Well, This Snuck Up On Me -- A String Of Legacy Wells Running North - South in Bottineau County -- Rig on Site -- The Spearfish, North Dakota, USA

For those interested in tracking Bakken/Spearfish wells just north of the Canadian border, consider this interactive map: https://www.geoactivity.ca/views/map.aspx?O8la79Wkzr7Uxn96KD/IL+zSkTpjE6KdFJuNz9GVXjYKkXMCAw8aNSQdL2OcQXQexNFvrVLAe/2AQy/pZZ2BKLnISurkoMZ1AK9iRDKw84I=.

LEGACY

May 27, 2015: Legacy Oil + Gas acquired by Crescent Point.

June 25, 2014: Legacy buys Corinthian. See also this post. 

May 25, 2013: corporate presentation.

March 16, 2013: 

For quite some time I was confused by Corinthian, Legacy, and Surge -- three Canadian operators who extended their Canadian Spearfish play into northwestern North Dakota, most notably Bottineau County.

Surge bought Corinthian, but obviously a lot of older wells will still be "Corinthian" wells.

Legacy is separate from Surge, but both have close working relationships, at least in North Dakota.

According to Legacy's corporate presentation, February, 2013, in Bottineau County, ND:

• the first 2 hz wells of the most recent program came on line; 150 boepd/well
• 230 net locations; approx 97% unbooked
• potentially more than 570 net locations @ 8 wells/section
• 54K net undeveloped acres 

North Souris / Red Rock Oil Fields

These two fields are about 60 miles northeast of Minot; about ten (10) miles northwest of Bottineau. The North Souris runs east-west along the Canadian border; the Red Rock is south of the North Souris. North Souris has about 18 sections, including quarter/half sections along the Canadian border. Red Rock is 13 sections. These fields are pretty much "owned" by a Canadian company, Legacy, and targets the Spearfish formation. [This paragraph added September 17, 2012.]

News

April 4, 2013: Legacy announces acquisition of producing acreage in Canada. The deal: 32,522 net acres (some producing); operating netback of $60/boe); current production, 1,775 boe (90% light crude oil); $108 million cash and about 13.9 million x $5.48/share = $5,700/net acre, some producing.


February 13, 2013: operational update.

January 8, 2013: update on Legacy ops in the Williston Basin - a PDF file.

December 31, 2012: SeekingAlpha update of Legacy.

May 14, 2012: Legacy earnings and realignment with Bowood. 

April 2, 2012: Legacy Oil & Gas provides an operational update. If that link broken, try this one.

January 27, 2012: 2012 capex.  Looking for 30 percent production growth. Anticipating 16,300 boepd.

Legacy Oil and Gas and Corinthian (Surge)

Just east of the North Souris oil field is a string of wells/permitted locations running north to south (SF=Spearfish). Since the original post, more wells have been added.

