CLR's Hereford Federal 8-20H2, Elm Tree, Is Finally Producing -- February 16, 2020

I've been following this well for quite some time. Finally, it is in production.

From an older note:

September 12, 2019:

• #32354, 174, CLR, Hereford Federal 8-20H2, Elm Tree, t8/19; cum 0; has never produced anything; no frack data; API: 33-053-07430; FracFocus says fracked 3/28/17 - 4/15/17; huge frack with 12.6 million gallons of water; 88% water by mass; 8/19; still confidential, but production being posted; wow! 8/19 --producing! still confidential, 11/19;

Update: fracked back in early 2017; no production all these months; finally producing as of August, 2019:

• #32354, 174, CLR, Hereford Federal 8-20H2, Elm Tree, t8/19; cum 11K 12/19;

Full production data:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	31	2046	2030	5604	2421	2306	60
BAKKEN	11-2019	30	2268	2235	2568	1566	1508	22
BAKKEN	10-2019	31	1838	1835	3290	2135	1906	165
BAKKEN	9-2019	20	1259	1297	3443	2126	1710	317
BAKKEN	8-2019	25	3559	3505	9270	5657	5041	472
BAKKEN	7-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

From May, 2017, to July, 2019, no production. 

Simply Some Housekeeping -- February 16, 2020

November 13, 2019: when will these XTO wells be operated by Newfield according to scout tickets?  #21706, #22390, #17832; 10/19; noted January 1, 2020, that these are now Newfield wells;

Update: CLR Vardon Well -- February 16, 2020

Many wells near a CLR Vardon well have been recently fracked. This well has been off line for quite some time. I'm not sure how I missed this well and/or did not include it in my list of "wells of interest." It will be added to that list.

Full production profile for this well is at this post.

The well:

• 20354, 1,200, CLR, Vardon 1-14H, Siverston, F, 7/11; cum 370K 12/19;

Observations:

• a very, very old well; 
• drilled back in 2011;
• best production after initial frack: 15,000 bbls oil in July, 2011;
• then, production jumped to 33,000 bbls oil in May, 2018, when it was seven years old;
• then, being off line for a year or so, is now back in production, looking pretty good, and flowing; no pump, according to the scout ticket;

Recent production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	31	6667	7060	5075	11022	12	10591
BAKKEN	11-2019	5	1538	1145	1079	2522	324	2133
BAKKEN	10-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2019	5	1333	1144	887	2454	776	1639
BAKKEN	8-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2019	0	0	211	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2018	0	0	233	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2018	31	12240	11976	7310	20562	12104	8052
BAKKEN	9-2018	29	12329	12366	7408	26183	25092	721

Full production here.

An Old Slawson Well Appears To Be Coming On Strong -- February 16, 2020

Recently several horizontals "cut across" this Slawson well. I've been waiting to see how it might do once it comes back on line. It looks like it is coming back on line. Note: it is a single section / 640-acre spaced well. 

Observations:

• this well was drilled back in 2011, now going on ten years old;
• it's never been a particularly good well -- but it was a short lateral; drilled using information, completion strategies that are now ten years old; by that criteria, it's a pretty good well; 
• the best this well ever did was 20,000 bbls in one month shortly after it was completed back in 2011;
• it was taken off line while neighboring wells were fracked;
• over seven days in December, 2019,  after coming back on line, this well produced 6,471 bbls which extrapolates to 28,000 bbls over 30 days, well above its previous best month of 20,000 bbls/month;
• this area if very, very active, with many producing wells, but there is much more work to be done in this area;
  

The well:

• 19404, 1,388, Slawson, Jackknife Federal 1-27H, Van Hook, t3/11; cum 344K 12/19;

The Bakken Never Ceases To Amaze Me -- Enerplus Cirrus -- Eagle Nest -- February 16, 2020

This continues an on-going theme for the blog (one of many on-going themes): every Bakken well tells a story.

See Enerplus' "Cloudy Pad."

The well:

• 24163, 759, ERF, Cirrus 149-94-33D-28H, Eagle Nest, 28 stages; 6.5 million lbs, t4/13; cum 266K 8/19;

This might be a fairly non-descript well. I don't know. I haven't taken a very close look. But en route to looking up something else, I noted this:

Production, recent:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	16	2758	2443	2193	4136	1220	2867
BAKKEN	11-2019	7	679	1083	897	1345	1324	0
BAKKEN	10-2019	31	9567	9487	7930	14350	9028	5218
BAKKEN	9-2019	29	12689	12723	10419	19034	12452	6483
BAKKEN	8-2019	31	7797	7322	7187	11696	5004	6599
BAKKEN	7-2019	31	1440	1415	1077	2160	4	2066
BAKKEN	6-2019	23	965	976	744	1447	93	1289
BAKKEN	5-2019	31	1589	1734	997	2383	1330	964

A jump in production from 1,500 bbls oil / month to 13,000 bbls oil / month, and the well is seven years old. Hubbert says this isn't supposed to happen. LOL. It's happening all the time in the Bakken.

