Best Bakken Wells of 2012 -- Mike Filloon

Mike Filloon provides an update to an earlier article, same subject, at SeekingAlpha.

There's  a ton of information to go through at the article.

Some takeaways:

• it appears that ceramics perform better than sand; not sure yet what the right mix is
• more proppant, better wells
• more stages, better wells
• shorter stages, better wells
• length of lateral, shorter may be better
• Bakken activity moving to northeast McKenzie County
• the "Helis Grail" is right in the middle of the sweet spot in northeast McKenzie County
• EURs are increasing
• costs for drilling/completing wells are coming down
• there seems to be a real disconnect between IPs and ultimate well performance (the jury is still out; way too many variables to make a sweeping statement)

Operators are learning more and more about best completion designs. Filloon:

What may be the most important is stage length. While most operators are using 300 feet as an average, EOG is working under 200. By using shorter laterals and stages an operator can get the most out of the hydraulic horsepower used from its pump trucks. This produces better fracturing of the source rock. Plenty of proppant and water is needed to fill in these fractures. The better this is done, the more production garnered from the stimulation. 

Mike's summary in this article:

In summary, the middle Bakken continues to produce better well results. At one time, we believed that Parshall and Sanish fields were by far the best areas in North Dakota. New results show northeast McKenzie County may have more upside. Not only are the EURs higher in this area, but there is added Three Forks upside. Helis has proven the Three Forks can be as good, if not better. It also has a much larger number of possible locations. Better well design also contributes as operators use more stages, water and proppant.

Please visit the original article. Full of interesting and important information.