Back To Rig Counts -- February 9, 2021

And we've come full circle. Back to the future. The Red Queen. 

Link here. At link, click on the graphics for enlargement.

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North Dakota Oil Well Productivity

Daily Oil Per Well

• Historical monthly oil production statistics

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Back to Body Counts

Bakken Daily Oil Per Well -- Random Update -- October 12, 2019

Disclaimer: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken. I often see things that do not exist in the real world. I often misread stuff. There will be factual and typographical errors in all my posts. If I find them, I correct them. If any of this is important to you, go to the source.

Note: there's a big difference between what physically happens in the oil patch and what happens on Wall Street. I would never make a recommendation about investing. I track Wall Street "stuff" to help put the Bakken in perspective, and more importantly, keep me from getting bored. Having said that, I would say this: there are a lot better places to invest than in US oil. LOL.

This was taken from the second half of this post. This is so interesting, I'm going to re-post the second half of that post:

EIA dashboards:

• EIA pdf, Bakken: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/bakken.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Permian: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/permian.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Eagle Ford: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/eagleford.pdf

Wow, wow, wow. I haven't looked at this in a long, long time. This is incredible.

To get to the spreadsheet:

• go to this link: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/stats/statisticsvw.asp.
• at that link, click on "Historical monthly Bakken oil production statistics" -- about the 8th bulleted item under the first major heading; a pdf will download

This is huge.

I followed this data for years, posting updates every so often. And then about two years ago I quit tracking it for various reasons. Mostly because I wasn't interested in the data any more; I understood what was going on. Remember, the purpose of the blog is to help me understand the Bakken; it's not about capturing all the Bakken data or archiving it all. Once I understand something about the Bakken, I often lose interest.

But look at this: during the boom, in the early days of the Bakken and continuing into 2013, on a "daily oil per well" basis, the wells were setting records, as high as 140 bbls/day/well across the entire Bakken (including all the old wells and the dreaded Bakken decline rate).

Then starting in early 2016, "daily oil per well" dropped below 100 bbls/day and gradually leveled off at about 90 bbls/day. I assumed it would go lower and lower as older Bakken wells grew older and older.

Had the "daily oil per well" continued to drop we would have seen any number of "negative" stories about the Bakken. I would have become depressed.

But out of curiosity, after seeing the ShaleProfile report today, I was curious. What does the "Bakken daily oil per well" show?

Wow, wow, wow. The Bakken is back above 100 bbls/day per well.

That's huge. Folks don't realize this. This was not supposed to happen.

Almost no Bakken wells are abandoned. There are thousands of Bakken stripper wells; thousands of Bakken wells that are producing less than 500 bbls/month -- that's less than 20 bbls/day/well. It would seem impossible for the few wells that start production each month to "offset" these old, old, old wells.

One would expect the overall Bakken daily oil per well to keep falling. But to see the number turn the corner (from 94) and bounce back to 104 is, to say the least, quite incredible.

Anecdotally, I've noticed how incredible the wells are -- MRO, CLR, WLL, WPX -- incredible  work but I never expected this:

When did we last see numbers above 100 bbls/well/day? Back in 2015. Four years ago.

Peak oil? What peak oil?

Hubbert.

And the wells are costing much less now (2019) than they did in 2015.

One last thing. Up above I wrote:

Almost no Bakken wells are abandoned. There are thousands of Bakken stripper wells; thousands of Bakken wells that are producing less than 500 bbls/month -- that's less than 20 bbls/day/well. It would seem impossible for the few wells that start production each month to "offset" these old, old, old wells.

Know what else is interesting?

The old, old, old Bakken wells don't get worse, and worse, and worse. Most of them level off / plateau off at 300 to 500 bbls/month. (Meanwhile, the new wells simply get better and better).

But some of the old, old, old Bakken wells jump in production (halo effect; parent-child uplift).

My hunch is that "Bakken daily oil per well" will be fodder for Bakken naysayers, but I'm not sure. This could be quite interesting.

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Sophia Visiting Corky's Relatives

This is actually quite funny. There is "Calvin and Hobbes" and there is Sophia and Corky.

Yesterday, Sophia and I stopped by the local farm that opens its gates to urban folks for the entire month of October. One of the highlights: the animals -- cows, donkeys, pigs, llamas, sheep, goats, roosters, chickens.

One of the bigger delights are the those little miniature pigs.

Later, while enjoying some kettle popcorn, sitting at the picnic tables, I mentioned to Sophia that it was nice for Corky to get to see her relatives.

And swear to God, I'm not making this up. Sophia seemed downright sad when she said, "I thought [her relatives] were all dead."

