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Sunday, September 11, 2016

The Four-Well Kennedy-Miles Pad Has Been Updated; Some Nice Production Numbers; All Wells Back On Line As Of 5/16

Link is here.

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A Note For The Granddaughters
The Origin Of The "Torpedo"

Background.
  • 1776, the Revolutionary War
  • Autumn, 1775 -- Spring, 1776: British siege on Boston following Bunker Hill
  • "During the siege, David Bushnell, a Yale graduate began tinkering with the idea of a craft equipped with an explosive device that he called a "torpedo" in reference to the torpedo fish, a type of (sting) ray capable of stunning its prey with an electric shock."
The submarine:
  • he attached his "torpedo" -- a keg of gunpowder -- to the back of the Turtle
  • this made the Turtle the world's first military submarine
  • the Turtle: a submersible vessel that could "swim" both above and below the surface of the water
  • the Brits had been toying with submersibles for quite some time; at least eight patents had been granted to inventors attempting to find a way to explore the bottom of the ocean
  • the Turtle: one man submersible -- one hand to steer the rudder; one hand to spin a front-mounted propeller; fill bottom of submersible with water to cause it to sink; enough oxygen to last 30 minute
  • release the keg of gunpowder using a hand-crank extended from the top of the submarine
  • then pump out the water and rise to the surface
The plan and execution:
  • in September, 1777, Bushnell had the opportunity to test his device
  • Admiral Howe's flagship, the Eagle, was anchored beside tiny Bedloe's Island (future home of the Statue of Liberty)
  • long story: Sgt Ezra Lee failed to sink the Eagle, but he was able to release the key of gunpowder which did explode (harmlessly) in the bay; Lee was rescued by colonists
From Nathaniel Philbrick's Valiant Ambition, c. 2016, pp. 21 - 23.

Effect Of Fracking Neighboring Wells On An Existing Well -- September 11, 2016

I may be seeing things that don't exist. In addition, in a long note like this, there will be typographical and factual errors. 

Index well went inactive 2/15 and then back on status shortly after that. It then went off-line 7/15 before coming back on line shortly after. In both cases, the well went inactive because a neighboring well was being completed (fracked) and in both cases, there was a bump up in production after the neighboring well was fracked. In one case the neighboring well was another middle Bakken well; in the other case, the neighboring well was a Three Forks first bench well. The bump up was minor but notable.
  • 21733, 1,118, CLR, Polk 1-33H, Banks, 30 stages, 2.9 million lbs, t3/14; cum 200K 7/16; 
Note production profile:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-2016315039506023801227611369426
BAKKEN6-2016305052511522101106210494118
BAKKEN5-2016315687566424001169057525459
BAKKEN4-2016305743553424321190541937247
BAKKEN3-201630586760302597106094119753
BAKKEN2-2016296951685825401026443405474
BAKKEN1-2016317798780227411053467513302
BAKKEN12-201531836085443064985130506320
BAKKEN11-2015298651883435391182745766847
BAKKEN10-201525380902302030
BAKKEN9-20150000000
BAKKEN8-20150000000
BAKKEN7-201510450000
BAKKEN6-2015298639907546061050346765390
BAKKEN5-201531106381045179271210424959128
BAKKEN4-20152181217773104351097974623195
BAKKEN3-20151928312835945628645692104
BAKKEN2-20151146070000
BAKKEN1-201531423542822399640846041354
BAKKEN12-2014315831587426258659816216
BAKKEN11-201430599856822283112131073915
BAKKEN10-20143160855992278183017605215
BAKKEN9-201429648465263001133531286384
BAKKEN8-201429715071042937125471222622
BAKKEN7-201431889789313529218572135719
BAKKEN6-20143010429105573922215012148318
BAKKEN5-2014311267812500349723521191144407
BAKKEN4-2014301441514592401224022148589164
BAKKEN3-2014312373824145856941829363035526
BAKKEN2-201413536244291183818809650112308
BAKKEN1-20140000000

