful drilling activities in 1994 helped boost the Company's oil and gas production to an all-time high.

Compared with 1993, natural gas production increased 42% to 5.4 Bcf and oil production increased 44% to 467,056 barrels, for a combined total of 8.2 Bcfe. In addition, the Company produced and delivered approximately 1.4 Bcf of gas from the AWP Olmos field in South Texas under a volumetric production payment agreement, bringing Swift's total production for the year to 9.6 Bcfe, or 1.6 million BOEs.

Of the total production, about 12%--or 1.1 Bcfe--was from the six exploratory wells and 26 development wells that were drilled during 1994. The new wells accounted for approximately 21% of the total fourth-quarter production of 2.6 Bcfe.

At year-end, Swift Energy had interests in 4,172 wells located in 287 fields in 15 states. Of these, the Company was the operator of 750 wells in 111 fields in 10 states, the remaining wells being operated by other companies. For 1994, approximately 69% of the Company's total production was from the Swift-operated wells.

The Sinner Federal 24-15, a successful exploratory well drilled in Wyoming in January 1995, is operated by Swift Energy. As the scheduled operator for many of the 66 wells planned for the 1995 drilling program, the Company will be in an optimum position to minimize drilling and production costs.

 

(a) Includes 4,034 producing wells, 31 service wells, and 107 wells currently not producing; Swift is the operator of 674 of the producing wells plus 76 of the service and nonproducing wells.
(b) Includes approximately 1,500 wells in a West Texas waterflood unit.
(c) Includes Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Utah. Michigan, Montanta, and Nebraska each have a single low-value well for which no reserves were carried based on year-end oil and gas prices.

Texas. The Company's most prolific producing region continues to be South Texas, which includes production from the AWP Olmos Field in McMullen County. The Company operates 85 wells in the AWP Field that accounted for 25% of Swift's total production in 1994. With 24 additional development well locations scheduled to be drilled during 1995 in the AWP Field and on a recently acquired adjacent 8,830-acre leasehold, the Olmos sand in South Texas is expected to be the Company's major producing formation for the next several years.

Swift's success in producing from the Olmos tight-sand formation attests to the Company's operating expertise. In addition to greatly reducing the initial costs with improved sand-fracturing techniques, Swift was one of the first companies to routinely install coiled tubing in low-pressure wells to maintain production. In 1994, the Company also continued refracturing and sidetracking some of the wells to open up new pathways for increased flow into old well bores.

The Texas coastal region also became a strong contributor to the Company's 1994 production as three exploratory wells and 11 development wells began producing in the region during the year. In particular, Swift's horizontal wells in the Austin Chalk formation of the Giddings Field, primarily in Fayette County, Texas, yielded the greatest oil production of any single field operated by the Company. This region represented 8% of Swift's total production for the year.

Fields located in 11 other counties scattered along the Texas Gulf Coast provided 5% of the Company's total production, with the largest volumes coming from the counties of Wharton, Liberty, and Goliad.

Finally, fields in other parts of the state provided 26% of Swift Energy's 1994 production, bringing Texas' total contribution to the year's production to 64%.

Swift Energy's operations in the AWP Olmos Field in South Texas include the fracturing of the tight sands surrounding each well, thereby increasing the hydrocarbon flow into the well bore. Improvements in fracturing techniques have significantly decreased the costs of completing wells in the field.

Oklahoma. The state of Oklahoma contributed 10% of Swift Energy's 1994 production, with the Oklahoma Weatherford Area providing the majority of the production from the state.

The Weatherford Area, located in the converging corners of the counties of Custer, Caddo, and Washita, includes 144 wells producing from the area's Red Fork and Springer (Britt) formations. The Company operates 40 of the wells, as well as the Weatherford Area Gas Gathering System, which collects gas from both Swift-operated wells and wells operated by others.

Louisiana. Production from the state of Louisiana was approximately 10% of Swift Energy's total production. The increase is due both to the Company's acquisition of additional wells in South Louisiana and to its success in increasing or reviving production from several wells through workovers and the insertion of coiled tubing.

Mississippi and Wyoming. Other significant contributors to the Company's 1994 production were Mississippi (6%) and Wyoming (4%). In Wyoming, Swift has increased production from existing wells through water- and polymer-flooding operations, using techniques it plans to apply to other fields in the future.

Other States. Ten additional states containing wells in which Swift Energy has interests together contributed 6% to Swift's 1994 production. The states of Arkansas, West Virginia, and Alabama provided a substantial majority of the production from those 10 states.