Hearing Dockets: Quick Look

June 26 - 27, 2013:

• increasing number of wells/spacing unit
• CLR with 17 wells on a 640-acre spacing unit
• some large overlapping units (5,120 acres; 4,260 acres)
• the "norm" appears to be 8 - 10 wells on a 1280-acre spacing unit, but the number is increasing
• very few cases to assess risk penalties against non-participating owners
• several cases to redefine the stratigraphic limits in various fields

May 29 - 30, 2013: 

• increasing number of cases to assess risk penalties against non-participating owners
• more cases than usual for unrestricted flaring (or I may be just more sensitive to this issue with recent ND legislative action regarding flaring)
• one case with 8 wells on a 640-acre unit (80-acre spacing)
• two cases each for 3 wells on 320-acre units (~ 100-acre spacing)
• several cases by Slawson to open the vertical portion of a hz Bakken well to the Lodgepole

April 24 - 25, 2013:

• the trend seems to be overlapping 2560-acre spacing units. The expectation is that the purpose of these spacing units is to "catch" the areas along the section lines that are currently being missed due to "setback" rules;
• having said that, CLR is requesting 14 wells on each of 7 existing 2560-acre spacing units
• also, EOG is requesting 22 wells on an existing 2560-acre spacing unit
• we continue to see companies requesting to site 12 wells on 1280-acre spacing units
• we continue to see evidence of downsizing: Slawson wants to create a 640-acre spacing unit for 6 wells; the effective spacing is equal to 12 wells on a 1280-acre unit, but these would be short laterals

March 27 - 28, 2013:

• the trend seems to be overlapping 2560-acre spacing units
• SM: establish 22 overlapping 2560-acre spacing units
• some 320-acre spacing units; with 3 wells each

February 27 - 28, 2013:

• 14 wells on existing overlapping 2560-acre spacing units
• Bakken Hunter: requesting permits for up to 264 wells
• 7 wells in one 640-acre spacing unit

January 16 - 17, 2013:

• Lots of wells
• Hess: 48 wells in Ross oil field
• QEP: 56 wells on several 1280-acre spacing units
• QEP: 32 wells on several 1280-acre spacing units

December 19 - 20, 2012:

• Both OXY USA and Newfield were absent, though OXY did have a few cases but not new drilling;
• XTO with XOM's deep pockets moving to 8 wells on 1280-acre units; 
• Liberty Resources also moving to 8 wells on 1280-acre units; 
• Baytex moving to 7 wells on 1280-acre units; a couple of cases of multiple wells on 320-acre and 640-acre units; 
• more than usual (?) number of requests to maximize production for a month or so (I assume to give them time to put the natural gas pipelines in); 
• for as many cases as there were, not so many pooling cases, interestingly. 

November 28 - 29, 2012 :

• OXY USA and Newfield are noticeably absent.
• Many of the "continued" cases had to do with redefining stratigraphic limits.
• Note the BR requests for 2560-acre units; some have suggested this is because of "national grasslands," i.e., the Little Missouri National Grasslands and/or Little Missouri State Park. That may be true in some cases. But it certainly looks like several of the fields (including Clear Creek, Pershing, North Creek, and Sand Creek) are outside the grasslands. In addition, in last month's hearings, CLR had requests for multiple 2560-acre unit clearly outside "protected" areas. I think the overlapping 2560-acre spacing units noted below are requested for reasons other than the grasslands.

October 24 - 25, 2012:

• based on these two days of hearings, it's "all" CLR
• definition of stratigraphic limits to change across the Bakken -- it will be interesting to see what the boys have to say about this
• no evidence that current players are down-sizing Bakken spacing units; if anything units are getting bigger; that's good news
• very few cases to revoke previously issue permits -- interesting
• many more cases to settle risk penalty issues -- even more interesting
• 7 wells on one 640-acre unit (Petro-Hunt); 6 wells on each of 2 640-acre units (EOG)
• incredible number of wells per case
• it is impossible to miss the scores of cases in which CLR is requesting that the stratigraphic definition of the Bakken Pool be "redefined."

September 26 - 27, 2012:

• Hess with a lot of 8 wells/1280-acre spacing units; 20 wells on 2560-acre spacing units
• CLR with 18 wells on 1280-acre spacing units
• a few overlapping 2560-acre units mentioned
• the norm is still 8 wells on 1280-acre spacing units

August 22 - 23, 2012:

• Hess with a lot of 8 wells on 1280-acre spacing units
• overlapping 2560-acre spacing units mentioned
• again, Hess with a lot of wells; 170 wells in one case, for example
• Samson Resources: 5 overlapping 2560-acre spacing units; 14 wells each (70 wells total)
• XTO with a lot of wells: one case with 72 wells; another with 112 wells; more

July 25 -  26, 2012: 

• moving to 2560-acre spacing
• the standard is now 4 wells on each 1280-acre spacing unit, but 8 wells/1280 in the better Bakken
• more wells on smaller spacing units are being seen; Hess: 8 wells on one 640-acre spacing unit; in that section, a well with a huge IP for a Hess well:

• 18725, 2,178, Hess, short lateral

June 27 - 28, 2012:

1. This seemed to be a particularly short docket. Generally, each day has 19 - 20 pages of cases. This time it was about 14 pages each day. It did not take long to summarize the report.

2. For the past several months now there has been a trend toward four to seven wells on each spacing unit. In this month's report, I was surprised to see that Hess is looking to put up to as many as nine wells in each of several 1280-spacing units in Robinson Lake, and as many as nine wells in one 640-acre spacing unit in Cedar Coulee. The Robinson Lake oil field is incredible; click here to see how a Hess 6-well pad is doing. Also, results of a very nice Hess 6-well pad in Robinson Lake here. If you can access the NDIC GIS map server, take a look at the multi-well pads in Robinson Lake. It's quite impressive.

3. I thought this case was interesting:

• 18159: XTO, Corral Creek-Bakken, 8 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit; Dunn

I thought BR was given the responsibility for developing this field.

4. It seems this hearing will be dominated by BEXP, Hess, and Oasis. 

5. Resource Drilling, LLC: first time I saw this company. According to NDIC, Resource Drilling has one well:

• 21171, Halvorson 14-13 1H, Clear Water,

6. Interesting space units:

• 18111: Samson Resources, West Ambrose-Bakken Pool, create a 2080-acre unit, 14 wells; Divide
  18112: Samson Resources, Ambrose-Bakken Pool, create 5 2080-acre units; 14 wells on each unit; 70 wells; Divide;

7. Petro Uno Resources: first time I saw this company. According to NDIC, Petro Uno has one well:

• 15167, Petro Uno,  Beta Race Federal 22-6, Ice Caves

8. 18021: Whiting, Chateau-Three Forks Pool, proper spacing for development of this field; Billings County. I don't understand this. The Bakken Pool incorporates the three Bakken formations (upper, middle, and lower) and the multiple formations of the Three Forks. I don't know why NDIC is calling this the "Three Forks Pool." In this same hearing docket there is another case in which NDIC refer to a "Sanish Pool."

May 30 - 31, 2012:

• 4 wells on 1280-acre spacing units
• an occasional overlapping 2560-acre spacing unit was mentioned
• an occasional 8/1280; an occasional 6/640
• Zenergy: establish 16 new 1280-acre spacing units; 8 wells each
• G3 Operating with one case for 672 wells, Williams County
• Huge, huge docket for Zenergy
• CLR with 10 wells on one 2560-acre spacing unit

April 25 - 26, 2012:

1. You will see a lot of requests for multiple wells on 2560-acre spacing. 2560-acre spacing is not new. This was being addressed back in March, 2010:

• 12244: Commission; 2560-acre spacing for all future BAKKEN POOL horizontal drilling
• 12245: Commission; 1280-acre spacing for standup and / or laydown horizontal drilling
• 12246: Commission; eliminate/reduce the setbacks currently established for heel and toe of horizontal wells in ND

2. There are scores of pooling cases in this month's hearings. Because I consolidate pooling cases into a single line, it is not as obvious, but there are literally scores of pooling cases, pretty much one of the last administrative steps before drilling.

