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Friday, June 3, 2011

Reminder: DRL Status and What It Means -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Elsewhere, someone suggested that it is bad news when a well comes off the confidential list and the status is reported as DRL.

In fact, "DRL" status has nothing to do with how good the well is or isn't. DRL status simply means the well has come off the confidential list (six month date has been reached) but the well has not been completed.

If a well is not completed (generally, in the Bakken, this means it has not been fracked), companies are allowed to put the well on DRL status until the well has been fracked. The company then has 30 days  until after the well is fracked for the well to be "tested" and an IP  reported to the NDIC.

In the "old" days, six months was more than enough time to drill a  well and complete (frack and test) a well, but with the backlog in  fracking, it is now taking four to six months after the well has  reached total depth until it is "completed" (fracked and tested).

And, yes, of course, there is some oil being produced before the well is fracked (in some cases, LOTS of oil -- some wells have great  production even without manmade fracking), but until the well is  completed (fracked and tested) the company can keep the well on DRL status.

Various initial production numbers will be reported during this period. The state apparently defines the parameters companies are to use when reporting an IP under test conditions. In addition, companies will report 24-hour flowback production numbers.

Bottom line: DRL status tells one nothing about the IP which will be reported later.  And the IP is only one data point with regard to how "good" the well is.

2 comments:

  1. Great information. Thanks!

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  2. You are very welcome. I was concerned that folks were getting concerned with "DRL" when wells came off the confidential list.

    I expect we will see more and more wells placed on DRL status due to backlog of fracking. Some companies will not frack during the coldest months of the winter which will further delay reporting IPs.

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