Painted Woods Field Update

News

May 6, 2013: observations regarding the status of this field. 

May 6, 2013: this page was updated as of this date; it appears this field is pretty much connected to natural gas pipelines, so the issue of flaring should be going away in this field; the only problem may be takeaway capacity

December 24, 2011: Painted Woods is now about 70 sections, including some attenuated sections along the Montana state line. 

March 19, 2011: I noted the update of the Painted Woods at this post, which will bring you back here. Painted Woods permits issued since June 1, 2010 (updated Dec 23, 2011):

• 19085, 2,172, see below, June 1, 2010; t4/11; cum 126K 3/13;
• 19086, 2,472, see below, June 1, 2010; t11/10; cum 140K 3/13;
• 19300, 634, EOG, Hardscrabble 5-0607H, t10/11; cum 114K 3/13;
• 19348, 995, EOG, Round Prairie 7-1522H; t7/11; cum 110K 3/13;
• 19389, 1,936, BEXP, 1,936, M. Olson 20-29 1H, t12/10; cum 157K 3/13;
• 19409, 761, EOG, Mont 3-3403H, t6/11; 131K 3/13;
• 19413, 1,260, Oasis, Moore 5304 13-1H, t9/12; cum 98K 3/13;
• 19419, 652, EOG, Mont 4-3502H, t7/11; cum 116K 3/13;
• 19529, 1,054, EOG, Round Prairie 5-0804H, t5/11; cum 120K 3/13;
• 19556, 709, Zenergy, Florence 11-2H, t10/11; cum 82K 3/13;
• 19614, 1,635, Oasis, Christianson 5404 14-34H, Painted Woods, Williams, t4/12; cum 72K 3/13;
• 19615, 1,752, Oasis, Cowden 5404 13-35H, t3/11; cum 109K 3/13;
• 19778, 414, EOG, Mont 10-3601H, t11/11; cum 126K 3/13;
• 19930, 2,670, BEXP, Russell 10-3 1H, t6/11; cum 150K 3/13;
• 20146, 1,889,  BEXP, Delorme 12-1 1H, t6/11; cum 110K 3/13;
• 20156, 686, EOG, Hardscrabble 8-0409H, t4/12; cum 93K 3/13;
• 20171, 2,003, BEXP, Erickson 8-17 2H, t11/11; cum 90K 3/13;
• 20178, 2,788, BEXP, Erickson 8-17 3H; t4/11; cum 142K 3/13;
• 20245, PNC, Zenergy, Mortenson 18-7H
• Last one in 2010
• 20762, 817, Zenergy, Arnstad 3-10H;t5/12; cum 61K 3/13;
• 20877, PNC, BEXP, Gathman 30-19 1-H
• 20925, 1,029, Zenergy, Iverson 14-11H, t10/11; cum 72K 3/13;
• 20996, 683, Zenergy, Anderson 7-18H, t12/11; cum 79K 3/13;
• 21008, 279, EOG, Hardscrabble 9-0508H; t11/11; cum 107K 3/13;
• 21011, 1,263, Zenergy, Owan 23-26H, t2/13; cum 26K 3/13;
• 21067, 588, Slawson, Stampede 2-36-35H, t12/11; cum 54K 3/13;
• 21073, PNC, Zenergy, Ledahl 28-21H
• 21098, PNC, Zenergy, Heller 2-11H
• 21138, 2,555, BEXP, Gathman 30-19 1H, t12/11; cum 99K 3/13;
• 21660, 2,344, BEXP, Wing 4-33 1H, t4/12; cum 78K 3/13;
• 21740, 2,389, BEXP, Blanche 27-22 1H; t3/12; cum 89K 3/13;
• 22315, 856, Zenergy, Ledahl 28-21H,  t6/12; cum 41K 3/13;
• 22501, loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 22-0607H,
• 22535, loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 14-0607H,
• 23421, conf, EOG, Garden Coulee 1-1410H, 53K in first four months; a great well;
• 23627, Conf, Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 4TFH,
• 23628, Conf, Statoil, Reiten 23-14 3TFH,
• 23629, Conf, Statoil, Reiten 23-14 4H,
• 23630, Conf, Statoil, Reiten 23-14 2H,
• 23631, Conf, Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 3H,
• 23632, Conf, Statoil, Reiten 23-14 1TFH,
• 23633, Conf, Statoil, Michael Owan 26-35 2TFH,
• 23729, drl, Statoil, Delorme 12-1 3H,
• 23730, Conf, Statoil, Boots 13-24 3H,
• 23731, Conf, Statoil, Delorme 12-1 4TFH,
• 23732, Conf, Statoil, Boots 13-24 4TFH,
• 24000, loc, EOG, Hardscrabble 16-0409H,
• 24475, Conf, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 2TFH,
• 24476, Conf, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 6H,
• 24477, Conf, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 3TFH,
• 24478, Conf, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 4H, 
• 24479, Conf, Statoil, M. Olson 20-29 5TFH,
• 24633, Conf, Statoil, Blanche 27-22 2TFH,
• 24634, Conf, Statoil, Blanche 27-22 7H,

