Corral Creek-Bakken Unit -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA -- A Unit Plan -- A First -- A Model? -- My Math May Be Off -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

December 16, 2012: human interest story on Corral Creek. The permits have been updated below. Note that "they" are starting to drill the Three Forks, also, in this field. On this date, the field is 60 sections; on the west edge (but outside) of the reservation; mostly T147N-95W; approximately six sections with part or all surface under the river; drilling concentrated in the southwest corner of this field; only one wells in the 17 sections in the north; two rigs now; COP says they will be moving in a third rig in the spring;
The most interesting location today is the four-corner area where sections 19-20-29-30 meet:

Sited:

• 6464, PA/298, GPE-ALAQ-19-147-95 BN 1, Duperow (Red River dry); t7/78,  40K total;
• 8298, PA/238, 29-147-95 Burlington Northern 1/Coastal Oil & Gas, Red River, 9/81; 16K total;
• 17308, drl, BR, CCU Meriwether 44-19TFH, 4/12; no IP yet;
• 17313, 68, BR, CCU Williams 14-20H, Bakken; t10/08; cum 129K 10/12;
• 19856, 130, BR, CCU Meriwether 44-19MBH, t7/12; cum 900 bbls 10/12;
• 22814, see below
• 22815, see below
• 24245, see below
• 24246, see below
• 24247, see below
• 24481, see below
• 24482, see below
• 24483, see below
• 24484, see below

 Toe-end of horizontals at the four-corner area:

• 17082, 75, BR, CCU Powell 14-32H, Bakken, t6/08; cum 57K 10/12;
• 17590, 698, BR, CCU Carol 44-31H, Bakken, t3/09; cum 93K 10/12;

And a bit farther to the west, another toe-end:

• 16798, 453, BR, CCU Prairie Rose 24-31H, Bakken, t4/08; cum 196K 10/12;

November 3, 2012: another link regarding minimizing pad drilling in the Little Missouri State Park.

The Little Missouri State Park is a hideaway in western North Dakota with 47 miles of backpacking and horseback trails. But with 10 million barrels of oil beneath the park, it is becoming another target for drilling.

"This area should probably have never been developed anyway. But in a state park, we would think that there would automatically be a a prohibition on oil development," said Clay Jenkinson.

But there is nothing stopping oil companies to develop in the state park. Not even the state can stand in the way because it only owns seven percent of the minerals in the park.

"If the state made a decision that it was not going to lease its minerals, it really could not stop the development. It would just be forgoing revenue. So the best thing to do is sit down with a potential operator and work out an agreement about where the wells are going to be placed so that to the extent possible you keep them out of the way," said Lynn Helms, North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources Director.

The state made that agreement with Burlington Resources to create a large 30,000 acre drilling pad known as unitization, that will house 80 wells. Five additional well pads will be located inside the park with up to 15 wells.

May 18, 2012: Five new permits for Burlington Resources in Corral Creek on this date (see below: 22965, 22966, 22967, 22968, and 22970).  Note the "P" designation on one of the wells (#22970).  Whiting is using the "P" designation for the Pronghorn Sand. Is BR targeting three payzones in Corral Creek: middle Bakken, Three Forks, and Pronghorn Sand? This will put three wells in one of these spacing units, and four wells in another spacing unit.

