EOG and WLL Head-To-Head in the Parshall and the Sanish -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The fifth permit for a fifth monitoring well along an EOG horizontal suggested a comparison of EOG wells and Whiting wells in near proximity to each other might be in order.

I compared the IPs and cumulative production of the EOG wells and Whiting wells within a few miles of each other.

I looked at all the EOG wells in the nine sections in the southwest corner of T153N-R90W (Parshall oil field) and all the Whiting wells in the southeast corner of T153N-91W (Sanish oil field). East to west, these wells are less than six miles apart, all in the same latitude.

All data taken from NDIC file reports (no corporate presentations, or press releases). 

The EOG wells were all short laterals; the Whiting wells were all long laterals. Here are the results, file numbers, IPs, cumulative oil produced, and IP test date:

EOG wells:

• 17042, 492, 252K, 11/22/08
• 18315, 102, 27K, 4/24/10 -- compare with WLL's 18481 below
• 17142, 1,055, 274K, 9/16/08
• 17366, 553, 224K, 11/6/08
• 18807, 467, 21K, 6/30/10 -- seven months and only 21K; this is the Parshall; recent well
• 18808, 665, 15K, 11/10/10
• 17129, 610, 218K, 12/22/08
• 17732, 895, 170K, 6/16/09
• 16746, 1,523, 226K, 6/21/09
• 17019, 732, 194K, 6/18/09
• 17121, 800, 175K, 8/4/09
• 19317, 213, 5K, 11/5/10 -- this one is concerning; very prolific Sanish; a very low IP; total cumulative less than 5K in 2.5 months

Total EOG cumulative production in nine sections: 1,801K


Whiting wells:

• 18136, 1,455, 140K,11/1/09
• 16731, 1,323, 359K, 12/16/07
• 17586, 2,004, 246K, 12/8/08
• 16780, 2,247, 330K, 1/24/08
• 17575, 3,260, 356K, 2/3/09
• 18481, 2,672, 168K, 5/9/10 -- less than a year; paid for at the wellhead
• 17253, 2,045, 283K, 9/18/08

Total Whiting cumulative production in nine sections: 1,882K

Note: I thought EOG had an earlier start than WLL in the Bakken but in this area, WLL had the earlier well. WLL had to drill only 7 wells to exceed (slightly) EOG's 12 wells. Granted, long laterals are more expensive then short laterals, but probably not significantly.


Size of the field:

• The Parshall field is about 211 sections. 
• The Sanish field is about 192 sections.

Total production for the entire fields (NDIC data, as of January 31, 2011):

• Total cumulative for the entire Parshall field (first month of production: May, 2006): 44 million bbls.
• Total cumulative for the entire Sanish field (first month of production: April, 2006): 28 million bbls.

Other notes:

• Sanish field: 8 rigs on site; about 20 additional wells where drilling is almost complete
• Parshall field:  3 rigs on site; one additional well where drilling is almost complete

Disclaimer: this is not a precise review. I may have missed some wells in these sections; the size of the fields may have changed slightly since I last reviewed them.  Numbers have been rounded, and there may be typos.

Wednesday, March 2, Huge Day: NOG To Release Earnings Before Market Opens; AAPL to Announce New iPad

Wednesday, March 2, 2011, is gonna be a huge day.

Here's what one guy thinks about NOG's 4Q10 earnings. 

North Dakota Benefiting From Events in the Mideast -- Article

Here's the link.

From MinnPost.com, the author suggests that events in the Mideast are benefiting oil activity in North Dakota.

North Dakota has sailed through the recession with the lowest unemployment in the country, a shortage of skilled workers and a budget surplus as the state has benefited from the shale oil boom in the western part of the state.

Now the stocks of companies working in the Bakken oil fields straddling western North Dakota and eastern Montana seems to be benefiting from turmoil in the Mideast.

Investors and traders are bidding up the stocks of these companies faster than the big oil companies. 

To some extent the author's thesis is accurate, but I think there's more to it. First, new investors are starting to realize the Bakken is "for real." Second, seasoned investors are starting to understand the Bakken may be bigger than originally thought.

The Bakken oil companies started their run-up well before recent events in the Mideast.

Two (2) New Permits in North Dakota, USA -- Enerplus, Sinclair With Nice Wells

Produers: Hess and CLR.

Fields: Big Butte (see below) and Hamlet.

On the other hand, eighteen wells came off the confidential list. Results are reported elsewhere. However, of the eighteen, four were canceled or expired permits; two targeted the Madison; Enerplus had a great well (3,424 bopd, IP); and, Sinclair had a nice well (1,039, IP).  The others were unremarkable Bakken wells.

I neglected to include the names of these two wells in the original post. Here they are:

• 18546, 3,424, Enerplus, Ethan Hall 6B-31-30-1H, McGregory Buttes, Bakken (50K in  one month)
• 18888, 1,039, Sinclair, Martens 1-5H, Sanish, Bakken

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The Hess permit in Big Butte was the fifth of five permits for vertical wells on either side of horizontal #17117, EN-Person-156-94-1102H-1, a long lateral starting in section 11 and ending in section 2, T156N-R94W.  With this permit, there are now five permits/wells along this lateral. They do not have the "H" designation, and this, as well as their name (Person Observation) suggests these vertical wells are monitoring the activity of the horizontal and probably the formations above and below this lateral. [Update, on the March 14, 2011, daily activity report, there is now another permit for another well next to #17117. This permits is 20599, EN-Person Observation 2-43.]

The six permits along the horizontal #17117:

• 20500, SI, EN-Person Observation 11-33, Three Forks,
• 20315, SI, EN-Person Observation 11-22, Duperow,
• 20442, SI, EN-Person Observation 2-24, Three Forks,
• 20361, SI, EN-Person Observation 11-31, Three Forks,
• 20539, SI, EN-Person Observation 2-32, Three Forks,
• 20599, SI, EN-Person Observation 2-43, Three Forks, 

The folks over at the Bakken Shale Discussion Group noted the same thing, and may have more information going forward.

Comment: simply "observation wells." Never any intent to produce from them. -- May 10, 2014.

CLR To Offer 11.5 Million Shares in New Offering And Raise CAPEX by $400 Million for 2011 -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Currently 169.3 million shares outstanding.

The offering:

• 9.17 million new shares
• 0.83 million sold by selling sharesholders
• 1.5 million additional for over -allotment

_________________________________

TOTAL: 10.67 million new shares, if I understand this correctly = 6.3% of current shares outstanding.

CLR announced today that it and certain selling shareholders intend to offer 10,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock to the public, of which 9,170,000 shares would be sold by the Company and 830,000 shares would be sold by the selling shareholders, pursuant to the Company's effective shelf registration statement.  The Company also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.  

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This is the link to the prospectus.

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On page S-4 of the summary:

"We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling shareholders."

If I understand that correctly, the shareholders selling 830,000 shares of common stock will keep the proceeds for themselves. Immaterial to the offering.

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CLR also announced today that the company is increasing its CAPEX from previously announced $1.36 billion to $1.75 billion.

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More comments later.