Squires Field Update

News

March 28, 2022: update of the field. 

November 6, 2017: I've never considered the Squires oil field, north of Williston, particularly remarkable. I may have to re-set my impression of Squires:

• 33517, 828, Bowline / Nine Point Energy, Trinity 155-102-23-14-7H, Squires, 50 stages, 10 million lbs, t10/17; cum243K 1/22;
  
• 33518, 1,157, Bowline / Nine Point Energy, Trinity 155-102-23-14-8H, Squires, 50 stages, 10 million lbs, t10/17; cum263K 1/22;
  

June 21, 2013: in an incredible SeekingAlpha article, Mike Filloon compares EOG's wells with the wells of other operators in the Squires oil field, noting how much better EOG's wells are due to their new fracking technique.

May 18, 2010: Two new permits --

• 19045, 53, Kraken / CLR, Goodman 1-36H, Squires, t10/10; cum 217K 1/22;
  
• 19046, 844, Oasis, McFarland 5502 44-12H, Squires, t11/10; cum 184K 1/22;
  

May 7, 2010: Lots of activity in the Squires oil field. There are now eight (8) rigs on site in this oil field: Oasis, CLR, Zenergy, EOG, and BEXP; pretty impressive. This would be a great night to take a drive and see the activity.  This might be a good opportunity to watch these drillers go "head-to-head" -- many of these companies are using same methods to compute/report IPs.

April 30, 2010: BEXP press release, #18506, Arnson 13-24 1-H, 1,339 boepd IP.

April 16, 2010: Olson 10-15 1-H, #17513 -- 100,000 bbls/oil in first 13 months. At $40/bbl this well has been paid for ... for all practical purposes.

March 16, 2010: Oasis granted another permit, #18817, in Squires, Kjos 5502 44-24H. A nice well, see below.

March 12, 2010: In NDIC's daily activity report (today), Oasis was granted three permits in the Squires oil field. Two of these wells will be sited on same pad, 50 feet apart.

The Squires Field

The Squires is a very active oil field, about four miles northwest of Williston. Along with the Painted Woods, these two fields are the fields west of Williston.

It is a rectangular field, relatively small (just 64 sections), two townships, 155-103 and 155-102, in a east-west configuration. The Squires is just north of and shares a boundary with the Painted Woods field, well known to Willistonites for the very highly-promoted BEXP twin wells, the Olson and the Brad Olson wells, sitting just 1425 feet from each other.

The names of some of these wells bring back good memories of growing up in Williston. I wrestled with Clark Jorgenson in high school (if I remember correctly, he took "state" in the heavyweight division); Sukut ran a successful office supply store just off main street; the Lees were close family friends; and, Dad knew the Anseths well.

In addition, this well is personally interesting to me because it is so close to my childhood home of Williston. I used to drive the back roads of this area after my dad bought me a 1948 Willys Jeep. I could take that jeep anywhere and I did. According to Wikipedia, Willys introduced four-wheel drive in 1948, and that's exactly what I had. That was my very first "automobile." (My second one was a very sporty Chevy Nova, again, picked out by my dad.)

 
Testing the Willys Jeep in the 1940's
There are currently five rigs in the Squires: 18817, 18622, 18771, 18745, and 18764. The Squires oil field is directly north of Painted Woods oil field; they share a common boundary. It appears once BEXP demonstrated how productive this field might be, quite a few other drillers moved in. Unlike Painted Woods which appears to be almost all BEXP, the Squires has three main operators: BEXP, CLR, and Oasis. It's possible Oasis picked up their acreage from Fidelity.

The sites with active rigs in place (at time of original posting; now completed):

• 18817, 1,099, Oasis, Kjos 5502 44-24H
• 18622, 680, EOG, Mont 1-28H
• 18771, 683, Zenergy, Johnson 29-30H
• 18745, 1,959, BEXP, Sukut 28-33 1-H
• 18764, 563, CLR, Ricky 1-18H

The Squires is made up of two townships: T155N-R103W and T155N-$102W with a total of 64 sections.