• 23075, 80, Corinthian, Corinthian McCullough 13-36 1H, North Souris, t10/12; cum 10K 1/13;
• 23143, 189, Corinthian, Corinthian Skarphol 16-28 1H, North Souris, t10/12; cum 15K 1/13;
• 23073, conf, Corinthian, Corinthian McCullough 5-1 1H, North Souris, 
• 22969, 105, Corinthian, Corinthian Berge 13-25 1H, North Souris, t10/12; cum 13K 1/13;
• 22964, 139, Corinthian, Corinthian Feight 5-36 1H, North Souris, t10/12; cum 10K 1/13;
• 22364, 138, Legacy Oil, Legacy Etal Bernstein 5-17H, Red Rock, t10/12; cum 13K 1/13;
• 22321, 128, Corinthian, Corinthian Backman 1-34 1H, North Souris, t5/12; cum 13K 1/13;
• 22254, 140, Corinthian, Corinthian Backman 16-34 1H, North Souris, t4/12; cum 11K 7/12; 
• 22123, drl, Corinthian, Corinthian Backman 13-26 1H, North Souris, cum 7K 7/12; no IP yet; 
• 22064, 110, Corinthian, Corinthian Skarphol 8-33 1H, North Souris, t4/12; cum 19K 7/12; 
• 21504, 126, Legacy Oil, Legacy et al Berge 5-31H, wildcat/North Souris; t4/12; cum 8K 7/12; 
• 21951, conf, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Berge 12-31H, wildcat/North Souris; producing; 3K 1/13;
• 21549, 88, Legacy Oil, Legacy et al Berge 1-1H, wildcat/North Souris;  t4/12; cum 10K 7/12; 
• 21821, 180, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Wunderlich 5-6H, wildcat, t10/12; cum 13K 1/13;
• 19612, 95, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Berge 9-1H 1H, wildcat,  SF; s2/11; t6/11; cum 11.5K 11/11
• 21820, conf, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Berge 13-6H, wildcat,
• 21389, 104, Legacy Oil, Legacy et al Berge 1-12H, wildcat/Red Rock; t12/11; cum 9K 7/12; 
• 21922, 94, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Bernstein 13-17H; t10/12; cum 14K 1/13;
• 21921, conf, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Berge 5-7H, wildcat/Red Rock; producing; 4K in 1/13;
• 21887, 182, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Bernstein 13-7H, wildcat/Red Rock; t11/12; cum 15K 1/13;
• 21482, 30, Legacy Oil, Legacy Etal Seter 13-16H, t3/12; cum 3K 7/12; 
• 21323, 125, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Bernstein 4-18H 1H, wildcat/Red Rock; t12/11; cum 23K 7/12;
• 19613, 157, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Fett 12-18 1H, wildcat, SF; s1/11; t6/11; cum 21K 11/11
• 19462, DRL, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Emergy Norm 4-19H 1H, SF; s11/10;
• 19682, IA, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Fett 12-19 1H, wildcat/Red Rock; 202 bbls in 5/12;

In addition, there is a short horizontal in section 12 that is part of this group:

• 19588, 90, Legacy Oil, Legacy etal Berge 12-12H 1H, wildcat/Red Rock; SF; s2/11; t6/11; cum 14K 7/12; 

Spearfish -- Legacy, Surge, and Hess -- Bottineau -- Williston Basin, North Dakota

For those following the Spearfish, but confused about which company is drilling where, Surge Energy has a nice slide in their current presentation.

When you get to the presentation, go to slide 16 to see where Legacy, Surge, Hess and EOG are drilling their Spearfish wells.

This is the November, 2011, presentation and it will change in the future, but my hunch is that this map will be kept in the presentation for quite some time.

Legacy -- Spearfish -- Producing -- Press Release -- North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Of a dozen accomplishments highlighted by Legacy in their 2Q11 operations and financial results, this was the first item mentioned:

At Bottineau County, North Dakota, three of the five wells drilled and completed in late 2010/early 2011 are on production, with an average 60 day initial production rate of 100 Boe per day, per well. These wells have confirmed the presence of an emerging light oil resource play in the Spearfish Formation and proven the productive potential of a large portion of Legacy’s Bottineau County acreage.

 A big thanks to another "Bruce" alerting me to this. I would not have found it on my own.

Minor Update on Legacy in the Spearfish Formation in Bottineau County -- North Dakota, USA

While I was traveling, I was sent the following update regarding Legacy Oil targeting the Spearfish formation in Bottineau County:

Legacy had a meeting with North Central Electric Co. to get more power lines in the Souris area in July. Legacy has also contacted a gravel company in Arizona to build up 97 miles of road in the Souris area. I've heard that the Fett, Berge and Emery well are doing well. They have shut down the Bliss well because they drilled to deep. The activity is to start in 2012. 

That comment was originally made in reply to my recent entry on EOG and the Spearfish.

Legacy, Surge, and an Update on the Bottineau Spearfish Wells -- North Dakota, USA

I still don't have the complete story, but here a few more dots to connect.

First, a story from the Calgary Herald just a couple of days ago, May 30, 2011:

Formation watchers have drawn a bead on the Manitoba Spearfish light oil formation, with a report from FirstEnergy Capital suggesting it may have twice the amount of original oil in place per acre as the storied Saskatchewan Bakken.

