Six (6) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, May 21, 2012 --
Operators: Hess (3), SM Energy (2), Whiting
Fields: Sanish (Mountrail), Hawkeye (McKenzie), Wheelock (Williams), Siverston (McKenzie)

Twelve (12) producing wells reported completions, including:

• 20829, 3,440, BR, Joel 21-2H, Bully; t1/12; cum 14K; 3/12;
• 21189, 2,317, BEXP, Safely Trust 28-33 1H, Foreman Butte; t4/12; 
• 21190, 2,581, BEXP, Lyle 21-16 1H, Elk, t4/12;
• 21402, 1,309, Hess, BB-Belquist-150-95-95-1011H-2, Blue Buttes; t4/12; southeast of the bull's eye of the Bakken, just outside the reservation
• 21403, 1,271, Hess, BB-Belquist-150-95-1011H-1, Blue Buttes; t4/12;
• 21850, 35 (no typo), Thompson 35-26-162-99H, Ambrose; cum 190 ; 3/12;

Fourteen (14) wells released from confidential status (note: back to "confidential" and not "tight hole")

• 16966, 243, Denbury, TRMU 24X-12H, T.R. oil field; t2/12; cum 9K 3/12; a Madison well;
• 20215, 2,140, XTO, FBIR Guyblackhawk 24X-27, Heart Butte;  t2/12; cum 1K 3/12; 
• 21094, 1,583, Whiting, Lee 41-28TFH, Sanish, t11/11; cum 44K 3/12;
• 21108, 182, Samson Resources, Lido 11-2-162-98H, Blooming Prairie, t4/12; cum 1K 3/12;  
• 21341, DRL, Hess, EN-Madisyn-154-04-0607H-1, Alkali Creek,
  
• 21342, DRL, Murex, Rodney Lynn 4-33H, McGregor,
• 21389, ? Legacy, Legacy Et al Berge 1-12H, wildcat; Spearfish well, producing 1,500 bbls/month; Spearfish at 3,225 feet; no initial production reported on the sundry report
• 21476, DRL, BEXP, Dale 20-17 1H, Camp,
• 21610, 389, G3 Operating, Arnson 1-5-8H, Strandahl, t3/12; cum 4K 3/12;
• 21622, DRL, BEXP, Strobeck 27-34 7H, Alger, (eighth well in this section)
• 21637, DRL, Cornerstone, Carpentier 3-34-27H, Flaxton,
• 21746, 653, Zenergy, Mary 3-10H, Wildcat, t1/12; cum 14K 3/12;
• 21782, DRL, Enerplus, Hippo 148-94-03A-10-4H TF, McGregory Buttes; 
• 22734, DRL, CLR, Glasoe 6-19H, Dolphin, 3-well pad;

Note: of the fourteen wells coming off the confidential list, seven wells went to DRL status. I interpret that to mean that 50% of wells are waiting to be fracked. That may not be entirely correct, but that's how I interpret it. And I interpret that to mean that there is still a backlog; and, of course, that may be incorrect also, but still .... fourteen wells come off the confidential list, and seven are awaiting to be completed.

Some comments on these IPs:

1) no statistical analysis, but my gut feeling is that IPs have improved since the Bakken boom began in 2007; the Hess wells above are excellent examples; compare with earlier Hess wells
2) some folks have questioned how good the Three Forks formation is in the Sanish oil field; #21094 seems to have allayed some of that anxiety
3) some folks have been worried if multiple wells in one spacing unit could be detrimental; #21094 is the third horizontal in this spacing unit
4) some folks have been worried if multiple wells in one spacing unit could be detrimental; BEXP's Strobeck well above -- that is the eighth well in that section
5) a lot of BR wells go to DRL or SI before reporting their IPs; BR wells have reported some great IPs

This is interesting, from today's daily activity report:

Transfer of the following from Penn Virginia to Anschutz Exploration.

• 17708, PNC,  Dvorak 11-1H, Murphy Creek

I thought Anschutz Exploration was no longer in North Dakota after it sold its assets a year or so ago, but it pops up again.