Jun 1, 2010: The"first" Brad Olson was an important well for BEXP. It had an IP of 1,810 when BEXP desperately needed some good news. Today, BEXP was granted two new permits in the very same section (9-154N-102W): Brad Olson 9-16 3H and Brad Olson 9-16 2H, both should be on the same pad just to the west of the original Brad Olson.  Update, Mar 19, 2011:

• 19085, Brad Olson 9-16 3H, 2,172 (t4/11); cum 93K 4/12; 
• 19086, Brad Olson 9-16 2H, 2,472, spudded 7/10; cum 111K 4/12;
  

May 13, 2010: New permit, #19031, BEXP, Boots 13-24 1-H, NENW 13-154N-103W. Results: IP 1,773; spudded 6/10; tested 9/10 (four months to fracking); cum 91K 4/12;

May 5, 2010: New permit, #18992, Slawson, Stampede 1-36-25H; SWSE 36-154N-104W. Results: IP 826; spudded 6/10; tested 11/10 (five months to fracking); cum 60K 4/12;

April 26, 2010: New permit today, #18955, BEXP, Weisz 11-14 1-H; NENW 11-154N-102W. Results: IP 2,003; spudded 5/10; tested 8/10; cum 120K 4/12;

Painted Woods

The original post was dated April 24, 2011. Since the original posting, this field has really become a great field. The size of the field has grown significantly and gone from a rectangular shape to a much more irregular shape.  BEXP has had some incredible wells in this field.

The Painted Woods oil field is just a few minutes' drive west of Williston. It is not a very remarkable drive: wheat fields in the summer as far as one can see; empty fields during the winter; and, flat, dusty, gravel roads. This was the oil field that I first took my dad out to see the two "huge" BEXP wells (the Olson and the Brad Olson wells) that garnered so much interest last summer (2008). These two wells were the start of the BEXP's financial turnaround. There was a lot of talk at that time whether BEXP would survive; BEXP appears to have weathered that storm, and as a Chinese warrior once said, "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger."

In addition to the "Olson twins," this field also has the spectacular Jack Erickson well, another BEXP well.

BEXP "owns" this field but I assume other operators will show up eventually, but maybe BEXP has all the leases. I don't know.

The field is irregularly shaped, suggesting it's a relatively young field with sections being added piecemeal.

It is made up of about 76 sections, most of them in two townships: T154N-R102W and T154N-R103W. Two sections are half-size due to lying along the North Dakota/Montana border. (The 76 sections is up from 72 sections when I updated this in 2010.) (That is up from 64 since original posting.)

Currently (May, 2011) there are three rigs on site in the Painted Woods oil field (although one of the three is barely inside the northern boundary).

New wells posted at second update (May 28, 2011) following original post:

• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H; IP 7/10; cum 153K 3/13;
• 18992, Slawson, 826, Stampede 1-36-25H; IP 11/10; cum 77K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 2,213, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H; IP 9/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18955, BEXP, 2,278, Weisz 11-14 1-H; IP 8/10; 149K 3/13;
• 19031, BEXP, 1,773, Boots 13-24 1-H; IP 9/10; 116K 3/13;
• 19085, BEXP, 2,172, Brad Olson 9-16 3H; t4/11; 126K 3/13;
• 19086, BEXP, 2,472, Brad Olson 9-16 2H; IP 11/10; cum 140K 3/13;
• 19389, BEXP, 1,936, M. Olson 20-29 1-H; IP 12/10; cum 157K 3/13;

Five new wells posted at first update following original post:

• 18791, BEXP, 1,578, Abe 30-31 1H, spudded 4/10; cum 1467K 3/13;
• 18443, BEXP, 1,976, Owan 29-32 1H, spudded 4/10; cum 151K 3/13;;
• 18771, Zenergy, 683, Johnson 29-30H, spudded 4/10; cum 118K 3/13;; (Squires field)
• 18793, EOG, 274, Mont 100-28H, spudded 3/10; cum 53K 3/13;(Squires field)
• 18622, EOG, 680, Mont 1-28H, spudded 3/10;  cum 59K 3/13; (Squires field)

Note: 18793 and 18622 are on same pad.