There are three wells that have released their IPs and are producing:

• 18282, BEXP, 2,264, Strand 16-9 1-H
• 15878, Sigma-Lee 14-3, too old for my database
• 18256, 1,341, Grayson Mill / Equinor / Statoil / BEXP, 1,241, Lee 16-21 1-H, Squires, t11/09; cum 213K 1/22;
  

There are at least a couple of occasions where two wells share one pad:

• 18623, 1,656, Oasis, Odin Jorgenson 5502 44-8H, Squires, t2/11; cum 249K 1/22;
  
• 18799, 1,642, Oasis, Stowers 5502 43 8-H, Squires, t2/11; cum 256K 1/22;
  

Another two-well pad:

• 18802, 1,193, Oasis, Vuki 5502 42-7H, Squires, t9/10; bcum 214K 1/22;
  
• 18801, IA/1,481, Oasis, Contreras 5502 42 7-H, Squires, t8/10; cum 211K 8/21;
  

There are at least  a couple of occasions where two wells are right across the section line from each other:

• 18764, 563, CLR, Ricky 1-18H (reported above, also); t7/10; cum 173K 1/22;
  
• 18742, 735, CLR, Kari 1-19H, t9/10; cum 198K 1/22;
  

Another pair right across the section line from each other:

• 18782, 641, CLR, Lee 1-20H, t641, cum 176K 1/22;
  
• 18646, 572, CLR, Anseth 1-29H, t5/10; cum 218K 1/22;
  

In addition, there is another pair right across the section line from each other but one is just outside Squires:

• 18622, 680, EOG, Mont 1-28H
• 18618, PNC, EOG, Mont 2-34H, wildcat, 34-155-102 -- permit canceled

Painted Woods Field

News

November 7, 2018: Oasis: added Painted Woods to core inventory in February; initial well results are outperforming company's expectations. Link here. 

May 6, 2013: observations regarding the status of this field. 

May 6, 2013: this page was updated as of this date; it appears this field is pretty much connected to natural gas pipelines, so the issue of flaring should be going away in this field; the only problem may be takeaway capacity

December 24, 2011: Painted Woods is now about 70 sections, including some attenuated sections along the Montana state line. 

Permits

2015 (none as of March 2, 2015)

2014 (the list is complete)
30307, conf, Statoil, Olson 10-15 2TF,
30306, conf, Statoil, Olson 10-15 3H,


2013
None in 2013.

2012

• 24634, 2,533, Equinor/Statoil, Blanche 27-22 7H, t1/14; cum 173K 12/18;
• 24633, 1171, Equinor/Statoil, Blanche 27-22 2TFH, t1/14; cum 155K 12/18;
• 24479, PNC, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 5TFH, 
• 24478, 1,562, Equinor/Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 4H, t8/14; cum 187K 12/18; see #24476;
• 24477, PNC, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 3TFH, 
• 24476, 1,890, Equinor/Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 6H, t7/14; cum 188K 12/18; this well was not re-fracked but it shows some "renewed life"; see #24478;
• 24475, PNC, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 2TFH,
• 24000, EXP-->loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 16-0409H,
• 23732, 1,078, Equinor/Statoil, Boots 13-24 4TFH, t7/13; cum 117K 12/18;
• 23731, IA/679, Equinor/Statoil, Delorme 12-1 4TFH, t7/13; cum 156K 12/18;
• 23730, 1,942, Equinor/Statoil, Boots 13-24 3H, t7/13; cum 170K 12/18;
• 23729, 1,803, Equinor/Statoil, Delorme 12-1 3H, t7/12; cum 163K 12/18; off line late 2018; back on line;
• 23633, PNC, Equinor/Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 2TFH,
• 23632, 879, Equinor/Statoil, Reiten 23-14 1TFH, t8/13; cum 113K 12/18;
• 23631, 2,174, Equinor/Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 3H, Painted Woods, t8/13; cum 188K 12/18;
• 23630, 1,975, Equinor/Statoil, Reiten 23-14 2H, t8/13; cum 168K 12/18;
• 23629, conf, Equinor/Statoil, Reiten 23-14 4H,
• 23628, conf, Equinor/Statoil, Reiten 23-14 3TFH, 
• 23627, conf, Equinor/Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 4TFH, 
• 23421, 1,011, EOG, Garden Coulee 1-1410H, 49 stages; 10 million lbs; t12/12; cum 264K 12/18;
• 22535, loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 14-0607H,
• 22501, loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 22-0607H, 
• 22315, 856, Zenergy, Ledahl 28-21H,  t6/12; cum 139K 12/18;

