Determining Initial Production (IP) Flow Rates

In Whiting's most recent corporation presentation, the company explains how they determine their 24-hour initial production (IP) figure.  It is very interesting and sheds some light on this "contentious/controversial" issue.  This is the WLL response to a question on how they determine IPs:

"After the frac job, we let the well sit for approximately 3 days to allow the gel to break down and the sand to keep the fractures open. We bring the well back at a fairly aggressive rate to ensure we get the balls off seat and get the entire horizontal lateral producing. After about 48 hours of flow back, we initiate the IP test and put the well on a 40/64ths choke and monitors the production for a 24-hour period. Production is measured by strapping the production tanks that are on location. We measure and internally report our production for every well we operate on a daily basis (company wide). The 30-day rate is just that, what the well averages over the first 30 days of production."

Comment: Despite some less-than-flattering comments about IPs that are made every so often, one has to admit that this seems to be a very reasonable way to determine IPs. The oil companies have a fine line to walk: they need to present data that will benefit shareholders, but at the same time, they need to keep close hold on this information for obvious reasons.

The presentation is interesting enough that I may go back and highlight some additional information from the presentation.