The Haynesville shale may not be the biblical land of milk and honey, but for Petrohawk Energy Corp., Houston, (NYSE: HK), it comes pretty darn close.
            

“Being a hawk in the Haynesville just got better,” says Steve W. Herod, executive vice president for corporate development at Petrohawk. Herod was one of the speakers at Hart Energy’s A&D Strategies and Opportunities conference held recently in Dallas.     
            

Starting in January, Petrohawk had 58,000 acres. Now, according to its mid-year financial report, the company has about 300,000 acres making it one of the largest leaseholders in the developing gas play after starting an aggressive leasing program in February.
            

“It’s the right play at the right time,” Herod says. He added that approximately 50% of the company’s net-acre position is committed for longer than a three-year lease term, extending the overall timeframe for development of this substantial acreage position. Including acreage held by production, Petrohawk's cost in the play currently averages approximately $5,000 per acre.
           

Petrohawk is running four to five rigs in the Haynesville shale and plans to bring that total to seven by the end of September. By the end of the year, the company plans to operate a total of 10 to 12 rigs, increasing to 20 rigs during 2009 and in subsequent years. The company’s first two Haynesville wells are each averaging about 17 million cubic feet per day.
            

Herod says these rigs are identified and committed to this program. The company expects to drill approximately 29 horizontal wells in the Haynesville this year, with the majority of anticipated production contributing to 2009 production estimates.
            

Petrohawk expects that drill-to-connection times this year will average 75 days, Herod says. After 2008, the company anticipates that average drill-to-connection time will be reduced to about 60 days.
            

Herod says that in 2009, Petrohawk plans to drill about 140 operated Haynesville wells.
            

Herod says the company has had a presence in the area for some time, giving it an advantage over new operators coming into north Louisiana.
            

“The service owners know us. The land owners know us and many of them are getting royalty checks from us and the other operators know us,” Herod says. “And we have a history of proven technical success with multi-rig operations in the Fayetteville, Elm Grove for conventional gas and Terrytown.”
            

Based on this opportunity, Petrohawk has raised its capex spending plan for 2008 to $1.1 billion with about $218 million devoted to developing the Haynesville, Herod says.
            

“Decisive moves lead to premium positions,” Herod says. “Our efforts in the Haynesville have really worked out for us.”