Big Stick Oil Field -- Whiting Madison Wells in One Section, Billings County, Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Updates

Permits 

2014 (list complete)
29372,  PNC, Whiting, BSMU 0706, Big Stick,
28160, PNC, White Rock / Whiting, BSMU 1306, Big Stick, Madison

2013 (list complete)
26311, 21 (no typo), Whiting, BSMU 1910, Big Stick, a Madison well, t3/14; cum 12K 1/7;
26310, IA/PNC, Whiting, BSMU 1808, Big Stick, cum 16K 6/21;
25532, PNC, Whiting, BSMU 3603X, Big Stick,
25224, 110, White Rock / Whiting, BSMU 3007, Big Stick, t8/13; cum 72K1 /17; cum 147K 1/22;

2012
23247, 401, Whiting, BSMU 1806, Big Stick, Madison, vertical, 9,554 feet; t1/13; cum 97K 1/17;
22634, 204, Whiting, BSMU 3108, Big Stick, Madison, t1/13; cum 53K 1/17;
22637, TA, Whiting, BSMU 2410, Big Stick, no IP; no oil production in almost two years;
22694, 330, Whiting, BSMU 3006, Big Stick, Madison, t12/12; cum 85K 1/17;

From 2011, forward, not including ones already posted below
22059, TA, Whiting, BSMU 2304, Big Stick, cum 19 bbls;
21547, A, Whiting, Teddy 11-20TFH, Big Stick, no IP; cum 42K 1/7;

Original Post

Big Stick Oil Field is an older oil field in the Williston Basin, comprising just less than one township, T142N-R101W, with a few sections in the township to the south. If one looks at the GIS map server it is peppered with vertical wells, most (all?) of which are Madison wells drilled back in the very late 70's and 80's. The center of the field is about 20 miles northwest of Belfield, and explains the increased emphasis on CBR oil-loading facilities in the southwestern part of the state (Zap, Dickinson, and Fryburg).

There are some huge Madison wells there, as noted below.

At the time of the posting, the area is "owned" by Whiting and is part of their Lewis and Clark prospect.

It appears that drillers will be interested in two formations: vertical wells into the Madison and horizontal wells into the Three Forks formation. Today, these wells are on the confidential list (updated over time):

• 21075, 450, Whiting, BSMU 1807, Madison, t6/12; cum 195K 1/17; vertical, 9,463 feet;
• 21077, IA, Whiting, BSMU 1707, Madison
• 21127, PNC, Whiting, BSMU 1706, Madison
• 21074, PNC, Whiting, BSMU 1705, Madison
• 19370, 17, Whiting, BSMU 2905, Madison, t4/12; cum 227 bbls 1/17 -- (no typo -- brand new well); no production since testing);
• 18652, A, White Rock/Whiting, BSMU 3107, Madison, EOR water injected; nothing after first 15 days of production; tN/D; cum --
• 19294, PNC, Whiting, BSMU 3605, Madison
• 19417, 777, Whiting, Teddy State 21-36TFH, Three Forks; 26 stages; 1.8 million lbs sand; t1/13; cum 72K 1/17;

Remember the Whiting Madison well posted earlier?

That well is in section 36-T142N-R101W in northern Billings County, in southwestern North Dakota, in Whiting's Lewis and Clark prospect.

That Madison well produced 110,000 bbls in the first year, comparable to any Bakken well. I was curious what the other wells in that section did:

• 6995, 569, Whiting, BSMU 3610, Big Stick field, s1979; t 1979; cum 668K 1/17; still producing (34 years)
• 7123, 450, Whiting, BSMU 3603, Big Stick field, s1980; t1980; cum 1.9435 million bbls/ 1/17;
• 7124, 115, Whiting, BSMU 3612, Big Stick field, s1983; t1983; cum 116K 1/17;
• 7125, 311/PA, Whiting, BSMU 3602, Big Stick field, s1979; t1979; cum 792,016 8/90; PNA
• 15445, 224, Whiting, BSMU 2506, Big Stick field, s2003; t2003; cum 192K 1/17;
  
• 18625, 368, Whiting, BSMU 3604, Big Stick field, s10;t10; cum 268K 1/17;

In the neighboring section,

• 7295, 1,711, Whiting, BSMU 3503, Big Stick Field, s81;t81; cum 1.42 million bbls 1/17;

Comments on this later. But except for the new wells drilled in the last year or so, these are all 30-year-old wells and all are still producing, except for one or two. 

