A Look at Red Wing Creek Oil Field, South of Arnegard, North Dakota

Updates

April 16, 2019:

• 35030, 164, Williston Basin State 42-36 36-1H, Red Wing Creek, t2/19; cum 16K 8/19; target: Madison pool; producing 2,600 bbls/month, 6/19;

May 10, 2013:

• 24118, 670, True Oil, Gravos 42-13 13-14H, Red Wing Creek, Bakken, t3/13; cum 95K 8/19;

Another interesting link regarding the Red Wing Creek oil field.

What the Red Wing Creek Field, located within North Dakota’s oil-rich Williston Basin, has been doing since its discovery in 1972 is not the story.

In fact, the nine-kilometer diameter creek structure has been producing oil – lots of it, approximately 17 million barrels, most of it in the Mission Canyon and Charles formations.

This story, though, isn’t just how much more is down there, but how we see it. Literally.

Original Post

Red Wing Creek is a 20-section oil field about 13 miles south-southwest of Arnegard or about 15 miles southwest of Watford City. [See also wiki's discussion of the Red Wing crater.]

In two of the sections, there is a cluster of vertical wells, some with short or very short laterals, mostly drilled back in the 70's. These are Madison formation wells.

From RMOJ, "Red Wing Creek Field, what was discovered and is operated by True, is one of North Dakota's most unusal oil pools in the sense that the trap created in this reservoir is believed to be the result of an astrobleme, or meteror impact. Producing from essentially vertical beds in the Madison, this field has produced more than 18 million bbls of oil following its discovery in 1972. It has also been reported that some of the wells in this field could produce thousands of barrels of oil per day but are restricted because of mechanical constraints. The reservoir is currently averaging approximately 15,000 bbls of oil per month rom 21 active wells." -- September 16, 2011.

Data points below -- file number, date: production to date; recent production

In section 28-148-101:

• 4062, 1972: PA/210,664 bbls; 4/13; producing less than 5 bbls/month, Madison
• 5322, 1973: IA/53,795; 5/19; bbls to date; producing about 50 bbls/month, Madison
• 15465, 2004, short horizontal: A/64K 8/19; producing about 200 bbls/month, Madison
• 5527, 1975: IA/162,000 bbls; 4/12; last month produced 32 bbls, Madison
• 15774, 2006, short horizontal: AB/29K 4/13; last produced 6/08, Madison
• 5359, 1974: AB/18,000 bbls to date; last produced, August, 2010, 38 bbls

In section 27-148-101:

• 5212, 1972: IA/653,000 bbls to date; erratic production; last production, 9/16;
• 15456, 2003, short horizontal: IA/188K 8/14; very erratic; last production, 1/17;
• 15769, 2006; AB, short horizontal: 511 bbls total to date (not a typo); last month produced 10 bbls
• 5235, 1974; AB: 2,833,232 bbls; 9/12; erratic production;
• 5323, 1973; IA: 3,289,134 bbls; 8/14; erratic production;
• 13590, 1994: 255,044 bbls to date; produced one day, 5/17;
• 11564, 1985: 552,238 bbls to date; producing a bbl or so every few months;
• 15420, 2003, very short lateral: IA/521,374 bbls to date; pretty much ended production in 2014;
• 15507, 2004, short lateral: IA/153,744 bbls to date; pretty much ended production in 2012;
• 5286, 1974: 3,012,610; 6/19; inactive as of 8/15; but then produced 2,102 bbls over 6 days, 5/17; 2019 -- back on line consistently; appears to be back on line; 
• 5335, 1974: IA/1,092,318; 8/14; pretty much inactive as of 3/14;
• 5260, 1974: IA/3,499,865; 8/14; pretty much inactive as of 4/14; but did produce a bit as recently as 5/19;
• 15417, 2003: 214,842; 8/19; erratic production; last three months -- 1,452; 1867; 388; produced 2,500 bbls in 5/19; and 6/19 after being offline for several years; producing 3,000 bbls/month, 5/19 - 8/19;
• 5182, 1972; AB: 382,141 bbls to date; last produced in 1981; June, 1981 -- 14,255 bbls; July, 1981 --- 13,522 bbls; August, 1981 -- 9,245 bbls and then nothing since

In section 1-147-101:

• 15617, TA/11, True, Burlington Resources 11-1H, a bbl a day; 1,800 cumulative, s8/7/2004; 12/21/205

In section 13-148-101:

• 20502, TA/1,272, True, Hagen 23-13H; the third horizontal well targeting the Madison in this field; t6/11; cum 14K 5/13;
• 21532, 108, True, Anderson 41-26-26-35H; this will be on 480-acre spacing (sections 26/35); horizontal Madison, 2/12; cum 141K 6/19;

In section 36:

• 20240, 706, True, Williston Basin 42-36H, a Madison well; long lateral, from section 36 through section 1; the Madison interval from 10,000 feet to 14,500 feet (numbers rounded). The vertical section of the Madison was from 9,726 feet to 9,782 feet -- all of 56 feet thick. This is the second horizontal Madison well in this field; the first was True's Burlington Resources 11-1H well. This was a very poor well, a stripper well from the beginning, and is currently averaging about 2 bopd; then, all of a sudden -- update, producing 6,000 bbls/months recently, 6/19;6,427 bbls in 8/19;

Sometimes it is interesting to look back and see what the Madison wells from the 1970's produced. Of the 20 wells above, five of them have produced more than a million bbls to date and are still active.

Two have produced more than 3 million bbls to date and are still active.

I think we have a long time to wait to see what the Bakken wells will do. Remember, many of the Bakken wells are being held back in production for various reasons.

In those two sections, only one well has been plugged and abandoned. There have only been four dry holes. I think I have captured all of the others; could have missed one, I suppose.

Adding up the totals to date of the wells noted above: 16.8 million barrels.

Divide that 16.8 million by 24 wells (including the four dry holes): 700,098 bbls/well to date on average. If today, they plugged all those wells and never went back, the "EUR" average would be about what the average EUR is estimated to be in the core Bakken.

I did not double check the math or the original data. Some numbers rounded. All wells, except one, as noted, are still producing. The 1972 well has been active for almost 40 years. (The field was discovered in 1972.)