Wells Coming Off Confidential List Over The Weekend, Monday; EOG Reports A Huge Well; MRO With A High-IP Well; Newfield, Whiting WIth Huge Wells

Active rigs:

	12/29/2013	12/29/2012	12/29/2011	12/29/2010	12/29/2009
Active Rigs	187	187	196	156	75

Wells coming off confidential list over the weekend, Monday:

Monday, December 30, 2013:

• 24512, 1,982, Whiting, Taylor 14-7-2H, Sioux, t7/13; cum 40K 10/13;
• 24513, 1,657, Whiting, Taylor 14-7H, Sioux, t7/13; cum 38K 10/13;
• 25058, drl, Hess, BB-Chapin 151-95-0506H-3, Blue Buttes, no production data,
• 25185, drl, Slawson, River Rat Federal 4-23-14TFH, Four Bears, no production data,  
• 25657, 2,289, QEP, Ernie 3-10-2-11LL,  Grail, t10/13; cum 12K 10/13;
• 25744, 1,736, Newfield, Johnsrud 151-98-31-30-3H, Siverston, t9/13; cum 28K 10/13;
• 25752, 115, Legacy, Legacy Et Al Bernstein 13-7 2H, Red Rock, a Spearfish well; t8/13; cum 14K 10/13;

Sunday, December 29, 2013:

• 25479, drl, CLR, Malcolm 3-20H, Sauk, no production data,
• 25842, 2,585, MRO, Jodi Aubol 41-14H,  Reunion Bay, 4 sections; no production data,

Saturday, December 28, 2013:

• 23268, 1,487, EOG, Bear Den 25-16H,  Spotted Horn, t7/13; cum 91K 10/13;
• 25057, drl, Hess, BB-Chapin 151-95-0506H-2,  Blue Buttes, no production data,
• 25071, drl, Hess, EN-Hermanson A 155-93-3601H-5, Robinson Lake, no production data,
• 25495, 557, Slawson, Walleye (Fedeeral) 3-12-11TFH, Sanish, t11/13; cum 14K 11/13;
• 25743, 1,734, Newfield, Johnsrud 151-98-31-30-2H, Siverston, t9/13; cum 10/13;

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24512, see above, Whiting, Taylor 14-7-2H, Sioux:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	7783	4001
9-2013	4753	1372
8-2013	5096	187
7-2013	21139	0

24513, see above, Whiting, Taylor 14-7H, Sioux:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	4793	1778
9-2013	5313	1584
8-2013	6307	130
7-2013	21401	0

25744, see above, Newfield, Johnsrud 151-98-31-30-3H, Siverston:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	12585	5560
9-2013	14728	1683

 23268, see above, EOG, Bear Den 25-16H,  Spotted Horn (91K to date):

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	17129	20848
9-2013	19579	0
8-2013	31735	11924
7-2013	19124	4488
6-2013	3276	0

25495, see above, Slawson, Walleye (Fedeeral) 3-12-11TFH, Sanish:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	13421	0

25743, see above, Newfield, Johnsrud 151-98-31-30-2H, Siverston:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	11899	20334
9-2013	18977	20969
8-2013	838	0

Subtle Change In CLR's Proposed Horizontal Placement In The Better Bakken?

There are certainly some observant and some astute readers out there.

Take a look at these graphics.

• CLR Graphic, October 18, 2013, 160- and 320-acre pilot density projects.
• CLR Graphic, April 24, 2013, proposed well pattern, increase density.

I believe the proposed well pattern on those two graphics are the same; if not, the differences are very, very subtle.

Dan, earlier today, told me to take a look at a recent case before the NDIC:

Case 21582, CLR, 21582, application of CLR, for an order amending the field rules for the Bear Creek, Cabernet, Corral Creek, Crooked Creek, Jim Creek, Oakdale, and Rattlesnake Point-Bakken Pools, Dunn County, ND, authorizing a total not to exceed fourteen wells on each existing 1280-acre spacing unit within Zones II and III in the Bear Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones III and IV in the Cabernet-Bakken Pool; Zones II, III, and IV in the Corral Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones I and II in the Crooked Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones I, II, III, IV, V, and VI in the Jim Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones I and II in the Oakdale-Bakken Pool; and Zones I, II and III in the Rattlesnake Point-Bakken Pool; a total not to exceed fourteen wells on each 1920-acre spacing unit in Zone VII in the Jim Creek-Bakken Pool; and Zone IV in the Rattlesnake Point- Bakken Pool; and a total not to exceed twenty-eight wells on each existing 2560-acre spacing unit within Zone V in the Corral Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones VIII and IX in the Jim Creek-Bakken Pool; Zones III and IV in the Oakdale- Bakken Pool; and Zones V and VI in the Rattlesnake Point-Bakken Pool, eliminating any tool error requirements and such other relief as is appropriate.

Look at the graphic and see if you see the subtle difference that Dan noted:

Now that I look at it again (for the umpteenth time), maybe the difference is not so subtle.

I've talked about this from the very, very beginning: how fracking should work 360 degrees radially, and should impact other horizontals if drilled within 300 feet or so. But I had not noted the new well pattern proposed by Continental Resources in this case, on the December, 2013, dockets.

For those that don't see the change, here it is: in the earlier links, horizontals in the MB and TF2 were "stacked" directly above each other; while horizontals in the TF1 and TF3 were offset from MB and TF2 and "stacked" directly over each other.