"Drilling activity levels and play-wide production volumes have grown exponentially since the winter of 2008-09, with latest public data (current to January 2011) showing Spearfish production approaching the 15,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day range, and likely capable of much more today if it were not for an anomalously wet spring break-up this year," says the report.

"In terms of resource potential, the regional extent of the Spearfish is still being delineated, however, in areas already shown to be prospective, reservoir parameters can suggest potential OOIP to be in the realm of 9.0 to 15.0 million barrels per section, which could represent 2-3 times what the southeastern Saskatchewan Bakken offers on average."

The Spearfish attracted super-looking oilpatch newcomer Legacy Oil + Gas to invest $185 million to buy assets from Molopo Energy Canada Ltd. in February, paying $93 million in cash and issuing 6.18 million Legacy common shares.

EOG Resources and Penn West Exploration are considered the leaders in the play but for maximum exposure, FirstEnergy likes Legacy or Surge Energy, who both have concentrated, low risk, development inventories.

Then this comment sent in to me, and posted at this site:

Looks like Surge energy may have purchased EOG's leases in Bottineau County Spearfish. Appears that Surge now claims a 329 low risk drilling inventory.
http://surgeenergy.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=10448&item=39018
Also check out their May 20 investor presentation and look at the spearfish land map page 14. The land position looks very similar to what EOG had shown in some of its reports. However I haven't seen any public record of sale by EOG? 

The press release at that link says Surge's deal to acquire Spearfish assets in North Dakota has closed:

CALGARY, May 16 /CNW/ - Surge Energy Inc. (SGY) is pleased to provide the results of its third horizontal multi-frac well at Valhalla South and to announce the closing of its previously announced light oil asset acquisition in North Dakota. Surge is also pleased to announce that it has syndicated its bank facility and increased its bank line from $90 million to $120 million.

The press release goes on: 

Surge is pleased to announce that it has closed its second light oil asset acquisition in North Dakota.  As previously disclosed, the first light oil asset acquisition in North Dakota closed on March 31, 2011. The assets from both acquisitions were acquired by Surge Energy USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Surge Energy Inc. 

Through the two acquisitions, Surge acquired 100 bbl/d (2010 exit rate) of high quality, high netback, light oil production, 6,000 net acres of highly prospective land in the Spearfish light oil resource play and greater than 100,000 acres of high working interest, undeveloped land for total consideration of $21.5 million in cash. The acquisitions added an internally estimated 205 gross (120 net) horizontal Spearfish drilling locations and approximately 126 mmbbls gross DPIIP (discovered petroleum initially in place; similar to US companies "OOIP" -- original oil in place). 

Surge now has approximately 329 gross (231 net) horizontal Spearfish drilling locations in southwest Manitoba and North Dakota and greater than 460 gross (350 net) oil drilling locations in the Company.

For those who have forgotten what/who Legacy is:

Legacy Oil + Gas Inc., an oil and natural gas company (from the BusinessWeek.com site) engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and exploitation of oil and natural gas properties in Canada. It principally holds interests in various properties located in an area ranging from approximately 130 to 290 kilometers southeast of the city of Regina, Saskatchewan; the Turner Valley property situated in southern Alberta; and the Maxhamish property located in northern British Columbia. The company also owns interests in approximately 44,684 net acres of undeveloped land in Bottineau County, North Dakota; and a 50% working interest in 16,640 net acres of undeveloped land in southern Alberta. In addition, it invests in petroleum and natural gas gathering, processing, and transportation assets. The company was formerly known as Glamis Resources Ltd. and changed its name to Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. in November 2009. Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

So, bottom line: it looks like Surge, Legacy, and EOG have assets in Bottineau's Spearfish formation, but whether EOG sold most/all of its assets to Legacy and/or Surge is still an issue.

Update On Legacy Well On Bottineau County

Company press release dated May 24, 2011:
http://www.legacyoilandgas.com/documents/NewsRelease-May24_2011.pdf. 

See previous posting regarding this well.

I would not have noticed this except for fact I am traveling and had to download the daily activity report from yesterday, May 23, 2011.

It appears the report has been changed without comment.

Permit #19462, Legacy, Legacy Etal Emory Norm 4-19H, has been completely removed.

