Bakken Shale Oil Formation - Largest Oil Pool
Found - Parshall Field in Bakken Shale & Three Forks Zone
The Bakken Shale Oil field, which stretches down from Canada into North Dakota and Montana, could hold 3.65 billion barrels
in oil reserves which would be the largest finding in U.S history next to the Oil fields in Alaska. This oil shale
formation is located in the Williston Basin according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Bakken formation is a rich
deposit that the U.S. Geological Survey calls the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed. On top of
this, landowners are striking it rich as they sell their drilling rights ( mineral rights ) to drilling companies. Looking for an Oil field Job in Bakken Formation? Check out my Bakken
Jobs Section.
In 1995, the USGS surveyed the Bakken area in which they found roughly 151 million barrels
of recoverable oil. Since then, there have been many technological advances causing the big spike to 3.65 billion barrels
of recoverable oil. The biggest oil field, which is located at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska ( ANWAR ), could potentially hold up to 10 billion barrels of oil.
The Bakken Shale Formation Play,
also referred to as the North Dakota Shale, was deposited in the more central and deeper portion of the Williston Basin.
In addition to North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan, a small part of Manitoba is involved in Canada.
The Williston Basin extends down into South Dakota as well but is not considered part of the Bakken Oil Shale Play.
Where is Oil in Bakken Shale Formation being drilled the most? There have been a record
number of oil drilling rigs grinding away at the land. There are now over 4,000 active oil wells in North
Dakota and that estimate is forecast to rise as more and more oil is extracted. Some of the sweet spots in Baken Shale
Oil Field by city are: Beluh, Hazen, Parshall, Garison, Washburn. Bakken Shale Oil Field Counties:
Montrail County, Dunn County, Mercer County. If you have land in these areas, you have probably been approached by some
of the companies below in regard to selling your mineral rights. Some of you might even work on an oil rig in the bakken formation.
Oil companies are using Horizontal Drilling under the
town of Parshall, which is home to less then 1,000 in population. Another area is benethe Lake Sakakawea.
This reservoir extends over 180 miles and joins the Missouri River. A big hot spot in the Bakken Shale right
now is an area called the Three Forks - Sanish area. A company called Brigham Exploration Co. (BEXP) actually has one of the best wells drilled
in the Sanish/Three Forks that has been a producing 2,154 BOEPD. The Sanish Three Forks area has been very
exciting for companies such as XTO Energy and Continental Resources also. See Below! The Sanish - Three Forks region is located in Montrail, McKenzie, and Dunn County in North Dakota
as well as several other nearby counties. The three forks area is located below the upper Bakken Shale zone
and could potentially be a whole new oil reservoir. This would open up a whole new opportunity for companies that have
a position in the Sanish/Three Forks region in the Bakken Shale. The ( TFS ) Three Forks Region has the potential to add significant oil reserves. Only time will tell!
Natural Gas is also found deep down in Bakken Shale Field. The USGS estimated
that there could be 1.85 Trillion cubic feet in this area as well as nearly 148 million barrels of Natural Gas Liquids.
New Technology - Horizontal Drilling, has made all of this possible because before the year 2000 almost no oil
or gas was extracted from Bakken Shale, which extends nearly 2 miles below the earths surface vertically. Now,
after they drill vertically, the drill horizontally! They is very expensive but affordable if you can
get great results!
Bakken Shale Formation 2010: Due to the current economic crisis
in 2009, oil prices have dropped by 50% from the price during the summer of 2008. This economic recession
has caused banks to tighten lending as well. Both of these factors are causing the companies below to scale back on
their drilling operations. The prospects for the Bakken Shale look bright in 2010. I am expecting oil
to hit the $90-100 zone again at some point. As the price of oil rises in the second half of 2010, companies will
be back exploring the Bakken Shale like never before! Considering a job in the Bakken Formation? Click Here
- Continental Resources CLR - Continental CLR is the largest leaseholder in the Bakken Shale. The
Company estimates that approximately half of its 439,000 net acres in North Dakota have the potential for the Middle Bakken
and Three Forks - Sanish zone to produce independently. Continental controls a total of 605,000 net acres in the
Bakken play in North Dakota and Montana. North Dakota Bakken production accounted
for 17 percent of the total for the second quarter 2009, for the first time surpassing production in its Montana Bakken properties.
