Random Look At 100 Wells Drilled In 2007

The current Bakken boom in North Dakota began in 2007.

Looking at the first 100 wells starting with permit #16400, tested June, 2007.

Of the 100 wells

• Birdbear: 3
• Greenhorn: 4 (all dry)
• Madison: 28
• Red River: 13
• Spearfish: 1
• Bakken: 51

One Bakken well was inactive; all the rest were active.

The table below:

• The fourth column: bbls of oil in thousands, cumulative (updated 10/14)
• The fifth column: month/year drilled (tested)

16400		127	6/7
16401		197	4/7
16402	madison	dry	10/6
16403	birdbear	14	11/8
16404		47	5/7
16405		20	5/7
16406		64	2/7
16407		48	7/8
16408	madison	14	3/7
16409	madison	0	11/6
16410	spearfish	0.6	3/7
16411		TA	3/7	-- CLR
16412		174	2/7
16413		127	3/7
16414	madison	160	2/7
16415		150	2/7
16416	madison	dry	9/9
16417	madison	192	1/7
16418	madison	36	11/6
16419	madison	10	6/7
16420	red river	69	10/7
16421	red river	33	9/8
16422		114	12/7
16423	red river	624	3/7	IA
16424		510	7/7
16425		92	5/7
16426	red river	28	8/7
16427	madison	137	3/8
16428	madison	6	12/7
16429	red river	181	3/7
16430	red river	6	4/7
16431	madison	60	6/10
16432		227	5/7
16433		168	6/7
16434		273	7/7
16435	madison	38	4/12
16436	madison	dry	1/8
16437	madison	53	5/7
16438		28	9/7	-- CLR
16439		113	9/7
16440		208	5/7
16441		203	5/7
16442		EXP
16443		25	4/7	-- CLR
16444	madison	SI
16445	madison	PNC
16446	madison	80	3/7
16447		26	4/7
16448		104	12/8
16449	birdbear	31	9/8
16450	madison	76	4/7
16451		62	11/7
16452		167	10/7
16453	red river	390	4/7
16454	birdbear	pnc
16455	madison	86	3/7
16456	madison	pnc
16457		431	5/7
16458		26	6/7
16459		201	10/8	-- MRO
16460		200	3/7
16461		460	3/7
16462	madison	0.1	8/7
16463		385	5/7
16464	madison	1	3/7
16465	madison	30	4/7
16466	madison	196	2/7
16467		322	8/7
16468	madison	dry
16469		520	12/7
16470		71	4/7
16471	red river	307	3/7
16472		45	3/7
16473		134	4/7	IA
16474	greenhorn	0	9/7
16475	greenhorn	0	10/7
16476	greenhorn	0	3/7
16477	greenhorn	dry	1/7
16478		73	4/7
16479		64	7/7
16480		244	6/7
16481	madison	108	3/7
16482	red river	269	3/7	IA
16483		523	6/7
16484		445	9/7
16485		377	9/7
16486		367	4/8
16487	red river	120	5/7
16488		135	8/7
16489	red river	190	6/7
16490		156	6/7
16491	red river	266	3/7
16492		157	9/7
16494	madison	263	8/7
16495		193	9/8
16496		PNC
16497		425	6/7
16498		220	6/7
16499	red river	PNC
16500	madison	5	6/7	IA

I did this little exercise because some folks have said the Bakken wells have such a bad decline rate, they will start shutting some of them down after five years. Many of the 51 Bakken wells above appear not to be economic, but as long as they are producing, they hold the lease by production.

In the game of basketball, there are players whose stats (points, rebounds, etc) are very, very poor, but they play an important role on the team for other reasons.

The most interesting thing in this little exercise: how great some of the Red River wells were.

Disclaimer: I went through the data base fairly quickly, and it is very likely there are errors. But the errors are unlikely to change the general results.