Changes announced:
- using oil base mud during the entire drilling operation
- switching to plug and perf vs sliding sleeve
- using more proppant
- using ceramic proppant in the mix
- will reduce pump downtime by installing more reliable diesel electric generators on the pumps where electric service is not available
- reiterated: the company's target is the middle Bakken in McKenzie and Billings counties in North Dakota
- mentioned: 22207, conf, Basaraba 34-35-1H, its first Bakken well in Billings County, may be its best well; IP of 1,673 bopd (48/64 choke); 39-stage plug and pert completion; used 25% more proppant (4 million pounds); 44% white sand; 56% ceramics
- 21947, conf, Fairfield State 21-16-1H, Billings County, a Three Forks well; with good show in the middle Bakken;
- 21545, 1,409, Akovenko 24-34-2H, McKenzie County; t5/12; cum 13K 8/12; long lateral in less than 30 days; $4 million
- 23634, conf, Lange 44-31-2H, McKenzie County;
Comment: if indeed the Basaraba is as good as GMX says it might be, this is a huge development. It's a middle Bakken well, but it is located where there has been almost no activity in the current boom. It's at the far north of Billings County, almost in McKenzie County, but far from any MB sweet spot of which I am aware. By the "rules of the game," I am surprised this was not considered a wildcat.
Comment: I believe this is a very opposite position that QEP is taking. In its conference call following its acquisition of Helis acreage and assets, QEP said it completes wells without using ceramics. At least that's what I recall. The jury is still out, but if QEP can prove its case, the implications are huge; I think most folks understand the issue
Comment: I believe this is a very opposite position that QEP is taking. In its conference call following its acquisition of Helis acreage and assets, QEP said it completes wells without using ceramics. At least that's what I recall. The jury is still out, but if QEP can prove its case, the implications are huge; I think most folks understand the issue
Comment: 4 million pounds of proppant (sand with/without ceramics) seems to be the norm for the better wells; BEXP has vast experience)
Comment: I know very, very little about plug and perf vs sliding sleeve, but my general impression is that I prefer to see plug and perf
Comment: I know very, very little about plug and perf vs sliding sleeve, but my general impression is that I prefer to see plug and perf
Comment: If I read the "cost" of that well, the Akovenko, that's incredible: $4 million for a long lateral. Talk in the oil patch is that Whiting is a low-cost driller at $6 million / Sanish well (higher elsewhere) and most saying wells cost them $10 million or more. But again, I may be misreading/misinterpreting that "$4 million" figure. [See comments below: this $4 million figure probably refers to drilling only, not completion costs; that makes sense because they have not completed the well yet, though they should have budgeted the cost of completion. Some say drilling/completion comes close to 50/50 with high proppant/high ceramic completions, but it would be surprising if completion costs more than drilling. If the well (drilling/completion) comes in under $8 million, that's not bad.]
