Cottonwood Field Update

News 

May 17, 2014: when the Cottonwood was first "discovered," I was quite excited about it, but quickly it appeared that it would be a mediocre field at best. MDU's Fidelity discovered the field, but quickly sold it to Oasis, and from what I can gather, this field "made" Oasis. This is where Oasis got its start in the Bakken. I could be wrong on that, but that's my "Bakken-view." Be that as it may, a reader notes that the Cottonwood might be turning into quite a nice little field, based on all the multi-well pads being put it. See comments below.  I'm not sure how best to designate wells on a multi-well pad without the blog becoming even more confusing; one can assume if there are four permit numbers in succession in the same time period, they are permits for wells on a multi-well pad.

I updated all the wells (IPs/production) and the permits as of this date (see below). This might be a good field to follow to get a feeling for the North Dakota Bakken in general. I, perhaps, concentrate too much on the sweet spots in the Bakken (northeast McKenzie County, for example) at the cost of ignoring the, perhaps, the more representative North Dakota Bakken. Lynn Helms even mentioned once that there was not much in Burke County, though he might have been speaking of Burke County a bit farther north and a bit farther east than the Cottonwood field.

Again, it looks like wells that produce 100,000 bbls have paid for themselves at the wellhead. I know that's simplistic and there's much more to it than that, but I have to have a data point to at least hang my spurs on. [An apology to all the real cowboys out there: I've worn spurs on rare exceptions.] Maybe a better way to see it: a well that produces 100,000 bbls in the first two years is going to be an economical well for the operator.

Again, it is my policy to NOT change original posts or updates, with one exception: I update IPs and total production as the numbers come in.

April 24, 2013: see comment below asking about new multi-well pad drilling in the Cottonwood. Prior to this 4-well pad, to the best of my knowledge there was only one multi-well pad in the Cottonwood, and I hardly consider it a multi-well pad: just two wells, one horizontal going south and one horizontal going north.

But the 4-well multi-well pad in section 3-157-92 is notable. One rig is one site; two others are on DRL status; and the fourth, LOC:

• 23804, 786, Oasis, Lars 5792 13-3H, Cottonwood, for total production, see below;
• 25135, 720, Oasis, Nels 5792 13-3T, Cottonwood, for total production, see below;
• 25136, 1,180, Oasis, Beth 5792 13-3B, Cottonwood, for total production, see below;
• 25230, 995, Oasis, Sara 5792 13-3B, Cottonwood, for total production, see below;

December 10, 2012: this is a note I received today regarding the Cottonwood field:

Remember when we were discussing  MDU and Cottonwood field prospect, back in 2007/08 they did seismic project?

Today I went to see what one year of time did to an unknown/ not wanted MDU field.

Oasis was MDU's drilling partner at the 2008/09 interval and Oasis ended up buying all of Cottonwood field when MDU bailed in panic in 2009.

The following information is from the NDIC public records and deals with the Cottonwood field only (MDW rounded some numbers).

In September, 2011, OAS had one (1) well on confidential status and that month had runs of 7,000 barrels of oil. Oasis also had 18 producing wells with a production of 20,000 bbls:  runs and production equaled 27,000 bbls of oil for 30 days. (19 wells total )

In September, 2012, OAS had five (5) wells on confidential status and had runs of 37,000 bbls or oil. They also had 29 wells producing 63,000 bbls of oil. So runs and production equaled 100,000 BO for 30 days. (34 wells )

I do not know if every well produced all 30 days, but using that as a number the 2011 average well per day production  was 47.01 bopd.

The 2012 average well production was 97.43 bopd (which is about the current average for the North Dakota oil patch at this time).

I wonder if the execs at MDU realize what they gave away. Compare: 47 bopd then; 97 bopd now.

Talk is one thing, doing is another.

If Oasis had also walked away and had no one picked up this field, a lot of mineral interest owners would have lost a lot of royalty. When one see horse manure, another sees a pony.

March 29, 2011: The results of all wells in the Cottonwood oil field were updated today; see below. For my comments on the update, click here. The data is most recent available at NDIC, as of January 31, 2011.

