EOG and WLL Head-To-Head in the Parshall and the Sanish -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The fifth permit for a fifth monitoring well along an EOG horizontal suggested a comparison of EOG wells and Whiting wells in near proximity to each other might be in order.

I compared the IPs and cumulative production of the EOG wells and Whiting wells within a few miles of each other.

I looked at all the EOG wells in the nine sections in the southwest corner of T153N-R90W (Parshall oil field) and all the Whiting wells in the southeast corner of T153N-91W (Sanish oil field). East to west, these wells are less than six miles apart, all in the same latitude.

All data taken from NDIC file reports (no corporate presentations, or press releases). 

The EOG wells were all short laterals; the Whiting wells were all long laterals. Here are the results, file numbers, IPs, cumulative oil produced, and IP test date:

EOG wells:

• 17042, 492, 252K, 11/22/08
• 18315, 102, 27K, 4/24/10 -- compare with WLL's 18481 below
• 17142, 1,055, 274K, 9/16/08
• 17366, 553, 224K, 11/6/08
• 18807, 467, 21K, 6/30/10 -- seven months and only 21K; this is the Parshall; recent well
• 18808, 665, 15K, 11/10/10
• 17129, 610, 218K, 12/22/08
• 17732, 895, 170K, 6/16/09
• 16746, 1,523, 226K, 6/21/09
• 17019, 732, 194K, 6/18/09
• 17121, 800, 175K, 8/4/09
• 19317, 213, 5K, 11/5/10 -- this one is concerning; very prolific Sanish; a very low IP; total cumulative less than 5K in 2.5 months

Total EOG cumulative production in nine sections: 1,801K


Whiting wells:

• 18136, 1,455, 140K,11/1/09
• 16731, 1,323, 359K, 12/16/07
• 17586, 2,004, 246K, 12/8/08
• 16780, 2,247, 330K, 1/24/08
• 17575, 3,260, 356K, 2/3/09
• 18481, 2,672, 168K, 5/9/10 -- less than a year; paid for at the wellhead
• 17253, 2,045, 283K, 9/18/08

Total Whiting cumulative production in nine sections: 1,882K

Note: I thought EOG had an earlier start than WLL in the Bakken but in this area, WLL had the earlier well. WLL had to drill only 7 wells to exceed (slightly) EOG's 12 wells. Granted, long laterals are more expensive then short laterals, but probably not significantly.


Size of the field:

• The Parshall field is about 211 sections. 
• The Sanish field is about 192 sections.

Total production for the entire fields (NDIC data, as of January 31, 2011):

• Total cumulative for the entire Parshall field (first month of production: May, 2006): 44 million bbls.
• Total cumulative for the entire Sanish field (first month of production: April, 2006): 28 million bbls.

Other notes:

• Sanish field: 8 rigs on site; about 20 additional wells where drilling is almost complete
• Parshall field:  3 rigs on site; one additional well where drilling is almost complete

Disclaimer: this is not a precise review. I may have missed some wells in these sections; the size of the fields may have changed slightly since I last reviewed them.  Numbers have been rounded, and there may be typos.