In the newer, proposed configuration, none of the Three Forks horizontals are directly below the middle Bakken horizontals.

In addition, none of the TF wells are "stacked" directly in line with each other: all horizontals are off-set.

It certainly looks to me like this should optimize fracking the entire drilling unit.

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Also note that the horizontal distance between the middle Bakken wells are 1,320 feet. I've always felt that 500' radially was the maximum distance that fracking was effective, or 1,000 feet between wells. It certainly raises the question, twenty years from now, whether it would make more sense to re-frack the existing middle Bakken wells (1,320 feet apart from each other) or drill/frack new wells between the existing middle Bakken wells. I remain convinced that fracking a new well in the vicinity of an existing well, improves the production of the existing, older well.

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Regardless, using the same spacing it is easy to see that one could put in additional wells in the above graphic:

• TF1:  two additional 1/2 wells on the drilling unit lines (one net well)
• TF3: one additional full well

Thus, 16 wells on a 1280-acre spacing unit, or as many as 32 wells on a 2560-acre spacing unit.

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See, also a recent post on XTO and KOG leading the charge on increased density projects:

....numerous operators are seeking authority from the commission to drill up to 30 wells on existing 2,560-acre spacing units, up to 16 wells on existing 1,280-acre units, and up to four wells on existing 320-acre units.

Ah, The Hypocrisy Of Alarm Over Bald Eagle Deaths; ObamaCare in Massachusetts? 44,000 Have Enrolled, 309 Have Paid First Premium

I follow The Los Angeles Times fairly regularly. Its editorial slant, of course, is similar to The New York Times, but in some respects it may be "worse." I generally don't pay much attention to the LA Times. But a couple of interesting stories today.  First. on the front page, on-line:

Bald eagle deaths in Utah alarm and mystify scientists.

Bald eagles are dying in Utah -- 20 in the last few weeks alone -- and nobody can figure out why.

Hundreds of the majestic birds -- many with wing spans of 7 feet or more -- migrate here each winter, gathering along the Great Salt Lake and feasting on carp and other fish that swim in the nearby freshwater bays.

Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless, on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet, and wings.

Several of the ailing birds were taken to the mammoth Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where handlers tried to save them. Within 48 hours most were dead.

My hunch: concussions following run-ins with turbines.

What incredible hypocrisy. The headline says scientists are alarmed over the loss of these magnificent birds and The LA Times does not mention that President Obama, with an executive order, provided 30-year immunity to slicers and dicers (aka, wind turbines) with regard to unlimited bird kills, including bald eagles. It's a very, very long article; it is quite an in-depth article and not one word of slicers and dicers.

Ah, yes, the hypocrisy.

That was on the news page.

This from the op-ed section: "Fracking" the Monterey Shale -- boon or boondoggle? The op-ed is hardly worth reading; there is nothing there that hasn't been reported a gazillion times before, most of which can be paraphrased: Californians frown on fracking. What caught my interest is that, again, this is a very, very long article, and neither North Dakota nor the Bakken are mentioned. What? But it does mention Kansas:

What began with rudimentary wells in Kansas in the 1940s [fracking] has evolved into a sophisticated technology that is being exported to China, Argentina and South Africa, even as its impact is hotly debated here.

But apparently that is correct:

The first “frack” was performed in western Kansas in 1947. What is relatively new is the combining of horizontal drilling techniques and fracking, but even this process has been used for more than a decade.

Meanwhile, from The Boston Globe, New York fracking advocates tire of wait (link to StarTribune because The Boston Globe requires a subscription):

Born of the energy crisis of the 1970s, gas driller Lenape Resources flourished in western New York for more than three decades — until the revolutionary technology that sparked the nation's shale gas boom brought the industry to a screeching halt in New York under a moratorium now in its sixth year.

Today, Lenape has just five employees, down from 100 in years past. "Those five, we're trying to give them work in Pennsylvania," said John Holko, the company's president. "We're not going to be here much longer."

As another year closes with a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York and no timetable for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to decide whether to lift it, drilling interests have all but given up on the state, and environmental groups are pressing for a permanent ban.

Advancements in horizontal drilling and fracking — which releases gas from rock by injecting a well with a mix of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure — have yielded so much gas from the Marcellus Shale underlying much of the Mid-Atlantic region that gas prices have plummeted. As a result, the less productive vertical wells still allowed in New York are no longer in demand, Holko said.

Also in The Boston Globe, the state's ObamaCare website is doing so badly that Massachusetts and Vermont have suspended payments to the developer:

Even as President Obama’s health insurance website limps to recovery, at least two states that used the same contractor and are still plagued with malfunctions — Massachusetts and Vermont — are taking preliminary steps to recoup taxpayer dollars.

Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting.

So far, the state has paid $11 million of its $69 million contract with CGI. It will not pay a penny more until a functioning website has been delivered, said Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Commonwealth Health Connector, the state’s insurance marketplace.

However, this is the bigger story, and one I have blogged about before. Just because one has enrolled does not mean one will actually buy the "selected" product. Look at this data point, also from The Boston Globe:

By Thursday afternoon, just 309 people had paid their first premium to fully enroll in a plan through the Connector. More than 44,000 people have completed applications to date, but many others have faced roadblocks in getting that far.

People are focused on the wrong metric (how many are enrolling). The important metrics: a) how many are paying their premiums; and, b) who is paying their premiums.

The administration can extend the deadline as far into the future as they want, but no one is covered if they haven't paid their premium.