Sophia was not sad that Corky was able to see her relatives. I think Sophia was sad because she (Sophia) had erroneously told Corky that her (Corky's) relatives were all dead. And now Sophia was depressed that Corky might think that she (Sophia) had lied to her. Sophia did not mean any harm; she really thought that Corky's relatives were dead.

Corky's relatives, according to Sophia, were from Colorado, but had moved to Wisconsin (or maybe, it was Michigan, I forget). But after that move, Sophia lost track of Corky's relatives. She thought maybe they had moved to Hawaii, which, of course, would explain the demise of Corky's relatives -- the Hawaiians love pork barbecue. 

[Note: it did not help matters that my wife -- Sophia's grandmother -- thought the same, that all of Corky's relatives were dead -- after all, she sees Corky's relatives every week at Albertson's, Kroger's, Tom Thumb. And not in a "good way."]

ShaleProfile -- Update Through April, 2019

Link here.

The link will take you to a "commercial" site; lots of stuff behind a paywall, but the stuff that is free is worth reading.

I noted one particular item that caught my interest. It has to do with "well productivity."

Some direct quotes from the linked article:

In the comments section at the bottom of this post, I will comment on some recent articles that questioned whether well productivity is stalling in the Permian.

Oil production from horizontal wells in these states grew to close to 7 million bo/d in April (after upcoming revisions), setting a new record. That would represent a y-o-y growth of 1.3 million bo/d, but the rate at which production is increasing has slowed down since the end of last year.

Also here you can see that well productivity increased significantly over the years, and is still going up, although the rate of growth is going down. But what if you normalize for the lateral length, which has increased in almost all of the basins?

The current report is focused on the Permian. The author writes that it will post an update on the Bakken when the next Director's Cut is released next week.

Since about 2010, "all" Bakken wells are drilled with 9,000-foot horizontals, the "standard" Bakken long lateral, cutting through two sections (1280-acres). Horizontal lengths have not been standardized in the Permian based on what is reported at DrillingInfo.

I'm sure the folks at ShaleProfile will "normalize" something for the Bakken to make their point, but anecdotally I see ever-increasing productivity from Bakken wells. The same is seen at the EIA "dashboards":

EIA dashboards:

• EIA pdf, Bakken: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/bakken.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Permian: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/permian.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Eagle Ford: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/eagleford.pdf

Wow, wow, wow. I haven't looked at this in a long, long time. This is incredible.

To get to the spreadsheet:

• go to this link: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/stats/statisticsvw.asp.
• at that link, click on "Historical monthly Bakken oil production statistics" -- about the 8th bulleted item under the first major heading; a pdf will download

This is huge.

I followed this data for years, posting updates every so often. And then about two years ago I quit tracking it for various reasons. Mostly because I wasn't interested in the data any more; I understood what was going on. Remember, the purpose of the blog is to help me understand the Bakken; it's not about capturing all the Bakken data or archiving it all. Once I understand something about the Bakken, I often lose interest.

But look at this: during the boom, in the early days of the Bakken and continuing into 2013, on a "daily oil per well" basis, the wells were setting records, as high as 140 bbls/day/well across the entire Bakken (including all the old wells and the dreaded Bakken decline rate).

Then starting in early 2016, "daily oil per well" dropped below 100 bbls/day and gradually leveled off at about 90 bbls/day. I assumed it would go lower and lower as older Bakken wells grew older and older.

Had the "daily oil per well" continued to drop we would have seen any number of "negative" stories about the Bakken. I would have become depressed.

But out of curiosity, after seeing the ShaleProfile report today, I was curious. What does the "Bakken daily oil per well" show?

Wow, wow, wow. The Bakken is back above 100 bbls/day per well.

That's huge. Folks don't realize this. This was not supposed to happen.

Almost no Bakken wells are abandoned. There are thousands of Bakken stripper welsl; thousands of Bakken wells that are producing less than 500 bbls/month -- that's less than 20 bbls/day/well. It would seem impossible for the few wells that start production each month to "offset" these old, old, old wells.

One would expect the overall Bakken daily oil per well to keep falling. But to see the number turn the corner (from 94) and bounce back to 104 is, to say the least, quite incredible.

Anecdotally, I've noticed how incredible the wells are -- MRO, CLR, WLL, WPX -- incredible  work but I never expected this:

When did we last see numbers above 100 bbls/well/day? Back in 2015. Four years ago.

Peak oil? What peak oil?

Hubbert.

And the wells are costing much less now (2019) than they did in 2015.

One last thing. Up above I wrote:

Almost no Bakken wells are abandoned. There are thousands of Bakken stripper welsl; thousands of Bakken wells that are producing less than 500 bbls/month -- that's less than 20 bbls/day/well. It would seem impossible for the few wells that start production each month to "offset" these old, old, old wells.

