Larry's November Scorecard For Mountrail Co.

At month end there were 33 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 8 rigs; Hess 7 rigs; Whiting 4 rigs; Fidelity 3 rigs; Slawson 2 rigs, Hunt 2 rigs, Oasis 2 rigs, Brigham 2 rigs, Murex, Windsor, and Marathon 1 rig each. .

During November 25 wells were spudded. EOG 8; Hess 5; Whiting 4; Fidelity 2; Brigham 2; Hunt 1; Marathon 0; Murex 0; Slawson 1; Sinclair 0; St Mary 0; Oasis 1; and Windsor 1.

During November NDIC issued 26 new permits to drill. EOG 6 permits in Crowfoot, Burke, Ross, Cottonwood, Parshall, and Wayzetta Townships. Whiting 3 permits in Knife River and Crane Creek Township. Hess 6 permits in 154-94, Purcell, Ross, Myrtle and White Earth Townships. Fidelity 2 permit in Knife River and Purcell Township. Slawson 1 permit in Crane Creek Township. Hunt 2 permits in Oakland Township. Murex 1 permit in Sikes Township. Brigham 0 permits. Sinclair 0 permits. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 0 permits. Lario 0 permits. Oasis 2 permits in Cottonwood and Sorkness Township. Encore 0 permits. Marathon 0 permits. Cirque 0 permits. Duncan 3 permits in Clearwater, Sidonia, and James Hill Townships.

Larry's October Scorecard For Mountrail Co.

At month end there were 29 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 8 rigs; Hess 5 rigs; Whiting 3 rigs; Fidelity 3 rigs; Slawson 2 rigs, Hunt 2 rigs, Oasis 2 rigs, Murex, Windsor, Sinclair, and Marathon 1 rig each.

During October 25 wells were spudded. EOG 8; Hess 5; Whiting 0; Fidelity 3; Brigham 0; Hunt 2; Marathon 1; Murex 1; Slawson 2; Sinclair 1; St Mary 0; Oasis 2; and Windsor 0.

During October NDIC issued 21 new permits to drill. EOG 5 permits in Fertile, Burke, and Wayzetta Townships. Whiting 1 permit in Crane Creek Township. Hess 4 permits in Rat Lake, Idaho, Ross, and Powers Lake Townships. Fidelity 1 permit in Knife River Township. Slawson 0 permits. Hunt 2 permits in Oakland and Clearwater Townships. Murex 1 permit in Purcell Township. Brigham 1 permit in Alger Township. Sinclair 1 permit in Rat Lake Township. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 1 permit in Osborn Township. Lario 0 permits. Oasis 1 permit in Sorkness Township. Encore 0 permits. Marathon 1 permit in Big Bend Township. Cirque 1 permit in Fertile Township. Duncan 1 permit in Idaho Township.

The Hammer Falls

It seems that some companies just don't want to pony up the big bucks for leases anymore.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Larry's September Scorecard For Mountrail Co.

At month end there were 28 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 8 rigs; Hess 4 rigs; Whiting 5 rigs; Fidelity 3 rigs; Slawson 2 rigs, Hunt 2 rigs, Murex, Windsor, Oasis, and Marathon 1 rig each. .

During September 20 wells were spudded. EOG 6; Hess 4; Whiting 3; Fidelity 1; Brigham 0; Hunt 1; Marathon 1; Murex 1; Slawson 1; Sinclair 0; St Mary 0; Oasis 1; and Windsor 1.

During September NDIC issued 29 new permits to drill. EOG 8 permits in Parshall, Austin, Van Hook, Burke, and Sidonia Townships. Whiting 5 permits in Crane Creek, Knife River, and Sikes Townships. Hess 4 permits in 153-93, Ross, James Hill, and Sorkness Townships. Fidelity 3 permits in Brookbank, Purcell, and Powers Townships. Slawson 3 permits in Parshall and James Hill Townships. Hunt 2 permits in Oakland Township. Murex 0 permits. Brigham 1 permit in Oakland Township. Sinclair 0 permits. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 0 permits. Lario 0 permits. Oasis 3 permits in 153-93, 153-94, and Rat Lake Townships. Encore 0 permits. Marathon 0 permits.

