Marathon Unlocks The Lower Lodgepole -- The Third Productive "Bakken Zone," Dunn Co.

I am content now that I didn't write about the Lodgepole/Bakken fracture system in North Murphy Creek Field here last year for nothing. As previously noted, this area has been of interest for almost 30 years since a wildcat almost blew out in this area when encountering the fracture system in the lower Lodgepole.

There have been rumors for the past few months that one of Marathon's wells southwest of Killdeer had targeted the lower Lodgepole, just above the upper Bakken Shale. This was confirmed recently when tighthole status ended for the Darwin 14-35H, sec. 35, T145N, R96W, Dunn Co., indicating that production was established with an IP of 160 bbls/day from a limestone porosity streak approx. 50 ft. above the mid-Bakken member. The well was drilled on 640 acre spacing with an approx. 5,500 ft lateral transecting the section from SW to NE. This is an open-hole completion without any type of fracture stimulation being employed.

Notably, this limestone section has good fracturing, porosity and permeability. I'll let the Sunburst Consulting geological report speak for itself regarding the oil shows while drilling:







And the pictures can speak for themselves also:


While the productive capability of this zone may well be confined to a localized area, it can't be overstated that this represents the third possible productive zone (in this area at least) in the "Bakken System," consisting of the mid-Bakken, Three Forks/Sanish, and now the lower Lodgepole formations. Equally notable is the excellent reservoir properties present here in this zone. This may result in some competitive top leasing for any remaining undrilled tracts left in the area, and results of future drilling in the Lodgepole should be interesting.