June 17, 2010: no news. Just this observation. The Cottonwood Field looks a bit dismal. I just took a look at it and there's not much going on there. A couple of wells on confidential; any producing wells have older permit numbers; there are no rigs in the field; and of all the fields I have looked at recently, this field seems to have an inordinate number of cancelled permits: at least 15. This was the field "discovered" by MDU. Oasis subsequently acquired most of MDU's acreage in North Dakota about a year ago or so (I forget exactly when) and I assume Oasis picked up the acreage in Cottonwood Field. Oases went public yesterday/today; haven't seen it listed yet.

Permits

2015
No permits issued for Cottonwood oil field in 2015. This was the year MDU announced it would be selling its oil and gas properties (Fidelity Oil and Gas).

2014
30045, loc, Oasis,
30044, loc, Oasis,
30039, loc, Oasis,
30038, loc, Oasis,
30037, loc, Oasis,
29745, TA, Oasis, State 5792 41-15 12B, Cottonwood,
29744, TA, Oasis, State 5792 41-15 11T, Cottonwood,
29743, TA, Oasis, State 5792 41-15 10B, Cottonwood,
29742, PNC, Oasis, State 5792 41-15 9T2, Cottonwood,
29741, TA, Oasis, State 5792 41-15 8T, Cottonwood,
28764, 421, Oasis, Steven Van Berkom 5993 44-24T, t10/14; cum 81K 12/15;
28491, 115, Oasis, Shaw 6092 11-23 7T, t10/14; cum 31K 12/15;
27991, loc, Oasis,
27990, loc, Oasis,
27989, loc, Oasis,
27988, loc, Oasis,
27987, loc, Oasis,
27645, loc, Oasis,
27644, loc, Oasis,
27643, loc, Oasis,
27467, 111, Oasis, Shaw 6092 11-23 2T, t9/14; cum 60K 12/15;
27466, 177, Oasis, Shaw 6092 11-23 3B, t9/14; cum 47K 12/15;
27465, dry, Oasis,
27464, 103, Oasis, Shaw 6092 11-23 5T2, t10/14; cum 23K 12/15;
27463, 147, Oasis, Shaw 6092 11-23 6B, t10/14; cum 39K 12/15;

2013 (completed list)
27014, 294, Oasis, State 5792 31-15 3B, t9/14; cum 75K 12/15;
27013, IA/200, Oasis, State 5792 31-15 4T2, t8/14; cum 6K 10/15; no production since 10/15;
27012, 177, Oasis, State 5792 31-15 5T, t8/14; cum 45K 12/15;
27011, 162, Oasis, State 5792 31-15 6T2, t8/14; cum 23K 12/15;
26931, 242, Oasis, Manhattan 5792 11-2 3B, t9/14; cum 71K 12/15;
26900, 566, Oasis, Overal 5892 11-30T, t1/14; cum 74K 12/15;
26589, 210, Oasis,Dale Van Berkom 5992 14-30 2T, t4/14; cum 57K 12/15;
26587, 207, Oasis, Delia 5992 14-30 2T, t4/14; cum 54K 12/15;
26585, 205, Oasis, Dale Van Berkom 5992 14-30 3B, t4/14; cum 65K 12/15;
26386, 352, Oasis, Hardy 5892 43-9H, t8/14; cum 61K 12/15;
26383, 302, Oasis, Delia 5992 13-30H, t4/14; cum 54K 12/15;
26320, 262, Oasis,State 5792 11-15 2T, t7/14; cum 8K 7/14;
26264, 627, Oasis, Lydia 5601 43-24T, t2/14; cum 22K 7/14;
26225, 344, Oasis, Foxtail 5892 42-12 1H, t1/14; cum 33K 7/14;
26224, A, Oasis, producing, cum 53K 12/15;
26188, 86, Oasis,Manhattan 5792 11-2 2T, t11/14; cum 28K 12/15;
26187, 635, Oasis, Marit 5892 44-34B, t4/14; cum 66K 12/15;
26186, 90, Oasis,Freya 5892 44-34T, t5/14; cum 30K 12/15;
26038, 212, Oasis, Phazer 5992 12-26T,  t11/13; cum 61K 12/15;
26034, 545, Oasis, t10/13; cum 29K 3/14;
25900, 248, Oasis, t10/13; cum 10K 3/14;
25520, A, Oasis, cum 10K 3/14;
25435, PNC, Oasis,
25310, 1,023, Oasis, t10/13; cum 29K 3/14;
25309, 528, Oasis, t10/13; cum 24K 3/14;
25308, 636, Oasis, t10/13; cum 25K 3/14;
25307, DRY, Oasis, comp 6/13;
25230, 995, Oasis, t8/13; cum 36K 3/14;
25136, 1,180, Oasis, t9/13; cum 41K 3/14;
25135, 720, Oasis, t9/13; cum 36K 3/14;
24995, 93, Oasis, t11/13; cum 18K 3/14;
24923, 759, Oasis, t5/13; cum 53K 3/14;
24780, PNC, Oasis,