There are seven other wells  on this 9-well pad that are DUCs (SI/NC).

Let's see what FracFocus has to say.

Randomly,

• 35595, SI/NC, Enerplus, Lenticular 149-94-33C-28H, 33-025-03598, Eagle Nest; no data suggesting a frack yet;
• 35600, no frack data;
• 35594, no frack data; that's all I'm going to check;

It looks like they have not been fracked yet, or FracFocus doesn't have the data yet.

Let's look at the map where #24163 is located.

Well, well,well, what do we have here? Coming from the north, drilling to the south, and parallel to #24163, we have this well, a section line well operated by WPX:

• 36016, 2,951, WPX, Bison 27-34HEL, 33-053-0894, Eagle Nest, t10/19; cum 101K, but according to FracFocus, fracked 7/28/19 to 8/6/19;

Compare the jump in production in the spreadsheet above (8/19, and particularly 9/19) with the dates of the neighboring frack (by a different operator), 7/19 - 8/19.

The Bakken never ceases to amaze me.

By the way, here's the production profile for that WPX Bison well, #36016:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	27	24999	24959	31647	30174	21092	6041
BAKKEN	11-2019	30	33664	33674	26807	42075	38089	0
BAKKEN	10-2019	31	42629	42451	25554	51453	24648	21919
BAKKEN	9-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Beggar Groove, LTJ Experience

Enerplus Is Very Active In Mandaree With Two Rigs Completing Its Stringed Instrument Pad, And Its Precipitation Pad -- February 16, 2020

Updates

April 3, 2022: early production. 

September 26, 2021: these wells are now all completed and starting to report production. Includes graphics at the link. And, here.

September 19, 2021: IPs starting to be reported. 

Original Post 

Enerplus is drilling its "Stringed Instrument" pad sited in Squaw Creek, sited in section 3-149-94, running west to east, into Mandaree oil field.

The pad:

• 37029, drl/NC, Enerplus, Fiddle 149-94-02C-01H-TF, Mandaree, producing, huge well;
  
• 37028, drl/NC, Enerplus, Mandolin 149-94-02C-01H, Mandaree, producing, nice well;
  
• 37027, drl/NC, Enerplus, Cello 149-94-02C-01H-TF, Mandaree, producing, nice well;
  
• 37026, drl/NC, Enerplus, Guitar 149-94-02C-01H, Mandaree, producing, nice well;
  
• 37025, drl/NC-->loc/NC, Enerplus, Harp 149-94-02C-01H-TF, Mandaree, spud 1/6/20; TD 3/13/20; 83.5 drilling hours; that works out to 7 12-hour-segments; I think 5-12-hour segments is about the minimum in the Bakken; producing, nice well;
  
• 37024, drl/NC, Enerplus, Ukulele 149-94-02C-01H, Mandaree, producing, nice well;
  

In addition to this pad, there is another 2-well pad in the same drilling unit, but sited in section 2-149-94:

• 24962, 1,957, Enerpluse, Grassy Knoll 2-11H, Mandaree, t11/15; cum 405K 7/20; jump in production, 6/21; cum 437K 7/21;
  
• 24963, 1,936, Enerplus, Banjo 149-94-02B-01H TF, Mandaree, t11/15; cum 421K 7/20; perhaps a subtle jump in production, 6/21; cum 434K 7/21;
  

These wells all run west to east.

At the same time, a bit to the east, Enerplus is also drilling its "Precipitation Pad" with a rig on site for #35800.

• 35800, 930, Enerplus, Frost 149-93-07A-12H-TF-LL, Mandaree, t10/20; cum 152K 7/21; typical Bakken decline;

Enerplus' "Storm Pad" has been completed.

The "Precipitation Pad" and "Storm Pad" wells are being drilled east to west.

Most other wells in this area are being drilled north/south.

Corrosion of the Masses, The Grassy Knoll

The WPX Good Voice/Benson Wells In Spotted Horn Have Been Updated -- February 16, 2020

Link here.

The most recent well was completed in late 2018/early 2019, and tested 1/19.