I may be wrong on this. If anyone else wants to check a "new" daily activity report for May 23, 2011, to confirm, that would be nice. But the DAR I downloaded a few minutes ago for yesterday does not show the Legacy well.

Legacy: Incredible Story -- Or Am I Missing Something?

DISREGARD THIS POST: The reported IP of 3,000 was a gross error. I will leave this for archival purposes for the time being. UPDATE

May 26, 2011: Based on press release and comments, these are my thoughts regarding this well (numbers rounded)(feel free to comment) --

3,000 feet vertical (thus, the Spearfish).

3,000 feet horizontal (longer than EOG Spearfish horizontal wells).

Mud with little oil show in the Spearfish (this well).

Company's press release: the company remains optimistic about Spearfish prospects in Bottineau County and will report results of this well later.

My hunch: this well is either dry or disappointing.

May 24, 2011: This report was removed from an updated version of the May 23, 2011, daily activity report. For now, I do not know what was going on. See new posting here.


ORIGINAL POST

First, read this earlier post --> Legacy: To Extend Play into North Dakota

The future of the Spearfish formation in Bottineau Country remains a real mystery.

Early on, NDIC/Director, Lynn Helms, or others, said "we" could see 2,000 to 7,000 wells in a relatively small area along the North Dakota-Canadian border a bit east of the Bakken activity. There were articles that EOG would bring its Saskatchewan experience and success across the border into North Dakota.

But then, after a few wells were drilled, completed, and reported, EOG's activitiy ended. This was about the same time that EOG was shellacked by shareholders after reporting 3Q10 results. Shortly after that I posted a short essay questioning whether EOG had thrown in the towel on the Spearfish in North Dakota. 

In today's NDIC daily activity report, Legacy reports a huge well:

• 19462, 3,000, Legacy, Legacy Etal Energy Norm 4-19H, Bottineau

According to the NDIC report it's a Bakken well, but when you go to the well file, it is reported as a SPEARFISH well. Because it was just released, the file report is not yet available.

For more on Legacy, use the search app at your browser to search "Legacy" at this site, or go to the "tags" at the bottom of this site, and click on "Legacy."

If this is not a typo, and it's truly a 3,000 bopd IP in the Spearfish, this will be very, very interesting. Remember, it seemed that EOG was not having the success in the Spearfish that the Canadians were having in southwest Manitoba.

The next thing to watch for: the cost of these wells. A typical Bakken well costs $7 million. The Canadian Spearfish well: $1.5 million.

For more on the Spearfish, click here, or on the link at the sidebar on the right.

Four (4) New Permits -- Legacy With a Huge Well -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report --

Drillers: ERF (2), BR, CLR.

Fields: Moccasin Creek, Haystack Butte, and a wildcat in Williams County. The two ERF permits are for two wells on the same pad (different sections, but straddling the section line).

The big news from today's activity report, however:

• 19462, 3,000, Legacy, Legacy Etal Emery Norm 4-19H, Bottineau, a Bakken well according to the NDIC daily activity report, but I think it's a Spearfish well

And XTO has a nice well:

• 19691, 1,470, XTO, Dwyer Federal 44X-1, McKenzie County, a Bakken well

And BEXP with another nice well, typical for BEXP:

• 19807, 2,926, BEXP, Greenstein 30-31 1H, Camp, Bakken

Update on Legacy's Bottineau Wells -- Ready for Fracking -- North Dakota, USA

I've been told that Legacy is about ready to frack their Bottineau wells.

The Halliburton coiled tubing crew from Rock Springs, Wyoming, has been in the area for the last few days, but the Halliburton fracking crew coming down from Canada has "been hung up at the border crossing for the last two days!" 

The wells in question, from an earlier note from the company's website, dated March 14, 2011:

"The first two horizontal wells of a five-well program targeting light oil in the Spearfish in Bottineau County, North Dakota, were drilled in the fourth quarter of 2010, with the remaining wells drilled subsequent to year end. Based on drill cuttings, gas detector response and oil shows while drilling, all five wells have now been cased as potential Spearfish oil wells and await completion. Fracture stimulation treatment is dependent on weather and road bans but is anticipated to occur within the next six weeks. The Company has continued to build on its dominant land position in the area which is now in excess of 43,840 net undeveloped acres. No reserves have been assigned to Legacy's interest in Bottineau County in the December 31, 2010, reserves report."

