Random Note on the Eldridge Well, Southwest of Williston

Briar Creek Oil Field

Briar Creek oil field is a relatively small field, about 24 sections, located southwest of Williston, right up along the Montana state line, just west of the confluence, where the Yellowstone River flows into the Missouri River. The area was made famous by Lewis and Clark, Fort Union, and Fort Buford. It's an incredibly beautiful area with a history to match. There's about a dozen short laterals in this small field, so it's been active, but the field doesn't show up often in the daily permitting or daily activity reports. That is why the long-lateral Eldridge -- discussed below -- is such a big deal: long lateral, Three Forks, and a great IP.

A sampling of the active wells:

• 16107, 385, Zavanna, Lewis 1-36H, t5/06; cum 122K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16175, 267, Zavanna, Clark 1-35H, t6/06; cum 147k 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16212, 170, Zavanna, Ordway 1-26H, t11/106; cum 111K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16258, 199, Zavanna, Gass 1-25H, t1/07; cum 74K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16264, 66, Zavanna, Pryor 1-1H, t1/07; cum 29K 8/12; a Madison wel;
• 16414, 35, Zavanna, Pvt. Hall 1-23H, t2/07; cum 150K 8/12; a Madison wel; 
• 16417, A, Zavanna, Pvt. Goodrich 1-22H, cum 176K 8/12; a Madison well; no IP;
• 16418, 50, Zavanna, Pvt Gibson 1-27H, t2/07; cum 34K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16455, 130, Zavanna, York 1-2H, t3/07; cum 79K 8/12; a Madison well; 
• 16569, 108, Zavanna, Pvt. Frazier 1-34H, t6/07; cum 81K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16601, 32, Zavanna, Sakakawea 1-21H, t2/08; cum 20K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16638, 143, Zavanna, Charbonneau 1-14H, t9/07; cum 227K 8/12; a Madison well; 
• 16643, 17/PA, Zenergy, Pvt. Labiche 20-19H, t4/08; cum 2K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16738, 125, Zavanna, Ft. Buford 1-16H, t10/07; cum 100K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 16889, 48, Zavanna, Pompey 17-18H, t3/08; cum 40K 8/12; a Madison well;
• 18587, 2,413, BEXP, Sedlacek Trust 33-4 1H, t7/10; cum 127K 8/12; a Bakken well;
• 20899, 2,980, BEXP, Eldridge 29-20 1TFH, t8/12; cum 8K 8/12; a Three Forks well;
• 21846, loc/PNC, BEXP, Stubbs 28-21 1H,
• 21847, loc/PNC, BEXP, Sedlacek Trust 33-4 2H,
• 22178, 1,708, BEXP, Lund 3-34 1H, t5/12; cum 41K 8/12;
• 22941, conf, BEXP, West Bank 26-23 26-23 1H;
• 22942, conf, BEXP, Sullivan WMA 35-2 35-2 1H;
• 23887, conf, BEXP, Eveland 30-19 1H; 
• 23888, conf, BEXP, Gyda 31-6 1H;

I remember a couple of years ago, when I first started blogging about the Bakken, that the folks over at the Bakken Shale Discussion Group were told in no uncertain terms that there were no more Madison wells to be drilled/found. I guess Zavanna did not get the memo.

Original Post

I got a nice comment (posted earlier) from a team member that helped drill the Eldridge well about the  importance of team camaraderie and the rewards of seeing this well come in.

The little I know about the oil patch in the Williston Basin, this well is a big deal:

• 20899, 2,980, BEXP, Eldridge 29-20 1TFH, Briar Creek, t8/12; cum 23K 9/12; this is about as far west in North Dakota as you can get before you are in Montana; south of the river, just west of the confluence; this is a huge well for this area! 

It's a big deal for several reasons:

First: looking at the GIS map server, this area is relatively inactive, and although it was not a wildcat, it's more remote than several wells I've seen listed as wildcats (I'm thinking of the recent well that was identified as a wildcat and for all intents and purposes was in the very nice Siverston field). 

But the Briar Creek is a field which we don't hear much about.  

Second, it's a big deal because it's a Three Forks well. It appears most followers of the Bakken boom have a pretty good idea of where the middle Bakken sweet spots are; that doesn't seem to be as true for the Three Forks. Being so close to the Montana border has to excite the folks in Montana.

Some highlights from the well file:

Core samples, as usual, were sent to NDGS Core Library, Grand Forks, ND; but, in addition, to Brigham Oil & Gas L.P. in Austin, TX.

The well was spud on April 19, 2012, and reached total depth less than a month later, May 16, 2012. The curve was initially landed five days after spudding; but the depth was considered unsatisfactory and a new sidetrack landing achieved on April 25.

It is quite interesting to note that background gases never exceeded 150 units in the Bakken (in the middle Bakken, the gas ranged between 14 - 80 units). But in the Three Forks, gas ranged between 12 - 3,536 (no typo) units.

And then the "challenges" began. There is more in the report than I understand but apparently after reaching total depth, the rig experienced a problem returning to the bottom of the well bore. They had reached total depth on May 5 (in only 16 days) but with the problems returning to the bottom of the well it took another 11 days of drilling and five more sidetracks (and as many trips back and forth into the hole) -- I could be wrong, but years ago, roughnecks told me there was nothing they dislike more than bringing all that pipe up and then putting it all back down again. It looks like this crew got to do this at least five times (but again, well above my understanding of the process).

I'm glad for the crew it was not the middle of the winter. So, at 17,000 feet total depth, "the well bore, for the majority of the lateral, deviated +/- 4 - 6 feet in true vertical depth from the Three Forks target line." Pretty impressive. To say the least.

Again, I apologize profusely if I've misinterpreted something. I enjoy reading the well files; I don't understand much of them; and don't have time to read many. But I think I learn a little bit something from everyone I read.

I can only assume all operators are this tenacious, but one has to wonder. I don't recall any "bad" BEXP wells. (I'm sure readers will remind me. Smile.) When you read this report, you are reminded that these great wells are not reached by accident.

[Wow, I can just imagine the grumbling every time the "boss" said they would they would have to bring the pipe back up again and try again.]