August 7, 2021: 1354 -- a Lodgepole reef well; sudden, unexplained jump in production.
September 30, 2019: two wildcats targeting the Lodgepole south of Dickinson.
December 5, 2017: a lengthy update of my understanding of Lodgepole reef wells.
April 6, 2012: "Lodgepole: General" and "Lodgepole: News" were combined and all postings placed on this page this date. This date I separated out Lodgepool Reefs from Lodgepole Non-Reef Formation.
It looks like the NDIC places wells targeting the Lodgepole formation north of Williston and the wells targeting the Lodgepole Reefs around Dickinson in the same Lodgepole Pool.
This was a confusing area for me when I first started the blog several years ago, and posts older than this date regarding the Lodgepole may be "incorrect."
This is why the Lodgepole is important: Marathon may have found the third production zone in the Williston Basin, amenable to both vertical drilling and horizontal drilling depending on the drilling site. That link is archived here.
If you want to see a really incredible conventional Lodgepole well, look at Dinsdale 2-4. This well was a conventional well spudded in 1996 with an initial production of 3,357 barrels of oil per day. In 1996, we had not even heard of horizontal drilling, much less fracture stimulation. That conventional well, still in production, has produced a total of 4,634,619 barrels to date and its daily production remains significant.
Also, be sure to check out an Anschutz well that might be targeting the Lodgepole.
Finally, Armstrong has reported on a Lodgepole well inside the city limits of Dickinson and will be applying for another permit for the Lodgepole in the immediate area on October 29, 2009.
September 12, 2017: a new operator in the Williston Basin will target the Lodgepole in the Dickinson area.
April 30, 2012: 21347, DRL, Wesco, Gruman 31-18, Stark County, Eland field, Lodgepole
September 17, 2010: Halek announces plan to target the Lodgepole near Dickinson.
March 9, 2010: Update on a conventional well, the Laurine Engel 1.
December 10, 2009: Armstrong has Dickinson city permission to drill another Lodgepole well. General information on the Lodgepole at this page.
Staggering numbers for select Lodgepole wells.
Update on the Lodgepole and "Oil for America." This posting is a must-read for those interested in the Lodgepole.
More on the Lodgepole, November 25, 2010.
See also: Lodgepole News.
Two journal articles that might get one excited about the Lodgepole:
- Dickinson area: center of huge expanse of the Lodgepole; unfortunately this link is broken; no longer takes you to the correct article
- Technical research paper: could rival other formations
If you want to learn about the Lodgepole, this is where I would start: the Bakkenshale.blogspot.
Although a bit tedious to read, this is an interesting thread on recent Lodgepole discovery (link is broken).
Another thread on the Lodgepole (link is broken).
This thread on the Lodgepole got me very, very excited (link is broken) (someone calculated potential production at 4,000 bbls/day based on initial show. That turned out to be a mistake, but the main point was not lost: the Lodgepole, the Three Forks Sanish and the Bakken may be three major formations. The US Geologic Survey was based solely on the "Bakken pool" -- which included both the Bakken formations and the Three Forks formations but NOT the Lodgepole, or the several other oil-producing formations in North Dakota.
Finally, I got around to this, linking to an article about the exciting vertical wells that targeted the Lodgepole back in the 1990s. I have to thank the folks who have commented on this blog, reminding me of these wells. See comments below.
If you check older oil well records nothing is coming close to what trans texas gas corp did in the 1990's most of there lodgepole discoveries were all over 4500 bopd.MAYBE THE LODGEPOLE IS THE REAL DEAL
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you said that. I thought the same thing (wondering about the Lodgepole). I was surprised others have not pointed this out. I am a novice on all of this, and obtain information only from public sources, so I was sure someone would take me to task for saying so little about the Lodgepole. Thank you for your support. I truly don't understand it -- those huge Lodgepole wells and so little said about them now. Have a great 2010. I think it's going to be a great year for oil industry in North Dakota if oil holds above $70.
ReplyDeleteThe darwin well is a producer it is only a 640 acre well it does not seem to be prolific or as strong as a bakken well. Some of the initial data however seems promising and I am sure that marathon is testing the reservoir to see what can be done to improve future wells in this area. It will be just a matter of time before these become a possible touch down point. I won't be surprised if someone someday announces an eco pad that drills the bakken, threeforks and the lodgepole.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteI cringe when I look at some of the things I posted more than a year ago, when I was pretty naive and just learning.
I am still naive, still learning, but I hope I have gotten better.
I share your sentiments. I truly think that the operators are still trying to sort out exactly what they got in North Dakota. Over the years, various formations have been subject of interest. At one time it was the Madison group. Now it's the Bakken. Obviously, they will initially go where they get "best bang for buck" but at some point as situations change, folks will look at "new" formations or at "old" formations with new or different technology.
Barring a major geopolitical event, I am convinced that this is just the beginning of what "the Bakken" has to offer. Very, very exciting.