Union Center Oil Field -- 16 Wells on One Unit? -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

December 14, 2012: permits added so far in 2012 --

• 24537, 2,842, BR, Midnight Horse 11-1MBH-ULW, Union Center, this section now has eight (8) wells sites or permits; I think this is a well on an overlapping 2560-acre spacing unit, so it can run right down the section line; watch to see if it's a 4-section spacing well; the name is interesting: Midnight Horse, a combination of "Midnight Run" and "Iron Horse"; 4-section spacing; t5/13; cum 14K 5/13;
• 24439, conf, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24D-13-6H, Union Center,
• 24438, conf, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24D-13-5H, Union Center,
• 22758, 2,485, BR, Iron Horse 11-2TFH, Union Center,  t11/12; cum 6K 1/13; off-line often;
• 22757, drl, BR, Iron Horse 21-2MBH, Union Center, 
• 22756, 2,204, BR, Iron Horse 21-2TFH, Union Center,  t11/12; cum 4K 11/12; t11/12; cum 4K 1/13; off-line often;
• 22755, 2,605, BR, Iron Horse 31-2MBH, Union Center, t10/12; cum 12K 1/13; off-line often;
• 22754, 2,324, BR, Iron Horse 31-2TFH, Union Center, t11/12; cum 8K 1/13;
• 22753, 1,964, BR, Iron Horse 41-2TFH, Union Center, producing, t11/12; cum 8K 1/13;
• 22675, 2,640, BR, Midnight Run 11-1TFH, Union Center, t10/12; cum 40K 1/13;

March 29, 2012: added another Midnight Run well, #22675, see below.  This will be the 7th well in section of T152N-R96W.

February 10, 2012: from a reader in response to the February, 2012, NDIC hearing dockets:

The BR request for 2560 acre spacing in the Union Center field corresponds with what they are doing with their Midnight Run wells. They already have six Midnight Run wells (4 producing and two on confidential) on 1280 acres, and now they want to double the spacing and drill a total of twelve. That indicates to me that Union Center must be a very productive field for them!

January 14, 2012: some data updated

Original Post

Union Center is another one of those very, very small fields in the Williston Basin. It is all of six sections in T152N-R96W. It is located west of the northwest corner of the reservation. Its northeast corner shares a border with the very nice Charlson field. It is in the bull's eye of the Bakken.

It appears that Burlington Resources "owns" the field.  (Burlington Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of COP. BR was originally a spin-off of the Burlington Northern railroad.)

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From Clear Creek, the oil field directly below Union Center, there are some wells that have horizontals going into Union Center. Note: two wells/permits are permitted for the Union Center oil field, but are actually situated in Clear Creek to the south:

• 19359, 91, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24C-13-2H, 24-152-96; Union Center, Three Forks, s8/10; t9/11; F; cum 28K 10/12; 6 frac stages; 700K lbs of sand; off-line 11/12;
• 20476, 840, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24C-13-3H, 24-152-96, Union Center, t3/12; cum 117K 11/12;

A third Petro-Hunt well in the adjoining section, is permitted for the Clear Creek oil field, and shows up in section 23-152-96 in the Clear Creek field.

• 18308, 1,562, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-13B-24-1H, Union Center; F; 27 frac stages, 127K in less than a year! 27 stages; 1.5 million lbs; t1/10; cum 245K 11/12;

A fourth Petro-Hunt well is in section 14-152-96, and will most likely be a long lateral, running south, into Clear Creek.

