Esoteric, Trivial Post -- Example Of Why I Enjoy Blogging -- Learn Someting Every Day -- Fracking and Pump Placement -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is why I enjoy blogging about the Bakken: to learn and to (hopefully) educate.

A couple of days ago "anonymous" wrote to me about a well that he/she felt had not been fracked yet because there was no pump on the well.

At least that's what I understood the comment to be. I could have misread it.

But if that's what was being assumed ("that a well that did not have a pump yet was not fracked"), I thought it was an opportunity to explore.

I replied that just because a well did not have a pump, that did not mean it was not fracked yet.

I wanted to find an example of a fracked well that was not yet on a pump, so I went to my database to find a well that had reported an IP, that had been fracked, and was still flowing without a pump.

HTG, I went to my 2010 database and randomly chose a well with an IP of 1,427. It turned out to be a Slawson well:

• 18574, 1,427, Slawson, Mole 1-20H, Big Bend, Bakken

I went to the well file:

• Spud date: 8/23/10
• IP test date: 12/10/10
• Fracked with 19 stages (the fracking was most likely completed just prior to the test date)
• Status: F

The "F" means that the well continues to flow (without a pump) as of the most recent reporting period, which appears to be May, 2011.

I got a kick out of the fact that, literally, the very first well I checked, had been fracked and was still flowing without assistance of a pump.

So, just because one sees a well without a pump, one cannot conclude that it has not yet been fracked. It is true that most (?) Bakken wells are put on a pump within the first year, but some can go a very long time without a pump.

By the way, it is my understanding that a pump/no pump means absolutely nothing with regard to EUR of that well for oil. (Obviously if the well needs a pump, it needs a pump, but a pump doesn't mean the well is going dry. It will be interesting to get feedback on that.)

I do not know if all, most, or some Bakken wells will have a huge flare with/without man-made (artificial) fracturing.