Phoenix Lake

March 5, 1951 ushered in discovery of the prolific Phoenix Lake Field with completion of The Ohio Oil Company (Marathon) #1 E. W. Brown, Jr. at a flow-test rate of 292 barrels of oil per day from Oligocene-aged Frio sand at 7,780 feet. The next several years of development and deeper discovery of an array of sands resulted in cumulative production in excess of 20 million barrels of oil and 24 billion cubic feet of natural gas. West across the Sabine River in Orange County, Texas, the Phoenix Lake Field accounted for 4.75 million barrels of oil and 2.13 billion cubic feet of gas, including 356,760 barrels and 35,464 Mcf from the still-producing Mecom (H.O.P.E.) #1 E. W. Brown, Jr. well completed in 1954. Phoenix Lake Field was featured in the June 15, 1952 issue of The Oil & Gas Journal. 

Beginning in 2006, deeper wildcat wells in Phoenix Lake Field drilled by Lake Ronel Oil Company resulted in discovery of prolific Hackberry production; still producing, the #1 Port of Orange-Brown (514 Mbo and 2 Bcf), the #1 Port of Orange-Stark (513 Mbo and 1.1 Bcf), the Riverside Unit (65 Mbo and 2.1 Bcf) and the Dupont Unit (293 Mbo and 1.9 Bcf).

In 2007 a wildcat well drilled to 17,905’ TVD encountered a promising section of Hackberry (11,300’) but was untested in favor of an ill-fated completion attempt in the Yegua (16,100-16,136’) that tested in excess of 400 barrels of oil per day before saltwater encroachment and down-hole mechanical failures prompted abandonment. This area remains a viable exploration theater for substantial oil and gas reservoir reserves in the Hackberry-Yegua. 

Phoenix Lake Property also is a source of annual revenue from leasing for alligator and waterfowl hunting.