Updates
March 13, 2012: "no" oil in Mercer County -- ND geologist. The link is to a Bismarck Tribune article by Lauren Donovan. Something tells me he wishes he had not driven to Beulah for the presentation. His thoughts were summed up by this line: "...the analysis for Mercer County presented Monday night by State Geologist Ed Murphy was not dazzling." I assume the link will eventually break, but don't go looking for it; you won't be missing anything. I don't know if the local farmers were happy to hear this or not, but based on all the Debbie Downer stories, I assume the Mercer County farmers, in general, were thrilled. "Hot damn."
January 27, 2011: someone recently asked if there was any "new" drilling in Mercer County in 2011. I think the original post (below) answered that question.
Just out of curiosity, I looked permits issued for Mercer County:
The two permits in the original post below, #17623 and #17877 were issued in 2008.
One one permit issued for Mercer County in 2009:
- 17955, PNC, CLR, permit expired
For 2011, I find only one permit
- 21284, DRY (9/26/13), Cirque Resources, Old Engine Oil 16-4H, Wildcat, Mercer, s10/24/11; still on "drl" status as of August 17, 2012.
Original Post
Someone noted two wells being drilled in Mercer County; these are true wildcats. Can't wait to see what they find:
- 17623, TA-->DRY-->PNC, Statoil/BEXP, Wanner 25 1-H, Wildcat, Mercer County; s11/6/11; placed on temporarily abandoned list on February 10, 2012
- 21284, DRY (9/26/13), Cirque Resources, Old Engine Oil 16-4H, Wildcat, Mercer, s10/24/11
From what I can tell, there's nothing in Mercer County, yet. Here's an "old" CLR Mercer County well that appears to be a bust:
- 17877, PA/84, CLR, Traxel 1-31H, Wildcat/Beaver Creek Bay, Mercer County; s8/09; t12/09; cum 12K 12/13; even so, it continues to show up on the NDIC dockets requesting spacing and permission to develop; I don't get it, but if this well ever pans out, .....
Cirque resources old engine oil well waiting to be fracked. Don't know much beyond that.
ReplyDeleteThank you. If either of these wells (the Cirque, the BEXP) is even moderately successful, it will be pretty exciting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to comment.
Yes, it would be very exciting for me because I live in mercer county fairly close to both of these wells.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteHAS THE OLD ENGINE OIL WELL BEEN FRACKED??? iF NOT, WHY THE WAIT?
ReplyDeleteWHEN DRILLING A WELL AND ALL EQUIPMENT IS IN PLACE FOR FRACKING, DOES THE DRILLER HAVE A CLUE AT THIS POINT BEFORE FRACKING IF THE WELL WILL PRODUCE ANY OIL??
ReplyDelete21284, still confidential.
ReplyDeleteThe permit was issued August 5, 2011. Of the 1,000 permits issued from about that date, a total of four wells have been completed and reported.
My blog is chock full of data and comments about the fracking backlog.
In fact, they have a very, very good idea. I've read numerous reports written by the site geologist (who submits his/her analysis before the fracking begins); and that summary will state the geologist's opinion regarding the well's potential.
ReplyDeleteIf there is no oil there (per the geologist), they would not frack the well. I have not run across any Bakken wells in which the geologist's report said "no oil" and I've read a lot of them.
Has there been any drilling activity in Mercer county this winter??
ReplyDeleteOther than what's noted in the post, I am not aware of any other activity.
DeleteThe Bakken Shale Discussion Group can be very helpful for questions like this.
Today (4/24/12) is the day that Old Engine well #21284 comes off the confidential list. Have you heard anything regarding this well??
DeleteYou are correct; it came off the confidential list today (April 24, 2012), and went unto DRL status -- it has yet to report completion/IP.
DeleteLooking through the well file, it's a bit hard for me to tell exactly which formation was targeted. Early on, the company said it was targeting "hydrocarbons" in both the Bakken and the Three Forks formations.
Subsequent sundry forms suggested the middle Bakken. However, the horizontal visited both the middle Bakken (which seemed a bit thin) and the Three Forks which was thicker. That's all I know.
What does DRL stand for?
DeleteDRL: drill.
DeleteQuestion 14 at my FAQs page addresses this subject.
http://milliondollarway.blogspot.com/p/faq.html
From that page:
If a well has not been fracked at the time the well comes off the six-month confidential period, the status remains listed as "DRL." It will remain on "DRL" status until 30 days after it is fracked. Once the well is fracked, the producer has 30 days to test the well and file the report with NDIC.
It has been more than 30 days since it was fracked. There is just the blow out preventer on site and a trailer with air tanks hooked to the blow out preventer to keep the valves closed.
DeleteDo we know for sure that the well has been fracked??
ReplyDeleteNo, good point. On DRL status simply means the well has not been completed. They could still be waiting to frack it. You are correct and raise a great point.
DeleteI was under the impression that once a well comes off the confidential list, information must be provided in regards to the status of the well. We have seen no info on Old Engine #21284 which came off the C. List 4/24/12!!
DeleteThis is my understanding of the process based on following activity in the Bakken and following the Bakken Shale Discussion Group. It is just my understanding and experts may have a better explanation.
DeleteNow that the well is off the confidential list, information the operator provides the state (NDIC) is public information. You can go to the NDIC website and pull up the well's file report (requires a Basic Subscription; $50 annual fee).
The well has reached total depth according to the well file, but there is no sundry report yet to suggest that the well has been fracked.
Even before the well is fracked/completed, the well could produce oil. If any oil is placed in the pipeline to be sold ("runs") it must be reported to the state. There is no production information for this well yet, and that's exactly what the NDIC site says: "No production data found for this well." (If oil is produced and remains on the pad in a storage tank, I do not know if that production has to be reported to the state. I have a hunch.)
Once the well is completed (in the Bakken, this generally means fracked), the operator must provide the state with the test results (the IP) within 30 days of the last day of the month in which the well was completed. For example, if the well is fracked/completed/tested on May 15, 2012, the report must be provided to the state by June 30. The NDIC website appears to lag by about one to two months. This is early May, and I still see some wells with data only as recent as February, 2012. Most data is now current as of March 31, 2012, but that's still almost five weeks old.
The well will remain on DRL status until it is completed. However, if there is any production, we may see production data before the well is completed. All one can do is to check the NDIC website at least monthly to see if the operator provides any production data. Since the well is no longer confidential, I suppose you could contact the operator for additional information but based on comments over at the Bakken Shale Discussion Group, most operators don't provide more information than they have provided the public in general.
I have seen some wells on DRL status for over six months. It could be due to the fracking backlog. However, I would assume an occasional well is not fracked/completed for other reasons. If the geologist's report suggests no hydrocarbon whatsoever (a DRY well), there would be little point in fracking.
I check the daily activity reports daily and will most likely see "Old Engine" when it is reported due to its distinctive name. I generally report all IPs when they are posted by the NDIC.