MRO Reports A Huge Well in the Van Hook: IP of 4,967

18043, 4,967, MRO, Arvid Bangen USA 31-18H, Wildcat, Bakken

Section 18, T150-R92.  It is listed as a wildcat, but is clearly in the Van Hook now, so the Van Hook must have been extended, perhaps due to this well.

Huge well.


It's been noted that the well is producing about 550 bbls/day after 77 days of production.

If a hypothetical well produces 550 bbls/day and the well is a wildcat where there are no pipelines, and if the hypothetical well has six 400-gallon tanks on its pad, the six tanks will be full in about four days (6 tanks x 400 gallons/tank = 2,400 bbls/500 bbls per day = a bit over 4 days). So, every four days, trucks need to be driving out to this remote area of North Dakota and downloading 2,400 barrels of oil.


There was a shortage of trucks and truck drivers in the Bakken when there were 100 rigs drilling. There are now 165 rigs drilling in the Bakken. There were on occasion last year, days when all truck traffic was stopped due to blizzard conditions. Recently, a major pipeline was shut down due to a spill in Michigan. This shutdown resulted in one of the Bakken companies to announce they would miss their third quarter production quotas.

The state also limits the amount of oil that can be produced from a hypothetical well when natural gas is flaring; and won't allow maximum production until natural gas is captured and taken away, unless the state grants a waiver. The request for maximum production takes at least a month, waiting to get a spot on the NDIC hearing docket schedule.

Yup, this well that had an IP of almost 5,000 bbls is now down to 550 bbls per day.