• 19511, 793, Petro-Hunt, Brenna 152-96-14B-23-3H; Clear Creek, t4/11; F; cum 235K 11/12; D-TF (Three Forks); 27 stages; 2.1 million lbs;

Added since original post:

• 21714, 1,626, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24C-13-4H, Union Center, t4/12; cum 132K 11/12;

*******

Now back to those Burlington Resources wells/permits in Union Center (for update on Midnight Run wells, click here):

• 17421, 544, BR, Midnight Run 41-1H, Union Center, Bakken, s7/08; t11/08; cum 307K 11/12; 9-stage fracture; 1-152-96
• 17631, 670, BR, Iron Horse 31-2H, t4/09, cum 174K 11/12; taken off line for five of early 22 months; 6-stage frack, I believe (I could be wrong; it may have been more but not many more); 2-152-96; produced only four days in 10/12; and 11/12;
• 20323, 3,325, BR, Midnight Run 11-1MBH, Union Center, Bakken, 1-152-96; t12/11; cum 137K 11/12;
• 20324, 1,963, BR, Midnight Run 21-1TFH, Union Center, Bakken, 1-152-96; t12/11; cum 72K 11/12; very erratic production;
• 20325, 2,846, BR, Midnight Run 21-1MBH, Union Center, Bakken, 1-152-96; t12/11; cum 119K 11/12;
• 20326, 2,083, BR, Midnight Run 31-1TFH, Union Center; 1-152-96; t12/11; cum 113K 11/12;
• 20327, 2,443, BR, Midnight Run 41-1TFH, Union Center; 1-152-96; t12/11; cum 89K 11/12; taken off-line often;
• 22675, 2,640, BR, Midnight run 11-1TFH, Union Center; 1-152-96, t10/12; cum 8K 11/12; only 188 bbls over 30 days in November, 2012;
• 24537, conf, BR, Midnight Horse 11-1MBH-ULW, Union Center,
• 22753, 1,964, BR, Iron Horse 41-2TFH, Union Center, t11/12; cum 8K 1/13;
• 22754, 2,324, BR, Iron Horse 31-2TFH, Union Center,
• 22755, 2,605, BR, Iron Horse 31-2MBH, Union Center,
• 22756, 2,204, BR, Iron Horse 21-2TFH, Union Center,
• 22757, drl, BR, Iron Horse 21-2MBH, Union Center,
• 22758, conf, BR, Iron Horse 11-2TFH, Union Center,

Miscellaneous:

• 6168; PNA; 500, Panther Creek Resources, Brenna 13-13; Union Center, Madison; s7/77; t8/77; cum 241K 5/03; 200 bbls/month before it was taken off line in 2000 (kept active through 2003)
• 7335, 210, Panther Creek Resources, Brenna 42-14, Union Center, Madison; s12/79; 3/80; cum 218K 11/12; still producing 300 bbls/month (at $85 --> $25,000/month; almost no expenses; well paid for)
• 7774, 465, McRae & Henry, Ltd., Brenna 22-14; Union Center Madison;  s9/80; t11/80; cum 198K 11/12;
• 8266, 486, Panther Creek Resources, Sorenson 11-13; Union Center, Madison; s2/81; t4/81; cum 253K 11/12;

A few points:

• Look at those total production figures for two of those BR wells; these wells will pay for themselves in a couple of years, and continue to produce at nice rates
• These two high producing wells had nice, but not spectacular IPs
• These two high producing wells were fracked with single-digit number of stages (9, and 6); compared with 30 and 38 stages used by BEXP
• Five wells are in the same section (17421, 20324 - 20327); two of them are middle Bakken, and three will target the Three Forks
• Those five wells are linearly spaced suggesting that three more wells could be placed in that same line; that would be a total of eight wells in one section on one line
• Note that those five wells are a mix of middle Bakken and Three Forks. If it is accurate that the middle Bakken and the Three Forks do not communicate, then one can double the number of horizontals, bringing to a total of ten horizontals in one 1280-acre spacing unit
• If BR were to max out the spacing in this one section with stacked laterals, one could see 16 wells in this one section (part of a 1280-acre unit); this is not far-fetched if one looks at slide 51 of the most recent BEXP presentation
• Other formations in this section are also likely to hold viable pay zones
• Bottom line: 16 horizontals targeting the Bakken and Three Forks, and then other pay zones to consider

Now, it starts to make sense why some acreage in the Bakken went for $10,000/acre.

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