Bakken Operations
Active rigs: 181 (steady)
Eight (8) new permits --
- Operators: Whiting (3), Hess (2), Fidelity, Petro-Hunt, Bakken Hunt
- Fields: Hawkeye (McKenzie), Stanley (Mountrail), Sanish (Mountrail), Hay Creek (McKenzie), Antelope (McKenzie), Crosby (Divide)
- Comments: None
Several permits were canceled:
- 23999, PNC, BR, Bice 44-12MBH, Dunn
- 23998, PNC, BR, Bice 44-12TFH, Dunn
- 22222, PNC, CLR, Bonney 3-3H, Dunn
- 21808, PNC, Samson Resources, Crow 32-29-163-96H, Divide
- 21836, PNC, Samson Resources, Defender 9-4-163-97H, Divide
- 21843, PNC, Samson Resources, Teal 3-10-163-96H, Divide
- 22193, 2,367, QEP, Kummer 1-6/7H, Croff, t10/12; cum 83K 11/12; -- part of the Helis deal?
- 22419, 586, Hess, BW-Sorenson 149-99-1324H-1, Wildcat, t12/12; cum -- ; another good example of the "craziness" of wildcats in the Bakken; this one is sitting in the heart of the Bakken; McKenzie County
- 22418, 724, Hess, BW-Spring Creek 149-99-1201H-1, Wildcat, 12/12; cum -- sits on/near the same pad as 22419;
I don't understand much about Wildcat wells, so I don't understand your comment about the "craziness of wildcats". Could you explain that comment a little more? Thanks
ReplyDeleteI forget the strict definition of a "wildcat" -- but here's one from Schlumberger:
Deletehttp://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/en/Terms.aspx?LookIn=term%20name&filter=wildcat
Others define a wildcat as a well being drilled outside of a designated field, or more than six miles from a producing well.
In the "old days," I considered a well to be a wildcat if it was in a completely new area, perhaps around Bismarck, as an example.
In this case, these two wells (on the same pad, one running north, one running south) sit in a section that is not yet part of a designated field, but the section is the only section separating two designated fields in the Bakken: the Cherry Creek oil field and the Pembroke oil field. In both fields there have been many successful Bakken wells. Some have been very, very good wells.
In addition, these two wells are smack dab in the middle of the Bakken, in the center of McKenzie County. The only reason these are "wildcats" is because they are in sections that have not been designated a field, but for all practical purposes they are not "wildcats" by the commonly accept term -- commonly accepted by lay folks like me. Again, drilling a well near Fargo would be a wildcat; drilling in the middle of the recognized Bakken is hard for me to see it as a wildcat.
On the other hands, professionals are probably chuckling at my lack of understanding. But that's the way it goes. (By the way, now that these two wells are producing, these sections should be "absorbed" by the Pembroke field or the Cherry Creek field.)
If this does not make sense, please feel free to write again. Thank you for taking the time to write.