The IPs are respectable for Bakken wells, but for Madison wells they are huge. And then look at the Madison well with an IP of 1,711. Pretty interesting.

By the way, earlier this year, Sagebrush reported a great Madison well in Renville County, northern North Dakota.

• 19315, 1,038/AB, PetroHarvester/Sagebrush, Rice 11, Renville, Madison (not a Bakken), s7/10; 8/10; cum 130K 7/15(4/12); the drop off in production was severe after the first two months, but it is producing 2,500 bbls/month a year later

Oh, By The Way -- Home of Economy --

I keep forgetting to note this.

While watching the college football game tonight -- actually, I'm not watching it. It's on in the background. I had hoped to see game 6 of the World Series but postponed due to weather.

And then a Home of Economy commercial popped up....

As I've mentioned before, Home of Economy is my favorite store in Williston, and could probably be displaced by only one other store: an Apple store. But the likelihood of an Apple store opening in Williston ....

Anyway, I digress.

A cold front moved through the area yesterday. It was cold. [Not "North Dakota cold." More like "San Antonio, Texas, cold.'] Because I am traveling and had not planned to stay this long in North Dakota, I have no winter clothes. But, that's great.

 A week ago I bought a pair of Sorel autumn boots at Home of Economy; not winter boots, but autumn boots; there's a difference. And I love them.

Yesterday with that cold spell I went down to Home of Economy on Million Dollar Way in Williston. I decided to go at noon when I knew it would be packed so I could enjoy my favorite sight: folks with good-paying jobs spending their money. Ha.

The store was packed. Except for the clerks and for me, everyone spoke Spanish. Some were on their cell phones, including someone talking at 78 rpm about something that sounded serious but not life-threatening.

Most were buying Carhartt. If Harold Hamm is the face of the Bakken, Carhartt is the Levi Strauss of this oil rush. The gloves and stocking caps were mostly sold out. But huge selection of winter, fire-resistant clothing. I was quite impressed.  Whoever buys for Home of Economy deserves a lot of credit. My hunch is no one buys for Home of Economy: Carhartt just drops off their truckloads as fast as they can.

There is no way to move in the clothing section at this store quickly. Every square foot is filled with clothing. [You know, reflecting on that, despite all the craziness, the stuff on the shelves was still very neat and in good order.]

I  have no idea what folks think of the prices but the Carhartt winter coat I got was $89. Up to $149 would have been expected. Leather gloves and a stocking hat and I was finished for the day.

And, as busy as they were, two things: not one customer was in a bad mood. Men generally don't like shopping, but every guy in there seemed happy; even the guy on the cell phone was courteous as we bumped into each other a couple of times.

And the women clerks -- there were probably about four -- were in a very good mood. I was impressed. No shoving, no pushing in lines.

For Investors Only: Chevron Increases Dividend a Bit

Yes, I am long CVX and have accumulated it for years. Along with a lot of other energy companies.

Link here.

Chevron declared a quarterly dividend of eighty-one cents ($0.81) per share, payable December 12, 2011, to holders of common stock as shown by the transfer records of the corporation at the close of business on November 18, 2011. The amount represents a 3.8 percent increase in the company's quarterly dividend and the second dividend increase in 2011. Combined, the two actions represent a 12.5 percent annual increase in the company's quarterly dividend.

As a reminder, this is not an investment site, or an investment blog. See disclaimer. But I learned about a year ago that you can't follow the oil industry without following the market. So, don't take any investing action based on what I say on the blog. My site is for education and entertainment only.
If you want good investment advice, go to the Yahoo! Financial message threads. LOL as my daughter would text. 

Madison Well -- Am I Missing Something? -- Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

First of all, a big "thank you" to all my readers. Visitors are coming to the site at a record pace; I'm not sure why.

Tonight I noted that someone was googling a Whiting well  -- so I looked it up, and in passing came across a very interesting report. I follow the North Dakota oil industry pretty closely and if I miss something, a reader will send me an "alert." So, I'm not sure how I missed this, or if, indeed, I'm missing something.