3. 6 wells on a 640-acre unit. We're used to seeing 6 - 7 wells on a 1280-acre spacing unit, but we don't often see six wells in one section (at this point in the boom; later on it will be routine). One example is case 17434, a request by Hess to place as many as wells in one section in the Manitou-Bakken field. The Manitou field is near the bull's eye of the Bakken; and just west of "ground zero" for the oil industry in North Dakota. Another example is case 17499, in which Hess wants to put 6 wells in a 640-acre unit in Alger field, another very, very good field. By the way, the rumored 12-well pad for $100 million is in Alger field. (You know, when Filloon first rumored this, it seemed like a big deal; no longer such a big deal -- and that was just a week ago or so.)

4. The Lodgepole well north of Williston continues to excite some folks, including me. Case 16897, continued from last month, concerns the Oasis Clark well.

5. Marmon oil field is getting a lot of attention. Petro-Hunt wants the field extended by 18 sections in the township to the west. One section (section 34) is already part of the Otter oil field, so I am not sure how that will work out. Case 17444. Marmon field is about 20 miles west-northwest of Ray, which should end up being a pretty good field.

6. BR wants to put 14 wells on a 2560-acre spacing unit. Case 17446.

7. Some crazy trivia. Petro Uno Resources has one (1) permit in the state of North Dakota, file #15167. Petro Uno has an active well, Beta Race Federal 22-6, drilled back in 2001. In this month's hearing, Petro Uno is asking for temporary spacing for this well. Case 17551. This is a Duperow/Red River well that is producing less than 100 bbls/month; cumulative is about 72K since it was spudded in 2001. Initially targeting the Red River, it last produced from that formation on a regular basis in 2006. It re-entered the Duperow in 2010.

8. Hess is requesting to place as many as 6 wells on 1280-acre spacing units in no less than 16 oil fields in the Williston Basin.

9. I've talked often about the legacy formations (Madison, Red River, Duperow). I've opined often that "they" didn't quit drilling the Madison because it had nothing else to offer; they quit drilling when opportunities got better elsewhere. At $100/bbl, the Madison is looking good again. So, Zenergy is going after the Madison with requests for 17 640-acre units and 8 320-acre units in McKenzie and Williams counties. Cases 17579 - 17581. Petro-Harvester is also going after the Madison, case 17444.

10. More interesting trivia. Zenergy is requesting to create 20 1280-acre units in Foreman Butte. This field is already spaced for the most part as 1280-acre units, and yet almost every well in that field is a short lateral. (It's possible, they were drilled when the field was spaced with 640-acre units and has since been changed to 1280-acre, but I have no idea). Case 17582.

11. This is about as active as I've seen Zenergy in any docket. Zenergy is requesting up to 147 wells in four cases, 17750 - 17753.

12. Remember the Cottonwood field that Fidelity discovered, and then sold to Oasis? Look at case 17456: Oasis is requesting spacing for as many as 54 wells in 9 new 1280-acre units, 6 wells each on those units.

March 28 - 29, 2012:

• 7 wells on 1280-acre units is now the norm
• BEXP is now putting 8 wells on a 1280-acre unit
• Look at all the 2560-acre spacing units
• Look at 14 wells on one 2560-acre unit 
• Look at 7 wells on 800-acre units
• Look at a 2560-acre unit; 16 wells 
• Look at request for 102 new wells in one case
• Look at request for 96 new wells in one case
• Hess requesting permits for 468 new wells -- someone else can check my math; this was done quickly; errors possible 
• It looks like Oasis is requesting permits for 108 new wells
• A lot of cases relate to pooling, which means drilling is soon to come

February 28 - 29, 2012:

• lots of wells; 6/1280; Hess has a case for 12 wells on one 1280-acre spacing unit
• BR with several 2560-acre spacing units; 12 wells each
• several cases involving the Spearfish

January 18 - 19, 2012:

• seeing more 1280-acre spacing units
• 6/1280
• KOG and Truax; KOG very active
• EOG to test water injection
• Chesapeake active
• occasional Lodgepole vertical well
• many 8/1280

December 14 - 15, 2011:

• It is clear that the standard is seven wells in each 1280-acre unit; or four wells in each 640-acre unit. That's the standard, there are exceptions.

November 16 - 17, 2011:
Starting to get a feeling how big the Bakken is going to be 

I started transcribing/summarizing dockets back in January, 2010, and highlights are accessible. But this is as far back as I'm going to go now.