2012
24509, 240, Oasis, t5/13; cum 46k 3/14;
24328, 434, Oasis, t5/13; cum 38K 3/14;
23989, 148, Oasis, t5/13; cum 40K 3/14;
23935, 663, Oasis, t5/13; cum 51K 3/14;
23804, 786, Oasis, t9/13; cum 31K 3/14;
23343, 590, Oasis, t12/12; cum 81K 3/14;
22937, 770, Oasis, t8/12; cum 70K 3/14;
22688, 616, EOG, t9/12; cum 121K 3/14;
22643, 1,371, Oasis, t1/13; cum 83K 3/14;
22406, 737, Oasis, t3/13; cum 53K 3/14;
22400, 120, Oasis, t11/12; cum 50K 3/14;
22346, 1,526, Oasis, t8/12; cum 136K 3/14;
22324, 223, Oasis, t6/12; cum 79K 3/14;

2011
22045, 278, Oasis, t4/12; cum 106K 3/14;
22038, 1,025, Oasis, t3/12; cum 103K 3/14;
22000, 1,185, Oasis, t6/12; cum 116K 3/14;
21973, 736, Oasis, t8/12; cum 79K 3/14;
21745, 1,455, Oasis, t5/12;cum 140K 3/14;
21671, 285, Oasis, t1/12; cum 97K 3/14;
21661, 222, Oasis, t2/12; cum 86K 3/14;
21355, 231, Oasis, t9/12; cum 61K 3/14;
21319, 756, Oasis, t2/12; cum 98K 3/14;
21103, 183, Oasis, t3/12; cum 40K 3/14;

2010
19628, 774, Oasis, t7/11; cum 122K 3/14;
19037, 811, Oasis, t10/10; cum 122K 3/14;
18995, 889, Oasis, t9/10; cum 136K 3/14;
18688, 357, EOG, t5/11; cum 66K 3/14;
18657, 696, Oasis, t8/10; cum 138K 3/14;
18593, 763, Oasis, t6/12; cum 112K 3/14;

2009
18562, 509, EOG, t6/10; cum 92K 3/14;
18447, 763, Oasis, t3/10; cum 120K 3/14;
18410, 299, Oasis, t6/10; cum 109K 3/14;
18231, 138, EOG, t10/09; cum 73K 3/14;
18023, 40, EOG, t11/09; cum 81K 3/14;

Original Blog

(Disclaimer: the narrative is based on my understanding of what I saw while this developed; others may have a different perspective, and only the producers and the NDIC know the full story, I suppose. I will gladly update if corrections are in order.)

The Cottonwood field is a new field, a relatively large field. It is rectangular, running north to south. Powers Lake, ND, is right at the vertical midpoint of the field, and sits just outside the field on the west line. North Dakota highway 50, running east-west, splits the oil field into a north half and a south half.  The north half is in Burke County; the south half is in Mountrail County.

The Cottonwood initially caught my interest because it was designated a field during the current "Bakken" boom when Fidelity (MDU) had a producing discovery well. Fidelity requested the NDIC to designate a field that was essentially four sections, based on that well, running north to south, 157-92, 158-92, 159-92, and 160-92. Shortly after the NDIC designated this the Cottonwood Field, "all" Fidelity permits/rights were obtained by Oasis.

I don't follow the Cottonwood wells on my "watch list" because it doesn't look like much of a field. But here are the numbers I have, subject to typographical errors.

One can divide the field in half, the north half ("owned" by Oasis) and the south half (mostly Oasis, but at the far south, near the Alger field, we see some EOG wells). There are two sections in the north, and two sections in the south.

