For Newbies, Including Myself -- A Re-Look at the Original Leigh Price Paper -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA -- Part III

The Leigh Price Paper: The Lodgepole Waulsortian Mound Oils
Part III

Part I
Part II
Part III

The paper has a fair amount of information regarding the Lodgepole. Here is a sampler (page 21 of the paper):

Core analyses demonstrate that the characteristics of the lower Lodgepole reservoir rock for thees Waulsortian mound oils are typical of that for all lower Lodgepole rocks throughout the Bakken HC kitchen, with low matrix porosity and very low matrix permeability.

However, in spite of these poor reservoir characteristics, the better wells of this play have very high initial potentials and also high cumulative productions. For example, the discovery well of the play, the Conoco Dickinson State #74 was completed in February 1993 at an initial open-hole potential of over 8,000 bbls per day. From February, 1993, to July, 1996, this well produced over one million bbls of oil and was producing 3 percent of Conoco's entire onshore US oil production.

These high productivities are entirely due to extensive tectonic fracturing overprinted in the rocks of the better lower Lodgepole wells, tectonic fracturing which has been caused by salt dissolution and collapse ... In fact, salt collapse is most likely responsible for the entire play. 

Back in the early 90s, one well accounted for 3 percent of Conoco's entire onshore US oil production. A nice bit of trivia for a cocktail party.

The reference to "Conoco Dickinson State 74" is file:

• 13447, 419, Conoco, Dickinson-Lodgepole Unit 74, s11/92; t2.93; F, cum 2.93 million bbls; currently flowing at 4,000 bbls/month.

Note: this vertical well is still flowing without a pump and is still active approaching the 20-year mark. This well was recently featured as a monster well at this link.