Wednesday, May 23, 2012

St Demetrius Oil Field

St Demetrius is a relatively large oil field in the Williston Basin, located in Billings County, in southwestern North Dakota.  It encompasses approximately three townships (a township has 36 sections). It is irregular in shape, but pretty much rectangular with three townships stacked on top of each other.

It's hard to say exactly whether this field is in Whiting's Lewis & Clark prospect or its Pronghorn prospect. St Demetrius is just north of the Bell field (shared border). Some of the largest lease bonuses were paid for leases in Bell field. The field is just a bit west of a very prolific area including the Fayette, the Cabernet, and the Russian Creek fields.

It's a fairly active field, but the "tea leaves" suggest that it will be much more active going forward.  The southern half of St Demetrius appears to be the most active, which is to be expected, since the Bell field is just to the south.

Permits

2014
28126, loc, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 6-16-21H,
28125, loc, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 5-16-21H,
28124, loc, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 4-16-21H,
28123, drl, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 3-16-21H,
28122, loc, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 2-16-21H,
28121, loc, Emerald, Mary Samsonite 1-16-21H,
27583, conf, CLR, Dunkirk 1-18AH1, producing, albeit not much;

2013 (complete)
None
 
Issued in 2012 (complete)
  • 24639, TA, Thunderbird Resources LP/GMXR, see #21947 below;
  • 24574, 904, Whiting, Wanner Federal 21-1TFH, t4/14; cum 25K 6/14;
  • 23282, PNC, CLR, Dunkirk 1-18H,
  • 23272, conf, CLR, Caretan 1-28H,
  • 23271, conf, CLR, Yvette 1-4H,
  • 22951, 519, CLR, Obriyenitch 1-14H, t11/12; cum 112K 6/14;
  • 22936, loc, OXY, Federal Polly Sivak 1-19-18H-143-98, Whitetail oil field;
  • 22276, 427, CLR, Epsom 1-31H, t5/12; cum 108K 6/14;
  • 22277, 118, CLR, Elizabeth Ann 1-32H, t7/12; cum 60K 6/14;
  • 22327, 184, CLR, Natalie 2-2H, t7/12; cum 79K 6/14;
  • 22383, 265, CLR, Odessa1-17H, t7/12; cum 58K 6/14;
  • 22408, 113, CLR, Proch 1-7H, t9/12; cum 54K 6/14;
  • 22749, 575, CLR, Repetowski 1-36H, t8/12; cum 132K 6/14;
  • 22909, 703, CLR, Charnwood 1-32H, t9/12; cum 98K 6/14;
  • 22936, loc, OXY USA, Federal Polly Siva 1-19-18H-143-98, Whitetail oil field;
  • 22951, 519, CLR, Obriyenitch 1-14H, t11/12; cum 112K 6/14;
Issued in 2011
  • 21599, 545, CLR, Stuss 1-26H, t4/12; cum 106K 6/14;
  • 21690, 607, CLR, Wanner 1-15h, t6/12; cum 85K 6/14;
  • 21806, 854, CLR, Burian 1-27H, t3/12; cum 190K 6/14;
  • 21859, 85, CLR, Skurupey 1-9H, Saddle Butte oil field,
  • 21947, 161/576, Thunderbird Resources LP/GMXR, Fairfield State 21-16-1HRE, a Three Forks, well, 37 stages; 1.2 million lbs sand; re-entered late 2012/early 2013; March, 2014: principal name change from GMXR to Thunderbird Resources LP; t9/12; t1/14; cum 20K 6/14; see first comment below
  • 22046, 501, CLR, Jennie 1-8H, t3/12; cum 102K 6/14;
Issued in 2010
  • None
Of Interest, issued before 2010:
  • 15789, 376, XTO, Paluck 41X-28; t8/05; cum 131K 6/14; two laterals; if fracked, I did not see the data;
  • 15928, 483, XTO, Anheluk 44X-23; t1/06; cum 88K 6/14;
  • 16100, 255, CLR, Xavier 1-10H, t5/06; cum 105K 6/14; if fracked, I did not see the data;
  • 16153, 488, XTO, Krushevsky Logosz 41X-35; t9/06; cum 126K 6/14;
  • 16343, 180, CLR, Urban 1-12H, Kessel 1-12H; t5/07; cum 34K 6/14; if fracked, I did not see the data; the Tyler was noted to have "no good show";
  • 16479, 171, CLR, Dahle 1-2H, t7/07; cum 62K 6/14;
  • 16664, 485, XTO, Basaraba 44X-27, t12/07; 255K 6/14; if fracked, I did not see the data; there was one comment early on: "not yet frac'd"
  • 17172, 149, XTO, Jilek 44X-33, t12/8; cum 43K 6/14;
  • 17511, 262, XTO, Logosz 44X-22, t3/09; cum 28K 6/14;
  • 17768, 594, XTO, Chruszch 43X-29F, t7/12; cum 26K 6/14;
  • 17737, 256, CLR, Armstrong 1-24H, t4/09; cum 64K 6/14;
I'm learning as I go along (that's why some well-seasoned oil folks say that what I post in comments/interpretations is "nonsense").  Be that as it may, there is a great graphic in one of the XTO file reports. I'm sure these visuals have always been there but in light of the reasons Slawson/Lower Bakken Shale story, this one jumped out at me: the well bore going through the upper Bakken dolomite, below the lower Bakken shale.

