Bakken Well Costs

From the Hess 1Q13 earnings transcript:

Well cost for the first quarter averaged $8.6 million per well, down 36% from $13.4 million per well in the first quarter of 2012 and down from $9 million per well in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Not trivial.

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Back on January 24, 2010:

This may or may not be important in the future as a trend (cost and time to drill a horizontal Bakken well), but I don't want to lose the link. If you scroll to the top of that link, Slawson reports that it has put in a horizontal well in 16 days and for less than $3 million. The rule of thumb for a horizontal well in North Dakota: 30 days (it used to be 45 days) and $4 - 6 million.

I believe wells in 2010 were generally short laterals.

I recall many discussions over the past two years that a long lateral at $10 million was about the same as a short lateral for $5 million. So, when I see the Hess 1Q13 quote of $8.6 million per well in 2013, I find it quite interesting. Mike Filloon recently said that well costs were coming down faster than folks generally realized.