Friday, April 8, 2011

Three (3) New Permits -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Operators: XTO (2), Petro-Hunt

Fields: North Fork, and a wildcat.

The Petro-Hunt wildcat is about 20 miles north of Williston and Stockyard Creek.

The XTO wells will be on a single pad in North Fork.

Among wells that reported today, three good ones:
  • 19061, 1,215, Zenergy, Payette 10-15H
  • 19144, 952, Marathon, TAT USA 34-22H
  • 19531, 1,055, Whiting, Barlow 14-6XH, spudded 11/10; test date 2/11; one day of production in February: 137 barrels
Note the "X" designation of the Whiting well. See a Whiting corporate presentation for diagrammatic explanation of an "X" well -- it's an infill well that picks up the part of a section not otherwise reached by long laterals.

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Incredibly, there was a report of a dry hole:
  • 17538, DRY, Slawson, Intruder Federal 1-17H, Ratcliffe formation (Madison)
The Ratcliffe formation is part of the Madison/Charles group, and just a bit above the Bakken. There is no recent activity in this area; but there are some nice Madison wells in the immediate area southwester part of the state, but it is a bit unusual to see a Slawson well out here. It will be interesting if they try again. 
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    Seven wells were released from confidential status. Most remained in DRL status but one was particularly nice:
    • 18822, 1,304, Anschutz, Dennis Kadrmas 1-9-4H-143-96
    The Kadrmas well is in Fayette oil field which is a very good field, "owned" by Anschutz (since acquired by OXY USA), and currently very active with four active rigs in the immediate area

    6 comments:

    1. CLR had a well come off today that shows no data, apparently Northern Oil has a small interest in that well 3%, and they did a press release for end of 1q that shows an IP of 1938 for it...Bud 1-19H. I've notice alot of the CLR wells with no data, and they don't seem to do any press releases etc. about their wells.

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    2. Yes, I've noticed the same thing. Early on, when CLR, WLL, others were just starting, they did press releases on every good well, but now they release the results in their monthly corporate presentations at their websites.

      If it's a particularly good well, they leave it up to their partners to release a press release if they want, but if not yet off the confidential list, the information is minimal. Remember, CLR has 22 rigs; it would become quite a chore to release pressers every time a well was completed.

      Operators with fewer rigs (or no rigs, NOG) often release pressers, especially if they are good wells. SSN practically provides a day-by-day update on a single well when it nears completion. Smile.

      I used to search out IPs of all these wells, but it doesn't interest me as much any more since I have a general feeling of what is going on in the Bakken, so I just wait for the daily activity reports. Also, with so many wells being drilled, it has physically become impossible to find/transcribe all the information that is available.

      Obviously if I had mineral rights in particular wells, it would be a different story.

      I still get excited with each daily activity report: I can't wait to see the IPs, but more important to me now, is the total oil produced by wells after three years of production, and I'm starting to post more of that information.

      My fear: in about one year, there will be so many wells coming off the confidential list on any given day I won't be able to keep up. Remember, CLR has 22 rigs now and Harold Hamm wants to triple the size of his company within five years. That's huge.

      If you want to see what the Bakken is going to look like in Williams, McKenzie, and Dunn counties some years from now, go to the GIS map server and look at the Cedar Hills field in the far southwest corner of the state. It is truly incredible. But when you drive through that part of the state when the infrastructure is in place (pipelines) and the rigs are gone, the area does not look all that disturbed.

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    3. Not sure that is necessarily a bad thing. Info will come out in the fullness of time. 

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    4. Bruce, next time you tour the cedar hills field maybe you should do a photo/editorial on the field..

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    5. With regard to comment about "...information will come out in fullness of time," I agree wholeheartedly.

      At one time I could not wait to see results; now I am much more complacent, I guess.

      My interests right now: the Lodgepole wells; three-year production numbers for Bakken wells; Surge Energy wells in the Spearfish/Bottineau; and, the results of infill wells where three or four other wells are already producing. And a 60-stage frack when and if that occurs.

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    6. Great idea with regard to a photo/post.

      Most amazing to me was the entirely different topography in the southwest part of the state compared to that in the Killdeer area, or the Williston area.

      One would think that all of western North Dakota would be similar (notwithstanding the glacier path) but in my mind, I can visualize five or six very different areas in western North Daktoa.

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