In my Ross field update I noted that Hess has permits for six wells on one pad. In section 27-156-90, Hess will drill six wells on a 2560-acre unit. The nomenclature suggests these will be long laterals, and that three laterals will go to the west, and three laterals will go to the east. My hunch is that the three long laterals going east will target the Middle Bakken, the Upper Three Forks Sanish, and the Lower Three Forks Sanish. The three long laterals going west will target the same formations.
Hess has done it again.
In the daily activity report, March 5, 2010, Hess was granted permits for six wells on one pad in the Pleasant Valley oil field (permits #18775, #18776, #18777, #18778, #18779, and #18780). This time the pad will be on section 21-157-94, and the laterals, instead of running west-east, will run north-south. Again, my hunch is that three long laterals going north will target the Middle Bakken, the Upper TFS, and the Lower TFS; and three long laterals going south will target the same formations.
So, now we have CLR with the Eco-Pads, four wells on one pad in a 1280-acre unit, and two pads (8 pads) in a 2560-acre unit, targeting two formations (the Bakken and the "Three Forks Sanish").
Hess is trying something a bit different with six laterals targeting three formations (hunch) on a 2560-acre unit.
How does this affect mineral owners in the same and adjacent sections? My family owns minerals in the north east corner of 21-157-94 with one producing well there, (Madison, I think). We have not yet bee contacted by Hess. But if I understand your description, the north bound laterals will extend right through our minerals.
ReplyDeleteShould we be expecting Hess to contact us? We do receive a small fraction of royalties from the Will Trust well in section 22.
I don't own any mineral rights so I have not been through the process. The folks at the Bakken Shale Discussion Group (see right sidebar) are very familiar with the process and might provide a better answer.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, if you have mineral rights in section 21-157-94, you should be really excited about the Hess development. Yes, it appears that Hess has permits to place three "long laterals" north (sections 21 and 16): I assume they will target the Middle Bakken (MB), the Upper TFS, and the Lower TFS, but that's just an assumption. I haven't seen anyone break out the Upper and Lower TFS in dual laterals yet, but I have seen reports talking about these two "separate" formations.
But just because they have permits, doesn't mean they will be there any time soon. They could be there "immediately" or they could wait, renewing their permits annually until they get ready to drill. But it appears that producers are drilling their permits as soon as possible; there are not a lot of permits being canceled or expiring.
With regard to your parents having mineral rights in the northeast area of this township, that makes sense. There's been a lot of activity in the Pleasant Valley field over the years and the Madison was a common target in the past booms.
Bottom line, I would be excited to have mineral rights in a section where there might be three more pay zones and three more wells; and I would be REALLY excited when I saw the rigs moving in. Good luck.
Thank you for stopping by.
Hess has already paid myself and siblings a lot of money for lease. I hope they hit a high capacity well or two on mine. from maps it looks like i'm on the east edge of the northern most three forks reserves. Hass
ReplyDeleteI think you are in a win-win situation. If the lease expires and they don't drill, you can lease again, and the scuttlebutt is that lease rates are going to go up next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they hit a great well, my next e-mail from you will originate in Hawaii or wherever you want to vacation.
Good luck. Thank you for stopping by.
thank you very much, but i forgot to mention that it is an eight year lease that we got a thousand bucks an acre plus 18 or so percent royalty we would split if they hit paydirt. I hope I'm not to optimistic, thinking they might drill this year (2011)
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that data point: 8-year lease, something that I had not heard of before. I thought 5-year leases were the norm. This suggests that Bakken operators are aware of the risk of delay for any number of reasons, including weather.
Thanks again for taking time to comment.