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

From wiki:
St Demetrius came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George. St Demetrius is particularly important for those of Russian Orthodox heritage, as well as among Christian Lebanese.
I have blogged a fair number of times on the Syrian-Lebanese in North Dakota, including back in January, 2011.

22 comments:

  1. Bruce, I think you're right. This area has begun to pick up. To the east, in southern Dunn Co., there are numerous nice wells. To the south, in NW Stark Co., Whiting has several great new wells. Then to the west, in Billings Co., Whiting is producing some new wells. All in all, the stars are aligning for increased drilling off of Hwy 85 north of Belfield.

    FYI, GMX's confidential well # 21947 has a rig up and is currently being drilled. They (& XTO, BN, WLL) control some acreage in the area, yet Continental Res. has the bulk of it. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. That's why I enjoy updating various fields. I was impressed with how much CLR had in this area. And I agree with you: lots of activity this summer in this area.

      Delete
    2. Thanks from Illinois for the St. Demetrius information-very interesting. Hope the "tea leaves" are correct.

      Delete
    3. You are welcome. I can't keep all fields up dated as much as they need to be, but if anyone thinks any field needs updating, let me know.

      Delete
  2. Can you tell me anything about CHRUSZCH 43X-29F NESE 29-T142N-R99W in the St. Demetrius field. We own mineral rights to the land.From what I can see online it looks like they have a drilling rig on the land, but we have heard anything from XTO.

    Thanks so much, our family is getting very excited- if they are going to finally drill our land.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The well is currently on the NDIC GIS map server as a confidential well. They do not depict a rig on site.

      At one time (I did not date the entry), there was a rig on site. This suggests to me that they have drilled the well and moved the rig.

      Companies vary when they put wells on confidential status; I don't know how XTO does it. But most likely I saw the NDIC map, saw the little icon for a rig and noted it. Now that the icon is not there, it suggests to me that the well has been drilled and they are now in the process of completing/fracking it.

      During the confidential period, I would assume the company would not provide any information regarding the well.

      But that's all conjecture. All I know for sure is the well is on the confidential list, and the map does not show a rig on site.

      Delete
  3. Thank you so much for posting the St.Demetrius field information. It looks like things are looking up!!!! Do you know anything about the runs for 22046,Jenn 1-8H for May.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May "runs" have not been posted for this well, yet. I also checked five other wells, randomly selected, and none of the five have the "runs" for May. It's been my impression that we don't see production numbers posted until the second month following the month in question. For example, the production data for May will be posted in July.

      Delete
  4. We have interest in Section 18, T.141N, R.99W. There is a rig shown on the ND map on Section 7 and on June 28, NDIC Docket had Case #18133 from Continental Resources for an order of pooling for Sections 18 and 19. Does this request come before a permit is issued, or after a rig is in place. Just wonder if this pooling request may pertain to the rig on Sec. 7.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am quite sure that the pooling request is for the well site on which the rig is now situated. That's a CLR permit, and it looks like it will be drilling south into sections 18 and 19.

      Delete
  5. I own interest in 7-141n-99. It's been pooled with sec 6 #17939 in the May docket. My understand is that they are drilling to the north. The permit was on March 13, 2012. well name Proch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Agreed. As noted before, I don't own mineral rights, so I am weak with regard to timing of permits, pooling, etc. I was basing my "guess" on the information provided by previous reader. For me, this will be a nice one to follow to help me understand the timing. Case #17940 concerns sections 6 and 7. Case #17939 concerns sections 4 and 9 as currently shown at the NDIC website.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you both for your response, I am new to this, and after asking the question, I found the Case # for Sec's 6 & 7, and it makes sense that the existing rig would go north. In doing more searching on the NDIC Dockets, There have been a number of requests from Continental(for pooling) this year in T141 R99, some seem to relate to confidential wells noted on the map and others in areas where nothing appears as yet. Must mean there will be much more activity in that area. I could find no correlation of time frame in the process steps of asking for pooling and requesting a permit.
    A question to the person who owns Sec. 7. We also have mineral rights on T141N R100W Section 12. In February '12, NDIC Docket case 16917 asked for that section and 3 others to be included in the St. Demetrius Field or the Park Field and allow up to four wells to be drilled. Do you know what may have happened with that request. I don't know where to find the outcome of the Cases.
    Thank you again, and I'm sure I'll have more questions as I watch this unfold.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Before this (the Bakken boom) is over, there will be a lot more activity in this area (St Demetrius and Park fields).

