XTO ramps up activity

ExxonMobil subsidiary look’s to drill 600 of 800 wells in April ND applications

Mike Ellerd

Petroleum News Bakken

Among applications for drilling additional wells on existing drill spacing units that the North Dakota Industrial Commission will consider during hearings on April 22, 23 and 24 are nine applications from ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy requesting authorization to drill up to a total of 610 wells on 73 DSUs most of which are in Williams County (see table).

Of those 73 XTO spacing units, 46 are 1,280-acre units, another 26 are 2,560s and one is a 320-acre DSU. The 1,280s and 2,560s are in the Capa, West Capa, Dollar Joe and Grinnell fields, all contiguous fields in far southeast Williams County although a portion of the Grinnell field extends south into northern McKenzie County. The lone 320-acre unit is in the Squaw Creek field on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in far eastern McKenzie County.

The company wants to drill up to 12 additional wells on all of the 1,280s, and on the 2,560s, it wants to drill two wells across section lines for densities of 107 and 1,280 acres per well, respectively. On the 320-acre unit, the company wants to drill up to six wells for a density of 53 acres per well.

XTO’s parent ExxonMobil reduced its overall 2015 budget, but at approximately 12 percent, it was the smallest company-wide budget cut among the top 10 Bakken oil producers. At the same time, XTO has seen marked improvements in cost efficiencies, and the subsidiary is not planning to implement any significant Bakken slowdowns in 2015. “In the Bakken, we increased net production by 38 percent last year, which reflects the addition of 144 new wells, increased well productivity, and accelerated pad development in our core acreage,” ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson told analysts in March. “We averaged 13 operating rigs in 2014, and we will likely average close to that level this year.”

Other drilling apps

In addition to XTO, Whiting Petroleum, filing as Whiting Oil and Gas Corp., filed three applications seeking authorization from the commission to drill up to 14 additional wells on each of 10 existing 1,280s in the Banks, Poe and Sand Creek fields, all contiguous fields in north-central McKenzie County.

ConocoPhillips subsidiary Burlington Resources wants to drill up to 14 additional wells on a 1,280 in the Clear Creek field in northeast McKenzie County and up to eight wells on a 1,280 in the nearby Siverston and/or Pershing fields. Burlington also wants to drill two wells on an overlapping 2,560 in the neighboring North Fork field.

SM Energy is looking to drill up to 11 wells on a 1,280 in the Camp and Indian Hill fields in northwest McKenzie County. Continental Resources wants to drill up to three wells on each of two existing 320s in the Stoneview field in southeast Burke County. Sinclair Oil and Gas wants to drill up to six wells on a 1,280 in the Lone Butte field in southwest McKenzie County. And Marathon Oil is seeking authorization to drill up to two wells on an overlapping 2,560 in Reunion Bay and/or Big Bend fields in the Van Hook peninsula in southwest Mountrail County.

In perspective

Combined, the seven North Dakota operators filing drilling applications in April are looking to drill up to 801 additional wells on 92 existing spacing units. That is by far the largest number of additional wells sought by North Dakota operators in 2015, obviously driven by XTO whose 610 additional wells account for 76 percent of the wells requested. In comparison, in March, seven operators filed applications seeking a maximum of 183 wells on 27 DSUs with Whiting (68), Hess (38), XTO (38) and Burlington (28) accounting for most of those applications.

All of the additional wells are targeting the Bakken pool, which encompasses multiple formations including the Bakken, Three Forks and Pronghorn.

---

Did you find this article interesting?

Tweet it

Digg it

Print this story | Email it to an associate.

Click here to subscribe to Petroleum News for as low as $89 per year.

Oasis continues MT Bakken development

As the second largest Bakken producer in Montana, Oasis Petroleum continues developing the resource in that state, and the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation will consider a number of the company’s drilling and spacing unit applications when it meets in Billings on April 30.

Among the applications that Oasis has submitted are four seeking permanent status for four temporary 1,280-acre spacing units, all in the Elm Coulee Northeast field in Richland and Roosevelt counties. The company has one producing Bakken well on each spacing unit, and under Montana rules, spacing units are initially designated as temporary but that status has to be changed to permanent for ongoing production.

The four wells went on production between January and November 2014 and have been on production between 101 and 304 days. Those wells have average productions of 142 barrels per day (304 days of production), 183 bpd (172 days), 345 bpd (101 days) and 461 bpd (107 days).

Oasis also filed applications seeking authorization to drill up to four additional Bakken/Three Forks wells on each of the four spacing units, and is seeking authorization to pool all interests in all four.

Oasis is also asking the board to establish a temporary overlapping 2,560-acre drill spacing unit, also in the Elm Coulee Northeast field in Roosevelt County, for the purpose of drilling three horizontal Bakken/Three Forks wells. There too, Oasis is seeking authorization to pool interests.

In addition, Oasis filed applications seeking approval to pool interests in 28 other permanent 1,280-acre spacing units, all in the Elm Coulee Northeast field.

Other Montana Bakken apps

Kraken Oil and Gas wants the board to grant permanent status to two 640-acre temporary spacing units, both in the Elm Coulee field in Richland County and allow pooling of all interests in those units. The wells on the two units went on production in April and June 2014 and have averaged 33 and 100 bpd over 284 and 232 days, respectively.

In other Montana Bakken activity, Burlington Resources is asking permission to drill an additional well on an existing 1,280 spacing unit in Richland County and Statoil wants to pool interests in a 1,280-acre DSU, also in Richland County.

In the Southern Alberta Bakken, Anadarko E&P Onshore is seeking permanent status for a spacing unit in Toole County where it has a producing Bakken well. Production data for that well are not yet available on the board’s website.

Conventional Montana apps

Interstate Explorations wants the board to designate permanent status to a 320-acre spacing unit in Wibaux County for production from a Red River formation well. Production data from that well are not yet available.

And far outside of Montana’s Bakken, Baldwin Lynch Energy is asking for approval for an enhanced recovery project targeting the Lakota formation in Carbon County in south-central Montana.

—Mike Ellerd