Murex Has Another Great Well -- Interesting Production History

Rewritten Post

I really blew it on this one. See "original post" below. Then read the comments at the bottom of the post. I have updated the post as it should have been written:

NDIC report here.

19196, 2,395, Murex, Ventura 11-2H, West Bank, Bakken; spudded 8/10; tested 11/10; 45K in first four months.

Here's the production history:

• 10/10, 31 days of production: 472 bbls produced; 0 "runs"
• Fracked 10/29/10
• 11/10, 30 days of production: 27,215 bbls produced; 26899 bbls run
• 12/10, 31 days of production: 10,427 bbls produced; 10,479 bbls run
• 1/11, 31 days of production: 7,331 bbls produced; 7,169 bbls run
• 2/11, 28 days of production: 10, 915 bbls produced; 10,763 bbls run

What does one notice?

• First the decline rate is typical of a Bakken well, but one always wonders if to some degree it is intentional.
• Second: the well was fracked on October 29, 2010 -- look at that huge bump. It is truly incredible. At one time there was thinking that horizontal wells would eliminate the need for fracking which was used in vertical wells.
• It's possible that the production was slightly affected by weather in January. 

Miscellaneous comments regarding fracking this well:

• Based on number of ports, this looks like a 19- or 20-stage frack stimulation
• This was a sand frack; no mention of Slick Water or gel, although I don't know if they necessarily post that
• No acid was used; some folks feel strongly that acid improves a frack

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Original Post (for archival purposes only; please disregard)

NDIC report here.

19196, 2,395, Murex, Ventura 11-2H, West Bank, Bakken; spudded 8/10; tested 11/10; 45K in first four months. This well has an interesting production history.

Here's the production history:

• 10/10, 31 days of production: 472 bbls produced; 0 "runs"
• 11/10, 30 days of production: 27,215 bbls produced; 26899 bbls run
• 12/10, 31 days of production: 10,427 bbls produced; 10,479 bbls run
• 1/11, 31 days of production: 7,331 bbls produced; 7,169 bbls run

What does one notice?

• First the decline rate is typical of a Bakken well, but one always wonders if to some degree it is intentional.
• Second thing I noticed: either it's a typographical error, or something very, very strange. The report says that October, 2010, was a full month (31 days) of production and yet the total produced was less than 500 bbls. If accurate, this tells me that initial reports of how a well is doing have to be taken with caution especially if the number is low. If there was a not a typographical error, this well was having difficulty in October, but the driller sorted it out, and by the end of the second month had a great well. The well is still listed as "flowing." No pump has been put on the well.

$20,000/Acre in the Eagle Ford, South Texas -- Implications for the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This story has been all over the print and cable media today: South Korea takes huge position in Eagle Ford oil shale, South Texas, as a partner with Anadarko.

Others can sort out the details, but those details will start out with these three facts:

• $1.55 billion
• 80,000 net acres in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale play
• 16,000 additional prospective net acres for the deeper dry-gas Pearsall Shale, as well as Pearsall opportunities underlying the aforementioned Eagle Ford acreage 

Back-of-the-envelope calculations

• Dividing $1.55 billion by 80,000 net acres = $19,375/acre
• Dividing $1.55 billion by 96,000 net acres = $16,145/acre

The trick now is to find out what else South Korea got that would bring down the price / acre. Certainly, South Korea didn't pay $20,000/acre. Or did they?

Based on what I've read so far, the Eagle Ford has no greater potential than the Bakken (similar at best, but not greater; of course, this has yet to play out; we are very early in the Eagle Ford play).

Based on what I've read so far, the Bakken was much more prepared for development at the start of the boom in 2007. There is much preparatory work yet to be done to fully bring the Eagle Ford to where the Bakken is today.  (The Williston Oil Basin has been continuously worked since 1951; core samples of every well drilled in the basin have been sent to the UND geological library; the world's largest microseismic array).

So, for folks trying to put a value on the Bakken acreage, the Anadarko-South Korea deal is one more data point.

Japan Nuclear Disaster --> Reinvigorate, Reenergize, Reexcite Non-Nuclear Fuels

Yesterday, I had a long post on reason for increased oil prices, suggesting that it was less Libya, and more Japan that was driving near-term increase in oil prices.

Well, today, that's the lead story over on Yahoo!Finance: Japan Fuel Demand To Surge

In my posting, I mentioned oil, natural gas, and coal, and was not sure whether to add coal, and definitely not sure about adding oil. But here it is, from the AP story:

Japan's nuclear crisis could reverberate through global energy markets for years to come, pushing up prices as suppliers look to take advantage of a surge in demand for non-nuclear fuels from the world's third-largest economy.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that likely killed more than 18,000 people earlier this month shut down 11 of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants -- a source that provided 30 percent of the country's power. That means producers of natural gas, coal and oil -- particularly in Asia -- will be called on to help fuel conventional sources of power generation in Japan.

