Random Update Of Three Whiting/KOG Mandaree Wells -- December 26, 2017

NB: note the names of the two earlier wells; and the name of the re-fracked well.

The wells:

• 18517, 1,595, Whiting, Two Shields Butte 2-24-12-2H, Mandaree, t9/11; cum 494K 10/17;
• 19826, 2,945, Whiting, Two Shields Butte 2-24-12-1H3, Mandaree, Three Forks; 9/11; cum 454K 10/17; 10562; well name change from 2-24-12-1H to 2-24-12-1H3;
• 30929, 1,989, Whiting, Two Shields Butte 1-24-12-1H, Mandaree, 44 stages, 14.6 million lbs, t1/17; cum 210K 10/17; 10476; 

18517, 2-24-12-2H:

BAKKEN	10-2017	31	4975	4937	3036	1677	1060	400
BAKKEN	9-2017	19	3094	3125	1845	843	252	447
BAKKEN	8-2017	29	5242	5301	3191	1849	1331	295
BAKKEN	7-2017	31	6419	6503	4630	3180	2629	331
BAKKEN	6-2017	30	5917	5852	4360	3927	2351	1355
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	6141	6102	4898	5270	2508	2454
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	5573	5620	4750	6083	2806	3001
BAKKEN	3-2017	31	6131	6028	7961	4515	4014	263
BAKKEN	2-2017	21	2451	2390	3767	2064	1853	92
BAKKEN	1-2017	0	0	263	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2016	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2016	30	2656	2561	1141	2801	2173	43
BAKKEN	10-2016	31	3353	3454	1749	4318	3178	394
BAKKEN	9-2016	29	3920	3832	1697	2884	638	165

19826: 2-24-12-1H3:

BAKKEN	8-2017	31	3510	3575	7918	1025	705	156
BAKKEN	7-2017	31	5460	5578	9414	3354	2777	350
BAKKEN	6-2017	30	6310	6229	7903	5873	3539	2039
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	6060	6036	7924	7601	3637	3559
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	6179	6227	8171	7082	3274	3501
BAKKEN	3-2017	31	6675	6640	9213	5037	4487	294
BAKKEN	2-2017	28	5726	5595	7374	6092	5564	275
BAKKEN	1-2017	5	301	419	219	144	128	0
BAKKEN	12-2016	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2016	15	1308	1350	769	500	365	7

30929, 1-24-12-1H:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2017	31	20057	20038	9505	18790	12489	4717
BAKKEN	9-2017	30	21416	21451	10048	16377	5204	9228
BAKKEN	8-2017	31	24001	24083	11513	24035	18063	4000
BAKKEN	7-2017	31	20601	20521	8789	18889	16006	2017
BAKKEN	6-2017	17	9649	9720	3482	8536	5191	2991
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	16965	16928	8226	19877	9584	9377
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	18717	18956	8904	21838	10181	10888
BAKKEN	3-2017	31	23713	23856	10933	18502	16707	1094
BAKKEN	2-2017	28	31180	31383	27852	22159	20445	1011
BAKKEN	1-2017	25	24057	23078	24633	15942	15770	0

Whatever Happened To The Upper Bakken Shale? -- October 9, 2014

This takes us back to a June 16, 2012, posting in which we discussed Slawson targeting the Upper Bakken Shale.

For newbies, it might be advantageous to review the geology being discussed at this post (at the linked post, scroll down to the "geology"). 

 A reader asked "whatever resulted from the Slawson wells that targeted the upper Bakken shale?"

In the linked post above to the June 16, 2012, entry, the Slawson wells were not specifically identified.

Going to "well search" at NDIC site, there are only two wells that fit that description:

• #16920, 216, Slawson, Piranha 1-4H, upper Bakken shale, one section, t3/08; cum 105K 8/14;
• #16401, conf, Slawson, Stingray Federal 1-32H, upper Bakken shale, two sections; t4/07; cum 195K 8/14;

The file reports are incredibly interesting. I had not looked at them until recently. They clearly state the objective was the (upper) Bakken Shale.

Both wells are moderately successful and both wells are still active.

Scout ticket for #16920:

NDIC File No: 16920   
Well Type: OG     Well Status: A     Status Date: 3/24/2008     Wellbore type: Horizontal
Location: SWSW 4-146-104   Latitude: 47.490777     Longitude: -103.945780
Current Operator: SLAWSON EXPLORATION COMPANY, INC.
Current Well Name: PIRANHA 1-4H
Total Depth: 14145     Field: SQUAW GAP
Spud Date(s):  2/3/2008
Completion Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Perfs: 10843-14145     Comp: 3/24/2008     Status: AL     Date: 5/30/2008     Spacing: SEC
Cumulative Production Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Cum Oil: 105133     Cum MCF Gas: 53912     Cum Water: 695
Production Test Data
   IP Test Date: 3/26/2008     Pool: BAKKEN     IP Oil: 216     IP MCF: 54     IP Water: 0

Scout Ticket for #16401

NDIC File No: 16401    
Well Type: OG     Well Status: A     Status Date: 4/4/2007     Wellbore type: Directional
Location: NENE 32-147-104     Latitude: 47.514587     Longitude: -103.949908
Current Operator: SLAWSON EXPLORATION COMPANY, INC.
Current Well Name: STINGRAY FEDERAL 1-32H
Total Depth: 13952     Field: SQUAW GAP
Spud Date(s):  1/10/2007
Completion Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Perfs: 10203-13952     Comp: 4/4/2007     Status: AL     Date: 5/18/2007     Spacing: SEC
   Pool: RED RIVER     Comp: 4/4/2007     Status: DRY     Date: 4/4/2007
Cumulative Production Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Cum Oil: 194,761   Cum MCF Gas: 72265     Cum Water: 1290
Production Test Data
   IP Test Date: 4/4/2007    Pool: BAKKEN     IP Oil: 479     IP MCF: 195     IP Water: 100