Continental participated in completing 28 gross wells (8.1 net) in North
Dakota during the quarter. Initial production averaged 737 Boepd, a significant increase over the first quarter of 2009 and
the average for 2008. All initial well results discussed in this press release are seven consecutive day averages.
Montana Bakken production was 6,105 Boepd in the second
quarter of 2009, essentially flat with the first quarter of 2009 and four percent below production in the second quarter of
2008. Montana production accounted for 16 percent of the Company's second quarter 2009 production. The Company did not drill
any wells in the second quarter of 2009 in the Montana part of the play.
- Hess HES- Hess ( HES ) is really adding Bakken Shale acreage in the Williston Basin North Dakota. Hess is now the 2nd largest
operator in the Bakken Shale oil field. In the Williston Basin of North Dakota, we have increased our net acreage position
in the Bakken Play to approximately 500,000 acres.
We currently have seven rigs operating in the Bakken
and will add one additional rig in the fourth quarter. With regard to exploration, on June 5, we announced the successful
result of our Pony #2 sidetrack well on Green Canyon Block 468. Based on drilling results to date, the estimated recoverable
reserves from the field are approximately 200 million barrels of oil equivalent. As for 2009, Hess stated in their 4th
quarter that the Bakken Shale is profitable for them but they shifted their drilling activety downward due to lower crude
oil prices. January 2010 Update - We also sanctioned our Bakken shale
development in North Dakota. We plan to build up to a 10 rig program over the next 18 months. We plan to invest nearly $1
billion in the Bakken oil shale play in North
Dakota, where we hold more than 500,000 net acres. We expect our average rig count to increase from three in 2009 to 10 in
2011.
- XTO Energy XTO XTO buys Headington
Oil company for 1.85 billion. Next was the
Bakken Shale from Headington. In late May,
early June, we just closed that one, a $1.85 billion acquisition that made us one of the largest acreage holders in the Bakken Shale play, one of the best oil plays in
the U.S. That was a 350,000 net acre position and we've added 100,000, so that
make us one of the top two or three acreage holders in the Bakken
Shale. Update - In the 3rd quarter, XTO Energy had 450,000 acres in
the Williston Basin's Bakken Shale Formation. They have seen positive results in a well drilled in the Three Forks / Sanish zone with one of their oil wells hitting 1,750 barrels of oil per day.
2009 Update: If you look at Bakken Shale, we currently
have four rigs running. We will drop to three in May. Bakken
is actually running at 700 barrels a day, net above our forecast. That’s one of the reasons our oil forecast has been
upped as our Bakken wells are doing very well.
In fact, we brought in the best Bakken well we’ve
drilled so far, the Boucher 41X-21. It was 2,000 barrel a day plus Three Forks/Sanish well. Actually, it’s better than
the two, the Angelus and Crater that we’ve announced over the last couple of quarters. We are actually choking that
well back and making probably 800 barrels a day of oil at this moment. No reason to pound it at current prices.
And then we completed a couple of wells at over 400 barrels a day equivalent. One of
the things that’s kind of exciting for us, we’ve had a rig sitting on a super pad. And what that is, is a large
pad we have built in South basinarea that has four wells drilled off of it and that all will be completed here in the second
quarter. Two Three Forks/Sanish and two Middle Bakken,
the wells in that particular area are very good; some of our offset guys had 1,000 barrel a day plus Three Forks wells, as
well as Middle Bakken. So, we should see a nice
bump in oil out of the Bakken in the second quarter
here.
-
Northern Oil & Gas NOG - has entered into an agreement to purchase certain oil & gas leases covering approximately 24,000
net acres in Dunn County, North Dakota. With the addition of the Dunn County leasehold, Northern now holds approximately 60,000 net acres in the growing North Dakota Bakken trend.
July 21st, 2008- Northern Oil & Gas NOG announces completion of three Bakken Shale wells bringing the total to eleven wells drilled.
In addition, Northern holds a working interest in an additional fourteen wells that are in the drilling or completion stages
and is included in nearly 70 permitted or docketed-for-permit drilling locations that are expected to drill between now and
early 2009. Northern Oil controls approximately 60,000 net acres in the North Dakota Bakken play, yielding over 90 net well
locations based on 640 acre drilling units. In addition, Northern controls approximately 22,000 net acres in Sheridan County,
Montana and has successfully completed two wells to the Red River formation.
- Marathon Oil Corp MRO - Marathon has a large position in the Bakken Shale play. Marathon oil ( MRO ) currently has 320,000
in the Bakken Oil Shale field. As part of the Company's targeted expansion into key North America resource plays, it
continued to increase production in the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota to 8,800 bpd in second quarter 2009 and hope
to have 9,500 by end of 2009.
A couple of points about the Bakken, are you guys looking to test
the prospectively of the Three Forks being a potential separate reservoir from the Bakken as some other operators have done?
Clarence Cazalot
Yes. We’ve actually
had one test of that, and we continue to evaluate all the different stringers in the Bakken, because as you maybe aware there’s three to five different stringers
beyond the middle Bakken. Right now, all of our
success is coming from the middle Bakken, but
that’s the reason we continue to be encouraged about the 300,000 plus acres that we have out there, because we have
opportunities in other reservoir lenses and also down spacing.
. - EOG Resources Inc EOG - EOG Resources is very active in the Bakken shale formation play - With
six rigs operating across its 500,000 total net acreage position in the North Dakota Bakken, EOG is drilling in both the Core
and Lite areas. With initial production rates of 1,700 and 1,600 Bopd, respectively, the Austin #17-20H and #20-29H are characteristic
of previously completed Bakken Core wells. EOG has 63 and 75 percent working interest in the wells, respectively. EOG further
extended the productive limits of its acreage beyond the Core area with the Ross #7-17H and Sidonia #1-06H. Drilled in the
Bakken Lite, the wells began initial production at 500 and 700 Bopd, respectively. EOG has 100 and 44 percent working interest
in these wells, respectively. In total, EOG plans to drill 17 gross wells in the Bakken Lite area during 2009 and an additional
58 gross wells in the Bakken Core. EOG Resources on the Three Forks - Sanish area: Mark, what do you think about the prospectively of the Three Forks/Sanish under your acreage and do you have any plans to test the Three Forks/Sanish? We have tested the Three Forks/Sanish in a couple of wells in our Parshall area and a couple of our step-out
wells around Parshall.
Newfield Exploration NFX - Newfield is drilling for Oil in the Bakken Shale formation - Our acreage position has prospective targets that include the Bakken Shale, as well
as the Madison, Red River and Three Forks/Sanish. The Jorgenson 1-15H, our first Sanish/Three Forks horizontal well, is an apparent success and the well awaits completion at this time.
Company to Add Additional Rigs in Williston Basin - Newfield expects
to add up to two additional operated rigs in its Williston Basin development areas. The Company has been running a one-rig
program since early 2009. Newfield has approximately 200,000 net acres in prospective development areas, located primarily
on the Nesson Anticline and west of the Nesson. An additional 200,000 net acres are located in northern Montana where several
exploration plays are underway. Newfield has drilled 12 successful oil wells in the North Dakota portion of the Williston
Basin since entering the region in late 2007. Two wells were drilled since the second quarter 2009. The first was an exploratory
well in the Big Valley area, covering more than 50,000 net acres in northern North Dakota. The well recently commenced production
and continues to clean-up following fracture stimulation. Results warrant additional exploratory drilling to assess this large
area. The second well was drilled in the Catwalk area, which covers 25,300 net acres. Completion operations on the well are
expected to commence next week.
- Questar STR - Questar STR has been drillling in Bakken Shale Formation - ( From
Seeking Alpha ) - Moving to our Bakken oil play in North
Dakota, please note that we recently turned our second horizontal Bakken well to sales with a peak 24 hour rate of 840 barrels of oil equivalent per day. As you'll note on slide
eight, this is an important well because it's five miles from the nearest Bakken well to the north and it's the first Bakken
producer in this township.
These two Questar E&P operated wells plus nearby wells drilled by other operators are confirming
that the Bakken play extends on to our 80,000
net acre leasehold. We are drilling ahead, we expect to reach TD in early November on our third Questar E&P operated Bakken well. Please note on this well we're planning
a 9,300 foot lateral.
