Note: the "Three Forks" is a formation just below the Bakken formation. The Bakken formation is further divided into the upper, middle, and lower Bakken. In 2011, operators started talking about four benches "below" the Three Forks. The Bakken formations and the Three Forks formations are part of the Bakken Pool. The "Sanish" or the "Three Forks Sanish" is a specific part of the Three Forks found in western Mountrail county, where the Sanish oil field is located.
Over time operators are becoming more consistent when referring to the various Three Forks formations. The "legacy" upper Three Forks formation is TF1; the second bench is TF2; the third bench is TF3; and, the lowest bench is TF4. As of 2014, TF4 has not been tested widely.
Over time operators are becoming more consistent when referring to the various Three Forks formations. The "legacy" upper Three Forks formation is TF1; the second bench is TF2; the third bench is TF3; and, the lowest bench is TF4. As of 2014, TF4 has not been tested widely.
Updates
August 27, 2021: at this post.
- Three Forks, second bench
- Three Forks, third bench
- sand, fracking sand in North Dakota
- landslides in North Dakota
January, 2021: the lower Three Forks formation (third bench), Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system, overview of development history and future potential; Timothy O. Nehsheim, GeoNews, DMR, North Dakota, link to source article. Link to blog post.
January 25, 2018: a geologic update of the middle- to lower-Three Forks, ND geologic survey. A must-read.
September 26, 2013: Three Forks wells in northeastern McKenzie County five times better than middle Bakken wells -- Lynn Helms
June 23, 2013: the 2013 USGS Survey -- The Three Forks
May 24, 2010: Source Rock for the TFS
January 6, 2010: Continental Resources (CLR) reports six wells that targeted the TFS; excellent results.
Original Post
Link at SeekingAlpha.com here.
The article is very detailed and I won't go through it now. Maybe later for future reference.
Suffice to say:
Filloon: The Three Forks could be a bigger story than the middle Bakken. At its thickest point it is 270 feet thick, compared to the middle Bakken at 90 feet.Yup. See an earlier (November, 2011) post here.
Something tells me ONEOK did the math.
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This is from Mike's article linked above. I am providing bare details. Go to the link for the full story.
Data points:
Upper Bench
- the Three Forks is commercial throughout a good portion of the Williston Basin
- the thinnest portion of the upper Three Forks is in the northwest portion of the Williston Basin in Montana; it thickens significantly to the east and south
- the further north in Williams County, the thinner the upper Three forks
- a notable well: Magnum Hunter's Thomte, just a few miles from the Canadian border
- in McKenzie County, Three Forks seems thicker in the south and east
- gets thicker into northern Billings and western Stark counties
- extends into South Dakota
- Continental Resources testing the second bench
- of the few wells drilled so far into the second bench, it appears that bench is consistent throughout the Basin
- if the second bench is like the first, an additional four wells/pad possible
- Hess has planned its first 12-well pad, and an additional 6 locations could be possible with the second bench --> 36-acre spacing without wells in the third or fourth bench