The irony: the Kyoto Protocol now seems to be an inconvenient fact of life.

Analysts expect the power plants affected by the earthquake/tsunami will be out of commission for three years, if not permanently. Does one really think the Japanese government will be able to convince their citizenry that nuclear plants are safe?

A Hess "Orion Belt": Six-Well-Complex -- And So Much More -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

If one wants to see the potential of horizontal drilling and the Bakken, one may be interested in following the discussion of Hess' Dolan/Fisher complex in Pleasant Valley oil field.

Over a year ago, I first talked about the "Orion Belts" of Hess.

Not only does Hess have six wells running west-to-east much like a CLR Eco-Pad, it appears that Hess is putting down parallel horizontals (dual stacked) from the same well.  Six permits/six wells but perhaps more than six horizontals?

The even-numbered file permits are "Dolan" wells; the odd-numbered file permits are "Fisher" wells.

I do not yet know if there is any specific reason for identifying some as Dolan or some as Fisher. It certainly is not based on direction; not all Dolan wells are running in the same direction.

More to follow.

Just as interesting is the Hess EN-Will Trust complex in the Big Butte oil field just east of the Dolan/Fisher complex. Here there are three wells, either on the same pad, or close enough to be on the same pad.

• 19006, 412, EN-Will Trust B-157-94-2635H-2, Big Butte, t2/11; cum 133K 6/18;
• 19007, 372, EN-Will Trust B-157-94-2635H-3, Big Butte, t2/10; cum 112K 6/18;
• 17842, 402,  Hess, EN-Will Trust C-157-94-2215H-1, Big Butte, t4/11; cum 147K 6/18;

If that isn't enough to pique your interest in Hess, take a look at the six wells that Hess is drilling along a long lateral to monitor the the fracking

• Move a couple miles southeast of the Dolan/Fisher and the EN-Will Trust complexes, still in Big Butte oil field, and you will note that Hess now has two rigs on site drilling two monitoring wells along #17117. (eventually seven wells around this one lateral; see "NineWells" tag at bottom of blog

And then just a bit south, still in Big Butte, Hess another 3-well complex, the EN-Wefald complex (19225, 19226, and 19227): one well is listed as confidential; one well is almost complete; and, the third well has a rig on site.

• 19225, 667, Hess, EN-Wefald-156-94-1324H-1, Big Butte, t3/11; cum 217K 6/18;
• 19226, 275,  Hess, EN-Wefald-156-94-1324H-2, long lateral running south; t9/11; cum 152K 6/18;
• 19227, 723, Hess, En-Wefald-156-94-1324H-3; t6/11; cum 315K 6/18;

Incredible amount of activity in a very small area, and much yet to be learned.

********

More information on background of the Dolan/Fisher wells which provides insight into how Hess will be developing these wells

• Six wells on a single pad; well heads will be spaced fifty feet apart. Each well will be a dual-stacked lateral.
• Hess will use a small surface casing rig to drill each hole in succession, temporarily plugging each hold before drilling the next to prevent foreign matter from entering the wellbore. Once the six wells are drilled to casing level, a larger drilling rig will be moved in to complete the wells to total depth. 
• With dual stacked laterals, I assume one is going into the middle Bakken and one lateral is going into the Three Forks formation. Someone has stated that Hess is only reporting the production from the middle Bakken. I do not know if that is accurate, and, if it is, how one can measure just one of the laterals that both enter the same vertical. 

SSN Update on Fracking in Stockyard Creek -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Update:

March 31, 2011:

• Since last report, the 16th and final stage of the stimulation was pumped.
• The restricted flow back revealed a maximum oil rate of 1,320 bopd.
• Gas rates are about 1 million cubic feet per day; the gas sales line was connected after four (4) days of flaring, so both products are already being marketed and generating cash flow.

Original Post

At Yahoo's Inplay, March 22, 2011:

1:21AM Samson Oil & Gas advises on Rodney #1-14H and Everett #2-14 Wells; stimulation job has progressed satisfactorily with 1.1 mln pounds proppant placed: Co advises that the fracture stimulation of the Rodney #1-14 well has pumped 15 of the 16 stages planned. Operations have taken longer than anticipated largely because of mechanical teething problems. However, the stimulation job has progressed satisfactorily with 1.1 mln pounds proppant placed in the 15 stages. Following the completion of pumping of Stage 16 which is being undertaken currently, flow back operations will commence. The Rodney #1-14 well was drilled to a total measured depth of 17,222 feet and is Samson's fourth Bakken production well in the field. The spud date of Everett #2-15 has been brought forward and is now expected to occur on March 28th. The Everett will be the final well to develop the Bakken Formation on a 640 acre spacing.

Link here. The link is dynamic and will break soon.