Whiting's Flatland Federal Wells -- Staggering -- April 8, 2016

For newbies, this is an important well. Short history of the "Bakken."

When the Saudis turned on the spigots in October, 2014, the middle Bakken was pretty much mapped out. That doesn't mean operators/frackers knew the best way to complete a middle Bakken, but they pretty much had it mapped out. They were just beginning to start that process in the first bench of the Three Forks; they were already going down that road, but for all intents and purposes, had only just begun, as Karen Carpenter would say.

A few operators, notably CLR, had started testing the second and third bench of the Three Forks but the slump in oil prices has probably extended that process by another decade, if not longer. Early Three Forks wells and comments by Lynn Helms suggested to me that the first bench would rival the middle Bakken (on a well-by-well comparison, not total formation production; it appears the Three Forks is a smaller formation); the third bench might be good in certain areas, but the second bench might not be all that exciting. For the record, the well below is said to be a second bench well. 

This well comes off the confidential list today (April 8, 2016):

• 30776, 1,345, Whiting, Flatland Federal 11-4-3TFH, Twin Valley, Three Forks 2nd cycle, 31 stages, 4.2 million lbs, t10/15; cum 206K 9/16; only 24 days in February, 16 days in November, 8 days in October, 2015. Whiting took all Flatland wells off-line in August and September, 2016. Drilled to vertical depth and the curve in five days. Total depth of the south lateral was reached in ten days from spud. Gas: 800 to 1,000 units. Connection gases as high as 7,958 units, with a 3' to 5' flare. At 21,505 feet it's a lot of pipe.



Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	5-2016	31	15508	15542	3656	84073	81636	2356
BAKKEN	4-2016	30	16616	16388	3558	73073	72441	572
BAKKEN	3-2016	31	21449	21670	4070	78193	77637	498
BAKKEN	2-2016	24	25532	25529	4190	70867	70724	93
BAKKEN	1-2016	31	36323	36271	7253	97546	96082	1399
BAKKEN	12-2015	31	42345	42703	12259	110266	106903	3292
BAKKEN	11-2015	16	23356	23015	15867	56305	44393	11858
BAKKEN	10-2015	8	6749	6467	6979	15068	11189	385

Previous related posts:

• for newbies, something "fun" to watch, posted June 17, 2015
• the incredible Twin Valley oil field 
• record fracking; in excess of 90 stages, posted April 6, 2015 
• random update on these wells, posted January 7, 2015
• All's well that ends well, posted November 29, 2014
• Whiting reporting some huge wells, posted April 5, 2016
• Another look at some incredible Whiting wells, November 25, 2014