Birch Resources Mows Dean Sandstone for 6.5 MMbbl in 15 Months

Privately held Birch Resources has made 6.5 MMbbl of oil to date from just 16 wells averaging 15 months old in the Dean sandstone north of Midland, Texas, according to newly public Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) data.

More specifically, the wells produced 6,472,402 bbl through October at an average of 886 bbl/d each (using 30.427 days per month), according to the data.

Gas was 3.25 Bcf, bringing the wells’ total output to 7.01 MMboe, about 92% oil.

Houston-based Birch has been mowing the Dean with horizontals in 13 contiguous sections beginning in mid-2022 in southeastern Dawson County on the border of Borden, Martin and Howard counties.

The wells’ combined 33.4 miles of lateral consist of 14 two-milers and two three-milers drilled from six pads, according to the RRC’s geolocator GIS viewer.

Jason Cansler, Birch president and CEO, declined to comment on the Dean development, citing the “competitive landscape.”

Dean sandstone, at about 8,000 ft in southeastern Dawson, is under Spraberry, which is at about 6,500 ft and above the Wolfcamp.

Birch bought its leasehold in the area from Compass Energy Operating, which had taken over old Exco Resources verticals in the Ackerly, North Ackerly and South Joy Snell fields that were producing from verticals in the Dean, Canyon and Canyon Reef.

The 13 contiguous sections hosting Birch’s first 16 wells are between County Road 30 and 34 from north to south and between County Road T (178) and W west to east.

Big pay

Early indications Birch had struck big pay came when it brought on its initial Dean horizontals—Ironborn A and Ironborn C—in July of 2022, according to the RRC files.

Their combined output of 29,859 bbl from just a partial month online contributed to vaulting Dawson County’s total Spraberry (Trend Area) Field production to 419,000 bbl from 298,000 bbl a month earlier, the RRC data show.

A month earlier, Birch wasn’t among Dawson producers. Its entry in July came with a No. 4 seeding among a total of 29 operators in the county. By this past October, Dawson operators totaled 109, more than four times the number in June 2022, when there were just 24 operators.

Also joining the July 2022 roster was privately held Ike Operating, but without production. From zero in mid-2022, it vaulted to No. 4 with 70,339 bbl this past October after buying Spraberry wells from Pinon Operating in 2023.

Since then, Ike has brought on three wells of its own—all landed in Dean and all in the Birch Resources area in southeastern Dawson, according to RRC files.

Its Aquila A #2DN and Aquila B #6DN wells were turned into sales in January 2024.

The #2DN made 161,331 bbl through October from a 10,290-ft lateral. Its 24-hour IP had been 1,175 bbl.

The #6DN made 99,528 bbl through October from a 10,404-ft lateral. Its IP had been 972 bbl.

Ike’s third Dean well, Yellow Lab #6DN, was brought online in February, producing 247,392 bbl in its first nine months online from a 7,387-ft lateral after IP’ing 1,637 bbl, according to RRC data.

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Seven more Dean wells

Birch’s October production was 323,912 bbl at 10,449 bbl/d.

Its 17-month-old Gold Lion A made 702,007 bbl through October after IP’ing 2,590 bbl/d from a 10,305-ft lateral. An adjacent well, Gold Lion B, has produced an additional 572,406 bbl, also from a 2-mile lateral.

Its two Balerion The Dread wells—A and C—have made 1,287,220 bbl combined in their first 15 months, both from 3-mile laterals.

Birch completed seven more Dean wells in 2024 in Dawson, according to FracFocus: Thoros C #4DN and A #1DN in October; Moon Door A #2DN and C #6DN in September; Heartsbane C #6DN and A #2DN in August; and Ghost C #6DN, also in August.

The results of the newest seven wells were in RRC confidential status at press time.

In February, it made its third Balerion The Dread well: B #4JD. The RRC public data through October did not yet show production from it.

Landed in Spraberry rather than Dean, the Balerion B #4JD’s 24-hour IP was 114 bbl, while the two adjacent Balerion wells—A and C—that were landed in Dean had IP’s of 2,450 bbl and 2,192 bbl, respectively.

Three months, 7.5 bbl/ft

J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Arun Jayaram said “Dawson County had the highest well productivity on a lateral-foot-adjusted basis in 2024” in a county-by-county Midland Basin review.

He added, however, that there was a limited data set for the county: just 27 wells.

Among these, three-month oil output averaged 7.5 bbl per lateral foot, “which was 25% above the average three-month oil cumes for the entire Midland Basin,” he wrote in the December report.

EOG Resources has been exploring in the southwestern quadrant of Dawson County but for Spraberry rather than Dean, according to RRC files. It has not yet commented on its results or plans.