In Another Life

I apologize. I won't do this often, but it's a Friday night, relatively quiet in the Bakken, and my thoughts begin to wander to a different life:


Great video, great music


Short video clip

In another life:


Highway Fever, Slim Dusty

Finally: The Number of Wells are Increasing

From the McKenzie County Farmer:

In October 1981, the active rig count hit a record high of 146 rigs, and even though the current number is still far from the all-time high, the oil industry is still producing more than those 146 rigs did in 1981.

“From what I hear, we can expect the rig count to increase by 25 percent by late summer [125],” according to Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. “Nobody knows how high the rig count will get, but I doubt that we have the infrastructure or manpower to support activity near the all-time high for too long. However, we have to remember that today’s drilling rig does what eight rigs could do back in 1982, does it in one-third of the time and is much safer. Therefore, in terms of drilling wells and productivity, we have already surpassed the 1981 level. The technology is truly amazing.”

For the longest time (about six months) the number of wells coming off confidential status has been in the 45 - 55 / month range.

Finally, in August we will see upwards of 67 wells coming off the confidential list.  Here are the numbers this year, so far:

53 wells came off the confidential list in January, 2010.
55 wells came off the confidential list in February, 2010.
65 wells come off the confidential list in March, 2010.
42 wells come off the confidential list in April, 2010.
49 wells come off the confidential list in May, 2010.
50 wells come off the list in June, 2010.

It has been opined that the increase in wells coming off the confidential list early in 2010 was due to number of EOG wells that would have been reported earlier, but were delayed due to delay in fracking.

54 wells come off the confidential list in July, 2010.

I'm surprised we're not yet seeing a jump in number of wells coming off confidential list. In October, 2009, there were only 56 active rigs; in January, 2010, the number of rigs approached 90 rigs, and yet, the number of wells coming off confidential list in January, 2010, was 54, and the number of wells coming off confidential list in July, 2010, is 49. 

67 wells come off the confidential list in August, 2010.

Finally, we see the jump I have been expecting.

Incidentally, with 265 new permits granted in 2010 (as of March 19, 2010), North Dakota is on track to grant 1240 permits in 2010, well above the 626 granted in 2009, and even the 953 granted in 2008, the best year in the current boom.

Canceled Permits

BEXP canceled a couple of permits today, both in the Alger field, one in section 11 and one in section 5, both T155-N-92W.  Go to the Alger field link to read more about these cancellations; it looks like there is more to the story. We'll probably never know the whole story but something tells me it required adjudication by the NDIC.

This is a cut and paste from my "wells to watch" page because I'm too busy right now to clean it up:

Special Circumstances: the Alger Excitement

18647 (C): Fidelity, Anderson 11-13H 

17392 (C): BEXP, Anderson 1-11H, is in section 11. PERMIT CANCELED, MARCH 19, 2010. WOW, that's an interesting turn of events.  11-155-92.  A companion permit, Olson 5-6-1-H, 5-155-92, was also canceled same day. The Olson 5-6 1-H well was a permit that was originally granted to Lario.

Comment: the reason these two wells are so important -- an entity called the Irish Oil and Gas Company has just paid the equivalent of $4.7 million for 640 acres, by paying $7300/acre for 120 acres in sections 11, 12, and 13, T155N-92W, Alger Field. This is a better-than-average field but not THAT remarkable. What might be going on? For those who do not follow these things, acres in the township north of this location were going for as little as $600/acre (which "in the old days" was a nice price).

18712 (P): Slawson, Athena 1-36H, SESW 36-155N-92W

CLR also canceled a permit: 18661, Rosenquist 1-13H, Hamlet field, Divide County.

Parlor Game #34214: Two New EOG Permits

UPDATES

November 28, 2010: Status of EOG wells in 151-91, Van Hook field updated; see below.

April 1, 2010: Another "Liberty" well; #18877, Liberty 103-13H, NWNW 13-151N-91W.  Liberty is the name of the township.

ORIGINAL POST

It's a quiet news day (for the moment), so I will join the discussion guessing what EOG plans to do with two permits granted yesterday.

The two permits under discussion are in the Van Hook oil field, in a section adjoining the prolific Parshall oil field. The two wells will be on the same pad, 100 feet apart from each other in the northwest quadrant of the northwest quadrant of section 36:

18827, Liberty 10-36H, 36-151N-91W, short lateral
18828, Liberty LR 16-36H, 36-151-91W, long lateral

These two wells will be on the same pad, and will be in the section closest to the river to allow drilling under the river.

