In a June 3 operations update, QEP Resources reported that two Bakken formation wells on the company’s first four-well pad in its South Antelope acreage in eastern McKenzie County came in with an average 24-hour initial production of 4,174 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The average for all four wells on the pad was 3,598 boepd. QEP also reported an average 24-hour IP of 2,379 boepd for four new Bakken and five new Three Forks wells on two company-operated pads on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
QEP also says it is moving a fifth company-operated drill rig into the South Antelope acreage, which is expected to begin drilling on a multiwell pad by the middle of June. That rig will bring QEP’s total company-operated rig count in the Williston Basin to eight.
“I am pleased with QEP’s strong operational results this quarter and I am encouraged by the very strong well results from our first operated multiwell pad on the South Antelope Acquisition,” Chuck Stanley, QEP chairman, president and chief executive officer said in the June 3 announcement.
“As anticipated, it has taken some time to transition to pad development, where multiple wells are drilled and cased before completion activity commences,” Stanley continued. “Based on our experience in other resource plays, we believe this is the right approach for efficient development of the Bakken and Three Forks reservoirs in the Williston Basin. In addition, recent well completions on our Fort Berthold Indian Reservation assets continue to exhibit strong initial performance. The fifth rig on the South Antelope property (our eighth operated rig in the Williston Basin) has arrived ahead of schedule and will begin drilling soon.”
First quarter production and Ft. Berthold ops
At the end of the first quarter, QEPs Bakken/Three Forks production averaged 17,000 boepd, which was a 7 percent decrease from the company’s average fourth quarter 2012 Williston Basin production of 18,348 boepd. The decline in first quarter production was due the company’s transition to pad drilling.
In a conference call in early May, Stanley said that because of the company’s shift to pad drilling, it was only able to complete and put on production one new well in the South Antelope area. That well is the company’s Moberg 13-17/16H, which is a Three Forks well. Stanley said the well came in with a 24-hour IP of 1,397 boepd, which he said was lower than expected due to temporary surface equipment constraints during the first few days of flowback. However, at the end of the 24-hour flowback period, the well was producing 3,100 boepd.
Stanley added that the company’s development plan for its South Bakken area is to average eight laterals on two pads per 1,280-acre unit with four wells targeting the Middle Bakken and four targeting the Three Forks.
Although QEP was only able to complete one well in its South Antelope area in the first quarter, it did complete and brought on production six Middle Bakken and five Three Forks wells in its Fort Berthold acreage.
Five of the new Fort Berthold wells are on the company’s 10-well Buffalo pad in the northwest corner of its Fort Berthold area. Collectively, those five wells had an average 24-hour IP of 2,190 boepd.
Another five wells were completed on the company’s Skunk Creek pad, which is about five miles east of the Buffalo pad in the northern portion of QEP’s Fort Berthold area. Those five wells had 24-hour IPs of 2,479 boepd. The 11th Fort Berthold well completed in the first quarter was a single lease-saving well drilled on what Stanley referred to as the “eastern edge of the Middle Bakken reservoir,” and that well had a 24-hour IP of 836 boepd.
Stanley also said the company is making changes in its well design to lower costs with a target of $11 million “gross completed all-in well cost” or less moving forward.
Williston Basin stake
QEP currently holds more than 117,000 net acres in the Williston Basin. Most of that acreage is in the company’s South Antelope and Forth Berthold areas, but the company has acreages scattered across Williams and McKenzie counties.
As of the end of March 2013, QEP ranked 12th among North Dakota oil producers averaging 19,240.2 bopd. However, because NDIC only processes data from wells that are operated by each producer, that average daily production number does not include wells operated by other companies in which QEP may have an interest, or oil from QEP-operated wells that belong, in part, to other companies.
—Mike Ellerd