2011

• 20762, 817, Oasis/Zenergy, Arnstad 3-10H;t5/12; cum 173K 11/18;
• 20877, PNC, BEXP, Gathman 30-19 1-H;
• 20925, 1,029, Oasis/Zenergy, Iverson 14-11H, t10/11; cum 177K 12/18;
• 20996, 683, Oasis/Zenergy, Anderson 7-18H, t12/11; cum 195K 12/18;
• 21008, 279, EOG, Hardscrabble 9-0508H; t11/11; cum 216K 12/18;
• 21011, 1,263, Zenergy, Owan 23-26H, t2/13; cum 215K 12/18;
• 21067, 588, Slawson, Stampede 2-36-35H, t12/11; cum 142K 12/18;
• 21073, PNC, Zenergy, Ledahl 28-21H,
• 21098, PNC, Zenergy, Heller 2-11H,
• 21138, 2,555, Statoil/BEXP, Gathman 30-19 1H, t12/11; cum 227K 12/18;
• 21660, 2,344, Equinor/Statoil/BEXP, Wing 4-33 1H, t4/12; cum 211K 12/18;
• 21740, 2,389, Equinor/Statoil/BEXP, Blanche 27-22 1H; t3/12; cum 237K 12/18;

March 19, 2011: I noted the update of the Painted Woods at this post, which will bring you back here. Painted Woods permits issued since June 1, 2010 (updated Dec 23, 2011):

• 19085, 2,172, see below, June 1, 2010; t4/11; cum 219K 12/18; ready to be re-fracked; one of the original wells in this field
• 19086, 2,472, see below, June 1, 2010; t11/10; cum 222K 12/18; ready to be re-fracked; one of the original wells in this field
• 19300, 634, EOG, Hardscrabble 5-0607H, t10/11; cum 226K 11/18; another nice well; let it run, but someday it will be re-fracked;
• 19348, 995, EOG, Round Prairie 7-1522H; t7/11; cum 201K 11/18; steady Eddy; ready for re-frack;
• 19389, 1,936, Equinor/Statoil/BEXP, 1,936, M. Olson 20-29 1H, t12/10; cum 307K 12/18; huge well; let it run, but someday it will be re-fracked;
• 19409, 761, EOG, Mont 3-3403H, t6/11; cum 228K 11/18; a really nice well; ready for re-frack;
• 19413, 1,260, Oasis, Moore 5304 13-1H, t9/12; cum 215K 11/18;
• 19419, 652, EOG, Mont 4-3502H, t7/11; cum 213K 11/18; steady Eddy; ready for re-frack;
• 19529, 1,054, EOG, Round Prairie 5-0804H, t5/11; cum 214K 11/18;
• 19556, 709, Oasis/Zenergy, Florence 11-2H, t10/11; cum 179K 11/18; compare with "new" Florence well to be reported February, 2019;
• 19614, 1,635, Oasis, Christianson 5404 14-34H, Painted Woods, Williams, t4/12; cum 217K 11/18;
• 19615, 1,752, Oasis, Cowden 5404 13-35H, t3/11; cum 204K 11/18; a steady Eddy; candidate for re-frack;
• 19778, 414, EOG, Mont 10-3601H, t11/11; cum 264K 11/18; a steady Eddy; needs to be re-fracked;
  