Know what else is interesting?

The old, old, old Bakken wells don't get worse, and worse, and worse. Most of them level off / plateau off at 300 to 500 bbls/month. (Meanwhile, the new wells simply get better and better).

But some of the old, old, old Bakken wells jump in production (halo effect; parent-child uplift).

My hunch is that "Bakken daily oil per well" will be fodder for Bakken naysayers, but I'm not sure.

This could be quite interesting.

US Shale Frackers Eye World Conquest -- One Year Ago -- The Telegraph -- August 23, 2017

This is probably as good a "look-back" as I've seen, from The [London] Telegraph. Archived.

Remember: this article is from a year ago, during the early stages of the "depression."

It's a long article and covers many areas, so let's go through some of the data points with my comments thrown in.

Most remarkable prognostication from the article, from Mark Papa, "a legendary figure in the shale fraternity and now at Riverstone Holdings": 

“I can see a case where US shale is the biggest supplier of oil in the world by 2020. We could turn the whole thing on its ear, producing 13-14m b/d. But it will be really ugly getting through this valley,” he said. 

Most interesting comment from the article, also from Mark Papa:

Mr Papa said it will not be long before engineers work out how to double the efficiency of shale extraction to the 50 percent levels seen in conventional oil wells. "It'll probably come in the next ten years. That's the next big break-through," he said.

For newbies, as I understand it, Mr Papa is talking about "primary production" and does not include enhanced oil recovery using waterflooding or CO2 injection.

This raises the question: what is the current primary production estimated to be in the Bakken? At the beginning of the boom, it was widely accepted that primary production would range between 1 and 3 percent. For a 500-billion bbl original-oil-in-place reservoir, that worked out to 5 to 15 billion bbls.

Around 2014 or so, Whiting and others were suggesting that operators were achieving 7% primary production in the Bakken and reading between the lines, it appeared that some operators might have been achieving as much as 12% or at least trying to hit that target.

At 10% primary production, a 500-billion bbl original-oil-in-place reservoir works out to 50 billion bbls of recoverable oil.

Currently, the Bakken is producing about 350 million bbls annually, or 1 billion bbls every three years. Unfettered, Bentek estimated (and some continue to estimate) that the Bakken can produce 2.2 million bbls daily if the "price was right."

The second most interesting comment from the article: I vividly recall analysts saying that it was impossible for frackers to "turn on a dime," that it would take months for frackers to spud a well and bring it to production. I remember that vividly because I was not seeing that in the Bakken. From spud to production, operators could measure it in days -- generally about 30 days. And bringing in more rigs was not all that difficult. The biggest problem for the Bakken was competition from the Permian for skilled work crews but with things starting to turn a bit sour in the Permian, the Bakken may have some relief. But I digress. From the article:

"Restarting production may be easier than people think. Everything is ready to go. There are plenty of rigs. All the ingredients are there. There is a lot of money looking for the bottom of the cycle, waiting to get back in," he said. 

In the first two or three years of the Bakken boom, there was minimal infrastructure and constrained takeaway capacity. Both of those have been resolved.

Not mentioned in the article, in the Bakken alone:

• 850 DUCs
• 1,500 wells that are shut in for various reasons

At the end of this quote, IHS was thinking specifically of the Bakken, but since 2016, everything changed when the DAPL came on line (early 2017):

IHS said there are three groups of 'invisible barrels' likely to bear the brunt as the market stabilizes: small-scale 'stripper wells' of around 2m b/d, half of them in the US; those with high-fixed costs in North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico that are going into steeper decline; and those in remote locations or with long pipelines, and a $10-$12 disadvantage. "

They are in the eye of the storm," it said. 

Hess disagrees: 

The great unknown for world oil markets is how fast the frackers will come back. John Hess says it will take two years once prices recover.

"It is a big logistical undertaking. You've got to mobilize rigs and find people. Assets need permits in the US, and that takes 90 days," he said. "Balance sheets are in disrepair and there is too much debt. The high-yield market has basically dried up and that was the primary source of financing for the shale boom. Debt agencies are in a panic and running everything through $30 oil for the next few years," he said. 

I think where Hess and I disagree has to do with the definition of "recover." It may take two years for E&Ps to return to historical levels of prosperity (as measured by share price or market capitalization) but it certainly won't take two years to see an incredible rush back into the Bakken if oil prices a) began to trend toward $60; and, b) tea leaves suggest that the trend would continue.

Possibly the most incorrect prognostication:

Scott Sheffield, head of Pioneer, expects trouble in the Eagle Ford and Bakken fields, but it is a different story in the lucrative Permian Basin of West Texas, the "crown jewel" holding steady at 2m b/d even at current prices. He claims it is as big as the giant Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, and could eventually produce 6m b/d. 

