Monday, September 8, 2008
TX Supreme Court Says No Actionable Trespass For Frac
The law of capture rules, and remedy for adjoining owner is to drill their own well.
Dallas Business Journal
Sunday, September 7, 2008
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.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The UK Finds Killdeer
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
Monday, August 18, 2008
EOG Milestones
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.Wednesday, August 6, 2008
EOG's Initial Austin Wells Improving
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 |
Monday, August 4, 2008
Anschutz Surpasses Tracker Request
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.

Sunday, August 3, 2008
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
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
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.
Friday, July 25, 2008
A Handy Hand
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Texas Frac Trespass Decision Nears
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.
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 |
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tracker Advances Plans To Double Size Of Little Knife Field, Dunn Co.

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.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Mythical Price Report (Deservably) Under Fire
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.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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 |