Permits

Permits Issued in 2012

• 22814, conf, BR, CCU Powell 31-29MBH, 29-147-95; 2-well pad; producing, no IP yet, 10/12;
• 22815, 1,643, COP/BR, CCU Powell 21-29MBH, 29-147-95; 2-well pad;  t10/12; cum 5K 10/12;
• 22965, conf, BR, CCU Golden Creek 34-23MBH; 4-well pad;
• 22966, conf, BR, CCU Golden Creek 24-23MBH; 4-well pad;
• 22967, conf, BR, CCU Burner 21-26MBH; 4-well pad;
• 22968, conf, BR, CCU Burner 21-26TFH; 4-well pad;
• 22970, conf, BR, CCU Golden Creek 33-23PH, single well; sited in an unusual location within the section;
• 23133, conf, BR, CCU, Prairie Rose 41-30MBH, 3-well pad;
• 23134, conf, BR, CCU Powell 11-29TFH, 3-well pad;
• 23135, conf, BR, CCU Powerll 11-29MBH, 3-well pad;
• 23208, conf, BR, CCU Boxcar 44-22PH, Corral Creek, single well;
• 23783, conf, CLR, Brandvik 4-25H, 2-well pad (in same section as 2-well pad for #23785)
• 23784, conf, CLR, Brandvik 3-25H, 2-well pad;
• 23785, conf, CLR, State Weydahl 3-36H, 2-well pad (in same section as 2-well pad for #23783);
• 23786, conf, CLR, State Weydahl 2-36H, 2-well pad;
• 24245, conf, BR, CCU Prairie Rose 11-30 TFH, Corral Creek, 3-well pad;
• 24246, conf, BR, CCU Meriwether 14-10TFH, Corral Creek, 3-well pad;
• 24247, conf, BR, CCU Meriwether 14-19MBH, Corral Creek, 3-well pad;
• 24481, conf, BR, CCU Meriwether 24-19TFH, Corral Creek, 4-well pad;
• 24482, conf, BR, CCU Meriwether 24-19 MBH, Corral Creek, 4-well pad;
• 24483, conf, BR, CCU Prairie Rose 21-30MBH, Corral Creek, 4-well pad;
• 24484, conf, BR, CCU Prairie Rose 31-30TRFH, Corral Creek, 4-well pad;

Earlier permits of interest:

• 16912, 266, BR, CCU Burner 41-26H, t4/08; cum 129K 9/12;
• 17781, exp, BR, Golden Creek 44-23H,
• 18080, 999, BR, CCU North Coast 11-25H, t10/09; cum 86K 9/12;
• 18120, conf, BR, CCU Mainstreeter 14-24H,

Original Post

Link here.

This is huge, literally and figuratively.

Some time ago, it was reported that all the permits in a certain area of the Bakken, North Dakota, were declared null and void by the NDIC. At the time I opined that the NDIC was working to come up with a solution to minimizing the oil industry's footprint in a state park. It looks like they have come up with a great plan.

North Dakota regulators on Tuesday approved a huge new oil production unit north of Killdeer that includes a state park and thousands of acres of rugged, scenic land in the state’s western Badlands.

The formation of the Corral Creek-Bakken unit, which covers almost 50 square miles, will allow production of up to 43 million barrels of oil while using fewer oil drilling pads and tank storage batteries, said Lynn Helms, director of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources.

“The number of trucks will be much, much less because the gas, the oil and the water are all going to move by pipeline,” Helms said. “It’s much more efficient in terms of the impacts and use of the landscape.”

The unit plan is the first for the Bakken and Three Forks oilfields in western North Dakota, which have been mostly responsible for the state’s boom in energy development.

Some data points:

• Burlington Resources (COP) will manage the unit
• Burlington, the state, and the federal government own more than 60 percent of the unit's mineral production rights
• >60 percent ownership is large enough to seek unit approval
• to drill 80 oil wells over six years or more; already has 12 producing wells
• now, BR says they can finish the unit in 3.5 years
• 30,000-acre unit
• 43 million bbls of oil vs the 28 million if the unit was broken into smaller drilling units
• the unit sits in Dunn County, about 15 miles north of Killdeer, south of the Little Missouri River
• the unit includes the Little Missouri State Park

43 million bbls/30,000 acres --> 1,433 bbls/acre --> 1 million bbls/section: that's the "official" word. Others can correct/review/check the math.

Bakken/Three Forks wells in Dunn County:

• at least four wells/1,280-acre unit
• as many as eight wells/1,280-acre unit
• EURs for a well in the core Bakken approaching 1 million bbls
• 30,000 acres --> close to 50 sections --> 25 1,280-acre units
• I'll let others do the math -- I've already done it

Somewhere my math must be off.