I agree that production will remain steady (or grow) in the Permian, but it may be more financially challenging than first expected. Paying $60,000/acre in an era of "lower for longer" is not going to cut it, as BHP found out.

Break-evens for US operators: no one knows. The "number" is all over the place. Everyone agrees that "very few things make sense at $30. It's better to leave the oil in the ground."

David Hager, head of Devon Energy, said shale frackers have slashed cuts costs way more than outsiders generally realize since the heady days of the boom, when service fees and wages were rocketing.

"A lot of plays work at $45-$50, and the vast majority from $55-$60. They certainly don't need $90," he said.

This is optimistic. A study by Rystad consultants in Norway puts the break-even price at $68, but nobody knows for sure and frackers disagree among themselves.

Shake-out:  again, Mark Papa -- Mr Papa said the 70 percent crash in oil prices since mid-2014 will wipe out those companies that leveraged to the hilt betting that crude prices would stay above $100 forever.

BHP Billiton is a great example. The company itself agrees that it overpaid when it spent $20 billion to enter US shale plays (the Eagle Ford and the Permian), previously posted/linked. Only because of its size and other mining businesses did BHP survive (and thrive, for that matter).

Re-Balancing: perhaps by end of 2016, into 2017, but difficult to predict. This is what caught my eye, and many readers say the same thing. A new bust-boom cycle:

Mr Papa expects the global balance of supply and demand to tighten by 1.6m b/d this year. This would mop up the glut, before gradually eating into record stocks next year.

"The market is going to grow to 100m b/d. Where is the quantity going to come from? Capital spending on mega-projects has stopped cold,” he said.

“I can see a case where US shale is the biggest supplier of oil in the world by 2020. We could turn the whole thing on its ear, producing 13-14m b/d. But it will be really ugly getting through this valley,” he said.

See my most current estimates regarding "re-balancing" at this post.

By the way, I disagree with Mark Papa on this point: 

"The market is going to grow to 100m b/d. Where is the quantity going to come from? Capital spending on mega-projects has stopped cold,” he said.

The tea leaves suggest there is more than enough oil out there to preclude that concern. But the tea leaves also suggest I am in the distinct minority. Most agree that shale cannot make up for all the off-shore CAPEX that has been deferred or canceled. The reason I disagree: Mideast potential, especially Iraq. Much could be written but perhaps for a different day.

Not just shale. 

"Most companies will survive to take advantage of the recovery. We will ramp up, stay alive, meet the challenge, and look forward to a brighter day. It is not just shale that doesn't work at today's prices, nothing much at all works," said Mr Hager.

I did not post it but there was a recent article suggesting that "stripper wells" are returning. Operators that had shut down stripper well operations are are now returning. I didn't post the story because it seemed to be a press release from oil companies in California where fracking is not panning out for political and geologic reasons. But if I'm wrong, and strippers are coming back, that speaks volumes for the oil sector.

Not mentioned in the article: fracking strategies. Sand is getting more expensive; ceramics remain very expensive. The trend toward ever-increasing amounts of proppant to complete a well seems to be coming to an end. Much more sand is being used, but more sand is being mined, and, either God or nature again seems to smile on the US frackers: huge amounts of fracking sand have been discovered in west Texas, in/near the Permian. Rail won't be required; truckers will do the job. Ceramics appears to be "out" -- too expensive and experience suggests sand does just as well. All those concerns about sand "not holding up" may have been more marketing than real. The big change in sand has to do with size of sand. Operators are going to "smaller" sand.

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Addendum

Playing Around With Numbers

In the examples below, one can pick whatever numbers in bold one wants.


The North Dakota Bakken (middle Bakken plus Three Forks first bench)

• Williston to Minot: 120 miles
• Williston to Belfield: 100 miles
• 100 miles x 100 miles = 10,000 square miles -- the North Dakota Bakken

640 acres/square mile = 6.4 million acres

5,000 1280-acre drilling units

500 billion bbl original-oil-in-place reservoir

500 billion bbls OOIP / 6,400,000 acres = 78,125 bbls OOIP/acre

78,125 bbls OOIP/acre x  1280 acres/drilling unit = 100 million bbls OOIP / 1280-acre drilling unit
500 billion bbls OOIP / 5,000 1280-acre drilling units = 100 million bbls OOIP / 1280-acre drilling unit

12 wells / 1280-acre drilling unit

100 million bbls OOIP x 7% production rate = 7 million bbls recoverable oil / 1280-acre drilling unit
7 million bbs / 12 wells = 583,333 bbls / well

Summary: at 7% production rate across the middle Bakken/Three Forks first bench yields:  583,333 bbls/well

Whether one agrees with the assumptions or not (the numbers in bold) it is amazing that the law of large numbers seems to work. I think everyone agrees that EURs of 600,000 bbls is not unrealistic (yes, I know there are a lot of poor Bakken wells out there, but one can also argue that a lot of those poorer Bakken wells were drilled under less than optimal conditions, beginning with poor understanding of the geology and extending through inexperienced roughnecks.