Kodiak's exploration efforts target oil and gas production from the middle member between the upper
and lower Bakken shales, which are the source for existing hydrocarbons. The Three Forks / Sanish Formation, a productive
interval lying directly below the lower Bakken shale, is also expected to be a future exploration target. Commercial production
from the Three Forks / Sanish Formation is being reported by operators in the immediate area.
The Company's Bakken
shale leasehold position is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (FBIR) in Dunn County, N.D. where all Company
drilling and completion activity has occurred in 2009. At June 30, 2009, Kodiak had approximately 54,000 gross and 37,000
net acres under lease. Kodiak operates all of its leasehold on the reservation excepting an approximate 7,000 net acres that
are in a participating area previously established with another operator.
Year-to-date, Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. has
drilled and completed its first four wells targeting the middle member of the Bakken Formation. In addition, the Company has
one well currently being completed, one awaiting completion and its seventh Middle Bakken well, the Charging Eagle #1-22-10H,
is drilling in the horizontal lateral in the Charging Eagle area in the southeastern portion of its FBIR leasehold.
Estimated
average daily net production for all of Kodiak's producing properties for the month of July 2009 was 765 barrels of oil equivalent
per day (BOE/d), as compared to the average daily net production for the second quarter of 2009 of 521 BOE/d. Comparatively,
average gross production for the FBIR producing properties for July 2009 was 1,220 barrels of oil per day (BO/d) operated
and 470 BO/d net to Kodiak. There have been no gas sales as the wells are not connected to a gas pipeline.
- Brigham Exploration BEXP - Brigham Exploration BEXP announced the successful completion of two additional Vicksburg wells, and
as a result its Vicksburg net production is approaching record levels. Brigham also announced its second consecutive successful
Williston Basin Red River well, and that full production has resumed on schedule in its Bayou Postillion
Project in Southern Louisiana BEXP News July 15, 2008-
Discovery at Bakken Shale - Brigham Exploration BEXP announces their oil well, Mracheck 15-22 1H located west of Nesson Anticline, is flowing 727 barrels of oil per day.
BEXP also says their first well, Johnson 33 1H located in North Stanley area of Mountrail County, ND, is producing oil equivalent
of 618 barrels per day. Also, they completed two wells in Mountrail County, they are in the process of drilling two more
Bakken Shale wells in the Parshall Austin area, North Dakota, and one more Bakken Shale well in the three forks region ( Montrail County ) for 2008.
- Encore Acquisition Company EAC- Encore EAC recently finished drilling and completing its first
well in the Sanish Formation of the Bakken Shale Trend, the Charlson 11-16H,
in Williams County, North Dakota. The well was brought online on July 23 at an initial production rate of 1,106 BOE per day
flowing up 7" casing. The Company has a 96 percent working interest in the well, which also contains very favorable pay
in the Bakken Formation. The well is approximately four miles northwest of the best Sanish well drilled to date in North Dakota, the USA 2D-3-1H, which has produced over 560,000 BOE in 19 months. Encore EAC owns
10,400 net acres in the Charlson area and can drill or participate in an additional 28 wells on its current acreage position
in this area of the Sanish. The Company is currently drilling a second Sanish well in the Charlson Field, which it plans to
complete in the third quarter. Encore plans to drill a total of six wells in the Sanish in the Charlson Field in 2008. Additionally,
two other Sanish wells will be drilled in the Charlson area offsetting the USA 2D-3-1H well. This area is prospective for
both the Sanish and Bakken Formations, which could significantly add to the total recoverable reserves under the Company's
leases. Encore
has recently expanded its acreage position in the Bakken and Sanish Shale Play to over 240,000
net acres. Encore plans to add a third rig to drill Bakken and Sanish wells in August 2008. Upon arrival of the additional
rig, Encore plans to drill a Sanish well in its Cherry Creek Prospect, where the Company owns a significant lease position
of approximately 70,000 net acres. Encore believes its Cherry Creek Prospect is in the Sanish fairway. The Company also plans
to commence drilling in August in the Company's Almond Prospect, in Mountrail and Ward Counties, North Dakota, in which the
Company currently holds an acreage position of approximately 53,000 net acres. The Almond Prospect is prospective for both
the Sanish and Bakken Formations. The Company expects to drill and complete
five-to-six Bakken and Sanish wells in the third quarter of 2008, as well as re-frac several current Bakken producers.