I don't think the south half is all that much better but as one gets closer to the Alger field, the more EOG wells, and the only really two "good" wells of the bunch: #17850 with an IP of 487 (reported Feb 4, 2010) and 17937, 675 (Feb 11, 2010).

All wells are short laterals with a couple of exceptions (one by Hess, and one by Oasis), at the time of original posting.

Looking at the GIS map server, these are the wells, going from north to south (current as of Feb 5, 2010).

(C) = confidential
(NR) = producing, but I have no record of IP
(LL) = long laterals; all others are short laterals
(A) = on the section line bordering the much better Alger field, essentially an Alger well
IPs in red
Updated as of 1/11 

***************************************

The following data will not be updated. Total production numbers will be updated up above.  

North half of field (159-92, 160-92)

18657: Oasis, 696, Ernst 6092 42-31H, spudded 5/10; tested 8/10; 44K; still producing at 8K/month
17447: Oasis, 308, Laumb 11-22H, spudded 9/08; tested 1/09; 48K; producing at 1K/month
17330: Oasis, 88, Weinmann 11-28H, spudded 8/08; tested 10/08; 44K; producing at <700 bbls/month
17278: Oasis, 13, Lucy 11-23H, spudded 6/08; tested 11/08; 24K; producing <300 bbls/month
18593: Oasis, confidential
17369: Oasis, 540, Edwards Federal 5992 44-10H, spudded 12/09; tested 3/10; 112K 4/12; producing at 5K/month
17194: Oasis, 103, Barenthsen 11-20H, spudded 5/08; tested 7/08; 53K 4/12; producing at 750 bbls/month
18410 (LL): Oasis, 299, Barenthsen 6059 44-5H, spudded 1/10; tested 6/10;  71K 4/12; producing at 2K/month
17169: Sequel Energy, 98, t11/08; cum 26K 3/14;
17741: Oasis, 122, Dale Van Berkom 11-18H, spudded 12/08; tested 7/09; 62K 4/12; producing at 1.4K/month
17110: Oasis, 127, Edwards 44-9H, spudded 3/08; tested 6/08; 57K 4/12; producing at 800 bbls/month

*************************

South half of field (157-92, 158-92)

17358: Oasis, 82, spudded 7/08; tested 1/09; 9K; producing at 200 bbls/month
17109: Fidelity, 166, spudded 6/08; tested 8/08; 20K; producing at 300 bbls/month
17193: Oasis, 118, spudded 4/08; tested 6/08; 39K; producing at 600 bbls/month
17328: Oasis, 92, spudded 6/08; tested 10/08; 18K; producing at 200 bbls/month
17610: Oasis, 180, spudded 10/08; tested 2/09; 38K; producing at 750 bbls/month
17822: Oasis, 1,061, Colbenson 5792 11-6H, t10/12; cum 82K 3/14;
18447 (LL): Oasis, 763, Enerson 5792 44-4H, spudded 1/10; tested 3/10; 62K; 3K/month
17096: Oasis, 228, spudded 3/08; tested 6/08; 38K; 400 bbls/month
17555: Oasis, 62, Thor-Erie 44-18H, t7/09; cum 13K 3/14;
17289: Oasis, 361, t10/08; cum 80K 3/14;
18231: EOG, 138, Cottonwood 7-21H, t10/09; cum 73K 3/14;
17798: EOG, 271, Cottonwood 1-22H, spudded 1/09; tested 8/09; 40K, 1200 bbls/month
18023: EOG, 40, Cottonwood 100-27H; spudded 9/09; tested 11/09; 42K, 1000 bbls/month
17863 (LL): HES, 230, t5/09; cum 104K 3/14;
17850: EOG, 487, Cottonwood 2-35H, t8/09; cum 119K 3/14;
17937: EOG, 675, Cottonwood 5-34H, t9/09; cum 126K 3/14;
18562: EOG, 509, Cottonwood 6-33H, t6/10; cum 92K 3/14;
19628 (LL)(drl): Oasis, Paradise 5892 11-30, t7/11; cum 122K 3/14;
19037: Oasis, 811, Banks 5892 44-34H, t10/10; 122K 3/14;
18995 (LL): Oasis, 889, Manhattan 5792 11-2H, t9/10; 136K 3/14
18688: EOG, 357, Cottonwood 9-28H, t5/11; cum 66K 31/4;