I've been looking at it for the last half hour -- I can't figure it out. I must be missing something. But I don't know what I'm missing, so I will count on my readers to help me out.

Yes, I know all about the Madison formation, and I know that there were a lot of great Madison wells back in the 1980's, but with all the excitement on the Bakken, we don't think about the Madison any more.

Unless you are Whiting.

• 18625, 368, Whiting, BSMU 3604, Big Stick, Madison; spudded 7/4/10; tested 8/27/10; cumulative as of August 2011: 110,541.

This is not an "old" well. It was drilled in the current boom. It was drilled last year, and it has already passed the 110,000 mark at the one-year anniversary.  A Bakken well is a good well to reach 100,000 in a year. A Madison well might reach 100,000 in 20 years, although there were some great Madison wells and still are.

But in this environment, a Madison well hitting 100,000 in less than a year is incredible. And "incredible" is the right word. I'm looking at the report and trying to see what I'm missing. What is particularly interesting about this is so few Madison wells are being drilled and thus the chance of hitting a great well is not all that great.

In addition, the decline rate has been minimal, something that plagues Bakken wells.

I have a poor wi-fi connection tonight so I can't do much more analysis -- I am particularly eager to check out the GIS map server tomorrow when I get a better connection.

This video has nothing to do with the Bakken or the posting, but it's the mood I'm in tonight. I post this particular video often on this site and others:


Looking Forward, Looking Back, Slim Dusty
"If I'm alone at night, I can see though all triviality of the day and I'm okay, I just think of those who are dear to me ... " Any better line anywhere?

Ten (10) New Permits -- Only 1/4 Wells Completed --The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, October 26, 2011 --

Operators: Enerplus (8), Denbury Onshore, Baytex

Fields:McGregory Buttes, Mandaree, Garden, South Fork

Baytex has a wildcat in Williams.

Enerplus has permits for three or four two-well pads.

Oasis had a nice well, reported elsewhere.

Only one of the four wells that came off the "tight hole" list was completed.  

Denbury Onshore reports a nice well:

• 18678, 1,174, Denbury Onshore, Charlson 34-12H, McKenzie

Newfield had a great well:

• 20456, 3,034, Staal 150-99-23-14-1H, McKenzie

I'm noticing a few typographical errors on the Daily Activity Report; it happens very rarely but suggests to me they (NDIC staff) are working as fast as they can to get these reports out. They must be very, very busy. 

Brian Williams -- Rock Central -- New Program -- To Feature The Bakken

I just received this interesting little tidbit sent to me by a reader and posted here as sent to me:

Brian Williams, network news anchorman, was at the airport in Minot on Sunday following Hoestfest. He had just finished a week-long visit to Williston and the Bakken.

New show on NBC Oct. 31st at 9:00 Central. He sent me an email.

New program called "Rock Central with Brian Williams." Williams said the Bakken is one of the most remarkable stories of this generation. Hope you will let your viewers know about this. Thanks. ----------

See first comment: yes, the Bakken will be featured in the opening show. Wow.

Whiting's Net Acreage -- 2Q11 Presentation -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

It will be interesting to see if there are any significant acreage changes for Whiting when they come out with 3Q earnings and conference call. The updated acreage data is from their October, 2011, presentation.

I don't recall when I last updated Whiting's net acreage, but it appears in the past year there has been significant increases in most prospects:

• Hidden Bench/Tarpon (eastern McKenzie County): 37K now (29K previously)
• Lewis and Clark (southwestern North Dakota; Stark, Billings): 255K (235K previously)
• Big Island (far southwestern corner, Golden Valley): 120K (73K previously)
• Cassandra (northeast of Williston): 14K (12K previously)
• Sanish (used to be called Parshall/Sanish prospect): 83K (85K previously)
• Starbuck (in Montana, directly west of Williams County): 88K (87K previously)
• Missouri Breaks (in Montana, directly west of McKenzie County): 41K (same)

Again, if one looks at the October presentation, slide 19, a couple of things pop up:

• Whiting has four centers of operations
• Sanish: their cash cow
• Northern ops, North Dakota: huge presence in McKenzie County where activity is headed in 2012
• Southern ops, North Dakota: huge presence in southwest corner of the state; Tyler, Lodgepole, TF
• Montana: opposite Williams County and opposite McKenzie County

The second thing one notices is this: the industrial parks west of Williston are perfectly positioned

• Highway 2, west of Williston, practically runs right between the two Montana prospects, Starbuck to the north and Missouri Breaks to the south
• Highway 85, turning south at the 4-mile corner west of Williston takes them directly to their McKenzie prospects, Hidden Bench, and the north half of Lewis & Clark
• Dickinson and Belfield, of course, will be the center of activity for most of Lewis & Clark, and for Big Island

It does not take a rocket scientist to understand why the new industrial park north of the 4-mile corner is going in, almost at breakneck speed.

At one time I was concerned that the Truck Reliever Route emphasized a north-south route when it appeared that an east-west route "thru" Williston was needed. I no longer feel that way at all. Based on the "old" Williston with the "Big 3" (Schlumberger, Sanjel, and Halliburton) all east of Williston, it seemed an east-west route was needed.

With the new Schlumberger complex going up on the west side of town, this eliminates a significant number of trucks going east-west.

Clearly, thinking about a north-south truck reliever route was and is the right idea.

Interestingly, this little observation. Most places I have lived in the country, it seems folks are way behind on building roads. One has to commend the county and the state for what they have done so far. Three observations:

• The current bypass around Williston is a life-saver; put in decades ago, against a fair amount of opposition, Williston would be a "disaster" without it
• The governor's assistance in "widening" US 85 south of Williston was prescient. Lynn Helms must have had the governor's ear telling him that oil activity was moving to McKenzie County and all the oil service companies were located north of Watford City and Alexander. The widening project is essentially complete. A four-lane divided highway is needed between Williston and Alexander but would not have been completed soon enough. The oil activity will explode get exponentially more active in 2012; there was not enough time to put in a 4-lane highway
• The dirt road north of highway 2 just west of the 4-mile corner (where the truck reliever route will begin) is already in pretty good shape, at least for the first few miles. It wouldn't take a whole lot to bring it up to speed.

The two "things" that would do the most to alleviate traffic issues:

• a well-designed intersection at the 4-mile corner to incorporate the truck reliever route
• a water depot south of the river along US 85; the water depot on 2nd Street West, Williston, is the wrong place for a water depot

Wow, I got way off topic. I had planned simply to update Whiting's prospects, but it was too enticing to point out how Whiting's prospects fit into the big picture.

Heel-to-Toe and Toe-to-Heel Parallel Horizontals -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Long before they started talking about seven and eight long horizontals in a spacing unit in the Bakken, I pointed out that fracking seemed to be effective only about five hundred feet radially (1,000 feet diametrically) and predicted that we would eventually see horizontals paralleling each other about 1,000 feet apart. That is now happening on a regular basis; my hunch is that the separation will narrow.

I have also opined that the farther one gets from the vertical, the less effective the production (for any number of reasons), and I predicted that we would eventually see toe-to-heel horizontals paralleling heel-to-toe horizontals. I now have a great example (and there are others).

At the NDIC GIS map server, go to section15/22 T154N-R91W. Currently there are eight wells in these two sections. The horizontals from these eight wells do not all drain sections 15/22.

The wells:

• 17080, 2,096, Whiting, Niemi 44-22H, t10/09; cum 459K 12/16;
• 18507,1,946, Whiting, Lahti 24-22H, t6/10; cum 516K 12/16;
• 19502, 2,720, Whiting, Niemitalo 31-15XH, t2/11; cum 406K 12/16;
• 20415, 362, Whiting, Laukala 34-22TFH, t9/11; cum 133K 12/16;
• 21273, 273, Whiting, Lahti 41-15TFX, t12/11; cum 123K 12/16;
• 21348, 312, Whiting, Lahti 31-15TFX, t12/11; cum 151K 12/16;
• 21438, 370, Whiting, Lahti 14-22TFH, t11/11; cum 172K 12/16;
• 21546, 537, Whiting, Lahti 12-22TFH, t3/12; cum 167K 12/16;

The following two horizontals parallel each other, one toe-to-heel; other heel-to-toe

• 17080, 2,096, Whiting, Niemi 44-22H, t10/09; cum 459K 12/16;
• 21273, 251, Whiting, Lahti 41-15TFX, t12/11;  cum 123I 12/16;

Granted, one is in the Three Forks, and one is in the Middle Bakken.

