Random Note Re: CLR Wells In The Bakken -- April 7, 2020

A reader replied to a recent comment regarding cumulative production of CLR wells over the years.

The original comment is at this post. The original comment:

According to shaleprofile.com, CLR has 54 wells over 500,000 bbls crude oil cumulative, restricted to North Dakota, horizontal, and 2005 or later first production).

Of those 54 wells, 26 are Red River (Red River, West Red River, Red River B, etc) in Bowman and Slope counties.

The shaleprofile data is a month or two old and there were a couple wells at 499, so the tickers have probably gone to 56 or higher by now.

Note of course that this is a tiny fraction of CLR's overall wells. They have 1,782 horizontal wells (post 2005, ND). The 54 wells represent 3% of their well population.

Just an important thing to keep in mind when look at exuberant posts here...not representative.

After posting that comment, another reader responded with this:

Quick follow up to that comment regarding Continental's wells' cumulative production. 

Up until about 2013 or so, virtually EVERY well that Continental frac'd used a 30 stage, sliding sleeve configuration. 

This practice continued LONG after Bakken consensus recognized the relative efficacy of plug and perf versus sliding sleeve.

On several quarterly conference calls, Hamm was asked why Continental continued to complete wells with a knowingly inferior design. 

His repeated explanation shows his wisdom, long term view, as well as the impacts of on-the-ground operational realities.

(These attributes are sorely lacking (IMHO) within the vast army of ankle biters that seem to populate the "Peak Oil' mob.)

To wit ...

With - generally - a 36 month time frame from contract signing to first production, early Bakken operators were furiously fighting the clock to get leases held by production (HBP) so as to protect long term DSU production. 

The MUCH faster sliding sleeve design (versus p 'n p) enabled Continental to complete wells quickly across its vast acreage. 

The repetitive familiarity also enabled completion crews to expeditiously frac wells. 

Biggest reason to forego higher initial production using sliding sleeve, though,  was to produce a set 'baseline' metric with which to compare/contrast the relative productive potential across wide swaths of acreage.

This early, consistent approach of using a somewhat inferior completion design is now paying off in spades as Continental has the most precise, granular assessment of rock potential in the Bakken.

The reader added a few more comments on a somewhat related but different theme. I may post those later. 

But back to the reader's observation.

In addition, it should noted that CLR has first-hand knowledge of not only its own wells but all the wells in which it has an operating interest but where the well is operated by another oil company. Without question, CLR has more knowledge across the entire Bakken than any other operator by a large margin. 

More to follow.