An Old Hess Well In Banks Oil Field Shows Small Jump In Production -- January 24, 2022

Note: I did this relatively quickly and there may be more content / typographical errors than usual. 

The Bakken never ceases to amaze me. 

I was updating the Hess "SC-4WX-153-98-3130" in Banks oil field when I noticed some subtle changes in the production profiles over the past few months. 

Going to the map, I was unable to find any explanation for the change in production profiles, specifically no new wells and no new completions, at least that was easily noticeable. 

But I was curious. If one finds small production changes in new wells, one might find significant changes in older wells. 

Fortunately, there was an old well in the area of interest.

The well:

• 20222, 873, Hess, 3WX 3-1H, Banks, t9/12; cum 303K 11/21;

Full production is posted here. 

Here is the months of interest:

BAKKEN	1-2021	31	4875	4742	4620	8582	7610	662
BAKKEN	12-2020	31	3945	4137	3301	6818	5885	623
BAKKEN	11-2020	20	2960	2820	2267	4404	4098	113
BAKKEN	10-2020	28	4012	4174	3403	6637	6290	75
BAKKEN	9-2020	29	5619	5353	5228	8930	5051	3589
BAKKEN	8-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2020	4	53	195	26	41	0	35
BAKKEN	2-2020	11	136	236	152	154	71	48
BAKKEN	1-2020	6	877	709	101	1242	1189	1
BAKKEN	12-2019	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2019	6	205	485	44	229	138	84
BAKKEN	10-2019	11	886	1173	699	1218	0	1116
BAKKEN	9-2019	11	1220	891	331	1604	0	1513
BAKKEN	8-2019	5	68	0	0	49	0	40
BAKKEN	7-2019	4	92	0	0	55	0	52
BAKKEN	6-2019	2	71	0	0	262	0	41
BAKKEN	5-2019	31	71	396	46	382	16	68
BAKKEN	4-2019	25	812	795	572	332	66	27
BAKKEN	3-2019	15	2699	2411	1901	250	98	2
BAKKEN	2-2019	2	90	466	1	10	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2019	27	3942	3787	3008	5138	4404	486
BAKKEN	12-2018	9	2501	2343	1781	3091	2604	397
BAKKEN	11-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2018	3	49	221	38	132	103	4
BAKKEN	8-2018	31	1255	1381	529	3005	1673	1023
BAKKEN	7-2018	31	1206	1160	263	2734	2034	403
BAKKEN	6-2018	30	1126	1112	501	3075	2361	435
BAKKEN	5-2018	31	1376	1380	581	4410	3630	484

This well was producing about 1300 bbls/month back in mid-2018. Then it's very noticeable, the volatility in production, but finally in September, 2020, we saw the jump in production, and the well was back to steady performance. 

No obvious explanation from the map. Time to check the file report: nothing. I have no idea. Either a work-over on this well, or some work on one of the neighboring wells.

There was a lot of activity in the neighboring wells (fracking) back in 2020 but that wouldn't explain the jump in production in this well in 2019.

Maybe a reader knows. 

But the bottom line for me is that mom-and-pop mineral owners never know what surprises might show up in their next month's royalty checks. 

Twenty years from now they're going to say "we under-estimated the Bakken." LOL.