TX Supreme Court Says No Actionable Trespass For Frac

As a followup to a previous post on July 15th, the Texas Supreme Court has held "that an oil and gas driller who follows regulations set aside by the Texas Railroad Commission is not liable for committing a trespass when the driller’s hydraulic frac from a legally located well accidentally reaches an adjoining tract of land."

The law of capture rules, and remedy for adjoining owner is to drill their own well.

Dallas Business Journal

Larry's August Scorecard For Mountrail Co.

At month end there were 28 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 7 rigs; Hess 4 rigs; Whiting 5 rigs; Fidelity 2 rigs; Slawson 2 rigs, Hunt 2 rigs, Brigham, Murex, Windsor, Sinclair, Oasis, and Marathon 1 rig each.

During August 22 wells were spudded. EOG 7; Hess 3; Whiting 3; Fidelity 2; Brigham 1; Hunt 2; Marathon 1; Murex 0; Slawson 2; Sinclair 1; St Mary 0; Oasis 0; and Windsor 0.

During August NDIC issued 29 new permits to drill. EOG 7 permits in Parshall, Austin, Wayzetta, Oakland, Ross, and Purcell Townships. Whiting 2 permits in Crane Creek and Osborn Townships. Hess 5 permits in Rat Lake, 154-94, Alger, and Powers Lake Townships. Fidelity 0 permits. Slawson 6 permits in Van Hook, Lostwood, and James Hill Townships. Hunt 0 permits. Murex 0 permits. Brigham 0 permits. Sinclair 1 permit in Burke Township. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 1 permit in Wayzetta Township. Lario 1 permit in Burke Township. Oasis 2 permits in Ross and Cottonwood Townships. Encore 3 permits in Stave and Lowland Townships. Marathon 1 permit in Big Bend Township.

The UK Finds Killdeer

And they give us an article and a video.

Telegraph.co.uk

And for anyone who may still be unaware, there is a documentary currently in the editing stage pertaining to the Parshall/Stanley area by Couple 3 Films.

Couple3.com Trailer

EOG Milestones

The following was provided courtesy of Larry:

June was a milestone month for EOG on two fronts.

EOG operated wells in Mountrail County produced their 5 millionth barrel in June. From the first well that came on production in May 2006 through June 2008, EOG operated wells have produced 5,060,448 barrels.

EOG set another enviable milestone in June. Those 5 million barrels have generated a gross revenue of $485 million. After substracting 25% for taxes, royalties, and operating expenses, the EOG operated wells generated a net $363 million dollars.

Through June 2008 EOG has drilled 72 wells at an average cost of $5 million or $360 million for all the wells.

Thus, at the end of June EOG has paid off all its drilling costs on the wells drilled to date so all net revenue on those 72 wells goes directly to their bank account. By comparison the other drillers in Mountrail County have about $300 million in unrecovered drilling costs. It does make a difference when the sweet spot is under your lands.

EOG's Initial Austin Wells Improving

Larry put together an analysis of the production of the initial Austin wells:

EOG’s initial Bakken wells in Austin are beginning to look like the PetroHunt well in the Charlson field. Production keeps increasing.

	Austin 2-03H		AUSTIN 4-09H
	9/15/2007		10/19/2007
IP Date	11/10/2007		12/19/2007
Jun-08	29199		32605
May-08	31854		30861
Apr-08	16331		20416
Mar-08	19615		26008
Feb-08	18401		24427
Jan-08	25535		37507
Dec-07	32262		23726
Nov-07	39114
BBLS to date	212311		195550

Anschutz Surpasses Tracker Request

On the heals of Tracker Resource's request last month to add 80 sections to Little Knife Field (later reduced by about a half-dozen sections, and which was approved last Friday), this month Anschutz Expl. of Denver has requested that 84 sections be spaced at 1280 acres and be included in either Russian Creek or St. Anthony Fields in extreme southern Dunn Co., from R95 to 97W, all in T141N.

Previously operating in the area under the Ansbro moniker, Anschutz was one of the earliest drillers in the mid-Bakken in 2005, and had three rigs drilling in this area at one time. After encountering some disappointing results, the company suspended their Bakken drilling over a year ago, and hasn't drilled a Bakken well since. The company has recently permitted several Bakken wells on the south side of Murphy Creek Field about a dozen miles north, but hasn't spudded there yet.

My guess as to how many of these 42 proposed wells that will actually be drilled before the leases expire in the area in about two years or less: probably about a dozen.

Larry's July Scorecard for Mountrail County

At month end there were 28 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 8 rigs; Hess 5 rigs; Whiting 5 rigs; Fidelity 2 rigs; Slawson, Brigham, Hunt, Murex, Windsor, Sinclair, Oasis, and Marathon 1 rig each.

During July 21 wells were spudded. EOG 7; Hess 3; Whiting 4; Fidelity 1; Brigham 0; Hunt 1; Marathon 1; Murex 1; Slawson 0; Sinclair 1; St Mary 0; Oasis 1; and Windsor 1.

During July NDIC issued 28 new permits to drill. EOG 9 permits in Shell, Austin, Wayzetta, and Burke Townships. Whiting 1 permit in Crane Creek Township. Hess 3 permits in James Hill, Ross, and Idaho Townships. Fidelity 0 permits. Slawson 3 permits in Van Hook and James Hill Townships. Hunt 1 permit in Shell Township. Murex 2 permits in Purcell Township. Brigham 2 permits in Lostwood and Alger Townships. Sinclair 0 permits. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 2 permits in Osborn and Howie Townships. Lario 0 permits. Oasis 3 permits in Manitou and Sorkness Township. Encore 1 permit in Lowland Township. Marathon 1 permit in Big Bend Township

Since January 2006 the NDIC has issued 325 permits to drill in Mountrail County. Since January 2006 EOG has drilled/is drilling 79 wells. The other oil companies have drilled/are drilling 109 wells.

Seismic Slated For Montrail And Burke Counties

The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal has permitted republication of this article and the following Huff and Puff article.

Huge Seismic Program Slated For Mountrail and Burke Counties North Dakota

The Bakken play in North Dakota keeps heating up. With oil prices at near record levels, rig counts increasing, permits to drill on the rise, large Bakken completions reported, record setting lease bonus’s, the only aspect of the Industry that seemed to be lagging was seismic. That will now change as Houston based CGGVeritas Land (CVL) is planning on conducting that what may be the largest seismic program that the state of North Dakota has ever seen. Called the “Big Bakken 3D” shoot, this huge program will encompass some 646 square miles or 413,440 acres. Overall coverage of this shoot will be in 153-163n, 91-94w in both Mountrail and Burke Counties, right in the gut of the hottest oil play occurring onshore. This shoot will cover a swath of land that is about 24 miles wild and 60 miles long trending along a north south axis. The southern extent of this doodlebug work will be about 20 miles south of Stanley with the northern reach of the program almost to the Canadian border.

Within the parameters of this shoot, Industry has already staked 172 Bakken tests, of which 24 have been completed as Bakken producers, 46 have been drilled or are drilling with the remaining 102 waiting on a rig.

Energy source for this shoot will be vibroseis trucks with 145 source points per square mile. This program is expected to commence sometime in September of this year and is expected to conclude in December of 2010. For any of you who have ever worked on a geophysical crew, to be stationed in one area for two years is unusual.

Although no client has been revealed, it appears that this seismic program will be a spec shoot, meaning that industry will be offered the opportunity to purchase this data once the raw data has been compiled. Companies who might be likely candidates to buy this seismic include Brigham O&G, Burlington Res., Continental Res., EOG Res., Fidelity E&P, Hess Corp., Lario O&G, Marathon Oil, Murex Pet., Oasis Pet., Petro-Hunt, Prima Expl., Samson Res., Sinclair O&G, Slawson Expl., St. Mary Land & Expl., and Whiting O&G.

Content courtesy of The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal

EOG's Huff and Puff

The following is provided by the The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal:

EOG Plans CO2 Huff N’ Puff Pilot Program In Parshall Field-Mountrail County North Dakota

Realizing that the flush production associated with the recently drilled wells in the Greater Parshall Field area will decline, EOG Resources (EOG), the largest producer within this field, is planning to initiate a CO2 Huff n’ Puff pilot program to determine the best method to recover as much oil as possible from the horizontal Bakken.

The company has requested from the North Dakota Industrial Commission an order granting authority to recomplete and use the Austin #1-02H well, located in the sw-se 2-154n-90w Mountrail County, ND, as a combined production/injection well for a Huff n’ Puff CO2 operation in the Parshall-Bakken Pool for an injectivity test period of up to three months; authorizing the flaring and/or venting of the waste gas produced from the well during the test period and such other relief as is appropriate. At the present, there is no Bakken well within the state that is employing this method for additional oil recovery.

The Austin #1-02H test well was completed in the latter part of 2007 for an IPF of 781 bopd, 285 mcfgpd and 29 bwpd from a single lateral leg interval 9,484’-14,435’. At the time of this completion, this producer extended the northern portion of Parshall Field by about nine miles. Cumulative production for this hole is 188,035 bo, 59.7 mmcfg and 3,925 bw. Since the completion of the #1-02H, EOG has drilled 18 more horizontal Bakken wells in this township with at least 12 more locations to drill.

Although the particulars of this huff-n-puff pilot program has yet to be revealed, the general concept includes the following:

What is it?

The name is derived from the children's story of the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. It was first applied to cyclic steam injection. The CO2 Huff n' Puff is the injection of carbon dioxide into a producing oil well (huff), followed by a production period when the well is flowed back (puff). This process can be repeated as often as deemed necessary.

How does it work?

• Some or all of the following mechanisms aid in the stimulation of oil production by the CO2 Huff n' Puff:
• Oil swelling, thereby reducing its viscosity and increasing its flow rate to the wellbore.
• Solution gas drive is imparted by the CO2 from its dissolving in the oil.
• Increase in relative permeability to oil by decreasing the interfacial tension. CO2 will quickly saturate formation water and displace it from the near wellbore area. This typically results in lower water production in the "Puff" part of the treatment.
• Vaporization of light crude ends and recovery of same from produced CO2 gas.
• Entrapment of CO2 gas by gas hysteresis- CO2 is trapped in the H&P zone preventing the H&P zone from being re-saturated by the oil coming from further out in the reservoir.

What is a typical CO2 Huff n' Puff candidate?

• The process is not lithology dependant- it can be applied to either sandstones or carbonates.
• It is most successful when pumped into pressure depleted reservoirs. Average CO2 utilization in a 65 well test in an Applachian reservoir with about 100 psi BHP was .97 mscf/bbl. of incremental oil.
• Wells in faulted or lenticular reservoirs where inter-well communication often does not occur are good candidates.
• A well that has been a good primary producer, that still has a high residual oil saturation, but may be pressure depleted.

Content courtesy of The Rocky Mountain Oil Journal

A Handy Hand

Yeah, so, somebody caught me on video working on my "project" last week over by New Town. It's a tight hole so I'm not going to talk about it otherwise. A person can run both the brake handle and the slips at the same time only with lots and lots of experience. Thank you very much. And I know babies aren't supposed to be on the rig floor, but what are you going to do.