• 19930, 2,670, Equinor/Statoil/BEXP, Russell 10-3 1H, t6/11; cum 327K 12/18; a mini-refrack back in late 2017;
• 20146, 1,889,  Statoil/BEXP, Delorme 12-1 1H, t6/11; cum 199K 12/18;
• 20156, 686, EOG, Hardscrabble 8-0409H, t4/12; cum 220K 12/18;
• 20171, 2,003, Statoil/BEXP, Erickson 8-17 2H, t11/11; cum 200K 12/18;
• 20178, 2,788, Staoil/BEXP, Erickson 8-17 3H; t4/11; cum 250K 12/18;
• 20245, PNC, Zenergy, Mortenson 18-7H (last one in 2010)

Jun 1, 2010: The"first" Brad Olson was an important well for BEXP. It had an IP of 1,810 when BEXP desperately needed some good news. Today, BEXP was granted two new permits in the very same section (9-154N-102W): Brad Olson 9-16 3H and Brad Olson 9-16 2H, both should be on the same pad just to the west of the original Brad Olson.  Update, Mar 19, 2011:

• 19085, Brad Olson 9-16 3H, 2,172 (t4/11); cum 219K 12/18; -- needs to be re-fracked;
• 19086, Brad Olson 9-16 2H, 2,472, spudded 7/10; cum 222K 12/18; -- needs to be re-fracked;

May 13, 2010: New permit, #19031, Statoil/BEXP, Boots 13-24 1-H, NENW 13-154N-103W. Results: IP 1,773; spudded 6/10; tested 9/10; cum 201K 12/18; needs to be re-fracked;

May 5, 2010: New permit, #18992, Slawson, Stampede 1-36-25H; SWSE 36-154N-104W. Results: IP 826; spudded 6/10; tested 11/10 (five months to fracking); cum 124K 12/18; -- needs to be re-fracked;

April 26, 2010: New permit today, #18955, Statoil/BEXP, Weisz 11-14 1-H; NENW 11-154N-102W. Results: IP 2,003; spudded 5/10; tested 8/10; cum 198K 11/18; -- needs to be re-fracked;

Painted Woods

The original post was dated April 24, 2011. Since the original posting, this field has really become a great field. The size of the field has grown significantly and gone from a rectangular shape to a much more irregular shape.  BEXP has had some incredible wells in this field.

The Painted Woods oil field is just a few minutes' drive west of Williston. It is not a very remarkable drive: wheat fields in the summer as far as one can see; empty fields during the winter; and, flat, dusty, gravel roads. This was the oil field that I first took my dad out to see the two "huge" BEXP wells (the Olson and the Brad Olson wells) that garnered so much interest last summer (2008). These two wells were the start of the BEXP's financial turnaround. There was a lot of talk at that time whether BEXP would survive; BEXP appears to have weathered that storm, and as a Chinese warrior once said, "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger."

In addition to the "Olson twins," this field also has the spectacular Jack Erickson well, another BEXP well.

BEXP "owns" this field but I assume other operators will show up eventually, but maybe BEXP has all the leases. I don't know.

The field is irregularly shaped, suggesting it's a relatively young field with sections being added piecemeal.

It is made up of about 76 sections, most of them in two townships: T154N-R102W and T154N-R103W. Two sections are half-size due to lying along the North Dakota/Montana border. (The 76 sections is up from 72 sections when I updated this in 2010.) (That is up from 64 since original posting.)

Currently (May, 2011) there are three rigs on site in the Painted Woods oil field (although one of the three is barely inside the northern boundary).

New wells posted at second update (May 28, 2011) following original post:

• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H; IP 7/10; cum 153K 3/13;
• 18992, Slawson, 826, Stampede 1-36-25H; IP 11/10; cum 77K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 2,213, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H; IP 9/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18955, BEXP, 2,278, Weisz 11-14 1-H; IP 8/10; 149K 3/13;
• 19031, BEXP, 1,773, Boots 13-24 1-H; IP 9/10; 116K 3/13;
• 19085, BEXP, 2,172, Brad Olson 9-16 3H; t4/11; 126K 3/13;
• 19086, BEXP, 2,472, Brad Olson 9-16 2H; IP 11/10; cum 140K 3/13;
• 19389, BEXP, 1,936, M. Olson 20-29 1-H; IP 12/10; cum 157K 3/13;