Some things to note:

• the "Bakken" is not otherwise specified, but the report clearly stated "Bakken shale" or "upper Bakken shale"
• the earlier well is described as a directional well; the older well, a horizontal well
• although it's possible I missed it, or did not understand the report, it appears these wells were not fracked
• despite the low IP (and particularly if they were not fracked), the total production has exceeded 100,000 bbls (though it has taken quite a bit of time)

HUGE ARTICLE: The Bakken: A New Exploration Frontier -- SeekingAlpha

Note: this is a story I have been anticipating for some time. I am guilty of not having done some of the primary research on my own, but Richard Zeits, SeekingAlpha.com, has provided that for us, in a format much better than I could have done. For additional background, you may want to read a couple of other posts with the same tag.

I don't know if it's hyperbole to say this is one of the most exciting developments to come out of the Bakken in the past few months.

There are so many story lines in this Richard Zeits story, but maybe for another time. 

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

Some months ago I think I jumped the gun, jumping on the same bandwagon as many others, suggesting and agreeing that "we" were entering the manufacturing stage in the Bakken. Then the blockbuster briefing by Continental Resources following through with aggressive plans to test two, three, or four "benches" below the upper Three Forks.

Earlier this month, I started changing my comments to reflect that perhaps some operators were moving into the manufacturing stage, some, particularly Continental Resources, were still very much in the exploration phase. Other operators, due to the high cost of completing a well, were delaying plans to enter the manufacturing phase.

Now, we have another nice SeekingAlpha.com article suggesting that exploration is still the name of the game for some in the Bakken.

This could be huge, and was foreshadowed by PN.com with regard to Slawson (see other posts with the same tag).

Back on June 16, 2012, I posted a note about Slawson testing the Upper Bakken shale (for newbies, 99% of the "Bakken formation" wells are middle Bakken wells (dolomite sand); "no one" is drilling the Upper Bakken "tight" shale -- "no one," that is, except Slawson.

According to the linked SeekingAlpha.com story, CLR recently made reference to the drilling results by Slawson in the Mondak, recently made public, that tested the upper Bakken shale.

On September 27, Slawson Exploration (the operator) and its 10% working interest partner PetroShale announced the initial results from their first four test wells in the Mondak field. These four horizontal test wells are noteworthy for having been drilled and completed in the Upper Bakken Shale itself (as opposed to the vast majority of the industry's development activity which has targeted the Middle Bakken dolomite, a reservoir rock sandwiched between the low permeability source rocks, the Upper Bakken Shale and Lower Bakken Shale).

Go to the link for the rest of the story. I may post some data points later, but the story is too incredible to wait for me to post data points.

It is very, very exciting.

Play this loud (real loud) while reading the SeekingAlpha.com article:

What is Love? A Night at the Roxbury, Haddaway
75th best-selling single of all time in Germany.

Slawson: Drilling the Upper Bakken Shale

Again, this is a very tantalizing story sent to me by a reader.  This is a continuation of a discussion that began here.

I am not a geologist, but this is what I think "they" are saying.

The source rock for the Bakken Pool (which includes the Bakken formations and the Three Forks formations) is the upper Bakken formation and the upper Bakken formation.

The oil migrates from this source rock into tight reservoirs: the middle Bakken and the upper Three Forks.

The drillers in the current Bakken boom are concentrating on the two reservoirs: the middle Bakken and the upper Three Forks.

Some argue that the upper and the lower Bakken are both source rock and reservoirs. At the link, the writer discusses the "only" operator who is targeting the source rock as a payzone: Slawson.

There are two important data points according to the geologist at the linked article:

• 90 - 95 percent of the oil in the source rock has not migrated to the tight shale that current operators are targeting
• 5 - 10% of the oil in the source rock is recoverable

For comparison: it is generally accepted that the operators are currently recovering 3 to 15% of the original oil in place (OOIP). The lower, more conservative figures come from government agencies; the upper figures come from some of the operators in the Bakken. I suppose the real answer is somewhere in the middle, though it certainly appears that "best practices" could result in 10% recovery of OOIP.

If the geologist is correct, that 90 - 95 of the "Bakken" oil is still in source rock (which has not been targeted for the most part) and that 5 - 10% is recoverable, it does not take an advanced degree in mathematics to see that the amount of oil that could be recovered from the Williston Basin defies one's wildest imaginations.

As noted above, one operator (Slawson) is targeting source rock. It is my understanding that the technology does not exist or the lack of understanding of how to use existing technology precludes successful wells targeting the source rock.

So the proof will be in the pudding.

According to the linked article, one company is drilling into source rock, the upper Bakken: Slawson.

Slawson says they are producing "some oil" from the source rock (upper Bakken) in three fields, most notably, for me, Squaw Gap in McKenzie County. They say the first Squaw Gap wells were drilled and/or completed in 2007-8 permits, so I will have to go back and check on how those wells are doing. And regardless of how they are doing, one will have to determine if there horizontals are in the upper Bakken or the middle Bakken (it may not be all that easy; I don't know).

In addition, the linked article mentions that permits for six new Squaw Gap wells were issued in mid-April of this year.