Neighboring Three Forks first bench well fracked and tested 2/15:
  • 27343,  816, CLR, Polk Federal 3-33H1, Three Forks first bench, 30 stages, t2/15; cum 123K 7/16;
Production profile:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-2016316074600463121879418201593
BAKKEN6-20163074847464680120419204190
BAKKEN5-20162760315853537114388426610122
BAKKEN4-20162155155778482916067212513942
BAKKEN3-2016311221512443844921827865813169
BAKKEN2-2016291088710754644416673231014363
BAKKEN1-2016301132311199621417947673411213
BAKKEN12-2015281057010510704916234231313921
BAKKEN11-2015281123311624611118260145323728
BAKKEN10-2015149403573863860
BAKKEN9-20154000151015100
BAKKEN8-20151341004392294568446591253
BAKKEN7-2015319902975676571589292816611
BAKKEN6-2015291113111370933217851600311848
BAKKEN5-20152714572140571236623119684616273
BAKKEN4-2015114153016016
BAKKEN3-20155135111867250139201392

Another neighboring middle Bakken well fracked and tested:
  • 27343,  973, CLR, Polk Federal 2-33H, Three Forks first bench, 30 stages, 3.4 million lbs, t5/15; cum 183K 7/16;
Production profile:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-20163064046614391216030268713343
BAKKEN6-20163083078345541022814584616968
BAKKEN5-2016301133711036594228488174026748
BAKKEN4-201626997310374522224356633618020
BAKKEN3-20163115683157086493324491907313376
BAKKEN2-2016291514015313502126272395222320
BAKKEN1-2016311308513116485920214923510979
BAKKEN12-2015311713616841611928150872219428
BAKKEN11-2015289797992342621475387076046
BAKKEN10-2015311119211131645417704118285876
BAKKEN9-2015291116011268641016473163614837
BAKKEN8-20153194129214491314769128611908
BAKKEN7-2015319845978846971470786186089
BAKKEN6-201530121041233757551834087669574
BAKKEN5-201531201661964811109277321406413668
BAKKEN4-2015113247018018
BAKKEN3-2015825352273333298302983


Screenshot of these three wells:


Update On Zavanna's Gust Well In Long Creek -- September 11, 2016

From an earlier post:

September 26, 2015: why was this well off-line so many months, recently?
  • 19981, 1,003, Zavanna, Gust 2-11 1H, Long Creek/Wildcat, Bakken; not sure why this was a wildcat; in Long Creek, east of Williston, t3/12; cum 319K 7/16; still having problems, 8/15;  as of 5/16, back on status;
From the production profile, one can see they finally got this well up and running. From the file report, a sundry report and e-mails dated March and April, 2016:
  • at this time, we will pull the gas lift assembly, perform a squeeze, test the squeeze, run a cement log, and return the well to gas lift. 
  • and then a long e-mail discussing the procedure the operator plans to use to switch over to a gas lift process
Note the production profile:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-201631169815702128803658931681
BAKKEN6-201630378236144518988879791462
BAKKEN5-201629486047686344970282441026
BAKKEN4-20160000000
BAKKEN3-20160000000
BAKKEN2-20160000000
BAKKEN1-20160000000
BAKKEN12-20150000000
BAKKEN11-201522204534000
BAKKEN10-2015006430000
BAKKEN9-20150000000
BAKKEN8-20150000000
BAKKEN7-20151427711153770326450373
BAKKEN6-2015315809321259120212
BAKKEN5-20150000000
BAKKEN4-20150000000
BAKKEN3-20150000000
BAKKEN2-20150000000
BAKKEN1-20150000000
BAKKEN12-20140000000
BAKKEN11-20140000000
BAKKEN10-20142235133187154154605016116
BAKKEN9-20142942384314163662764902927
BAKKEN8-20143143234572168959135112339
BAKKEN7-201431497249482003716648031901
BAKKEN6-201430484752202016759861391012
BAKKEN5-201431546655262676849551952838
BAKKEN4-2014306351676128911180339610960
BAKKEN3-2014316654571330241089228607570
BAKKEN2-20142864816649253293513728562
BAKKEN1-20143153815096216160402075371
BAKKEN12-201331612965922215813957841893
BAKKEN11-2013307318734036851056572452873
BAKKEN10-201331606657453398783761361239
BAKKEN9-201330640365603620823358801906
BAKKEN8-201329601057813594691427553727
BAKKEN7-201331469145573111513713083367
BAKKEN6-20133060556574339257941125235
BAKKEN5-2013319168913948551128958215006
BAKKEN4-201325598453423727592015603987
BAKKEN3-201321591393262150140
BAKKEN2-20131956496075287619890618513407
BAKKEN1-20133111998127135656387111709121158
BAKKEN12-20123114744137125895286781398714229
BAKKEN11-20121890798744389515744435411092
BAKKEN10-2012281278013451532824125707716631
BAKKEN9-20122918142186256430295031513413937
BAKKEN8-20122718010171815522240601166111997
BAKKEN7-2012221519915640492218722100578337
BAKKEN6-201230137571318746531856692708849
BAKKEN5-2012301385713967608318640127475446
BAKKEN4-20123016392159246653217711030711017
BAKKEN3-2012312359523602974732020999321565
BAKKEN2-20121522552213482028228009614321642
BAKKEN1-20122190318992180371703687

