Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Clarification (For Me) on Confidential List

Update

I thought it strange how long it took for the results of this well to be reported. Had I read my own material correctly, I would have understood. I simply missed it or misunderstood.

Regardless, this clarifies for me the confidential period. I left the original post as I originally wrote it, but the first comment explains where I was wrong. The confidential period can begin after the well is spud. In this case, EOG requested this well be put on the confidential list sometime after it had already been spud.

Original Post

(By the way, I personally don't care why it took so long to come off the confidential list. I may have mis-read something. I'm just trying to understand how the process works. There is no hidden agenda here. I'm just trying to educate myself.)

There's not much to report yet from the Bakken, but this caught my eye. Why did it take so long for this well to come off the confidential list?
19182, 812, EOG, Austin 107-31H, Parshall, Bakken, spudded 7/10; tested 10/10; 27K in 4.5 months; why did it take this long to come off confidential list; it was spudded 719//10. 
Maybe it came off the confidential list and I just missed it.

Regardless, it is being reported today.

It is also interesting to note what information operators do not provide on the forms that are submitted to the NDIC. In this case, EOG notes that the well was fracture stimulated but does not state the number of stages, again, unless I missed it. But it was not on the well completion report where EOG noted that it was fracture stimulated.

The well was spudded 7/19/10; it should have come off the confidential list six months later: 1/19/11.  If the well is not completed (fractured) at the end of the six months, NDIC allows the well to remain on DRL status for 30 days after the well is fracked. The report does not say when the well was fractured but without exception (as far as I know), wells are tested and IPs are calculated after the well has been fractured.

The well was tested 10/08/10, clearly inside the six-month confidential period. So, the question remains, unless I missed it, why did it take until today for the well to be reported? No, I think I am correct. This well is still shown as a confidential well on the GIS map server.

How have other EOG wells done in the immediate area (Parshall oil field)?
  • 19182: targeted the Upper Bakken
  • 17287 (same section, just a few hundred feet to the east): 1,137, spudded 10/08; tested 10/08; Upper Bakken; 572K as of 2/11
  • 18912 (one mile north): 422, spudded 5/10; tested 7/10; 17 stages; Three Forks; 34K as of 2/11
  • 17500 (one mile north): 2,162, spudded 8/08; tested 11/08; Upper Bakken; 573K as of 2/11
  • 18913 (one mile north: still confidential (all three -- 17287, 18912, and 17500 are in a line, in the same section)
Meanwhile, right next door, across the line into the Sanish oil field, sits the long lateral of Murex:
  • 17263, 3,124, Murex, Chandler James 25-36H, spudded 7/08; tested 10/08; 680K as of 2/11

2 comments:

  1. Conf lasts 6 mo but the operator can wait all the way until the completion date to make the request. So cnf in that case would last 6 mo after the completion report was filed. Comp would not be filed until frac was done and prod equipment installed.


    from ndic web site:

    "All information furnished to the director on new permits, except the operator name, well
    name, location, spacing or drilling unit description, spud date, rig contractor, and any production
    runs, shall be kept confidential for not more than six months if requested by the operator in
    writing. The six-month period shall commence on the date the well is completed or the date the
    written request is received, whichever is earlier. If the written request accompanies the
    application for permit to drill or is filed after permitting but prior to spudding, the six-month
    period shall commence on the date the well is spudded."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. I've actually posted that on my website but misinterpreted it. I really appreciate it and I will update my post.

    ReplyDelete