April 30, 2010: new permit with "LR" designation -- #18979, EOG, Liberty LR 14-23H; section 23 close enough to river to drill horizontal under it

My opinion: the short lateral will go southwest and remain in section 36. The long lateral will go directly west and drill into sections 34 and 35.

The simple nomenclature for 18827 (10-36H) is shorthand for a "development" well.

I have not seen "LR" before and not sure what it means. Since most, if not all, of the EOG wells in the Parshall to date have been short laterals, I think the "L" in "LR" refers to long lateral. Does the "R" mean under the river? If so, why would that matter? Because #18828 is simple nomenclature (no 100, no 101, etc.) suggests to me this is also considered a development well in the Middle Bakken.

Township T151N-91R is Liberty Township.
Township T152N-91R is Van Hook Township.

Because of the river, there are only twelve (12) sections on which a pad could be placed: 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36. In addition, six (6) additional sections under the river could be reached with long laterals, and it appears section 34 will be the first such section under the river to be reached.

With the two permits under discussion (above), EOG will not be putting a pad on section 35. That leaves eleven (11) pads.

Looking at the GIS map server (and including the two newest permits), EOG has at least one permit in each Section of 151-91 that is not under the river. All are short laterals unless otherwise stated: (current status in red, updated Nov 28, 2010)
Section 1: 18365, 1,379, Liberty 8-01H, s3/10; t7/10; cum 140K 10/11
Section 1:  19122, Liberty 102-01H
Section 2: 18750, 439, Slawson well,
Section 11: 18101, 209, Liberty 2-11H,
Section 12: 18066, 515, Liberty 101-12H, 
Section 12: 18884, 625, Liberty 23-12, 

Section 12: 99188 (natural gas or SWD)

Section 13: 17992, 711, Liberty 4-13H, 
Section 13: 18877, Liberty 103-13H, 541
Section 14: 19231, Liberty LR 13-14H
Section 14: 19802, 1,215, EOG, Liberty LR 18-14H
Section 14: 19210, Liberty 3-14H, nearly complete
Section 23: 19720, 510, Liberty LR 13-23H 
Seciton 23, 18979, 894, Liberty LR 14-23H
Section 23: 19721, 1,063, Liberty LR 19-23H, s10/10; t3/11; cum 110K 10/11
Section 23: 18971, 894, Liberty 09-23H, plugged or producing
Section 24: 18038, 806, Liberty 5-24H, plugged or producing
Section 25: 17997, Liberty 6-24H, 1,191; s1/10; t5/10; cum 138K 10/11
Section 26: 18065, short lateral, Liberty 100-26H, 369
Section 26: 19360, PNC, Liberty LR 15-26H
Section 35 18827, 732, short lateral, Liberty 10-36H; s6/10; t2/11; cum 120K 10/11
Section 36: 18828, 1,066, long lateral -- 34/35, under the river, Liberty LR 16-36H; s8/10; t2/11; cum 124K 10/11,

Section 36: 19919, Liberty LR 21-36H
Opinion: look for permits in sections 14 and 23 to be long laterals, with names: Liberty LR XX-14H and Liberty LR XX-23H, unless the acreage belongs to someone other than EOG (e.g., Slawson).

Now switching gears (this has nothing to do with drilling under the river in the Van Hook/Parshall fields):

Look at the December 17, 2009, docket, specifically case 11939, a request for 99 more wells.  EOG requested that the Van Hook or the Parshall pool be extended by a total of 33 more sections. In 151-91, EOG wanted to add sections 9, 16, 21 - 28, 34 - 36, a total of 13 more sections, which are all under the river. In addition, EOG wanted to drill up to three (3) wells in each of these sections with 640-acre unit spacing.  Again, I have opined that the "three" refers to three formations: the Middle Bakken, the Upper TFS, and the Lower TFS; more likely, now, two into the middle Bakken and one into the TFS.


Case No. 11939, Dec 17, 2009:   Application of EOG Resources, Inc. for an order extending the field boundaries for the Parshall or Van Hook-Bakken Pool to include the following lands: Sections 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, T.151N., R.90W.; Sections 9, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 34, 35 and 36, T.151N., R.91W., Mountrail County, ND; further amending the field rules to allow the drilling of up to three horizontal wells for each 640-acre spacing unit on the following lands: Sections 1 through 36, T.151N., R.90W.; Sections 1 through 36, T.152N., R.90W.; Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 19 through 36, T.153N., R.90W., Sections 1 through 36, T.154N., R.90W.; Sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, T.155N., R.90W.; Sections 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 36, T.151N., R.91W., Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36, T.152N., R.91W.; Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32, T.153N., R.89W., Mountrail County, ND, and further redefining the pool limits for the Parshall-Bakken Pool and such other relief as is appropriate.