Peak Oil? What Peak Oil? The Lower Tertiary -- Post-Dinosaur Formation -- This Is A Huge Deep-Sea Drilling Story For Many, Many Reasons; Many, Many Data Points: The Stones "Paint It Black" -- September 11, 2016

The Lower Tertiary: a $1.5 trillion oil frontier. 

Shell begins production at world's deepest underwater oilfieldThe Stones. Data points:
  • billions of dollars of investment over past three years
  • Shell's overall deep water production will increase to 900,000 boe by the early 2020s from already discovered, established reservoirs
  • other Shell projects: Coulomb Phase 2 and Appomattox in the Gulf of Mexico and Malikai off the coast of Malaysia
  • will produce 50,000 boepd at full capacity by end of 2017
Data points about Shell's Stones Project:
  • 200 miles south of New Orleans
  • deepest-ever underwater depth
  • target: Lower Tertiary
  • Lower Tertiary: the vast majority is a tight-rock play; tight plays produce 8 - 12 percent of the buried oil, lower than the neighboring Miocene play in the Gulf
  • on the edge of charted Gulf waters
  • the industry's second-to-last major development in the Lower Tertiary that had been approved for construction (as of late 2015)
  • two wells to be drilled by end of 2016 in about 9,500 feet of water; deepest-ever depth
  • exploratory; reservoir known but not known how productive
  • if oil prices increase: Lower Tertiary could produce 500,000 bbl/day by the end of 2025; could bring the region's share of output in the Gulf from 11% (2015) to 195 in five years (2020) and 30% in a decade (2025)
  • analysts suggest oil price of $60 - $80 would be needed to justify additional wells
  • wells in this region cost more than $300 million to complete
FPSO: floating production storage and offloading. 

The Turritella: a leased floater; converted and retrofitted from a Suezmax tanker into an FPSO vessel at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore by SBM Offshore; will initially work for Shell for 10 years; extension options for up to 20 years

The Turritella: a genus of medium-sized sea snails with an operculum; tightly coiled shells, whose overall shape is basically that of an elongated cone. Comes from the Latin word turritus meaning "turreted" or "towered."

Related stories and time line:
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The Stones. Paint It Black 

Paint It Black, The Rolling Stones

It's not easy facing facts
when your whole world is black.

No more will my green sea
go turn a deeper blue.

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The Lower Tertiary: A $1.5 Trillion Oil Frontier

I was curious. The Lower Tertiary is "post-dinosaur." When was it discovered that this geologic formation would produce oil?

