Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Brian Singer from Goldman Sachs.
Brian Singer - Goldman Sachs
Based on how you are seeing operating or capital costs, maybe you could speak to what extent capital costs are falling in places like the Rockies. Can you talk about what natural gas price environment you would need to see, to consider bringing back drilling in some other places you are less active in Uinta Basin, maybe as an example, and how you are thinking about your East Texas and Louisiana assets outside of the Haynesville?
Keith Rattie
I'm going to pitch that to Chuck, Brian. Thanks for the question.
Chuck Stanley
Brian, the question is difficult to answer. We'd have to go area by area. I think in general, today, especially Pinedale in the Northwest Louisiana for the Haynesville, obviously we are at those prices. We have to look beyond the problem and then look at sort of the average of the forward curve, and obviously as Keith mentioned, the curve is in steep contango.
In order to bring back other areas, let's say the Uinta Basin, we would need to see net to the well prices in the $6 plus range, in order to start to allocate capital away from our higher return areas at Northwest Louisiana and Pinedale. So I think what you would see first, would be more capital being deployed in the high return plays, like Pinedale and the Haynesville. Perhaps then, the next area that would come on with more capital would be the Woodford Shale drilling in the Cana area, that Keith mentioned.
Close behind that would be the Bakken Oil Play up in the Williston Basin and the Uinta Basin oil play. I should mention, I skipped over that Cotton Valley horizontal drilling, and I would think that Cotton Valley horizontal drilling would come in about at the same rate that Woodford Shale drilling would.
It's a subjective determination on how we feel the forward curve will develop and how potential transportation issues could impact long term takeaway capacity in areas. Obviously, we're focused on rising production in Northwest Louisiana and the timing of new projects that have been announced, some of which we have subscribed to, which will ultimately solve that problem. We need to manage our production growth in that area as well, but make sure that we have adequate takeaway capacity.
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