Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN:NYSE) recently announced that it now holds 460,000 net acres near the Arkansas-Louisiana border in Upper Jurassic Lower Smackover Brown Dense limestone.

The Houston-based company said that it anticipates that it would start its first horizontal well in late in this year's third quarter. This well will be located in Columbia County, Arkansas, east of the Dorcheat-Macedonia oil field, according to the Oil & Gas Journal.

Southwestern said that extensive research went into the play, which the news source described as "unconventional."

"We extensively reviewed the Brown Dense across the region and have indications that the right mix of reservoir depth, thickness, porosity, matrix permeability, sealing formations, thermal maturity, and oil characteristics are found in the area of southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana," said the company. "This region of Arkansas and Louisiana has produced oil and gas from the Upper Smackover since the 1920s. The Brown Dense formation is the source rock for these Upper Smackover fields."

The company has reportedly put about $150 million into undeveloped acreage.

According to Reuters, SWN's stocks hit a 52-week high at $49.25 and its low over that same period was $30.61.