XTO and MRO With Two Nice Wells; Twelve (12) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Only three (3) wells come off the confidential list tomorrow:

• 20600, 1,831, XTO, FBIR Blackmedicine 24X-21B, Heart Butte, t6/12; cum 35K 8/12; 
• 22270, drl, WPX, Fettig 6-7HC, Eagle Nest,
• 22489, 1,181, MRO, Thomas Miller USA 11-28H, Deep Water Creek Bay, t7/12; cum 25K 8/12; 

Comment:

The Fettig file report makes for interesting reading. I don't understand 90% of what I read, but this one certainly seems to have had its problems. It seemed incredible to read all the problems the driller had. The original driller was replaced by a new driller late in the process to get to total depth, with three side-tracks. This sentence in the conclusion perhaps sums up this drilling experience: "A string of MWD failures occurred and MS Energy was run off location to be replaced by Sperry-Halliburton." [I don't know if that's standard jargon in the oil patch, "run off."] After that changeout, total depth was reached pretty quickly and seemed to be pretty straightforward. They spud this well April 4, 2012; reached a target depth with side track #2 on May 18th, 45 days from spud. Side track #3 was called due to motor failure 270 feet from total depth on June 26th, 84 days from spud. Shortly after that S-H came on the scene. [For newbies: drillers are routinely reaching total depth in less than 20 days.]

Again, I apologize if I'm misreading this.

Twelve (12) new permits:

• Operators: BEXP (8), BR (2), EOG, Oasis
• Fields: Cottonwood (Burke), Banks (McKenzie), Spring Creek (McKenzie), Big Gulch (Dunn), Painted Woods (Williams)

Comments: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.