BR's Downspacing Test And Extended Reach Horizontals In Corral Creek; Black And Blue And Red All Over -- June 16, 2015

Updates

March 7, 2020:

June 18, 2015: see first comment (which I've brought up here so it is google-searchable). From a reader regarding the post below:

The blue lines mean directional legs—so if you uncheck the "directional leg" box on the right side of ND's ArcIMS, those lines will disappear.

I looked at the well file for File No 28352 and it shows the well profile, with a vertical portion down to 2500' depth, then directional drilling at an angle down to around 11,000' depth, then a typical length of horizontal within the Three Forks.

I checked one of the wells that did not have a blue directional marked (File No 28365). Looking in the well file, it has the same kind of directional drilling before reaching the target in the Three Forks. So it looks like sometimes there might be directional legs that are marked on the map as horizontal.

Both of these wells I checked had a typical length of horizontal within the target, about 10,000 feet.

Original Post

While looking for something else, I came across this little gem. I don't know if I am correct on what I think I see, but I will put it out there and then let readers correct me.

First, this graphic:

I don't think this is my imagination. Segments of these horizontals appear "blue" rather than the usual "black."

Then, the second graphic.

Note the eleven (11) extended reach horizontals. The wells are sited a couple hundred feet from the south line (FSL) in section 18-147-95 and end just short of the north line (FNL) in section 6, passing through section 7. These horizontals are "3-sections long." Extended reach laterals have been drilled in the Bakken but are rare.

Corral Creek is a unitized oil field so these are not 640-, 1280-, or 1920-acre drilling units. In fact the application states that the size of the drilling unit is 30,884 acres (unitized, the size of Corral Creek oil field).

Interestingly, even though the field is unitized, the operator, in this case Burlington Resources, states that these extended reach horizontals, even though they traverse the entire section 18 where they are sited, will only be producing from sections 7 and 6 (the latter is where the horizontal ends).

It's possible the "blue" line means absolutely nothing; I don't know. But it is interesting that the blue line starts and ends in section 18 (the second from which the wells will NOT be producing); the horizontal is black in sections 6 and 7 from which it is producing.

Background

There is a long, long story associated with Corral Creek. This chapter begins in March, 2014, when BR proposed a spacing test for calendar year 2014

"to determine optimal distances between laterals, involving eleven (11) CCU Pullman wells to be drilled from three pads located in Section 18-147-95, with the actual producing laterals in Sections 6 and 7 of 147-95. BR's proposal [would modify their] previous quarterly update for 1Q14 by adding three (3) new wells and one new pad (Pad FF). The eight (8) CCU Pullman wells identified in the 1Q14 were to be renamed to provide a consistent naming pattern."

The Pads Of Interest: Pad U, Pad V, Pad FF -- Part of the Downspacing Test (note: there may be typographical errors)

Pad U: a new quad pad-staked in SESW 18-147-95

• 28352, 2,445, CCU Pullman 1-8-7TFH, t2/15; cum 271K 12/19; off line 1/20; cum 313K 11/22;
  
• 28353, 2,405, CCU Pullman 2-8-7MBH, t2/15; cum 309K 12/19; off line 1/20; cum 348K 11/22;
• 28354, 2,445, CCU Pullman 3-8-7TFH, t2/15; cum 137K 10/19; off line 10/19; remains off line 10/19; cum 172K 11/22;
  
• 28355, 2,244, CCU Pullman 3-8-7MBH, t2/15; cum 203K 11/19; off line 11/19; remains off lie 1/20; cum 247K 8/22; off line 9/22;
  

Pad V: a new quad-well pad staked in SESE 18-147-95

• 28369, 2,766, CCU Pullman 6-8-7MBH, t3/15; cum 198K 1/20; cum 256K 11/22;
  
• 28368, 2,004, CCU Pullman 7-8-7TFH, t3/15; cum 89K 1/20; recently back on line -- lousy well; needs to be re-fracked; cum 106K 11/22;
  
• 28367, 2,886, CCU Pullman 7-8-7MBH, t3/15; cum 214K 1/20; cum 272K 11/22;
  
• 28366, 1,403, CCU Pullman 8-8-7TFH, t3/15; cum 165K 1/20; cum 193K 11/22;

Pad FF: a new tri-well pad staked in SWSE 18-147-95

• 28363, 2,160, CCU Pullman 5-8-7TFH, t2/15; cum 192K 1/20; cum 221K 11/22;
• 28364, 2,160, CCU Pullman 5-8-7MBH, t2/15; cum 221K 1/20; cum 254K 11/22;
• 28365, 1,320, CCU Pullman 6-8-7THF, t1/15; cum 162K 1/20; cum 190K 11/22;

Now the interesting part: note that the initial segment of some of the extended reach laterals are not "blue," but are "black" from beginning to end. So perhaps the "blue" does not mean anything. Perhaps no one else sees the "blue." Maybe I am imagining things. Regardless, this little exercise gave me a bit more insight into the Bakken and BR's downspacing testing in a unitized field.

I should have labeled the horizontals as MB or TF wells but I forgot to do that, and I'm not going to go back now and do that. However, it should be noted that it may not matter a whole lot. The seams are only 20 - 60 feet thick (vertically). For all practical purposes it's all about the horizontal separation (500 feet; 750 feet; 1,000 feet), although there are still discussions about communication between the TF and the MB and fracking. See Filloon.