The three Squires wells noted above (18771, 18793, and 18622) are less than half a mile from Painted Woods field where BEXP is located. Note the difference in IPs and cumulative production.

NOTE: don't be misled; some of the wells are being listed more than once depending on various categories below.

At the time of the original post, there were four producing wells inside the Painted Woods:

• 17513, BEXP, 1,160, Olson 10-15 1-H, 181K 3/13; (spudded 9/08); it continues to produce 3,000 bopm
• 18175, BEXP, 1,810, Brad Olson 9-16 1-H, 154K 3/13; (spudded 7/09); as of 9/11, it was producing 5,000 bopm, but there has been almost no production Oct, Nov, Dec 10 and Jan 11
• 15719, Zenergy, 68, Gibbins 2-11H, a Madison well, spudded 2/13/2005; total cumulative 65K 3/13;; at 800 bbls/month, it has never really declined in production after the first couple of months; note that it was a horizontal well back in 2005
• 16276, BEXP, 156, back in December, 2006, probably before much fracturing, 58K as of 1/11; spudded in 6/06 -- an old, old Bakken well; t73K 3/13;

In addition to the previously mentioned sites with rigs, there are five other wells that have come off the confidential list since the original posting:

• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H, spudded 4/10; 154K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 1,983, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H, spudded 5/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18324, BEXP, 2,215, Owan-Hehring 27-34 1-H, spudded 12/09; 184K 3/13
• 18439, BEXP, 2,652, Jack Erickson 6-31 1-H, spudded 12/09; 129K 3/13;
• 18534, BEXP, 1,924, Mortenson 5-32 11H, spudded 2/10; 120K 3/13;

The wells in this field are pretty much laid out in a regular fashion, and are amenable to all being placed on one pipeline but when I was last there, they still had tanks on site, suggesting no pipeline yet, but that was more than a year ago. These wells are all reported above.

One line of wells:

• 18791, BEXP, 1,578, Abe 30-31 1-H, spudded 4/10; 146K 3/13;
• 18443, BEXP, 1,976, Owan 29-21 1-H, spudded 4/10; 151K 3/13;
• 18796, BEXP, 1,983, Abe Owan 21-16 1-H, spudded 5/10; 141K 3/13;
• 18324, BEXP, 2,215, Owan-Hehring 27-34 1-H, spudded 12/09; 194K 3/13;
• 18906, BEXP, 2,640, Michael Owan 26-35 1-H, spudded 4/10; 153K 3/13;

Another line of wells:

• 18439, BEXP, 2,652, Jack Erickson 6-31 1-H, spudded 12/09; 129K 3/13;
• 16276, BEXP, 156, back in December, 2006, probably before much fracturing, 73K 3/13;
• 18534, BEXP, 1,924, Mortenson 5-32 11H, spudded 2/10; 120K 3/13;
• 18175, BEXP, 1,810, Brad Olson 9-16 1-H, spudded 7/09; 154K 3/13;
• 17513. BEXP, 1,160, Olson 10-15 1-H, spudded 9/08; 181K 3/13;

The flaring issue:

By the way,  this is why the "flaring issue" is somewhat of a "red herring," or a McGuffin (Hitchcock): these are great wells that would have a fair amount of flaring as soon as they hit oil. However, once they get these wells all under production, a natural gas pipeline will be laid and that will be the end of flaring. I assume that historically it did not make sense to lay a pipeline before drilling the well. At one time, there were as many as 14 dry wells for every well they hit in North Dakota (before the Bakken boom). There is no way they would be laying pipeline ahead of time when there were so many dry holes. Even though the success rate is much better now, old habits die slowly, and there are still economic/financial reasons to delay laying pipeline early.