Ross Field Update

Updates

October 5, 2012: random update of three recent Ross wells; look at the decline rate (minimal).

Original Post

This is what has me interested in the Ross Field: the NDIC Docket for Wednesday, January 13, 2010, case number 11991: Hess applied to the NDIC to establish two 2560-acre spacing units consisting of all the sections 20, 21, 22, and 23 and all of sections 26, 27, 28, and 29, in township 156N-90W, in the Ross field; and, to be allowed to drill up to six horizontal wells at any location not closer than 500 feet to the boundary.

And now we see the first of those permits: 18602, 18603, 18604, 18605, 18606, and 18607.

The names associated with these permits, respectively:

18602, 207, RS-Nelson Farms A-156-90-2829H-1, t6/10; cum 119K 7/12;
18603, 154, RS-Shuhart 156-90-2726H-1, t8/10; cum 66K 7/12;
18604, 366, S-Nelson Farms A-156-90-2829H-2, t10/10; cum 110K 7/12;
18605, 339, RS-Shuhart 156-90-2726H-2; t11/10; cum 56K 7/12;
18606, 117, RS-Nelson Farms A-156-90-2829H-3; t1/11; cum 81K 7/12;
18607, 120, RS-Shuhart 156-90-2726H-3; t3/11; cum 43K 7/12; 

These six permits sit in a single line, running north to south, each 50 feet from the next one,  in section 27. I call this configuration a "Dakota Candle." [I no longer use this term.]

Based on their names, the wells will all be "long laterals."

18602 will run from section 28 to 29.
18603 will run from section 27 to 26.
18604 will run from section 28 to 29.
18605 will run from section 27 to 26.
18606 will run from section 28 to 29.
18607 will run from section 27 to 26.

So, we have three long laterals running from 27 to 26, and three long laterals running from 28 to 29.

My hunch: one long lateral each in the Middle Bakken, the Upper Three Forks Sanish, and the Lower Three Forks Sanish. 

These wells are on my "wells to watch" list.

Otherwise, at the moment, the Ross field is relatively unremarkable. The Ross field is mediocre in size: 110 sections. It is an old field based on the irregularity and one short boundary actually cutting a section in half -- seldom seen. Unlike most other fields in the agrarian state of North Dakota, there are actually two "urban centers" in this field: Palermo and Stanley, population 77 and 1,279, respectively, in the 2000 census, according to Wikipedia. I assume Stanley is a whole lot bigger now. Stanley is the county seat of Mountrail County, currently the most prolific oil ounty and the most active county in the current Bakken boom.

Stanley has also been in the news lately with regard to shipping oil out of North Dakota on rail: Stanley is where EOG established a rail terminus to load oil on a daily basis and ship it to Cushing, Oklahoma. That's  how tight the pipeline capacity is in North Dakota: EOG was taking a discount on its oil due to overcapacity in the pipeline, so it set up this terminal. EOG set a deadline to have the facility operational by February, 2010, but in fact were able to make the first shipment on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2009.

The Ross field, though a bit irregular in shape, is almost rectangular (2 sections east-to-west; 1 section north-to-south), and sits directly north of the two most prolific fields in "the Bakken": the Sanish and the Parshall.  The two major townships in Ross field: 156-91 and 156-90.

Currently, there are about 33 producing wells; two (2) wells on the confidential list (both near Palermo; one of those inside the corporate boundaries of Palermo); and 11 permits, including the six (6) permits noted above.

IPs and cumulatives updated September 11, 2012.