Five new wells posted at first update following original post:

• 18791, BEXP, 1,578, Abe 30-31 1H, spudded 4/10; cum 1467K 3/13;
• 18443, BEXP, 1,976, Owan 29-32 1H, spudded 4/10; cum 151K 3/13;;
• 18771, Zenergy, 683, Johnson 29-30H, spudded 4/10; cum 118K 3/13;; (Squires field)
• 18793, EOG, 274, Mont 100-28H, spudded 3/10; cum 53K 3/13;(Squires field)
• 18622, EOG, 680, Mont 1-28H, spudded 3/10;  cum 59K 3/13; (Squires field)

Note: 18793 and 18622 are on same pad.

The three Squires wells noted above (18771, 18793, and 18622) are less than half a mile from Painted Woods field where BEXP is located. Note the difference in IPs and cumulative production.

NOTE: don't be misled; some of the wells are being listed more than once depending on various categories below.

At the time of the original post, there were four producing wells inside the Painted Woods:

• 17513, BEXP, 1,160, Olson 10-15 1-H, 181K 3/13; (spudded 9/08); it continues to produce 3,000 bopm
• 18175, BEXP, 1,810, Brad Olson 9-16 1-H, 154K 3/13; (spudded 7/09); as of 9/11, it was producing 5,000 bopm, but there has been almost no production Oct, Nov, Dec 10 and Jan 11
• 15719, Zenergy, 68, Gibbins 2-11H, a Madison well, spudded 2/13/2005; total cumulative 65K 3/13;; at 800 bbls/month, it has never really declined in production after the first couple of months; note that it was a horizontal well back in 2005
• 16276, BEXP, 156, back in December, 2006, probably before much fracturing, 58K as of 1/11; spudded in 6/06 -- an old, old Bakken well; t73K 3/13;

In addition to the previously mentioned sites with rigs, there are five other wells that have come off the confidential list since the original posting:

• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H, spudded 4/10; 154K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 1,983, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H, spudded 5/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18324, BEXP, 2,215, Owan-Hehring 27-34 1-H, spudded 12/09; 184K 3/13
• 18439, BEXP, 2,652, Jack Erickson 6-31 1-H, spudded 12/09; 129K 3/13;
• 18534, BEXP, 1,924, Mortenson 5-32 11H, spudded 2/10; 120K 3/13;

The wells in this field are pretty much laid out in a regular fashion, and are amenable to all being placed on one pipeline but when I was last there, they still had tanks on site, suggesting no pipeline yet, but that was more than a year ago. These wells are all reported above.

One line of wells:

• 18791, BEXP, 1,578, Abe 30-31 1-H, spudded 4/10; 146K 3/13;
• 18443, BEXP, 1,976, Owan 29-21 1-H, spudded 4/10; 151K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 1,983, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H, spudded 5/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18324, BEXP, 2,215, Owan-Hehring 27-34 1-H, spudded 12/09; 194K 3/13;
• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H, spudded 4/10; 153K 3/13;

Another line of wells:

• 18439, BEXP, 2,652, Jack Erickson 6-31 1-H, spudded 12/09; 129K 3/13;
• 16276, BEXP, 156, back in December, 2006, probably before much fracturing, 73K 3/13;
• 18534, BEXP, 1,924, Mortenson 5-32 11H, spudded 2/10; 120K 3/13;
• 18175, BEXP, 1,810, Brad Olson 9-16 1-H, spudded 7/09; 154K 3/13;
• 17513. BEXP, 1,160, Olson 10-15 1-H, spudded 9/08; 181K 3/13;

The flaring issue:

By the way,  this is why the "flaring issue" is somewhat of a "red herring," or a McGuffin (Hitchcock): these are great wells that would have a fair amount of flaring as soon as they hit oil. However, once they get these wells all under production, a natural gas pipeline will be laid and that will be the end of flaring. I assume that historically it did not make sense to lay a pipeline before drilling the well. At one time, there were as many as 14 dry wells for every well they hit in North Dakota (before the Bakken boom). There is no way they would be laying pipeline ahead of time when there were so many dry holes. Even though the success rate is much better now, old habits die slowly, and there are still economic/financial reasons to delay laying pipeline early.