As noted above, there are eight (8) wells in these two sections; I could easily see another eight wells in these two sections (again, the horizontals would drain neighboring sections in some cases). But to the surface owner, one would see as many as 16 wells in these two sections.

Random Note: Focus on Little Tank 19-21, Little Tank Field, Red River Formation, Williston Basin

If you go to the NDIC GIS map server, and then to the "field search," take some time to type in Red Wing Creek. When you get there, click on "Overview Map" in the menu on the upper left.

If you do that, you will see the bull's eye where the activity will be headed in 2012: right in the middle of McKenzie County.

At 10:00 o'clock, just outside the bull's eye, you will see a vertical well, Little Tank 19-21, in Little Tank field, northwest of Red Wing Creek field.

This is an old Red River well, file number 7167, operations recently transferred to Sequel Energy, LLC (2010), along with scores of others throughout North Dakota. If I follow the paperwork correctly, the previous operator was St Mary Land & Exploration. The owners of the well back in 2006 applied for stripper well status based on daily production averaging 28 bopd.

It looks like Pennzoil spudded the well on 1/21/82 and tested the well 6/21/82 with an IP of 557 which must  have been huge back in 1982. This occurred during cycle three in North Dakota's oil history. It has been producing since then, and continues to produce at about the same rate as it did in the early 1990's.  To date it has produced 416,759 bbls of oil from the Red River formation.

In a few months, this well will celebrate its 30th birthday.

**************

By the way, a little to the northwest of this well is the Haugen 2 well, file number 12644. It was spudded 8/31/89, tested the following:

• Red River, 11/13/89, 755 (huge in that era)
• Duperow, 1/6/93, 114
• Birdbear, 11/30/02, 160

To date (August, 2011) the well has produced from the:

• Red River: 424,256 bbls
• Duperow: 71,626 bbls
• Birdbear: 107,973 bbls

For a grand total, so far: 603,855 bbls

The well is not all that old, only 22 years old or so.

For my list of "monster wells," click  here.

Unitizing Mineral Acres in Little Missouri State Park -- Here We Go -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

The State Department of Mineral Resources is looking at a plan to unitize 30,000 surface and mineral acres [in the Little Missouri State Park], which basically puts all the oil into one lease and treats all the surface acres as if they're one gigantic spacing unit.

The State Industrial Commission will hear the case in December.

As proposed, the unit would include 80 some wells drilled from 30 to 40 multi-well pads, with six of the well pads within the lease boundary of the Little Missouri State Park. The park is located about 15 miles north of Killdeer in the rugged breaks of the Badlands.

The state owns 1,000 acres at the park and leases 4,592 acres.

Unitization requires that 60 percent of mineral owners agree to the plan:

In this case, Burlington Resources owns 44 percent of the minerals because of territorial railroad land grants and is promoting the concept. Individuals own 40 percent, the federal government 12 percent and the state owns 7 percent.

Environmentally and ecologically the plan seems to make sense. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether the environment wins out or money wins out. I have my hunch.

Warren Buffett owns a lot of this through his shares in COP (BR).

For all the Bakken truckers:

Kenworth Down Under, Slim Dusty
Through the land of the free, the land that I love, the land with the northern lights up above....

Overview of the Petroleum Geology of The North Dakota Williston Basin -- With Relevance for October 25, 2010 -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

For newbies, this is a classic article by Thomas J. Heck, Richard D. LeFever, David W. Fischer, and Julie LeFever, writing for the North Dakota Geological Survey: An Overview of the Petroleum Geology of the North Dakota Williston Basin. I cannot find a date to the article, but it appears to have been published no earlier than 2000, based on the graphs and the references cited. If so, that was a very, very timely article. Elm Coulee Oil Field was discovered in 2000. According to Wiki:

Elm Coulee Oil Field was discovered in the Williston Basin in Richland County, eastern Montana, in 2000. It produces oil from the Bakken Formation and, as of 2007, is the "highest-producing onshore field found in the lower 48 states in the past 56 years." By 2007, the field had become one of the 20 largest oil fields in the United States.