If, in fact, operators are approaching 14% productivity rate in the Bakken, then one can expect million-bbl EURs.

Idle chatter but it helps me validate OOIP estimates; company talk about production rates; and, EURs of wells that are being drilled over time.

Are EIA Drilling Productivity Reports Misleading The Market? BTU Analytics -- July 26, 2017

Wow, talk about a great article, from BRU Analytics, sent to me by a reader: are EIA drilling productivity reports are misleading the market?

BTU Analytics would contend that those hoping that Permian productivity has hit a peak and thus US oil production forecasts are overblown are deceiving themselves. 

There are several potential flaws with modeling rig productivity utilizing [EIA's] approach. The first flaw is that it assumes all new production in period 2 originated from rigs active just two months prior. It’s no secret at this point that the industry has a tremendous ability to add rigs quickly to a region, but completion crews often fail to keep pace with producers in the basin. From 2009-2015, operators in the Marcellus and Utica outstripped the ability of infrastructure and completion crews to keep pace with drilling activity, leading to a peak of nearly 1,600 wells in excess backlog, and oil plays have been no different. The price crash in 2015 led operators to defer completions across all of the major oil producing areas, leading to an excess backlog that peaked in 2016 at over 2,000 wells in the Eagle Ford, Permian, Bakken, and Niobrara.

Archived: it's a great article.

This is one of the reasons I am not a fanatic about posting EIA drilling productivity reports. I post them periodically, but less and less it seems.

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The Sports Page

From Business Insider:

Phil Mickelson is known far and wide for being one of golf's greatest champions — and one of the sport's biggest trash talkers. But the 47-year-old may have run his mouth one to many times at last week's Open Championship.

In 2013, Mickelson won his first and only British Open title after shooting a legendary final round of 66. The victory earned him the Claret Jug in addition to several privileges, including an exemption into the event through age 60 and a spot in the champions' section of the locker room.

It was that last perk that led to Mickelson's latest quip. The veteran was preparing for a practice round when he decided to mess with one of the game's elite players. According to The Telegraph:

"The 47-year-old was in his normal playful demeanor, spotting Jordan Spieth walking into the wrong section of the locker room and telling his young countryman: 'This right here is for past champions.'"

Spieth must have really wanted a spot in that champions' locker room, because he promptly delivered a performance for the ages at Royal Birkdale. The Texan was the only player in the field to shoot four rounds in the 60s, and on Sunday afternoon, he became just the sixth player ever to go wire-to-wire at the Open Championship.

Mickelson has referred to his British Open win as his "greatest accomplishment," however he didn't earn a spot in the champions' locker room until he was 43. Next year, Mickelson is going to have to share the area with the 24-year-old Spieth.

The article failed to mention that Phil missed the cut this year at The Open. I wonder if Phil congratulated Jordan. Pretty funny.

North Dakota Crude Oil Production -- Some Tables -- March 12, 2016

In a long note like this with lots of numbers that were manually typed in, there will be factual and typographical errors. If this information is important to you, go to the source. This list is only the "top" oil field producers in the Bakken. 

Comparing December, 2015, production with January, 2016, production, in decreasing order based on total production the field in December:

Field	Pool	December 2015	Dec Wells	December  Oil/Well/Month	Percent Change Nov-to-Dec	January 2016	Jan Wells	January Oil/Well/Month	Percent Change Dec-to-Jan
Sanish	Bakken	1,558,779	594	2,624	-4.65%	1,610,948	596	2,703	3.35%
Parshall	Bakken	1,189,523	417	2,853	-2.18%	1,122,403	421	2,666	-5.64%
Antelope	Sanish	942,611	157	6,004	4.77%	942,578	157	6,004	-0.00%
Alger	Bakken	836,717	305	2,743	3.21%	768,741	308	2,496	-8.12%
Blue Buttes	Bakken	790,622	133	5,945	-4.40%	783,914	135	5,807	-0.85%
Grail	Bakken	760,765	159	4,785	-14.59%	840,089	159	5,284	10.43%
Siverston	Bakken	730,950	213	3,432	8.03%	711,959	214	3,327	-2.60%
Corral Creek	Bakken	722,677	140	5,162	10.31%	701,919	141	4,978	-2.87%
Reunion Bay	Bakken	703,872	149	4,724	0.85%	691,065	146	4,733	-1.82%
Van Hook	Bakken	697,982	181	3,856	10.74%	599,489	178	3,368	-14.11%
Banks	Bakken	680,867	166	4,102	6.19%	613,342	165	3,717	-9.92%
Alkali Creek	Bakken	663,364	134	4,950	3.10%	651,321	138	4,720	-1.82%
Heart Butte	Bakken	617,786	170	3,634	-8.65%	628,965	170	3,700	1.81%
Truax	Bakken	567,821	163	3,484	6.98%	572,302	165	3,468	0.79%
East Fork	Bakken	496,022	96	5,167	23.75%	525,808	99	5,311	6.00%
Big Bend	Bakken	438,105	113	3,877	3.05%	185,184	113	1,639	-57.73%
Little Knife	Bakken	409,603	137	2,990	10.40%	385,377	137	2,813	-5.91%
Robinson Lake	Bakken	396,752	163	2,434	-21.84%	493,399	168	2,937	24.36%
Eagle Nest	Bakken	394,563	77	5,124	-1.16%	341,524	77	4,435	-13.44%
Sand Creek	Bakken	390,332	74	5,275	-5.50%	382,506	74	5,169	-2.00%
Bailey	Bakken	388,091	145	2,676	0.07%	407,915	148	2,756	5.11%
Brooklyn	Bakken	386,728	79	4,895	-0.93%	373,852	82	4,559	-3.33%
Charlson	Bakken	371,561	105	3,539	5.07%	367,584	105	3,501	-1.07%
McGregory Buttes	Bakken	369,742	82	4,509	14.25%	377,350	84	4,492	2.06%
Murphy Creek	Bakken	364,938	205	1,780	-3.11%	367,595	205	1,793	0.73%
Mandaree	Bakken	357,646	77	4,645	34.74%	332,227	77	4,315	-7.11%
Spotted Horn	Bakken	354,969	66	5,378	-7.60%	408,309	66	6,187	15.03%
Westberg	Bakken	350,361	88	3,981	-3.10%	357,108	90	3,968	1.93%
Camel Butte	Bakken	348,454	34	10,249	17.92%	346,584	34	10,194	-0.54%
Hawkeye	Bakken	335,653	94	3,571	6.33%	351,401	96	3,660	4.69%
Camp	Bakken	321,348	115	2,794	4.80%	388,494	115	3,378	20.90%
Cedar Hills	North Red River B	284,369	117	2,431	0.75%	288,362	117	2,465	1.40%
Poe	Bakken	278,413	83	3,354	-2.60%	259,042	83	3,121	-6.96%
Elidah	Bakken	276,592	53	5,219	0.93%	239,513	53	4,519	-13.41%
Pershing	Bakken	264,899	39	6,792	45.33%	320,227	39	8,211	20.89%
Lost Bridge	Bakken	262,393	53	4,951	-1.36%	266,840	53	5,035	1.69%
Stockyard Creek	Bakken	259,031	72	3,598	6.24%	308,770	76	4,063	19.20%
Dollar Joe	Bakken	249,070	93	2,678	10.33%	222,525	93	2,393	-10.66%
Baker	Bakken	245,310	64	3,833	3.80%	361,687	69	5,242	47.44%
Moccasin Creek	Bakken	244,181	57	4,284	-6.70%	240,143	57	4,213	-1.65%
Chimney Butte	Bakken	241,548	73	3,309	3.66%	216,666	73	2,968	-10.30%
Clear Creek	Bakken	239,975	74	3,243	1.54%	223,672	74	3,023	-6.79%
Cedar Hills	South Red River B	234,265	150	1,562	3.50%	237,464	151	1,573	1.37%
Keene	Bakken/Three Forks	230,590	50	4,612	12.13%	185,636	50	3,713	-19.50%
Long Creek	Bakken	224,394	27	8,311	6.81%	242,123	27	8,968	7.90%
North Tobacco Garden	Bakken	215,393	42	5,128	46.93%	195,643	43	4,550	-9.17%
Crazy Man Creek	Bakken	209,135	44	4,753	-13.71%	224,303	44	5,098	7.25%
Tyrone	Bakken	203,864	56	3,640	29.42%	190,459	56	3,401	-6.58%
Todd	Bakken	202,878	56	3,623	-2.41%	188,025	56	3,358	-7.32%
Bear Den	Bakken	199,990	41	4,878	11.76%	244,669	44	5,561	22.34%
Beaver Lodge	Bakken	199,467	72	2,770	5.98%	146,554	73	2,008	-26.53%

Comparing the change in total production on a percentage basis month-over-month, ranked in descending order. The fields near the top did add new wells which would account for the huge percentage increases. However, without adding new wells, other fields had significant increases: Camp (21%); Pershing (21%); Spotted Horn (15%); and, Grail (10%).

