A Piece of Trivia That Adds to My Understanding of the Oil Patch -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

April 2, 2012: The Anschutz (now OXY USA):

• 18644, 1,148, Lime Rock Resources/OXY USA/Anschutz, State 1-25-36H-144-97X; Bakken, Cabernet, s1/10; t4/10; cum 370K 5/17;

... was an outstanding well. It was not on a pump and had not been stimulated and had produced 254,000 bbls in less than a couple of years. Then in January, it was taken off-line by OXY USA, and has not come back on-line as of latest reporting date, the end of February. "Anonymous" suggested that problems occurred while putting on a pump. Elsewhere they are asking questions. Also, see comments below.

Original Post

I really appreciate folks taking time to point out things I've missed or don't understand.

In this case, in the process of updating the Cabernet oil field, "anonymous" pointed out something about the Matthew Schmidt well (originally Anschutz, but now an OXY USA well).

Take a look at the posting and the comments.

I do know that not all horizontal Bakken wells need to be fracked, but I assume it is a small minority of Bakken wells that are not fracked within the first year, but I really don't know.

I have assumed (wrongly, it appears) that by the time the NDIC posts the IPs for Bakken wells, the wells had been fracked, completed, and, generally, in full production (within regulatory restraints, of course).

In that post linked above, I omitted the Matthew Schmidt well based on its IP until it was pointed out to me that it should be on the list of "good" wells in the Cabernet. So I added it, but still looked askance.

• 18427, 876, Lime Rock Resources/OXY USA/Anschutz, Matthew Schmidt 1-35-2H-143-97; s2/10; t5/10; cum 190K 5/17; almost no production since 11/11; problems with the well; I looked at the well file very, very quickly; it appears a pump was put on the well in May, 2011; and the well was fracked in November/December, 2011; ever since the pump/fracking, the well has not been good -- original post. Update, October 12, 2013 -- well back on line and producing nicely;

Then this zinger, at least for me: that well has produced 91,000 bbls of oil to date (it was tested May, 2010, so we are barely into a full year of production) and it's almost at 100,000 bbls, a critical milestone for me.  But here's the zinger: this well has not been fractured. Nor is it on a pump.

Not been fractured, and it's almost at 100,000 bbls in about a year. Yeah, that's pretty impressive.

But there is more. There is another well that has produced 200,000 bbls in the first year, and, it, too, has not been fracked is not yet on a pump (original post; now it is on a pump):

• 18644, 1,148, Lime Rock Resources/OXY USA/Anschutz, State 1-25-36H-144-97X; Bakken, Cabernet, s1/10; t4/10;  cum 370K 5/17;  I read the well file; it appears there have been two pumps put on this well; now the status of the well is reported as IA, although there was production and runs in August 2012; it almost looks like OXY worked on these two wells about the same time; not good results? - original post; update - it is now back on-line and producing, October 2013; 

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When I look at the Cabernet oil field on NDIC's GIS map server, it certainly appears there has not been much activity considering how "rich" it must be (based on the few wells there). My hunch is that limited Anschutz resources hindered a faster development program in the Cabernet which OXY USA will now rectify, and in addition, because it's a relatively small field, it probably doesn't take many wells to hold leases by production. Of the 21 sections that make up the Cabernet oil field, only four sections do not have wells on them yet: sections 14, 23 (T144N-R97W) and sections 6 and 7 (T143N-R96W).  But depending which direction well #20797 goes and which direction wells 18503, and 18463, go, those last four sections may have their wells any day now.

So, I need to follow-up on:

• 20797, 1,208, CLR, Entzel 1-26H, Bakken, Cabernet, s8/11; t12/11; cum 391K 5/17; 30 stages. 2.8million lbs including 850K ceramics
• 18503 [now 21299], PNC/1,242, BR, Cecilia Stroh 1-18-19H-143-96, Bakken, Fayette; t3/12; cum 39K 6/12;
• 18463 [now 21298], PNC, BR, Elizabeth Stroh 1-7-6H-143-96, Bakken, Cabernet;
• 21298, 1,803, BR, Elizabeth Stroh 34-7MBH, Bakken, Cabernet, t3/12; cum 390K 5/17;
• 21299, 1,242, BR, Cecilia Stroh 34-7MBH, Bakken, Fayette, t3/12; cum 209K 5/17;
• 20147, 378, Slawson, Dagger 1-10H, Bakken, Cabernet; s3/11; t10/11; cum 53K 5/17; 6 stages only; problems with fracking; will see workover and then resume fracturing;
• 20537, 630, CLR, Carl 1-11H, Bakken, Cabernet; s6/11; t10/11; cum 140K 5/17; 30 stages; 2.9 million lbs; including 885K ceramics;

By the way, section 36-144-97 is held by production by a vertical Madison well:

• 14442, TA/283/IA, Armstrong, Beaudoin 36-1, Madison-Cabernet, spudded in 1996 this well has produced 128,000 bbls of oil; however, it appears shut in right now, having reported no production since September, 2010. Being considered for conversion to SWD well as of 2014.