Data points:
- Golden Valley County, North Dakota
- Rieckoff 44-22; 11 miles northeast of Beach, ND
- vertical Red River well; total depth, almost 12,500 feet
- about a half-mile southeast of Whiting's Maus 23-22, completed July 2011; IP - 273; cumulative production from the Maus has exceeded 42,000 bbls
- Maus is now part of the Camel Hump field, previously abandoned Red River oil pool
- Whiting's Tescher 42-25 was a test well in Camel Hump produced 215,000 bbls before being plugged in 2005
"Whiting has a strong interest in this area for the vertical Red River....3.5 miles southwest of their Maus....finished drilling the Quale 21-30....This tight hole was originally thought to be targeting the horizontal Lodgepole, as it spots within a unit that Whiting spaced on 1,280 acres for the lateral Scallion formation, a subsection of the Lodgepole. Field sources now indicate the Quale 21-30 is a vertical test that will evaluate the Red River. Whiting has released no data regarding the status of this prospect. "
What is your opinion of this area? I see all of the Whiting activity, but the results seem very sketchy.
ReplyDeleteThere are almost no wells in this immediate area, maybe four. The Tescher, as noted, produced 215,000 bbls of oil which isn't bad for a Red River vertical well. But I don't think anyone can hazard a guess on how this area will do. It all depends on profitability/rate of return. Compared to Bakken wells, these wells should be very inexpensive to drill and thus the production doesn't have to be as great. There were a lot of great Red River wells in the Cedar Hills field.
Delete20043 PEPLINSKI 34-9
Delete19921 BROOKHART 11-14
20969 NISTLER 21-25H
22374 QUALE 21-30
19917 MAUS 23-22
22750 RIECKHOFF 44-22
It just seems that they are not getting much results, or they are just not saying much, but they keep drilling around this area. 141N 105W, 141N 104W
You are correct -- not getting much in results -- that is the reason for all the excitement in the Bakken.
ReplyDeleteNo one has seen anything like this before in the Williston Basin: first, there are "no"dry wells in the Bakken; and, second, they are paying for their wells in three years, some in 1.5 years, some sooner.
Bakken wells hit 150,000 bbls in two years; it took 20 years for Red River wells to hit a similar amount.
Whiting reported their Maus well to cost only $3.8MM with est EUR of 400,000. The Red River production tends to have a much flatter decline curve. So far the Maus has produced nearly 42k barrels in only 9 months. Ignoring royalties, etc, that about covers the cost of the well. I imagine that is why they are drilling the adjacent RIECKHOFF well.
DeleteThank you. The biggest challenge I have is explaining the huge differential between the number of rigs going after the Bakken and number of rigs going after other plays such as the Red River, but also the Tyler.
DeleteThe Sanish wells are providing a great upfront cash flow. Legacy formations (like the Red River and Madison provide a nice long-term consistent return. It will be interesting if ten years from IP, if Bakken wells will level off to a rate seen in other formations, or if they reach their EUR much more quickly. It's been my impression a lot of the great Madison or Red River wells produced for decades; it will be interesting to see if Bakken wells produce that long.