A big thank you from "another" Bruce for providing the update via e-mail.

***********

Update:

Anon 1 provided significant amount of information regarding an earlier question in the comment section below. Because comments don't "link" appropriately, I have "cut and paste" the comment/links here to make it easier to get to the links:

Also see:

http://www.renegadepetroleum.com/

They have a little acreage which might have a shot at Spearfish. But, they don't mention it here:

http://www.renegadepetroleum.com/documents/presentation/RPL-2011-04-29-MayCorpPresent.pdf

They do mention Bakken and Waskada Spearfish.

Also, you have covered:

http://www.surgeenergy.ca/

Together they constitute a renegade surge of Canadians looking for legacy oil.

http://www.legacyoilandgas.com/

Legacy Oil and Gas: Any Evidence of Activity?

About a month ago I had a stand-alone post updating Legacy Oil and Gas activity in which the company noted they planned to extend their Spearfish play into Bottineau County.

Since then, I haven't heard anything new. Legacy has seven permits in North Dakota. They are all on the confidential list; one has a rig on site; five have release dates from the confidential list. (Updated, corrected after getting first comment below.)

Someone wrote in asking if I knew of any activity with regard to Legacy Oil and Gas in Bottineau County, such as building pads, etc. I did not, but I said I would see if anyone has any information. Thank you in advance.

Legacy: To Extend Its Spearfish Play into North Dakota

The future of the Spearfish formation in Bottineau Country remains a real mystery.

Early on, NDIC/Director, Lynn Helms, or others, said "we" could see 2,000 to 7,000 wells in a relatively small area along the North Dakota-Canadian border a bit east of the Bakken activity. There were articles that EOG would bring its Saskatchewan experience and success across the border into North Dakota.

But then, after a few wells were drilled, completed, and reported, EOG's activitiy ended. This was about the same time that EOG was shellacked by shareholders after reporting 3Q10 results. Shortly after that I posted a short essay questioning whether EOG had thrown in the towel on the Spearfish in North Dakota.

It didn't take long for readers to point out that I might have been premature in that assessment.

Today, there was a press release in an obscure investors' newsletter -- at least obscure to me -- in which the Spearfish was mentioned again.

Legacy Oil + Gas said Tuesday it has acquired producing oil assets in southwest Manitoba from Molopa Energy Canada for approximately $185.4 million.

The assets, consisting of 800 bopd light oil production, are located in the Spearfish resource play, and provide the company with development drilling opportunities over 40,924 gross acres, expanding its existing footprint in the area.

In that same press release Legacy said it planned on extending the Spearfish play into North Dakota with its current drilling activity in Bottineau County.

For the January, 2011, presentation, click on:
http://www.legacyoilandgas.com/documents/Legacy_CorporatePresentation_Jan13_2011.pdf  (a PDF file).

For the website, click here. 

For the record, Legacy was issued seven (7) permits by the NDIC in 2010, but none in 2009 or 2008, and none so far in 2011. The seven permits issued in 2010:

• 19462, Legacy Et Al Emergy Norm 4-19H, release from confidential list: 5/20/11
• 19567, Legacy Et Al Bliss 13-10H, release from confidential list: 6/15/11
• 19588, Legacy Et Al Berge 12-12H 1-H, rig on site (March, 2011), release, 8/23/11
• 19612, Legacy Et Al Berge 9-1H 1-H, release date from confidential list 8/6/11
• 19613, Legacy Et Al Fett 12-18 1-H, release date from confidential list 7/21/11
• 19682, Legacy Et Al Fett 12-19 1-H, no release date yet
• 20129, Legacy Et Al Bliss 5-10 1-H, no release date

So, we'll see.  These permits are in T163N-R76W; T163N-R77W; and, T162N-R76W.