The writers take you through:

• the geology and the strata of the Williston Basin
• the geographic locations of the various fields
• the history of the oil industry in North Dakota

The writers take you through the four drilling cycles prior to the current boom

• Cycle one: 1951, with the discovery of oil in Williams Country through the 1960's
• Cycle two: in full swing by 1968 with discovery of oil at the Bell Creek Field; although not important in this cycle, discovery of oil from the Red River formation in Bowman County and the Bakken formation in Billings County would play a greater role in the next cycle
• Cycle three: began in the mid-1970's, and was the most intensive of the three cycles to date. The intensity of the drilling was due to two factors: 1973 Arab oil embargo, and discovery of the Red Wing Creek Field one year earlier; the collapse of oil prices in 1986 brought cycle three to a stunning halt; the first Bakken Formation play began in cycle three
• Cycle four: initiated by two events -- the discovery of the Dickinson Lodgepole Field and the discovery of the horizontally drilled Red River "B" pool in Cedar Hills Field in Bowman County; the cycle was short-lived. The Lodgepole play was not successfully extended outside the immediate Dickson area.
• Cycle five: not discussed in this article, but I assume history will record that cycle five began in 2000 when oil was discovered in Elm Coulee Oil Field, Richland County, Montana, and the moved swiftly to western North Dakota

Three points from this review interest me today:

• the center of activity has a way of moving around in the Williston Basin
• the thickness of the Red Wing Creek formation: 1,000 feet compared to the much narrower Bakken
• the fact that the Lodgepole has not been successfully extended

With regard to the thickkness of the Red Wing Creek formation, again from Wiki:

Shell Oil Company drilled exploratory wells on the Red Wing Creek structure in 1965 and 1968. These wells did not find oil, but did indicate very thick sections of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks. In 1972, True Oil Company drilled a well that discovered oil. This discovery had an oil column that was about 870 m (2,850 ft) thick instead of the normal 30 m (98 ft). This thick oil column was because the rocks were tilted on their sides.

The center of activity is moving to McKenzie County where the Red Wing Creek field is, and there are now at least two wells northwest of Williston that might extend the Lodgepole play.

Solar Starting To Go Mainstream? -- Absolutely Nothing About the Bakken

This story is now available almost everywhere; I happened to link it at this site:

Making solar affordable still requires large tax breaks and other subsidies from federal and state governments. The main federal subsidy pays for 30 percent of the cost of a residential system. When state and other subsidies are added, as much as 75 percent of the cost can be covered. [Your neighbors will pay for your solar panels.]

Solar energy may finally get its day in the sun.

"We are at the beginning of a turning point," says Andrew Beebe, who runs global sales for Suntech Power, a manufacturer of solar panels.

And, now back to reality.

Shares of First Solar fell off a cliff yesterday, dropping 25 percent -- SeekingAlpha.com.

Several solar companies likely to fail; high on the list: LDK Solar and SunTech Power -- Motley Fool.com.

China almost kills premier US solar company -- Forbes.com. 

Solar + wind = hot air? -- Wall Street Journal.com

And, of course, we all know about Solyndra.

I've always said the math does not work out. There is not enough space in the world for the number of solar panels needed to even make a dent in meeting the world's energy needs. But that doesn't mean one couldn't make money on solar energy. Agile investors got in early, and, I assume, agile investors are already out. Just one day earlier, October 24, 2011, shares of solar companies all "popped," some as much as 13 percent.

Today's jump is probably a bit of a dead-cat bounce as investors try to find a bottom for solar stocks. The real driver in the long term will be what companies report when they announce third-quarter earnings in the next few weeks.

I've been bullish on U.S. solar companies and cautious of Chinese solar companies for some time now, and I still think that's the way to invest in the industry. Chinese manufacturers have very little differentiation from each other, and SunPower should get a boost from feed-in tariffs favoring rooftop installations in Europe, and First Solar will be helped by the growth of utility scale solar. -- Motley Fool.com.