From Oilprice.
The Lower Tertiary is considered by many to be the final frontier of oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, where, until recently, production was forecast to decline. The post-dinosaur era geological formation was originally thought to be devoid of oil, but recent exploration has proven otherwise.
Who discovered it? How was it discovered? What is the backstory?
This turnaround began in 1996, when Robert Ryan, then a geologist with Texaco, pursued a hunch about an ultra-deep water geological play. For a fuller accounting of this story, Edward Klump recently wrote a fantastic, in-depth piece for Bloomberg News on the history of this development.
In 1996, four companies—Texaco, Royal Dutch Shell, Amoco, and Mobil— came together to drill an experimental, ultra-deep water well in the Gulf of Mexico. Known as BAHA, the well was 7,625 feet deep, deeper than any that had been previously attempted. Unfortunately, both BAHA 1 (1996) and BAHA 2 (2001) came up dry.
Normally, dry wells would deter future drilling, but the success of the BAHA projects was in proving that a massive trove of oil existed where no one thought possible in the Lower Tertiary—we just needed the technology to get to it economically.
The first oil sourced from the Lower Tertiary began flowing in mid-2010 from the Perdido project, the world’s deepest offshore facility jointly owned by Shell, Chevron, and BP.
Production stalled shortly after start-up, however, as deep water drilling was shut down in the wake of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. Over 4 million barrels of oil spilled, $40 billion in clean up costs, and an incalculable loss of public trust later, oil companies are pushing ahead once again.
Like the shale revolution on land, new technology is the key to the newfound success of Lower Tertiary exploration. New seismic tools allow explorers to see through layers of salt deposits that had previously blocked sub-salt geological mapping. This has also translated into a very respectable success rate—Lower Tertiary drilling has yielded a 40% average commercially viable success rate, well above the 30% global average.
September 13, 2013: Bloomberg News - Edward Klump -- The Lower Tertiary
The companies had joined together a block of leases in the Gulf of Mexico that had languished for about 10 years. They were excited by the massive up swell of rock that formed the subterranean structure -- the type of dome that in other places had yielded abundant oil and gas. But doubts ran high about drilling.
The prospect was in deeper water than ever had been drilled -- 7,625 feet. Based on current geologic understanding, the scientists worried the formation wouldn’t contain the kind of oil-bearing sands that would justify drilling such an expensive frontier well. “It was thought that sands settled closer to shore,” said Ryan, who at the time was in charge of Gulf of Mexico exploration for Texaco.
After hours of tense debate, the four partners agreed to drill. It was risky, yes. It also promised to reveal a vast new store of knowledge about the potential of the deep water Gulf. The only way to mitigate the risk of future drilling is to get a well in the ground and find out what’s there.
“Somebody has to drill that first well,” Ryan said, recalling the difficult decision in an interview last month in his Houston office. It’s all about building the story, well by well. “You’re piecing it together,” he said.
 How was it named? Who would be the operator?
The next vote -- on what to name the well -- was almost as contentious. Naming privilege generally goes to the majority partner and operator, while the four companies were equal owners. Squabbling followed, Ryan recalls, until one of the geologists in the room, eager to step out for a smoke, hit on the solution: each company contributed a word, and the first letter of each word formed the name. So Brachiosaurus (Shell), Alpha Centauri (Texaco), HI-C (Mobil) and Anaconda (Amoco) became BAHA.
Shell, which had a drilling rig under contract ready to start, was named the operator of the project.
Go to the link for the rest of the story. Hopefully the link doesn't break for a long time. It's a great story.

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The Lower Tertiary: The Future

From the Bloomberg News article linked above:
  • Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, started production from its Cascade/Chinook wells in the Lower Tertiary last year.
  • Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has said its Shenandoah find in the Lower Tertiary may be one of the largest projects in the Gulf.
  • The success rate in the Lower Tertiary so far has been about 60 percent, with 40 percent of discoveries having commercial potential -- a “tremendous” rate considering that 30 percent is considered good, Chevron’s Ryan said.
  • The value of the Lower Tertiary extends far beyond the Gulf of Mexico as companies tackle similar ultra-deep projects and formations off the coasts of Africa and Latin America. The engineering, seismic technology and basic experience obtained in the Gulf can be leveraged to lower costs and raise success rates in those regions.
  • BP still has the most licenses in this area; will have eight rigs drilling in the Gulf (in the 2013 article).
From Offshore Technology:
  • The Jack and St Malo field reservoirs are located in a geological formation known as the 'lower tertiary' trend. The formation was deposited more than 65m years ago about 20,000ft below the seabed.
  • It covers an area larger than 300 miles off the Gulf Coast of the US between Texas and Louisiana. The formation is estimated to contain vast resources for long-life projects of up to 30 to 40 years.
  • The total recoverable resources of the two fields are estimated at over 500m oil-equivalent barrels.
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Geologic Time