- Whiting Petroleum Corporation WLL - Bakken Formation 2009 - Whiting's
net production from the Middle Bakken formation in the Sanish and Parshall fields of Mountrail County, North Dakota averaged
15,448 BOE per day in June 2009 (after consideration of the Sanish field transaction), up 3% from the 14,930 BOE average daily
rate in March 2009 and up 84% from the 8,400 BOE average daily rate in June 2008.
Whiting increased its average net production
from the Sanish field in the second quarter of 2009 to 10,765 BOE per day, up 21% from the 8,890 BOE per day average in the first quarter of 2009.
Our net production from the Sanish field averaged 10,179 BOE per day in June 2009 (after consideration of the Sanish field
transaction), a 200% increase from 3,400 BOE per day in June 2008.
Immediately east of the Sanish field is the Parshall
field, where we own interests in 73,760 gross acres (18,315 net acres). The Company's net production from its interests in
the Parshall field during the second quarter of 2009 averaged 5,085 BOE per day, a 5% decline from the 5,360 BOE per day average
in the first quarter of 2009. Our net production from the Parshall field averaged 5,268 BOE per day in June 2009, a 5% increase
from 5,000 BOE per day in June 2008 and a 4% increase from the 5,060 BOE average daily rate in March 2009. The principal operator
of the Parshall field is EOG Resources, Inc. In mid-June, EOG began completion operations on the first of 16 wells that had
been waiting on completion. Through July 15, 2009, 10 of these wells had been completed and placed on production. The remaining
six wells are expected to be completed over the next four weeks. It is expected that Whiting's net production from the Parshall
field will increase in the third quarter of 2009 due to these new producers.
We recently completed two prolific oil
wells in the Sanish field. During a 24-hour test of the Middle Bakken formation on June 25, 2009, the Rohde 44-1H flowed 2,250
barrels of oil and 1.7 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas (2,528 BOE) per day. The initial 24-hour production rate was gauged
on a 32/64-inch choke with a flowing casing pressure of 1,137 pounds per square inch (psi). Whiting drilled the Rohde 44-1H
well in the central portion of the Sanish field. Whiting, the operator of the well, holds a 43% working interest and a 35%
net revenue interest in the new producer. More........
- St. Mary Exploration SM - St. Mary has exposure to the Bakken Shale - In the Williston Basin, In the Williston Basin, St. Mary recently
drilled and completed its initial three horizontal Bakken test wells in the Company’s Powers Lake and Stillwater
prospects on the Mountrail and Burke county line. While the wells have shown modest production rates, the Company does not
believe that the area will be commercial for the Bakken in the current commodity price and cost environment. Log data from
the first of these wells confirmed the presence of the Three Forks formation under the Bakken, and information from offset
operators suggests that this interval could be prospective on our acreage. In eastern McKenzie County, St. Mary has a
rig scheduled to arrive in November in our Bear Den prospect to drill several horizontal Bakken and Three Forks wells. A recent
St. Mary operated re-entry well targeting the Bakken was successful in this prospect, and the Company is encouraged by
offset operator activity. The Bakken formation in the Bear Den acreage appears to have higher pressure compared to the Company’s
acreage at Powers Lake and Stillwater. As previously announced, St. Mary recently acquired 6,200 net acres in the Bear Den
area which brings the Company’s total acreage in the area to roughly 10,000 net acres. The Company has
approximately 74,000 net acres in non-legacy areas in North Dakota. Declining oil prices combined with widening differentials
and restricted pipeline takeaway capacity are potential limiting factors for future development in the Williston Basin.
US Energy Corp USEG - U.S. Energy Corp. (Nasdaq:USEG) ("USE" or the "Company"), a natural resources exploration and development
company with interests in molybdenum, oil and gas, geothermal, and real estate assets, today announced that it has entered
into a Drilling Participation Agreement (DPA) with Brigham Exploration Company (Nasdaq:BEXP) ("Brigham") to earn
working interests in up to fifteen 1,280 acre spacing units in Brigham's Rough Rider project area located in Williams and
McKenzie Counties of North Dakota. The terms of the DPA call for the drilling of up to 15 initial Bakken wells in 15 separate
1,280 acre spacing units. The ultimate number of wells to be drilled in the units could reach 90.
