Update on Three Monster Wells in the Sanish -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is why I remain excited about the Bakken.

Take a look at sections 25 and 36 in T154N-R91W in the Sanish oil field. (These two sections adjoin each other, north/south.)

This township is "owned" by Murrex and Whiting.

In section 36, one short lateral, #16839, spudded back in late 2007.

In section 25, there are two wells. #18408 is an extended short lateral (a slightly longer short lateral but not a full long lateral), extending into section 36; and, #17263, a long lateral, sections 25 and 36.

16839, 864, Jacob Daniel 25-36H-RE, was originally spudded in October, 2007. It continued to produce approximately 9,000 bbls/month when the decision was made to re-enter the well in 2009. As of 5/13, this short lateral has produced 424K bbls of oil (at $50/bbl = $17.5 million at the wellhead).

17263, 3,124, Chandler James 25-36H, was spudded July 4, 2008. Production was volatile the last six months of 2010, but is now producing upwards of 15K/month. As of 5/13, this long lateral has produced a total of 944K bbls (at $50/bbl = $37 million).

18408, 1,945, Amber Renee 25-36H, was spudded December 21, 2009. It still is producing 30- to 35,000 bbls/months. As of 5/13, Amber Renee had produced 777K bbls of oil (at $50/bbl = $24 million).

All three wells are Murex wells.

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Update on several other monster wells. In black bold is the total amount of oil produced as of January 1, 2012.

• 17092, Behr 11-34H, Whiting, 3,027, Sanish, 919K bbls.
• 17222, Austin 18-21H, EOG, 1,769, Parshall, 797K bbls.
• 17227, Austin 21-28H, EOG, 3, 292, Parshall, 860K bbls. 
• 16954, Austin 6-15H, EOG, 3,633, Parshall, 707K bbls.
• 17263, Chandler James 25-36H, Murex, 3,124, Sanish, 944K bbls.
• 16059, USA 2D-3-1H, PetroHunt, see Charlson Field update for this, the most successful well to date in the current boom, 1,358K bbls (over the one million mark). Be sure to read the comment at this post.

Permits in the 17XXX series were spudded in 2008. One has to assume the wells are only getting better, all things being equal.

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Mineral rights and royalties

Take another look at the three wells mentioned above in sections 25 and 36, T154N-R91W.

I assume that with 1280-acre spacing, anyone who has mineral rights in any of those two sections participates in royalties from a long lateral that is in both sections.

However,  and this is very interesting, I would assume that has to also be true for a short lateral in a 1280-acre spacing unit. So, even though #16839, the Jacob Daniel is only a short lateral, because it's in a 1280-acre spacing unit, folks who have mineral acres in section 25 will participate in royalties, even though the short lateral is only in section 36. I suppose it's possible, that when the lateral is so obviously in only section, there may be an exception.

But with horizontals, it seems the spacing unit determines who participates in royalties. This is very important when one looks at the way Whiting is laying down up to seven horizontals in two sections.