Several things attracted me to this story, not least of which I enjoyed many wonderful weekend outings with some nice southern California women -- ah, but that was a long time ago, in another galaxy, far, far away.
Underground Energy Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., will attempt to complete the Monterey shale at the Chamberlin 3-2 well on the 7,750-acre Chamberlin lease in its Zaca field extension project in Santa Barbara County, Calif.Some data points:
- Depth: 7,685 feet (somewhat shallower than the Bakken, in general)
- Cost: budgeted for $2.4 million (well below the $7 million to $10 million for Bakken wells)
- Payzone in offset well: 1,700 feet (huge); more than 1,200 feet of continuous Monterey oil
- Typical payzone in this area: 1,100 feet (huge -- the middle Bakken, I believe, is 50 - 100 feet)
- Original Zaca field: 10-acre spacing; 61 wells
- Original Zaca field: average IP -- 200 bopd; EURs > 540,000
A bit of competition for the Bakken, it appears, and suggests why some operators, like OXY say they have better prospects in California than North Dakota.
Note: I have no formal training in the oil and gas industry; no formal training in geology; I don't follow California oil industry; and I may have misread the story. Check out the link if you plan to make any investment decisions after reading this post. I am well-known to make errors. This is presented, again, for my benefit and benefit of readers to try to sort out the Bakken.
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A Note for the Granddaughters
And speaking of long ago, far away: