Charlson Field Update

Updates

August 24, 2012: BR reports another huge well in the Charlson, a middle Bakken well, a short lateral; only 11 stages:

• 20636, 5,310, BR, Brazos 24-34H, middle Bakken, Charlson, short lateral, t6/12; cum 5K 6/12; the horizontal leg was drilled in four days; 11 stages (?); 1 million pounds sand; half-million pounds ceramic;  the hole was spud 11/7/11 but no drilling was done between 11/17/11 and 11/29/11; they reached vertical depth on 11/29/11; the horizontal total depth was reached in four days; this is essentially an 8-day well.

July 2, 2011: Michael Filloon talked about the Eagle Ford (South Texas) commanding higher lease bonuses due to multiple payzones, it is interesting to look at multiple payzones in the Williston Basin. For example, a Madison well:

• 1171, 333, Petro-Hunt, CMNU B-205, spudded 8/25/1956; 754,319 bbls (no production since September, 2010, and now inactive. Interestingly enough, it appears that it was still producing about 300 bbls/month for years when it was taken off-line; something tells me we will see this well active again -- perhaps as a Bakken), a Madison well
• One should also look at the Silurian formation in the Charlson field
  

May 4, 2011: 18487, 2,280, DNR, Thompson 31-11NWH, Charlson, Bakken, spudded 10/10;

January 21, 2011: 18814, 1,754, SM, Wilson 8-20H, Charlson, Bakken, cum 36K in 50 days

March 16, 2010:  St Mary granted three permits (18814, 18815, 18816; Wilson 8-20H, Norby 9-20H, Norby 16-20H) -- all three in section 20-153N-95W.  The three permits are in an unusual configuration; too far away to be on same pad but all aligned perfectly north-south along the eastern section line. Update on these three wells, July 2, 2011:

• 18814, 1,754, St Mary, Wilson 8-20H, 91,534 as of May, 2011
  
• 18815, 853, St Mary, Norby 9-20H, 80,879 as of May, 2011
  
• 18816, 1,415, St Mary, Norby 16-20H, 66,080 as of May, 2011

Original Post

Charlson Field

Geologists, operators and drillers talk about targeting a certain formation, such as the Bakken or the Three Forks Sanish. However, when completed, the NDIC reports which pool the wells targeted which is an administrative term, and not a geologic formation term.

The NDIC administratively places all Bakken and all TFS wells in the "Bakken Pool." When the daily activity report states the "Bakken Pool" you cannot know from that which geologic formation was targeted; that information comes from other sources including press releases from the oil company operating the rig.

The "Bakken" formation is divided geologically into three formations, the Upper, the Middle, and the Lower. The Upper Bakken was the target during the 1990's boom; the Middle Bakken is the target now.

The Three Forks Sanish is divided into the Upper and the Lower. I forget, but I believe I first read it from an EOG conference call (it could have been Hess), the drillers in the current boom are targeting the Upper and the Lower Three Forks Sanish.

One can see the cumulative oil and gas production from HORIZONTAL wells by formation at the NDIC site. Click here and use the drop down menu to find the formation you are interested in.

That was all background to explain why I was interested in the Charlson field.

The Charlson field: 

My introduction to the Charlson occurred when I first became interested in Denbury.

The Charlson field is unique among many of the fields I follow because it appears that the formation being targeted in the current boom in the Charlson is almost exclusively the Three Forks Sanish.

The Charlson is a very small field, but historically, very, very active. It is only 48 sections, not even two full townships in size, but yet when you go to the GIS map server, it is so full of old vertical wells, it's hard to see "new" activity.

The Charlson is directly west of the Sanish oil field, on the other side of the river. There are no towns or hamlets in this small field.

Currently  there are 20 producing horizontal wells (and lots of vertical wells, as well as many abandoned wells), 8 wells on the confidential list, and one well being drilled.

But this is an interesting bit of trivia:

The most successful well to date in North Dakota sits in the Charlson: file #16059, the USA 2D-3-1H, a Petro-Hunt, LLC, well that was spudded in October, 2006. To date, it has produced 915,000 barrels of oil. That well targeted the Three Forks Sanish. [At $60/barrel = almost $55 million in about 3 years]. UPDATE: USA 2D-3-1H hit a record this past June, 2010: one million bbls of oil cumulative.

But the USA 2D-3-1H is not the only highly successful well targeting the Three Forks Sanish. Here are some others targeting the TFS (not all in the Charlson):

16424, USA 11B-2-2H, Petro-Hunt, LLC, 297,336 barrels, spudded Jul 2007, Charlson field
17113, Charlson 14X-35H, Encore, 214,256 barrels, spudded Oct 2008, Charlson field
16963, USA 35D-1-1H, Petro-Hunt, LLC, 193,343 barrels, spudded Sept 2008, Charlson field
17147, Boucher 41X-21, XTO Energy, 150,147 barrels, spudded Mar 2009, Hofflund field
17558, McGregor 1-15H, CLR, 110,114 barrels, spudded Apr 09, Sauk field
18159, Rollefstad 1-3H, CLR, 62,212 barrels, spudded Aug 09, Antelope field

Additional information added after the above was first posted. This is interesting -- note a couple of the wells targeted the Madison:

17625, 889, Petro-Hunt, McKenzie County 6D-4-4H, 1 sec
17803, xxx, Petro-Hunt, Charlson Madison North Unit B205 XH
18387, 203, Petro-Hunt, Charlson-Madison North UniT C-109, 48,000 as of May, 2011
18678, xxx, Encore, Charlson 34-12H
17859, xxx, Petro-Hunt, L. M. Thompson 7D-4-4H
18111, 776, Petro-Hunt, Thompson 8D-4-4H, spudded May, 2011
17400, 546, Petro-Hunt, Sherven Trust 28B-2-4H
17799, 457, BR, Guadalupe 11-23H
17221, 111, Encore, State 11-16H
18703, 888, Encore, Gilbertson 11-26H
18433, 108, Encore, Swenson 31-33H, rig on site
17356, 356, BR, Archer 14-25H, long lateral
17309, 260, BR, Washburn 44-36H, long lateral
18814, 1,754, St Mary, Wilson 8-20H, 91,534 as of May, 2011
18815, 853, St Mary, Norby 9-20H, 80,879 as of May, 2011
18816, 1,415, St Mary, Norby 16-20H, 66,080 as of May, 2011
19464, xxx, Encore, Swenson 31-33SEH
19544, xxx, Encore, Gilbertson 34-26NEH
19545, xxx, Encore, Gilberton 34-26NWH
19619, xxx, Encore, Charlson 24-33H
19625, xxx, Encore, Charlson 24-33H