Some Housekeeping -- Updating Some Wells -- Interesting For Newbies -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Periodically I go back and update wells that I have been following. Tonight I looked at  "Wells to Watch, Part I." I only got about halfway through but found enough to put up an interesting stand-alone post.

I think newbies will get a kick out of this.

1. This was the first well I saw that needed updating:

I have no idea what this was all about, but my data base shows the original permit was held by Slawson but later acquired by EOG. I don't know the details.

It was spud on 5/30/10. It's IP was 2,195.

It has produced 289,091 bbls of oil through June, 2011. That's about 290K in one year. At $50/bbl --> $14.5 million; and the well is still producing 12,000 bbls / month (that's $600,000 / month at $50/bbl). Remember, Bakken wells are expected to produce for 25 - 35 years. "Legacy" wells in North Dakota have been known to produce for 50 years.

18504, 2,195, EOG, Van Hook 7-23H, Van Hook, Bakken (previously a Slawson permit)

2. Then I came across a few Dakota-3 wells that were acquired from Zenergy in the very productive Van Hook field:

• 18735, 1,936, Dakota-3/Zenergy, Dakota-3 State of ND 10-3H
• 18737, 1,034, Dakota-3/Zenergy, Dakota-3 Mason 2-11H,
• 18754, 2,756, Dakota-3/Zenergy, Van Hook, Dakota-3 Olson 1-12H, 54K in 5 months
• Dakota-3 is a subsidiary of WMB, and as noted before, bought 7% of the mineral rights in the reservation
  

3. But Dakota-3 wasn't the only one with great wells in the Van Hook. Slawson has some great Van Hook wells, as well. Slawson is privately held:

• 18749, 502, Slawson, Osprey Federal 1-26-35-30H, 75K in 8 months
• 18750, 439, Slawson, permit 24 Feb 10, Shad Rap Federal 1-2-3H, (1,546 - 24-hour flowback); 73K in 8 months
• 18924, 1,361, Slawson, Van Hook, Vixen Federal 1-19-30H, 60K in 4 months
• 19010, 847, Slawson, Van Hook, Armada Federal 1-14-13H, 95K in 6 months

 4. Likewise, EOG has some great wells in the Van Hook:

• 18825, 951, EOG, Van Hook 8-36H, 200K in less than a year
• 18828, 1,066, EOG, Van Hook, Liberty LR 16-36H, 85K in 5 months
• 19018, 927, EOG, Van Hook, Van Hook 15-15H, 139K in 9 months

5. KOG had a nice well in its productive Moccasin Creek field

• 18656, 2,035, KOG, Moccasin Creek 13-34-28H, 144K in 10 months

6. And then look at this. Three completed WLL wells in one section (1280-acre spacing, however) in their very prolific Sanish, and a fourth well is nearing completion. The results of three wells and noting the fourth well:

• 18530, 2,686, Whiting, section 27, Jorgensen 12-27H; 233K in first first year
• 17612, 4,761, Whiting, Maki - 11-27H, section 27-- record IP ; 423K in first 14 months (at $50/bbl = $21 million in first year)
• 19512, 1,959, Whiting, Oja 14-27XH, Sanish, section 27, flowing, but off-line, pump being put on?
• 20358, almost complete, Whiting, Ray 12-27TFH, Sanish, section 27
• For newbies: remember, these wells are expected to produce oil for 25 - 35 years. 

7. Not all Bakken wells are this outstanding but there are very few dry wells in the Bakken, and even those wells with smaller IPs are paying back their investment in two to three years according to many corporate presentations -- but even if they are being a bit optimistic, I can't believe any Bakken well won't pay for itself in five years; Bakken wells are expected to produce 25 - 35 years.