Continental Resources Photo CLR
Bakken Shale Map
Talisman Energy TLM - In the Bakken core, Talisman drilled 43 gross (36 net) wells, achieving top tier
performance in drilling costs and production rates. However, the Company has decided to exit southeast Saskatchewan to focus
on more material assets in North America. Yesterday, Talisman entered into an agreement to sell these assets for proceeds
of approximately $720 million. Current production is approximately 8,500 boe/d (net).
- GeoResources GEOI Geo Resources GEOI has recently provided and update to shareholders regarding Bakken Oil Drilling.
GeoResources has completed drilling two shallow horizontal oil wells in its Wayne Field, Bottineau County, North Dakota.
The Company holds a 10 –15% working interest in approximately 26,000
acres in Mountrail County, North Dakota and is participating in numerous Bakken shale wells through
a joint venture. At present, five horizontal Bakken wells in Mountrail County, North Dakota, operated by
Slawson Exploration, are in various stages of drilling and completion.
- Grey Wolf GW - We're pleased to announce that we have recently signed a term contract for a rig that has mobilized and is drilling
in the Bakken shale play in North Dakota. Grey
Wolf targeted this significant resource play in 2007 as a priority for expanding our geographic footprint in the Lower 48.
We expect additional demand for rigs in this resource play in the near term.
- Penn Virginia PVA - ( seeking alpha ) PVA announces that it has established a postion in the Bakken Shale - Penn
Virginia drilled or participated in three Horizontal Bakken Wells in Dunn County in North Dakota. Those wells have – two of the three
have performed very well, the first one is only making about 50 barrels a day of oil. That really is not commercial, but it’s
a data point. And importantly, the second operated well is making about a little over 650 barrels a day, which is a very good
well and we got another one in which we have very small working interest, but again data – this is making 545 barrels
a day - We’ve got about 57,000 acres in the Bakken
- MDU Resources MDU - MDU is active in the Bakken Shale, mostly in the Three Forks area zone. In September, we sold approximately
45,000 net acres in the Northern block of our Bakken
acreage, located in Bakken Mountrail County.
The leaseholds on a substantial portion of this acreage are set to expire next year.Nine operated wells along with interest
in various non-operated wells were included in the sale. Production attributable to the properties sold was about 250 barrels
per day. As we look forward, we plan to concentrate our investment in the more prolific areas of the Bakken play. I’d also like to add that the sale of these properties did not
have an effect on our third quarter earnings. Under the full cost accounting method, gains and losses on the sale of properties
are not recognized rather proceeds go to reduce the cost basis on our remaining properties.
The fundamentals of our remaining
acreage in the Bakken are strong our acreage
position in the Bakken is approximately 16,000
net acres. We have one rig under contract for continued drilling of our operated acreage. Reduced drilling times on our operated
properties are being realized with a new rig commissioned last May. We’re also increasing the number of frac stages,
and that’s improving production rates
- Tetron Energy - TEC -Tetron Energy is drilling in the Bakken Shale - Williston Basin. Teton holds a non-operated interest in eight wells,
including seven Bakken wells and one Red River well. The Company has received a permit to drill a Red River well in its Goliath
project in Williams County, North Dakota. The location is built, a rig has been acquired and the well is expected to spud
in November, 2008.
Petroleum Development PETD - We currently own an interest in 13 gross, 3.7 net oil and natural gas wells. Our leasehold encompasses two project areas
in Burke County of approximately 75,100 gross acres with approximately 46,300 net undeveloped acres remaining for development
as of December 31, 2008. The eastern area acreage is prospective for development of oil and gas reserves in the Nesson Formation.
Nesson development wells are approximately 6,000 feet in depth with single or multiple horizontal legs to 4,000 feet or more
in length for a measured length of 10,000 feet or more per leg. The westernmost acreage block is undeveloped and includes
approximately 23,600 gross, 16,200 net acres. The western project targets exploratory horizontal drilling to the Midale/Nesson/Bakken
Formation at depths of approximately 6,800 feet with a lateral leg component of up to 6,100 feet. In 2009, pursuant to a third
party arrangement, we plan to drill up to four exploratory Bakken wells on our acreage with minimal capital obligation on
our part in exchange for an interest in the acreage position.