Stalling?

Is it just me or have others noticed the relative paucity of new wells reported this past month?

If there is a paucity of wells being reported, I can think of two reasons: 1) backlog of fracking; I understand the backlog can be up to six months now (posted earlier) -- if I find link, I will link it; and, 2) are drillers watching the price of oil go up and waiting?  Some folks in the oil patch think so. When you get to this link, scroll down and read their comments. It might just be idle chatter but something to think about.

The Bakken wells are very peculiar in their huge decline rate after just one month. If the decline rate is significant (say, from 900 bbls/day in the first month to 300 bbls/day in the second month, and then steady from there on out for awhile) and the price of oil is headed up, would it not be wise to wait to complete the well sometime down the road, hoping the price of oil will be higher than today.

If there was an insignificant decline, the price of oil over the long term would average out, but if one's return is front-loaded, one might be watching the price of oil very, very closely.

I don't know, but some are talking. And the relative paucity of wells reported this past month ... well, "nuf said.

Update on the Arrow Pipeline / XTO Production in the Reservation

For those interested I updated my thoughts on the recently announced Arrow pipeline in the Mandaree area of the reservation. In the original post I stated that I felt that KOG might be the biggest benefactor of this new pipeline, but I did not know why. Now it makes sense.

Targeted Activity in the Sanish (Whiting)

This is a good example of how busy it is getting in some sections. This is in the Sanish oil field, T153N-R92W, and specifically three sections: sections 6, 7, and 18 -- a three-section vertical stretch.

From north to south:
Section 6:
18804, permit: Whiting, TTT Ranch 4-6TFH
17603, producing: Whiting, 2,825, TTT Ranch 11-6H
18297, confidential: Whiting, TTT Ranch 12-6H
18876, permit: Whiting, Rohde 14-6XH

Section 7:
17133, producing: Whiting, 2,421, Smith 11-7H
18392, confidential: Whiting, Smith 12-7H
18853, rig on site: Whiting, Moore 14-7XH

Section 18:
16582, producing; my data base does not go back this far
18500, rig on site: Whiting, Marmon 12-18TFH
17443, producing: Whiting, 1,663, Fladeland 12-18H

These wells are all on a vertical line; all sections have three wells; one has four wells. I can't wait to see IPs / production numbers for all three wells or all four wells in one section. There are not many sections yet with three or four wells.

West of Williston

Wow, it's busy west of Williston. I've never seen it so busy. Hopefully I will be back home in a couple of months and can see this activity first hand.

Just west of Williston, there are now seven (7) rigs on site.
18764, CLR, Ricky 1-18H, Squires
18745, BEXP, Sukut 28-33 1-H, Squires
18791, BEXP, Abe 30-31 1-H, Painted Woods
18443, BEXP, Owan 29-31 1-H, Painted Woods
18771, Zenergy, Johnson 29-30H, Squires
18622, EOG, Mont 1-28H, Wildcat
18817, Oasis, Kjos 5502 44-2H, Squires

Alger Field Updated

For those interested, the Alger oil field has been updated. The western half of this oil field has had some spectacular wells. In addition, if it weren't for the NDIC, I'm afraid this field would result in some good ol' western shootouts between EOG and BEXP over some promising sections. As it is, I think there are some interesting arguments being placed before the commission by the companies' lawyers.

Since I last checked in on this oil field, there are now five (5) rigs on site and several wells have been completed, and another one is almost complete. This field has the well that BEXP says set the record for initial 24-hour flowback in the Bakken with over 5,000 boepd: the Sorenson 29-32 1-H. Needless to say, there are several wells on confidential status in the immediate area, as well as one well that is almost complete.

For the update, see the Alger oil field.