Following that completion, this well reported a significant jump in production. Note the small IP, and then note that this well will soon hit 500K; about six years old; jump in production:

• 27068, 502, WPX, Good Voice 34-27HD, Squaw Creek, t11/14; cum 464K 12/19; off line while neighboring wells fracked; off line for about five months; now back on line as of 1/19;

Production during period of interest:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	31	6442	6423	2066	8742	5918	1764
BAKKEN	11-2019	30	6346	6479	1699	8613	1082	6358
BAKKEN	10-2019	31	5053	5045	4923	6857	1275	4539
BAKKEN	9-2019	30	4878	5001	3731	6619	1276	4329
BAKKEN	8-2019	31	4279	3970	4133	5807	3205	1633
BAKKEN	7-2019	18	1189	1185	1072	1494	629	421
BAKKEN	6-2019	20	1714	1728	1326	2155	1439	184
BAKKEN	5-2019	31	3934	3914	3208	4944	2875	1224
BAKKEN	4-2019	30	4641	4634	2711	5834	2830	2106
BAKKEN	3-2019	29	2840	2815	347	13399	12787	0
BAKKEN	2-2019	28	2313	2304	122	11282	10743	0
BAKKEN	1-2019	11	1091	1085	46	3481	3087	0
BAKKEN	12-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Off line from late 8/18 to late 1/19.

BAKKEN	7-2018	12	1140	1184	351	4486	4201	0
BAKKEN	6-2018	30	3069	3055	797	11497	10817	0
BAKKEN	5-2018	31	3415	3492	841	10153	9420	0
BAKKEN	4-2018	30	3360	3278	958	6622	5908	0
BAKKEN	3-2018	31	3822	3890	871	11133	10357	0

The CLR Honolulu Wells, Indian Hill, Across The River, South Of Williston -- February 16, 2020

The Honolulu wells have been updated.

Based on the names of the wells, the three most recent Honolulu wells completed were middle Bakken wells. The earlier three wells were a middle Bakken well; a Three Forks first bench well; and, a Three Forks second bench well. I have not looked at the file reports to confirm.

The three older wells were drilled from the south to the north; the three newer wells were drilled from the north to the south.

It appears that the older middle Bakken well had a small jump in production after the newer middle Bakken wells were completed.

The well:

• 20947, 701, CLR, Honolulu 1-22H, Indian Hill, t9/11; cum 214K 12/19; stripper well status, January 29, 2018; 30 stages; 2.9 million lbs;

Recent production;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2019	29	1048	1137	2090	861	483	0
BAKKEN	11-2019	18	843	947	1239	800	561	0
BAKKEN	10-2019	31	1551	1363	2524	1373	954	0
BAKKEN	9-2019	30	1699	1858	2879	1501	1101	0
BAKKEN	8-2019	31	2409	2515	3390	2065	1646	0
BAKKEN	7-2019	31	2650	2742	4411	2157	1712	30
BAKKEN	6-2019	12	633	224	2133	559	380	36
BAKKEN	5-2019	15	241	336	550	337	143	0
BAKKEN	4-2019	30	502	461	504	732	327	0
BAKKEN	3-2019	31	545	608	527	610	191	0
BAKKEN	2-2019	28	503	475	503	528	150	0

This Week In Pictures -- Powerline -- February 16, 2020

My favorite:

It takes a village: no matter how many times YouTube removes this video, folks find a way to re-post it:

Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- February 16, 2020

First things first: Air Force One has landed at Daytona. NASCAR race starts at 1:30 p.m. CT. Rumor: pace car -- Trump-Pence 2020 Camaro -- Chevrolet, making America great. How big is this. The Daytona 500 today is sold out. But look at this. In three decades of watching NASCAR, I've never seen a full-page "ad" in The Washington Post "advertising the Daytona race

The Daytona race: I've never seen so many Mike Bloomberg ads on Fox. But no matter how much he spends on ads, the visual will be Trump:

• Air Force One fly-over and landing;
• Trump-Pence 2020 pace car;
• Trump: first time a sitting president is a NASCAR grand marshall

 ********************************

Back to the Bakken 

MDU: buys another company. Link here.

• Oldcastle Infrastructure Spokane, the Washington-based prestressed-construction business previously owned by Oldcastle Infrastructure
• the Spokane operation produces precast and prestressed concrete components for projects throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon. It has become part of Knife River Corporation, the construction materials subsidiary of MDU Resources. The acquisition complements and expands Knife River's existing precast/prestressed operations in Oregon, Alaska and the growing Pacific Northwest.

********************************

Non-Bakken Items

Ride-hailing: Uber, Lyft killed "Super Shuttle" airport service across the USA. That was just the start. From the weekend edition of "Exchange," The Wall Street Journal: "The Ride-Hail Utopia Got Stock in Traffic."

Predicted on the blog many, many years ago that this would happen.

From the full-page article that covers the front page of "Exchange":

• 2.2 mph: average slowdown in speed in downtown San Francisco due to ride-hailing apps
• 77%: share of ride-hailing trips that are requested for one party only, rather than pooled, Chicago
• 40%: the share of time ride-hailing cars in California and NYC cruise without passengers
• 309%: the rise in ride-hailing trips starting or ending in down Chicago between 2015 and 2018

Remember this prediction five years ago:

"If every car in San Francisco was Ubered there would be no traffic," Travis Kalanick.