Field	Pool	December 2015	Dec Wells	December  Oil/Well/Month	Percent Change Nov-to-Dec	January 2016	Jan Wells	January Oil/Well/Month	Percent Change Dec-to-Jan
Baker	Bakken	245,310	64	3,833	3.80%	361,687	69	5,242	47.44%
Robinson Lake	Bakken	396,752	163	2,434	-21.84%	493,399	168	2,937	24.36%
Bear Den	Bakken	199,990	41	4,878	11.76%	244,669	44	5,561	22.34%
Camp	Bakken	321,348	115	2,794	4.80%	388,494	115	3,378	20.90%
Pershing	Bakken	264,899	39	6,792	45.33%	320,227	39	8,211	20.89%
Stockyard Creek	Bakken	259,031	72	3,598	6.24%	308,770	76	4,063	19.20%
Spotted Horn	Bakken	354,969	66	5,378	-7.60%	408,309	66	6,187	15.03%
Grail	Bakken	760,765	159	4,785	-14.59%	840,089	159	5,284	10.43%
Long Creek	Bakken	224,394	27	8,311	6.81%	242,123	27	8,968	7.90%
Crazy Man Creek	Bakken	209,135	44	4,753	-13.71%	224,303	44	5,098	7.25%
East Fork	Bakken	496,022	96	5,167	23.75%	525,808	99	5,311	6.00%
Bailey	Bakken	388,091	145	2,676	0.07%	407,915	148	2,756	5.11%
Hawkeye	Bakken	335,653	94	3,571	6.33%	351,401	96	3,660	4.69%
Sanish	Bakken	1,558,779	594	2,624	-4.65%	1,610,948	596	2,703	3.35%
McGregory Buttes	Bakken	369,742	82	4,509	14.25%	377,350	84	4,492	2.06%
Westberg	Bakken	350,361	88	3,981	-3.10%	357,108	90	3,968	1.93%
Heart Butte	Bakken	617,786	170	3,634	-8.65%	628,965	170	3,700	1.81%
Lost Bridge	Bakken	262,393	53	4,951	-1.36%	266,840	53	5,035	1.69%
Cedar Hills	North Red River B	284,369	117	2,431	0.75%	288,362	117	2,465	1.40%
Cedar Hills	South Red River B	234,265	150	1,562	3.50%	237,464	151	1,573	1.37%
Truax	Bakken	567,821	163	3,484	6.98%	572,302	165	3,468	0.79%
Murphy Creek	Bakken	364,938	205	1,780	-3.11%	367,595	205	1,793	0.73%
Antelope	Sanish	942,611	157	6,004	4.77%	942,578	157	6,004	-0.00%
Camel Butte	Bakken	348,454	34	10,249	17.92%	346,584	34	10,194	-0.54%
Blue Buttes	Bakken	790,622	133	5,945	-4.40%	783,914	135	5,807	-0.85%
Charlson	Bakken	371,561	105	3,539	5.07%	367,584	105	3,501	-1.07%
Moccasin Creek	Bakken	244,181	57	4,284	-6.70%	240,143	57	4,213	-1.65%
Alkali Creek	Bakken	663,364	134	4,950	3.10%	651,321	138	4,720	-1.82%
Reunion Bay	Bakken	703,872	149	4,724	0.85%	691,065	146	4,733	-1.82%
Sand Creek	Bakken	390,332	74	5,275	-5.50%	382,506	74	5,169	-2.00%
Siverston	Bakken	730,950	213	3,432	8.03%	711,959	214	3,327	-2.60%
Corral Creek	Bakken	722,677	140	5,162	10.31%	701,919	141	4,978	-2.87%
Brooklyn	Bakken	386,728	79	4,895	-0.93%	373,852	82	4,559	-3.33%
Parshall	Bakken	1,189,523	417	2,853	-2.18%	1,122,403	421	2,666	-5.64%
Little Knife	Bakken	409,603	137	2,990	10.40%	385,377	137	2,813	-5.91%
Tyrone	Bakken	203,864	56	3,640	29.42%	190,459	56	3,401	-6.58%
Clear Creek	Bakken	239,975	74	3,243	1.54%	223,672	74	3,023	-6.79%
Poe	Bakken	278,413	83	3,354	-2.60%	259,042	83	3,121	-6.96%
Mandaree	Bakken	357,646	77	4,645	34.74%	332,227	77	4,315	-7.11%
Todd	Bakken	202,878	56	3,623	-2.41%	188,025	56	3,358	-7.32%
Alger	Bakken	836,717	305	2,743	3.21%	768,741	308	2,496	-8.12%
North Tobacco Garden	Bakken	215,393	42	5,128	46.93%	195,643	43	4,550	-9.17%
Banks	Bakken	680,867	166	4,102	6.19%	613,342	165	3,717	-9.92%
Chimney Butte	Bakken	241,548	73	3,309	3.66%	216,666	73	2,968	-10.30%
Dollar Joe	Bakken	249,070	93	2,678	10.33%	222,525	93	2,393	-10.66%
Elidah	Bakken	276,592	53	5,219	0.93%	239,513	53	4,519	-13.41%
Eagle Nest	Bakken	394,563	77	5,124	-1.16%	341,524	77	4,435	-13.44%
Van Hook	Bakken	697,982	181	3,856	10.74%	599,489	178	3,368	-14.11%
Keene	Bakken/Three Forks	230,590	50	4,612	12.13%	185,636	50	3,713	-19.50%
Beaver Lodge	Bakken	199,467	72	2,770	5.98%	146,554	73	2,008	-26.53%
Big Bend	Bakken	438,105	113	3,877	3.05%	185,184	113	1,639	-57.73%