According to Legacy Oil and Gas presentation of January, 2011, EOG has drilled ten (10) Spearfish wells in this area.

Is EOG Throwing in the Towel on the Spearfish? -- North Dakota, USA

Update

It should be noted that EOG has canceled all Scandia-named well permits or let them expire. There are no Scandia wells being drilled by EOG, and it's my impression that EOG has blown off the Spearfish for the time being.

Since the original post was posted, several exciting developments have occurred in the Spearfish formation in Bottineau County, northern North Dakota, along the Canadian border. Surge Energy (Canada) has made a huge investment in the area and two large acquisitions. Read the post below for history / archival purposes, but click on the "Spearfish" label at the bottom of the blog to go to newer posts and find out how much is going on in the Spearfish/Bottineau County. -- April 8, 2011

Original Post

I was one of the most excited about this new formation, but after some disappointing wells, there was some chatter that EOG was re-thinking its strategy on going after the Spearfish wells along the North Dakota border with Canada.

More evidence the EOG might be throwing in the towel: in today's NDIC daily activity report, it was noted that EOG canceled permit 18720, Scandia 2-26H, Lot 1 26-164N-78W, Bottineau County.

[Update: see comments below.  I thought it strange that EOG would go to the bother of canceling one permit even if they were putting the Spearfish on the back burner. It is very, very seldom that one sees a single canceled permit like this in the daily activity reports.]


Bad Boys, Bob Marley

According to Legacy Oil and Gas presentation of January, 2011, EOG has drilled ten (10) Spearfish wells in this area.

EOG, Scandia, Legacy, Bottineau County, ND (USA), Bakken, Spearfish Formation

Legacy Oil & Gas ND, Inc

3Q11: At Bottineau County, North Dakota, the three Spearfish horizontal wells brought on production in June 2011 continue to produce above type curve, with average rates over the first five months of production averaging 82 Boe per day per well. Legacy has one rig drilling in the area and expects to drill up to six wells before year end.

Legacy has 50,836 net undeveloped acres in the area which could lead to potentially more than 570 net unrisked horizontal locations, based on eight wells per section spacing. Competitors in Manitoba, less than two miles away, are developing the Spearfish with 24 wells per section.

It should be noted that EOG has canceled all Scandia-named well permits or let them expire. There are no Scandia wells being drilled by EOG, and it's my impression that EOG has blown off the Spearfish for the time being, at least in North Dakota. 

Legacy Oil & Gas ND, Inc

19462, PNA, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal emergy Norm 4-19H 1H, Red Rock, will now become a SWD well;
19567, PA, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Bliss 13-10H 1H, Wildcat, section 10-162-76;
19588, 90, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Berge 12-12H 1H, Red Rock, t6/11; cum 24K 9/17, but down to 1 day in 9/17;
19612, AB/95, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Berge 9-1H 1H, t6/11; cum 29K 6/15;
19613, IA/157, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Fett 12-18 1H, t6/11; cum 53K 9/16;
19682, TA, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Fett 12-19H 1H
20129, PNC, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Bliss 5-10H 1H
21323, 125, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Bernstein 4-18H 1H, Red Rock, t12/11; cum 51K 9/17;
21389, 104, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy tal Berge 1-12H, Red Rock, t12/11; cum 23K 7/17;
21482, PA, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Seter 13-16H, Red Rock,
21504, 126, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Berge 5-31H, North Souris, t4/12; cum 36K 9/17;
21549, 88, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Berge 1-1H, North Souris, t4/12; cum 31K 9/17;
21820, 83, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Berge 13-6H, North Souris, t3/13; cum 11K 9/17;
21821, 180, Crescent Point Energy, Legacy Etal Wunderlich 5-6H, North Souris, t10/12; cum 76K 9/17;




NOTICE: after the initial flurry of activity in these Spearfish wells, there was a dearth of reports. Slowly but surely things began looking more and more bleak. And now there are rumors that EOG is pulling the pumps and shutting in the three Scandia wells that they have drilled.  Posted December 26, 2010.

ORIGINAL POSTING (with some updates along the way)

[Note: EOG has canceled all Scandia-named well permits or let them expire. There are no Scandia wells being drilled by EOG, and it's my impression that EOG has blown off the Spearfish for the time being, at least in North Dakota.]