Texas Frac Trespass Decision Nears

An expected far-reaching decision from the TX Supreme Court could be released soon. As reported by the Fort Worth Business Press, "[t]he lawsuit stems from a 2005 Hidalgo County dispute in which Garza Energy Trust was granted $14 million for the court’s findings that the trust had been the victim of subsurface trespass due to hydraulic fracturing." Apparently, the frac job had allegedly extended beyond the unit boundaries of the particular well and into neighboring property. Depending on the outcome of the case, companies may have to "tone down" their frac jobs to avoid such problems.

While the decision would be legally binding only in TX, that state's oil and gas law is considered to fairly persuasive authority in other producing states. Stay tuned.

Fort Worth Business Press

Larry's Water Chart For Mountrail Co.

Larry provided this awhile ago, but I've been derelict in posting it. It had more info but I had to delete some to make it fit width-wise. He added:

This is a spreadsheet for April 2008 showing the oil and water production for the Bakken wells in Mountrail County. It is sorted by the top water producer as a percent of oil production. I am not sure any firm conclusions can be drawn from this data other than Hess’s name appears a lot as does Brigham’s name. The frequency by which their wells encounter water could be more a function of where they are drilling than their drilling and completing skills.

		Well	bbls	bbls	h2O %
operator	well name	No.	oil	water	of oil
Hess	BARSTAD	15889	379	3076	812%
Marathon	NELSON 14-33H	16552	366	1163	318%
Hess	LALIM D. #34-11H	16292	1126	2216	197%
Brigham	BERGSTROM	16840	1755	3125	178%
Hess	EN-HEGLAND-	16674	732	1102	151%
Brigham	HALLINGSTAD	16978	5201	6510	125%
Hess	Enget 4-11H	16168	398	447	112%
Hess	J. HORST 1-11H	15986	382	394	103%
PetroHunt	TORGERSON	16663	766	714	93%
Hunt	PATTEN 1-27H	16799	5391	4518	84%
Fidelity	DEADWOOD	16876	3061	2463	80%
Brigham	HYNEK 2 1H	16898	2195	1687	77%
Hess	RS-STATE-	16800	3591	2152	60%
Hess	H. Juma 1-9H	16011	395	219	55%
PetroHunt	RICE 10B-2-1H	16348	1524	819	54%
Hess	RS-NELSON	16824	4712	2064	44%
MRR corp	MANITOU 4-1H	15916	388	160	41%
Brigham	BAKKE 23 1-H	16893	3625	1440	40%
		16092	384	149	39%
		15845	893	331	37%
		16880	5565	1917	34%
		16670	2207	683	31%
		16833	11611	3253	28%
		16822	8703	2334	27%
		16394	2386	614	26%
		16068	2335	527	23%
		16550	10395	2151	21%
		16577	12926	2085	16%
		16461	7383	1185	16%
		16467	7360	1044	14%
		16346	10073	1338	13%
		16635	7185	893	12%
		16543	11244	1299	12%
		16637	12410	1170	09%
		16497	11304	1053	09%
		16457	11647	1049	09%
		16324	5474	324	06%
		16532	11489	667	06%
		16463	9061	483	05%
		16469	14266	760	05%
		16671	12471	652	05%
		16578	12002	623	05%
		16731	11366	578	05%
		16750	5610	276	05%
		16484	12607	619	05%
		16713	28263	1353	05%
		16371	11453	521	05%
		16768	16331	714	04%
		16795	20416	834	04%
		16483	12229	474	04%
		16776	9673	300	03%
		16370	9343	98	01%
		16164	2058	7	00%
		16839	16108	0	0%
		16881	9830	0	0%
		16930	14557	0	0%
		15925	0	0
		16160	0	0
		16233	0	0

Tracker Advances Plans To Double Size Of Little Knife Field, Dunn Co.

