Long before others were saying anything at sites targeted to amateur armchair Bakken observers, I suggested that "they" were going to eventually put six to seven wells on a 1280-acre spacing unit. I noted that in the Whiting cases brought before the NDIC for approval (monthly hearing dockets).
Click here for Continental Resources' most recent presentation. Then go to slide 10.
If that link is broken or changes over time, the slide was a graphic of the CLR Eco-Pads:
- Eight wells on one Eco-Pad on 1280-acre spacing unit
- Four wells targeting the Bakken
- Four wells targeting the Three Forks Sanish
- Average EUR for each well: 500,000 bbls
- Equivalent to 2 million bbls per section
- Note the lateral reach of fracking
Note: Whiting is doing about the same thing, but a little bit differently. [To clarify, WLL appears to be putting 7 - 8 wells on 1280-acre spacing units (in the best Bakken sites) but on separate pads, not multi-well pads.]
Note: Once all wells are completed on an Eco-Pad, it is my hunch that CLR will request that production from all eight wells be commingled for cost-savings; this will generate a lot of discussion among mineral rights owners. Whiting, although keeping the wells on different pads, will probably eventually request commingling of production from all wells in proximity to each other.
Note: EUR stands for estimated ultimate recovery; the estimate of the total amount of oil that will be recovered by an individual well or by a spacing unit, depending upon context in which it is used
You stated that whiting is doing about the same thing with eco-pads, are they doing any of these pads in Stark County?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry; the post might have been a bit confusing.
ReplyDeleteFirst, to answer your question: no, I don't see evidence that WLL has many multi-well pads, and certainly no Eco-Pads (four wells on a pad; two targeting TFS and two targeting middle Bakken [MB]).
Second, looking at my database, I don't see any WLL multi-well pads, although I could have missed some.
Now, back to the original post above. The point I was trying to make was that fracking only goes out about 500 feet (in my opinion). CLR exploits this with the Eco-Pads. As I said above, WLL, does something similar, but "a little bit differently." WLL does it by putting multiple wells in one section but not on the same pad, especially in the Sanish (7-8 wells on one 1280-acre spacing unit).
As long as we are on this point, I'm not seeing that many Eco-Pads. If we don't see a lot of Eco-Pads, it may be because the formations are thicker in different parts of the basin, where Eco-Pads might not make sense.
Again, WLL seems to be taking advantage of the fact that different parts of the Williston Basin favor the Middle Bakken; other area favor the Three Forks. WLL is going after the Three Forks pinchout in the southwestern part of the Williston Basin, where the Bakken has thinned out and is not all that profitable.
At least that's the way I see it.
Again, CLR talks about multi-well pads (Eco-Pads), although I haven't seen that many; and WLL is placing multiple wells in one spacing unit but on different pads.