For a few months now, daily activity reports list "Scandia" wells operated by EOG in the Souris oil field in Bottineau County, North Dakota. These are going to be interesting to follow. So far, to date (August 30, 2010):

• 18701, 304, Crescent Point Energy; Scandia 3-36H, great well for a Spearfish, Souris, t3/10; cum 21K 9/17;
• 18720, PNC, EOG, Scandia 2-26H, Souris,
• 19240, PNC, EOG, Scandia 23-33H, Souris,
• 19243, PNC, EOG, Scandia 25-33H, Souris,
• 19244, PNC, EOG, Scandia 27-33H, Souris,
• 18699, 261, Crescent Point Energy; Scandia 1-34H, Souris, t3/10; cum 48K 9/17;
• 19163, PNC, EOG, Scandia 4-34H, Souris,
• 19164, PNC, EOG, Scandia 5-34H, Souris,
• 19165, PNC, EOG, Scandia 6-34H, Souris,
• 19203, PNC, EOG, Scandia 7-34H, Souris,
• 19204, PNC, EOG, Scandia 8-34H, Souris,
• 19205, PNC, EOG, Scandia 9-34H, Souris,
• 19253, PNC, EOG, Scandia 40-35H, Souris,
• 19254, PNC, EOG, Scandia 42-35H, Souris,
• 19261, PNC, EOG, Scandia 46-35H, Souris,
• 19262, PNC, EOG, Scandia 48-35H, Souris,

For more background on EOG's interest in Bottineau County and perhaps the Spearfish Formation, click here (March 11, 2010) and here (February 10, 2010). I sure hope these wells are good wells; they're shallow and EOG is drilling them in days, rather than weeks.

From wikipedia: Scandia Township is a civil township in Bottineau County in North Dakota (USA). As of the 2000 census, its population was 54. [With all the EOG oil workers, the population has probably doubled.]  Scandia Township: T164N-78W. Due to its location along the Canadian border, this township has only 6 full sections (31 - 36) and about a third of six other sections (25 - 30).

******

Spearfish/Madison Pool: The NDIC says both the Scandia 3-36H and the Scandia 1-34H targeted the Spearfish-Madison (or Spearfish/Madison) pool. That pool is quite thick, extending all the way from the shallower Spearfish, all the way down to the Madison, which sits directly above the Bakken Pool (Bakken and Three Forks formations).  See the stratigraphic map here. 

Error? From the Bakken Blog, September 24, 2010:

According to North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, EOG's well, Sikes State 43-16H, 154-R91W, is producing at 304 bopd. EOG's Sandia 1-34H, 34-164-78 is producing at 261 bopd.

That's what the Bakken Blog says. It has to be in error. The article is about the Spearfish formation and EOG, and yet the Sikes State well is a Whiting well in the Sanish oil field, probably targeting the middle Bakken or the Three Forks Sanish. I sent them a comment asking.

Spearfish: Another Formation Suitable for Horizontal Drilling?

For reports on Spearfish/Scandia wells, click here.

The geology and potential. 

NEWS

August 26, 2013: update of Spearfish activity in North Dakota.

August 12, 2013: is Corinthian Exploration hitting its stride at just the right time? This is quite incredible.

September 18, 2012: Spearfish update.

April 2, 2012: Legacy Oil & Gas, Spearfish update.

May 23, 2011: Legacy hits a gusher. This was a huge error. The IP of 3,000 was absolutely incorrect.

April 9, 2011: Surge Energy will present at conference, Monday, April 11, 2011. Corporate presentation dated April 8, 2011, now available.

April 9, 2010: EOG is drilling these wells into the Spearfish in 3.5 days and at a cost of $1 million.

"Here we go."  North of the border (in Canada), the field is known as the Waskada. EOG estimates 25 million barrels in this field north of this border and 20 million barrels on the south side of the border. These are relatively small fields, but the investment rate of return is 70 to 100 percent. More of the same.

April 3: 2011: More stories on the Bottineau Spearfish wells.