 Comparing average well production, in descending order, January data, by field. So, for example, in Camel Butte field, there 34 producing wells in both December, 2015, and January, 2016. In January, each well, on average, produced 10,194 bbls of oil. Take a look: Pershing oil field, Baker oil field, and Camp oil field.

Field	Pool	Dec Wells	December  Oil/Well/Month	Jan Wells	January Oil/Well/Month
Camel Butte	Bakken	34	10,249	34	10,194
Long Creek	Bakken	27	8,311	27	8,968
Pershing	Bakken	39	6,792	39	8,211
Spotted Horn	Bakken	66	5,378	66	6,187
Antelope	Sanish	157	6,004	157	6,004
Blue Buttes	Bakken	133	5,945	135	5,807
Bear Den	Bakken	41	4,878	44	5,561
East Fork	Bakken	96	5,167	99	5,311
Grail	Bakken	159	4,785	159	5,284
Baker	Bakken	64	3,833	69	5,242
Sand Creek	Bakken	74	5,275	74	5,169
Crazy Man Creek	Bakken	44	4,753	44	5,098
Lost Bridge	Bakken	53	4,951	53	5,035
Corral Creek	Bakken	140	5,162	141	4,978
Reunion Bay	Bakken	149	4,724	146	4,733
Alkali Creek	Bakken	134	4,950	138	4,720
Brooklyn	Bakken	79	4,895	82	4,559
North Tobacco Garden	Bakken	42	5,128	43	4,550
Elidah	Bakken	53	5,219	53	4,519
McGregory Buttes	Bakken	82	4,509	84	4,492
Eagle Nest	Bakken	77	5,124	77	4,435
Mandaree	Bakken	77	4,645	77	4,315
Moccasin Creek	Bakken	57	4,284	57	4,213
Stockyard Creek	Bakken	72	3,598	76	4,063
Westberg	Bakken	88	3,981	90	3,968
Banks	Bakken	166	4,102	165	3,717
Keene	Bakken/Three Forks	50	4,612	50	3,713
Heart Butte	Bakken	170	3,634	170	3,700
Hawkeye	Bakken	94	3,571	96	3,660
Charlson	Bakken	105	3,539	105	3,501
Truax	Bakken	163	3,484	165	3,468
Tyrone	Bakken	56	3,640	56	3,401
Camp	Bakken	115	2,794	115	3,378
Van Hook	Bakken	181	3,856	178	3,368
Todd	Bakken	56	3,623	56	3,358
Siverston	Bakken	213	3,432	214	3,327
Poe	Bakken	83	3,354	83	3,121
Clear Creek	Bakken	74	3,243	74	3,023
Chimney Butte	Bakken	73	3,309	73	2,968
Robinson Lake	Bakken	163	2,434	168	2,937
Little Knife	Bakken	137	2,990	137	2,813
Bailey	Bakken	145	2,676	148	2,756
Sanish	Bakken	594	2,624	596	2,703
Parshall	Bakken	417	2,853	421	2,666
Alger	Bakken	305	2,743	308	2,496
Cedar Hills	North Red River B	117	2,431	117	2,465
Dollar Joe	Bakken	93	2,678	93	2,393
Beaver Lodge	Bakken	72	2,770	73	2,008
Murphy Creek	Bakken	205	1,780	205	1,793
Big Bend	Bakken	113	3,877	113	1,639
Cedar Hills	South Red River B	150	1,562	151	1,573