    I'm glad I'm not the only one in the dark regarding time-line for permitting, pooling, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you, This is the only place I've found with any information about the St. Demetrius field.

    To the person sec 18-141n-99... (from sec 7). I also new at this and have had the questions. I'm also wonder about #15998 (Oct 2011) By Denbury Onshore, LLC authorizing the drilling, of horizontal increase density wells on each 1280-acre spacing unit and each 640-acre spacing unit within the St.Demetrius not to exceed a total of seven horizontal wells on each spacing unit. Are we have going to have 7 well in each section someday? What is a increase density well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure someone else can provide a link to formal definitions, but I view "increase density wells" as wells that fill in a spacing unit that has already been defined. So, the first well in a 1280-acre unit is the well that provides an operator the data necessary to determine how many wells a given spacing unit might support. In this case it looks like the initial well suggests each spacing unit (1280-acre units and 640-acre units) will support up to 7 wells in each unit. As they start drilling those wells, they will further determine whether that many wells are economical.

      This blog has been talking about as many as 12 - 14 wells on each spacing unit in the better Bakken; the norm is 8 wells on each 1280-acre spacing unit in the better Bakken now, and certainly 4 wells on each 1280-acre spacing unit almost everywhere (evenly divided between middle Bakken and Three Forks horizontals).

      This is all conjecture on my part, a layperson with no experience with oil and gas industry, but blogging about the Bakken for three or four years, and making a lot of mistakes as I've gone along. I'm not good on specifics, but I have a general feeling for what's going on.

      Others will correct my errors, I hope, but this is how I see it.

      Have you noticed some areas are now being permitted for 8 wells in a 640-acre spacing unit (that's 8 wells in one section -- Bear Den, for example)?

      Delete
  10. They pulled our premits 1st then pooled for both sec 7 & 8-141n-r99 -..They have pooled sec 18-141n-r99 but haven't pulled premit yet? But here's our timing:

    8-141n-99

    permit........12-12-2011........#22046 -JENNIE 1-8H, SESW 8-141N-99W
    release date ..6-31-2012

    pooled.........1-19-2012........#16831 5 and 8, T.141N., R.99W



    7-141n-99

    permit ........2-13-2012........#22408 PROCH 1-7H, SESW 7-14199W
    release date.. 12-12-2011

    pooled ....5-31-2012 ........# 17940 Sections 6 and 7, T.141N., R.99W

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Yes, I still don't understand it. The July docket schedule was released yesterday so when I have time I might try to sort this out.

      On the NDIC confidential list, your Jennie well,as you know, reports Monday. The Proch well now has a release from the confidential list on July 17, 2012.

      Regardless of the dates, timing: good luck on your wells.

      Delete
  11. Yes, I've read about Dear Ben, ego pads and all the multiple wells. I just didn't think it would ever happen in St. Demetrius. They stopped drilling in our field in the mid 2000's. The production has low. The closest wells to us are Xavier 1-10h (10-141n-99) produced 27K in the first year and Jilek 44x-33, (142N-99W-3) did 17k. Our well Jennie 1-8h (8-141n-99) had of runs 21.5K in the first three months. (Hopefully we'll know the poduction monday) Things sure have change. Have they changed way they drill?



    By the way # 15998 doesn't have unit or section in it . Here's what it said:


    Oct 2011..#15998: Application of Denbury Onshore, LLC for an order authorizing the drilling, completing and producing of horizontal increase density wells on each 1280-acre spacing unit and each 640-acre spacing unit within the St.Demetrius-Bakken Pool, Billings County, ND, not to exceed a total of seven horizontal wells on each such spacing unit, eliminating any tool error requirements and such other relief as is appropriate.



    They started drilling for Proch 1-8h (8-141n-99) in a couple weeks ago and it will be release at the end of the year (12-17-2012). I made a mistake and wrote 2011. I need proof things better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have they changed the way they drill? Yes, the biggest change has to do with fracking.

      In my mind there are two important components for a successful Bakken, all other things being equal.

      First, the seam is very narrow and it takes a skilled geologist and drilling team to keep the drill bit in the seam for almost two miles laterally.

      Second, and most folks seem to agree, it is the ability to "complete" a well, or "stimulate," or "frack" the seam that makes all the difference. Operators have increased the number of frack stages. The early wells may have had less than 10 stages; now the good wells routinely are fracked with 24 stages, 30 stages, and on up to 36 stages.

      Delete
  12. Glad to see that someone else is waiting for Jennie tomorrow along with us. We are in section 5. We have seen the runs for February through May but will be anxious to have confirmation on the actual production from the well. The IP will be interesting to view but know that it is not the most important number. Good luck to us all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, good luck to all.

      I don't own any mineral rights, but I enjoy following the Bakken story.

      I am currently traveling. You have no idea how hard logistically it is to keep up with the blog. So, if I'm late posting tomorrow, that's my excuse.

      Delete

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