What a doofus. I said that back then -- five years ago -- and voila (or as the French say, voilà).

Second things second: Another doofus: Amy Klobuchar, this week, was unable to name the president of Mexico. After that debacle, she doubled down, declaring that English should not be the national language of the US. Has she been to Miami?

*********************************

Lego Friends

I won't see Sophia today. She is with her mom at "Six Flags" just a couple of miles south of us.

Re-Posting A Warren Buffett Note -- February 16, 2020

Re-posting:

Click Bait

IBD: Warren Buffett Sells Apple, Buys Kroger 

This was the lede over at Investor's Business Daily, link here.

Warren Buffett bought shares of Kroger (KR) and Biogen (BIIB) in the fourth quarter, but the investing legend further pared his Apple (AAPL) and Wells Fargo (WFC) stakes, Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKB) latest quarterly 13F filings with the SEC showed. 

This was the internet "tease" that brought me there:

Wow, what a joke. Passes for news these days.

Prior to the sale, on a dollar basis, AAPL was Berkshire Hathaway's biggest holding, at 30% of the entire portfolio. In the last quarter, BRK sold 1.4% of his shares in AAPL, dropping from 248,838,679 to 245,155,566 AAPL shares (3,683,113 shares). If he sold on December 2, 2019, shares were selling at $264. AAPL shares are currently fetching $325.

Paper loss: $225 million or close to a quarter billion dollars.

Warren's move certainly seems to be ridiculous on the surface, but we don't know the particulars. But Investor's Business Daily headlining "Buffett pared his Apple stakes" certainly seems a bit over the top.

My hunch: there was a long, long discussion between Munger, Buffett, et al, about what to do with a stock (AAPL) that was now 30% of the entire Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. "Traditional rules" would have argued for a much bigger cut, maybe as much as a 50% cut in the portfolio's AAPL holdings, but that would have been beyond the pale.

A bit of irony: Warren Buffett sells AAPL but then buys Kroger, which also sells apples. Along with oranges and cauliflower.

***********************************

Williston Library

I remember spending a lot of time in this library when I growing up. What a great Williston treasure back in the 50s and 60s.

Key Data Points From The December, 2019, Oil And Natural Gas Production, North Dakota (Bakken) -- February 16, 2020

Key data points from the December, 2019, production data coming out of North Dakota:

• after the final figures came in, North Dakota set a new all-time production record in November, 2019;
• crude oil: 1,519,037 (but just barely; beating the previous all-time high, the previous month, by 1,101 bopd)
• natural gas: 3,165,585 MCF/day
• boe: 1,985,573 boepd
• note: these were all preliminary figures; final figures will be released in the March, 2020, Director's Cut;
• crude oil production in December was one of the bigger month-over-month decreases in quite some time; this was all about a) managing their assets; and, b) taking wells off line for operational reasons
• the number of producing wells dropped below 16,000, the first time that has happened since September, 2019, when it hit another all-time high at 16,115 producing wells; current all-time  high for producing wells: October, 2019, at 16,169 producing wells;
• price of oil was trending down; coronavirus scare was crushing demand
• continued pad drilling and new fracking
• number of wells coming off-line month-over-month (December/November) was 233 or an increase of 8.8%
• there are now 2,878 wells off line
• the actual number of wells off line any given month remains in a narrow range, probably about 2,500
• it appears, in raw numbers, September, 2019, hit an all-time high for the number of wells off line: 3,020; September, 2019, was a record-setting month for rain; it was a "disaster" in the oil patch; production fells 2.5% month-over-month;
• this is about twice as many as the number of new wells that will be drilled in 2020
• in fact, there were 111 completions in December, 2019, which is about average for the Bakken, but it means a lot of neighboring wells are taken off-line during fracking operations
• takeaway capacity is not an issue
• gas capture is trending, albeit slowly, in the right direction
• about a month ago there were any number of stories in the mainstream media about E&P companies, feeling the stress of low oil prices, were slowing their new drilling and focusing on completing DUCs; 
• I posted at the time that this was most likely (if accurate) occurring in the Permian
• anecdotally I was not seeing it in the Bakken
• and there, it was, in the December data, the number of DUCs in the Bakken increased by 39 wells, from 919 to 958 (preliminary)
• 958 is a high number but not the highest; the record was 985 in May, 2019;
• I haven't done the percentages; but on a raw number basis, the number of DUCs is increasing in the Bakken, not decreasing
• supports my "thesis" that when the mainstream media talks about trends in US shale, they are focusing on the Permian, not the Bakken