A Closer Look At That Kraken Well In Oliver Oil Field -- October 5, 2020

 
Taking another look at this well, recently released from confidential status:

The well:

• 36978, drl/A, Kraken, Hobart LW 34-27 1H, Oliver, t--; cum 147K 8/20; fracked 2/14/20 - 2/27/20; moderate - large frack with 10.2 million gallons of water; 84.9% water by mass

Production -- look how long "they" maintained that production -- operators working on that "dreaded Bakken decline." Also note how fast they got this well hooked up to a natural gas pipeline:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	8-2020	31	24559	24689	36930	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2020	31	31117	31262	44545	43097	42839	104
BAKKEN	6-2020	27	26637	26984	41947	30366	30079	95
BAKKEN	5-2020	31	29393	28820	45688	32920	32337	351
BAKKEN	4-2020	29	34902	34385	55205	33296	19083	13868

 A reader who corresponds regularly and is following this quite closely noted:

That Kraken well used ~243 thousand barrels of water to frac and has, so far, recovered ~223 thousand barrels produced water over a few months online. This is further indication that operators are able to virtually eliminate the flowback procedure in the 10/14 days immediately following the completion and allow the elevated, induced hydraulic pressure to push more oil into the wellbore. 

This one change in procedure should increase output significantly. 

The reader has pointed this out several times before regarding other wells. This is not something new. 

My not-ready-for-prime-time reply:

That is remarkable, about lowering costs. The last time I looked, and it's been a long time, maybe a year, some operators said well drilling/completion costs were down to $6 million in the Bakken. 

A quarter-million-dollar saving on $6 million is significant. Add that to the huge wells some operators are reporting, and cost per bbl is coming way down.

On some of these wells, operators are paying for their wells at the wellhead at $20/bbl in two years. Yes, I know there are a lot of other costs and ways to "play the cost game" but even at $20/bbl to pay for a well in two years. Not bad.

By the way, the oil field in which this Kraken well was drilled is not exactly near the "hot spots" in the Bakken. In fact, this is one of the least exciting areas in the Bakken. 

 The reader also noted this:

On a completely unrelated note, the recent 'merger' of Liberty and Schlumberger's completion division should show reduced costs for completions starting, perhaps, next summer. 

In addition to switching over to natgas-fueled electric frac'ing (possible quarter million dollar saving per well completion right there), the successful implementation/introduction of new hardware involving the 'missile' which distributes the frac fluid underground could save maintenance costs to Liberty in a major way.  

The full explanation is lengthy, but American operators are apt to become even more competitive versus their global competitors in the near future.

That's very interesting. I doubt there is much in the way that Saudi Arabia can do, for example, to make their lifting costs less, but with shale, it seems there is quite a bit yet to learn. Very, very interesting. Wouldn't it be interesting if fracking on non-federal land could more than make up for any loss of fracking on federal land if the next president were to ban fracking on federal land? Just thinking out loud.

With regard to the "missile":

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