At the NDIC hearings later this month, Tracker Rescources of Denver has requested that Little Knife Field be expanded on its east side to include a whopping 80 sections (yes, that's eight-zero, if I counted correctly) for the purpose of drilling Bakken H-wells on 1,280 acre spacing. The overall area of the application spans from T144N to 148N, all in R97W. Now, I may be a tad skeptical, but I have my doubts that Tracker has the substantial working interest or has agreements with other interest owners to justify the inclusion of all this property in its application . . . but I may be wrong and we'll have to wait and see.

If this latest area is set up for development, it will mean that virtually about 20 townships in Dunn Co., will be under spacing unit or drilling unit guidelines for development, essentially stretching from the western to the eastern county lines between 144N to 147N. I guess this is a good example of what development of a continuous reservoir looks like.

Larry's June Scorecard for Mountrail County

At month end there were 26 drilling rigs on location in Mountrail County. EOG 8 rigs; Hess 3 rigs; Whiting 5 rigs; Fidelity 2 rigs; Slawson 2 rigs; Brigham, Hunt, Murex, St Mary, Windsor, and Marathon 1 rig each. .

During June 23 wells were spudded. EOG 8; Hess 3; Whiting 3; Fidelity 3; Brigham 1; Hunt 1; Marathon 1; Murex 0; Slawson 2; Sinclair 0; St Mary 1; and Windsor 0.

During June NDIC issued 32 new permits to drill. EOG 6 permits in Austin, Wayzetta, and Burke Townships. Whiting 2 permits in Knife River and Wayzetta Townships. Hess 6 permits in James Hill, Debing, and Idaho Townships. Fidelity 3 permits in Alger, Purcell, and Powers Township. Slawson 2 permit in Van Hook and James Hill Township. Hunt 3 permits in Austin Township. Murex 0 permits. Brigham 4 permits in Burke and Alger Townships. Sinclair 1 permit in Crane Creek Township. St Mary 0 permits. Windsor 1 permit in Austin Township. Lario 4 permits in Alger Township.

The Mythical Price Report (Deservably) Under Fire

"Unfortunately, in many instances, we are still trying to explain and defend our assessment versus the inappropriate and irresponsible posting of Dr. Price's 'draft report,'" Pollastro told Cybercast News Service.

Full story from Cybercast

I guess I'm really not surprised that this story didn't get any play in the big time media, but what Richard Pollastro, the USGS Bakken Formation task leader, had to say makes sense. I've never seen so much credibility given to an unpublished and non-peer reviewed scientific report in my life. "[I]nappropriate and irresponsible" pretty much sums it up.

Larry's County Production Figures

Larry provided the following commentary and production chart:

While there is a lot of media attention being given to the Bakken Formation in North Dakota, Mountrail County is the true center of activity. Here is a county by county list of oil production in North Dakota for December 2007 and March 2008.

Mountrail County is now the second largest producing county in the state. If all goes well, Mountrial County should become the largest producing county in North Dakota by December 2008.

	March	December
	2008	2007	Change
BILLINGS	385,086	396,876	-11,790
BOTTINEAU	142,709	148,531	-5,822
BOWMAN	1,484,699	1,542,661	-57,962
BURKE	92,552	82,064	10,488
DIVIDE	72,431	77,625	-5,194
DUNN	328,360	251,833	76,527
GOLDEN VALLEY	57,025	56,222	803
HETTINGER	0	0	0
MCHENRY	2,482	2,339	143
MCKENZIE	576,410	564,966	11,444
MCLEAN	3,184	3,115	69
MOUNTRAIL	661,047	423,683	237,364
RENVILLE	65,728	67,124	-1,396
SLOPE	35,792	38,004	-2,212
STARK	126,009	132,059	-6,050
WARD	4,414	4,286	128
WILLIAMS	419,510	425,330	-5,820
TOTALS	4,457,438	4,216,718	240,720