Monday, September 13, 2010

On Track for 1,386 New Permits This Calendar Year

With nine (9) new permits granted in North Dakota today (September 13, 2010), "we" are on track for 1,386 permits for calendar year 2010. The permits today included an Eco-Pad for CLR.

Another Eco-Pad Permit for CLR -- Where CLR "Proved" Two Separate Formations

There is a lot of information hidden in this posting. Most notable is at the end of the day, CLR will know a lot more about the Middle Bakken and the TFS in this area of the "Bakken."

NDIC awarded a permit to CLR for -- what appears to be -- another Eco-Pad today (September 13, 2010). This one is in Williams County, section 12-159N-95W. It's in the North Tioga oil field which has a long history of activity with regard to conventional wells, but fewer horizontal wells.

The four wells will be in the SWSW sub-quadrant of section 12, lined up west to east, all of them 250 feet from the south line. If this is an Eco-Pad, then I would expect two of the long horizontal laterals would go due north through sections 12 and 1. The other two long horizontal laterals would go due south through sections 13 and 24.

The four permits:
  • 19534, Lawrence 2-13H
  • 19535, Omar 3-12H
  • 19536, Lawrence 3-13H
  • 19537, Omar 4-12H
Two will target the TFS and two will target the Middle Bakken if this is a typical Eco-Pad

There are currently three long horizontals in these sections:
  • 17745, Lawrence 1-24H, 616, CLR, long lateral, going due north through sections 24 and 13 (sited in section 24)
  • 18352, Omar 2-1H, 431, CLR, long lateral, going due south through sections 1 and 12
  • 17282, 660, Omar 1-1H, CLR, long lateral, exactly parallel to 18352 , going through sections 1 and 12. 
18352 is about 50 feet west of 17282.

With regard to the Omar wells, here is an earlier report:
18352, Omar 2-1H (second of two), 694
17282, Omar 1-1H (first of two), cumulative 137K in about 15 months (huge well), 660

(Omar 1-1H, completed in 3rd quarter of 2008, had produced a cumulative 137,300 boe at year-end 2009. At $60/bbl = $8.25 million.) Omar 1 and Omar 2 were drilled by CLR as a test to see if the Bakken and the TFS were separate formations. The fact that Omar 1 produced a cumulative 137,300 boe even though Omar 2 was drilled parallel to and offset from Omar 1, suggests to some that the two formations, at least in this locality, are separate.) Bice 1-29H (#16943) had an IP of 516.  Folks are wondering what this is all about. I, too, am curious. 
Bottom line: CLR is going back in with an Eco-Pad exactly where they "proved" to themselves that the Bakken formation is separate from the TFS formation.

Newfield and Anschutz: Each Report a Nice Well Today

Newfield and Anschutz each report a nice well today.

CLR and BEXP Both Announce New Senior Note Public Offerings

Within minutes of each other, CLR announces a $350 million senior note offering and BEXP announces a $250 million senior note offering, both to fund their expedited capital expenditure program (faster drilling, sooner). [Update, September 16, 2010: BEXP raised the offering to $300 million due to significant interest.] [Update, September 22, 2010: the CLR "$350 million" headline was at 8:15 a.m. on September 13, 2010; later that day, at 2:15 p.m., the headline was $400 million in senior notes.]

Yesterday's headline news: EPA's fourth and final public hearings on regulating fracking could end up with threats of a broader focus.

Coincidence? I think not.

Both CLR and BEXP announced expedited programs earlier this year, so the announcements might not be timed to any specific event, but to see both offering announcements within minutes of each other is interesting.

Other possibilities:

Is it also possible there is a growing consensus that price of oil is back on an upward trend, as the global economy recovers?

We're moving into our fourth or fifth year in the current boom on the North Dakota side of the Bakken. Is it possible that some of the leases are coming to an end? Top leases by other companies?