• Corinthian Surge: 204 Wells for the Bottineau Spearfish
• The Canadian Invasion: Corinthian Bought By Surge Energy in 2010

March 26, 2011: Activity picks up. Several recent posts.

• Surge Energy / Corinthian Energy (Calgary) acquires Ritchie's Bottineau Spearfish wells
• Spearfish oil: Sweet or Sour -- Still Confusing
• Long vs Short Laterals: Implications for the Bottineau Spearfish wells

March 22, 2011: Surge Energy 2011 Update

In North Dakota, Surge participated in two (0.4 net) non-operated wells during the fourth quarter of 2011.  The Company expects to participate in an additional six to eight gross non-operated wells during 2012 and plans to commence drilling its 100 percent operated wells during the third quarter. During the first quarter of 2012 Surge is also participating in a North Dakota 14.2 square mile 3D seismic program, which will aid in the execution of the 2012 Spearfish horizontal well drilling program.

March 16, 2011: Legacy Oil and Gas update in the Bottineau Spearfish

February 6, 2011: Hey, not so fast. 

Officials say work is still going on in the Spearfish in Bottineau. It's sour oil and Enbridge won't put sour oil in its system; Spearfish oil needs to be trucked to Canada. Spokesman: the Spearfish is about where the Bakken was back in 2005.  Some say EOG has re-deployed its assets to the Wyoming Niobrara and the Texas Eagle Ford -- which makes lots of sense. EOG got shellacked in 3Q10 earnings.  Need to get their act together.

January 24, 2011: EOG cancels a permit in the Souris targeting the Spearfish; evidence that EOG is throwing in the towel in the Souris/Spearfish?

January 3, 2010: a DRY well that targeted the Spearfish. This well was just a few miles south of all the other miserable Spearfish wells just across the border from Canada. Why were "they" successful in the Canadian Spearfish but couldn't do it in North Dakota?

December 25, 2010: EOG not hitting on all cylinders.

December 14, 2010: Update on a couple of Spearfish wells.

November 19, 2010: More insight into the Spearfish wells; they are really very shallow.

October 31, 2010: No news coming out of the Souris.

August 31, 2010: Commentary on first two Spearfish formation wells in the  Souris.

August 12, 2010: Article with map, graphics. Spearfish wells in southwest Manitoba.

August 11, 2010: Same story; just re-printed as a new news story. Several thousand wells possible.

July 16, 2010: Update on Scandia wells. Fast and furious.

April 9, 2010: EOG is drilling these wells into the Spearfish in 3.5 days and at a cost of $1 million.

"Here we go."  North of the border (in Canada), the field is known as the Waskada. EOG estimates 25 million barrels in this field north of this border and 20 million barrels on the south side of the border. These are relatively small fields, but the investment rate of return is 70 to 100 percent. More of the same.

March 20, 2010: Although this is a press release, it provides some interesting information on the Spearfish formation in Manitoba, just across the border from Bottineau County in North Dakota which is seeing increased activity.

The press release is from an Australian company, Molopo, which acquired Spearfish and Bakken assets in southwestern Manitoba. The press release notes that EOG uses technology known within the industry as CobraFrac and StackFrac from service companies such as Halliburton and PackersPlus, respectively.

March 15, 2010: The Spearfish experience in Canada.

This article says the wells cost $1.5 million in Manitoba; that did not make sense to me. However two days after linking that article I came across an article in Oilweek that says due to shallower formations, wells in Canada are costing $1.5 to $1.6 million compared to $4 million to $6 million in North Dakota Bakken. March 15, 2010.

Original Post

First mention of Spearfish for horizontal drilling, February 10, 2010. This thread mentions that "EOG Canada" has put in as many as eight (8) horizontal wells in one half-section (320 acres) targeting the Spearfish.

You can locate the Spearfish formation on this "stratigraphic map."  When you get to this site, you can zoom in. Go to "Williston Basin" and scroll down. The Spearfish is "above" the Bakken.

The Spearfish is in the Triassic period; the Bakken and Three Forks Sanish are in the Devonian.

The stratographic view.


She Bop, Cyndi Lauper