The formations generally keep their traditional names. Geologic time names have changed. From wiki:
Tertiary is the former term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.58 million years ago, a time span that lies between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary.
The Tertiary is no longer recognized as a formal unit by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, but the word is still widely used.
The traditional span of the Tertiary has been divided between the Paleogene and Neogene Periods and extends to the first stage of the Pleistocene Epoch, the Gelasian age.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start of the Cenozoic Era, and extended to the beginning of the Quaternary glaciation at the end of the Pliocene Epoch.
And, of course, we all remember the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. From wiki again:
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction, was a mass extinction of some three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth—including all non-avian dinosaurs—that occurred over a geologically short period of time approximately 66 million years ago.
With the exception of some ectothermic species in aquatic ecosystems like the leatherback sea turtle and crocodiles, no tetrapods weighing more than 55 pounds (25 kilos) survived.
It marked the end of the Cretaceous period and with it, the entire Mesozoic Era, opening the Cenozoic Era that continues today.

A Closer Look At Three EOG Wayzetta Wells On Same Pad -- September 11, 2016

Section 3-153-90. All three are long laterals from the same pad starting in the west-middle of the section, and then southeast through NE quadrant of section 10-153-90, and ending in SW quadrant of 11-153-90.
  • 26217, 424, EOG, Wayzetta 42-0311H, Parshall, 45 stages, 14 million lbs, t5/14; cum 481K 716;
  • 26216, 1,440, EOG, Wayzetta 43-0311H, Parshall, 51 stages, 15.8 million lbs, t6/14; cum 388K 716;
  • 26929, IA/133, EOG, Wayzetta 148-0311H, Parshall Three Forks 1st bench, 47 stages, 14.8 million lbs; t6/14; cum 15K 10/15; equipment malfunction discovered December 31, 2013; resulted in brine spill (220 bbls) on surface. This well has been inactive since November, 2015.
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Production Profile Of These Three Wells On The Same Pad
Two Middle Bakken Wells; One Three Forks First Bench Well
All Mega-Fracks
One Well: Inactive; Equipment Malfunction Early On; Repaired?

Note production profile of #26217, a Middle Bakken well, for the past year:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-2016311062510821820116517163090
BAKKEN6-201630884287937074139281364490
BAKKEN5-20163110182100717924144001418111
BAKKEN4-201629878187976389115781129795
BAKKEN3-20163110249101158460114931127410
BAKKEN2-2016235058521548036740655936
BAKKEN1-20163110274102377100118821158987
BAKKEN12-2015278639870357091045810125165
BAKKEN11-20153015208151355449161431584299

Note production profile #26216, a middle Bakken well, for the past eighteen months:
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-201631546352908865478042130
BAKKEN6-201631081269151691271
BAKKEN5-201665026568626725810
BAKKEN4-2016294060416359194942438837
BAKKEN3-201631716573368190776871797
BAKKEN2-2016298518841880288719813144
BAKKEN1-2016278506851686537609707453
BAKKEN12-20152980568049756572766674109
BAKKEN11-201530119281196873489834922458
BAKKEN10-201531148471470471411135710656145
BAKKEN9-2015249292935662736497603655
BAKKEN8-20153113708137358065965873711725
BAKKEN7-201531160221607689761099610194244
BAKKEN6-2015301751617403102211061985431543

Note production profile for #26969, a Three Forks First Bench well, now inactive:
BAKKEN1-20160030000
BAKKEN12-2015159560000
BAKKEN11-201500490000
BAKKEN10-20152418261839160062062160022
BAKKEN9-20153022632250211962463189317
BAKKEN8-201531211021052251323441446338
BAKKEN7-20153120392036236452153154237
BAKKEN6-201530178817822384918361081195
BAKKEN5-20153114281404253771642101463
BAKKEN4-20152567967422393108856356
BAKKEN3-20151435836211739507105155
BAKKEN2-201528520517258101016331166
BAKKEN1-2015313433382953385161226
BAKKEN12-201431737832062615038
BAKKEN11-2014930329684322431958
BAKKEN10-20140000000
BAKKEN9-20140000000
BAKKEN8-20145123950942312
BAKKEN7-2014316026013518931827159
BAKKEN6-2014147907681816417571371558
BAKKEN5-20142141001000