Looking For Halo Effect In A Tyrone Oil Field Drilling Unit -- March 5, 2016

A reader asked if there was any evidence of a halo effect among these wells. It was a great question. The original well in this drilling unit was drilled in 2011. Then a singleton followed in 2013, running in the opposite direction. Finally, a 3-well pad was completed in 2015. This was a perfect opportunity to see if there was any evidence of a halo effect. If there was, it was minimal. Things are complicated with the huge slump in prices; wells are being taken off line and/or choked way back. This makes "understanding" the Bakken very challenging.  (I'm done with this page; if the reader has additional questions, please feel free to ask. In a long note like this, done quickly, there will be typographical and factual errors, so if something looks wrong, let me know and I will double-check).

I track the Tyrone oil field here. It has been updated.

Anyway, a look at these five wells. First the graphic and then the production profiles below the graphic:

#19048, drilled back in 2011, in the southeast corner of the drilling unit under discussion:

• 19048, 705, HRC, Borrud 156-101-11D-2-1H, Tyrone, t8/11; cum 170K 1/16;
• the well was taken off line in early 2014, and again in early 2015; the halo effect if anything was marginal; production for selected period of time:

BAKKEN	10-2015	31	2579	2595	7019	1568	1329	22
BAKKEN	9-2015	30	3267	3187	6997	2106	1808	88
BAKKEN	8-2015	31	2080	1946	6778	1332	788	327
BAKKEN	7-2015	1	1671	1774	8060	815	706	102
BAKKEN	6-2015	1	45	35	163	7	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2015	6	59	0	424	42	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2015	2	11	0	0	14	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2015	13	2065	2120	6727	1546	1244	211
BAKKEN	2-2015	28	1878	2070	2019	1589	1347	46
BAKKEN	1-2015	31	1971	1841	2528	2041	1746	78
BAKKEN	12-2014	31	2502	2861	2445	2565	2082	266
BAKKEN	11-2014	30	2584	2313	2201	2473	2263	0
BAKKEN	10-2014	31	2766	2733	2573	2465	2248	0
BAKKEN	9-2014	29	2543	2571	2293	2011	1216	592
BAKKEN	8-2014	31	2925	2940	2565	2222	566	1439
BAKKEN	7-2014	31	3158	3225	2925	1485	1043	225
BAKKEN	6-2014	30	3073	3102	3630	2569	138	2221
BAKKEN	5-2014	13	980	672	1950	466	4	371
BAKKEN	4-2014	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2014	16	815	1144	1120	323	136	75
BAKKEN	2-2014	28	2332	2145	3320	1526	1257	73
BAKKEN	1-2014	24	1520	1480	3226	1250	1001	81
BAKKEN	12-2013	31	2657	3046	2266	2602	1968	417

Then, #25562, drilled back in 2013:

• 25562, 1,208, HRC, Borrud 156-101-2A-11-2H, Tyrone, t8/13; cum 187K 1/16;
• the well was taken off-line in early 2015, but I don't see much of any halo effect; selected monthly production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	1-2016	31	3536	3534	4102	3193	2205	771
BAKKEN	12-2015	31	3428	3514	4398	3046	2685	144
BAKKEN	11-2015	30	4368	4484	5870	3640	3319	111
BAKKEN	10-2015	31	4457	4387	7449	3549	3332	0
BAKKEN	9-2015	29	3836	3631	6170	3202	2783	216
BAKKEN	8-2015	17	1526	1662	2851	1583	366	1098
BAKKEN	7-2015	30	4083	4100	6396	3925	590	3125
BAKKEN	6-2015	30	3512	3393	7348	2376	1891	275
BAKKEN	5-2015	31	3782	3739	6227	3004	839	1948
BAKKEN	4-2015	14	994	1049	1719	961	415	448
BAKKEN	3-2015	7	1292	1438	1492	549	0	500
BAKKEN	2-2015	22	2644	3080	4373	1868	1713	1
BAKKEN	1-2015	30	4271	3927	6209	2039	1703	126
BAKKEN	12-2014	31	4170	4362	5970	2017	1643	157
BAKKEN	11-2014	21	3178	3223	4437	4846	4699	0
BAKKEN	10-2014	30	6197	6217	8575	7185	6854	121
BAKKEN	9-2014	30	7223	7133	9168	7822	7573	39
BAKKEN	8-2014	28	6997	6942	8975	8020	7352	472

Finally, a 3-well pad drilled back in early 2015:

• 29238, 1,209, HRC, Borrud 156-101-2B-11-3H, Tyrone, t4/14; cum 82K 1/16;
• 29239, 1,803, HRC, Borrud 156-101-2B-11-4H, Tyrone, t3/15; cum 107K 1/16;
• 29240, 1,827, HRC, Borrud 156-101-2B-11-5H, Tyrone, t4/15; cum 102K 1/16;

Selected production profile for #29238, fairly typical of all three wells. Note the number of days on line and the amount of production each month. I generally see a drop-off in the second-fourth months of production (I assume there is work being done on the well to get it in tip-top shape), and then a typical Bakken decline. It's hard to say if the production in 1/16 is due to Bakken decline or due to operator cutting back due to low oil prices, but note that in 12/15, the well was off-line 7 days:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	1-2016	31	7092	7068	8130	5963	4416	1330
BAKKEN	12-2015	24	6285	6407	7628	5188	4811	209
BAKKEN	11-2015	30	6992	7380	9680	5837	5608	19
BAKKEN	10-2015	31	10038	10010	16914	7837	7595	25
BAKKEN	9-2015	30	10761	10279	17499	8601	8224	167
BAKKEN	8-2015	27	9033	9097	14344	7891	4623	3079
BAKKEN	7-2015	15	6412	6331	9655	4098	3559	434
BAKKEN	6-2015	15	3368	3324	6692	2275	2170	0
BAKKEN	5-2015	18	7283	7512	13007	6150	4140	1884
BAKKEN	4-2015	26	14764	14393	25184	12039	7663	4194
BAKKEN	3-2015	0	0	0	0	0	0	0