?1 Citation Oil & Gas Corp. of Houston has completed a horizontal producer in northern Montana’s Bowes Field initially pumping 346 bbl. of 20.5-gravity oil and 33 bbl. of water per day. The #F406H Bowes Sawtooth Unit is about 19 miles west of Fort Belknap in Section 6-31n-20e, western Blaine County, Mont. The completion is producing from an acidized lateral extending northwestward from 3,356 ft. to 6,245 ft. in Jurassic Sawtooth. The well was drilled to 3,349 ft., true vertical depth.

2 Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., based in Salt Lake City, completed one of the northernmost horizontal producers to date in the Montana Bakken play. The #1-21H Ralston is in Section 21-27n-53e, nearly six miles south- southeast of Brockton in northern Richland County, Mont. The Sinclair well flowed at an average rate of 291 bbl. of oil and 37 bbl. of water daily from a fractured horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken extending north-northwestward to a projected measured total depth of 18,458 ft. at a proposed bottomhole location in Section 16-27n-53e.

3 IHS Inc. reports three high-volume producers by Houston-based Ultra Petroleum Corp.’s development drilling program on the Pinedale Anticline. The wells are located in Sublette County, south of Pinedale, Wyo., and were all drilled from one drill pad.
The #16C1-2D Riverside is in Section 2-31n-109w, and flowed 15.9 million cu. ft. of gas, 21 bbl. of condensate and 758 bbl. of water daily from 24 fracture-stimulated stages in Lance between 8,474 ft. and 13,557 ft. Flowing casing pressure was 1,931 psi. It was directionally drilled south-southwestward to a measured total depth of 13,660 ft. at a bottomhole location in the same section, with a true vertical total depth of 13,516 ft.
The second producer, #10D1-2D Riverside, initially flowed 12.7 million cu. ft. of gas, 38 bbl. of condensate and 2,080 bbl. of water per day. Flowing casing pressure was 2,404 psi and it is producing from 25 fractured stages in Lance between 7,614 and 13,618 ft. It was directionally drilled westward to 13,650 ft. at a bottomhole location in the same section.
The third producer, #15A1-2D Riverside, initially flowed 11.3 million cu. ft. of gas, 35 bbl. of condensate and 609 bbl. of water daily with a flowing casing pressure of 2,525 psi. This well is producing from 24 fractured stages in Lance between 7,428 and 13,536 ft. It was directionally drilled southwestward to a measured total depth of 13,635 ft. and the true vertical total depth is 13,576 ft.

4 According to the Rocky Mountain Oil Journal, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Wolverine Gas & Oil has reported its first Jurassic Navajo discovery outside of Covenant Field, near Redmond, Utah. Located in Sanpete County along the Utah Hingeline, #24-1 Wolverine-Federal-Arapien Valley, in Section 24-20s-1e, produced more than 17.4 million cu. ft. of gas and 4,360 bbl. of oil between June and August 2008 with an average production of 700,000 cu. ft. of gas and 171 bbl. of oil daily. The well was directionally drilled to a measured total depth of 13,050 ft. and is reportedly producing from a structure similar to Wolverine’s Covenant Field in Sevier County. Wolverine is planning seismic surveys in the area during 2009.

5 In an Ellsworth Field stepout near Watford City, N.D., Denver-based Whiting Oil & Gas Corp.’s #23-14 Curl initially flowed 2.25 million cu. ft. of gas, 108 bbl of 58.7-gravity condensate, and 36 bbl. of water per day. The #23-14 Curl is located in Section 14-149n-100w, in central McKenzie County. Testing was conducted in a fractured Red River interval at 13,914-30 ft. and 13,939-43 ft. Flow was gauged through an 11/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 2,976 psi. The top of Red River was logged at 13,719 ft. and drilled to a total depth of 14,147 ft. Whiting has five nearby locations staked—one to the east, one to the northeast, and three Red River exploratory tests in Sections 28 and 34-150n-99w.

6 According to IHS Inc., an XTO Energy Inc. horizontal exploratory test on the southern end of the Nesson Anticline near Mandaree, N.D., initially flowed 1,271 bbl. of 42-gravity oil and 1.37 million cu. ft. of gas per day. The completion, #44X-20 Thompson, is in Section 20-150n-95w, northeastern McKenzie County, and was tested in a horizontal Middle Bakken lateral at 11,204-21,140 ft. after fracture stimulation in five stages. The lateral was drilled northwestward to a bottomhole location in Section 19-150n-95w. Flow was measured through a 32/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 1,325 psi. The reported formation tops include Bakken shale at 10,910 ft., Middle Bakken dolomite at 11,002 ft. and Middle Bakken porosity at 11,064 ft. XTO’s headquarters are in Fort Worth.

7 Hess Corp. of New York has completed a horizontal Middle Bakken oil discovery about 18 miles north of Palermo in Ward County, N.D. Oil was pumped at an initial rate of 84 bbl. per day, with 26,000 cu. ft. of gas and 57 bbl. of water. The #0805H-1 IM-Grubb-159-89 is in Section 8-159n-89w and is producing from a fractured horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken extending from 8,356 ft. northwestward to a measured total depth of 17,991 ft. with a bottomhole location in Section 5-159n-89w.
True vertical total depth is 7,981 ft. Log tops include Upper Bakken at 7,989 ft. and Middle Bakken at 8,000 ft. In the Ward County area of the state, production primarily occurs in shallower Madison facies. Hess’ IM-Grubb wells and nearby IM-Shorty wells are the northeasternmost to date drilled in the North Dakota Bakken play.

8 A flow test, limited by weather conditions, of a horizontal Bakken wildcat drilled 10 miles east of Williston, N.D., by Denver-based Zavanna LLC has recovered oil at a rate of about 860 bbl. per day, with 860 bbl. of load water daily. The #1-23H Leonard in Section 23-154n-99w in Williams County was tested in a 5,600-ft. lateral in Middle Bakken after an eight-stage fracture stimulation. A production liner and external casing packers had been set in the lateral between 11,505 ft. and 17,110 ft., measured total depth. Australian firm Samson Oil & Gas Ltd. has a 10% working interest in the well.

9 Murex Petroleum Corp. of Houston has completed a Mountrail County horizontal exploratory test initially flowing 3,124 bbl. of oil, 2 million cu. ft. of gas and 311 bbl. of water per day. The #25-36H James Chandler is located south of Stanley, N.D., in Section 25-154n-91w, and is producing from 10 fractured stages in a horizontal Middle Bakken lateral extending from 10,835 ft. southward to a measured total depth of 19,230 ft. with a bottomhole location in Section 36-154n-91w. True vertical total depth is 9,769 ft., and a production liner was set in the lateral to 19,154 ft. Flow was gauged through a 42/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 820 psi. Reported formation tops include Bakken shale at 9,868 ft. (9,682 ft. true vertical depth) and Middle Bakken at 9,905 ft. (9,694 ft. true vertical depth).

10 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has accepted all high bids submitted in the September 2008 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) oil and gas lease sale. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., Petro-Canada (Alaska) Inc., FEX LP and Petro-Hunt LLC submitted high bids of $30.9 million for 150 tracts covering approximately 1.7 million acres within the northwest and northeast portions of the NPR-A. Dallas-based Petro-Hunt was the winning bidder on half the tracts leased at the sale, with most of the newly acquired acreage east of the Ikpikpuk River. Leases for the BLM-Alaska acreage are good for 10 years. A 2002 USGS report estimates that there may be approximately 10 billion bbl. of oil and 60 trillion cu. ft. of gas in the NPR-A.