A year ago when Apache Corp. announced its entry in to the Williston Basin Bakken play via the acquisition of 300,000 net acres in Daniels County, Mont., its top executives said the company would drill “up to five” exploratory wells as phase 1 of a potential development, with phase 2 starting in 2013 if drilling results were favorable.
So far, no announcement; just rumors Apache is pulling out.
To date, as Apache promised, its subsidiary Apache Western Exploration drilled five exploratory wells on three pads in its Daniels Jayhawk prospect on the fringe of the known productive Bakken petroleum system. Those wells, which have been temporarily abandoned while the company evaluates its plans, are:
• Lindley 24-10H-T, spud Aug. 31, permitted as a horizontal well with a proposed measured depth of 11,789 feet and a proposed vertical depth of 7,208 feet, targeting the Three Forks formation.
• Lindley 19-9H-B, spud Sept. 3, permitted as a horizontal well with a PMD of 12,113 feet and a PVD of 7,084, targeting the Three Forks.
• Haworth 17-8H-T, spud date unknown, permitted as a horizontal well with a PMD of 12,211 feet and a PVD of 7,172 feet, targeting the Bakken.
• Haworth 18-7H-B, spud Oct. 25, permitted as a horizontal well with a PMD of 11,544 feet and a PVD of 7,084 feet, targeting the Bakken.
• Wescoe 34-7H-B, spud Dec. 15, permitted as a horizontal well with a PMD of 11,420 feet and a PVD of 7,088 feet, targeting the Bakken.
A second Wescoe permit was issued for well 35-8H-T, targeting the Three Forks. It was never drilled.
No completion reports have yet been made public by the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation for Apache’s wells, but the agency can take up to six months after receipt of a completion report to release the information.
The Jan. 31 edition of the Daniels County Leader had this to say about the five wells: “The Lindley pad north of Four Buttes was drilled late last summer, one vertical well and one horizontal well. Same on the Haworth pad north of Scobey. Three of those four wells were fracked. The Wescoe pad is apparently one vertical well without plans to frack. This week the rig was being torn down and ready for transport to Texas. The water reserve tanks (used by the oil company) have been removed from the new bulk water depot in Scobey, although water will still be available there, just not in the huge quantities needed.”
Per the same article, “Apache employees have said that it will be six months or so before they return. We were told, ‘This is a science project and remember there have been other successful oil fields developed over a period of years, not months.’”
According to a Jan. 10 Leader article, Apache started building a fourth pad, the Strong, and per state records received a permit for a sixth horizontal well, the Strong 4-1. It is unknown if the well was drilled.
According to a Jan. 8 Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation Environmental Assessment form filled out by Apache about Strong 4-1, the company’s plans were to “drill a vertical pilot hole to the Duperow formation to 7,450 feet true vertical depth. Plug back to 5,400 feet and drill a horizontal Ratcliffe formation well test.”
Stay tuned….
