?1 The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has approved Houston-based Plains Exploration & Production Co. for a 12-year offshore Tranquillion Ridge Field project in state waters off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lompoc, Calif. The company now needs State Lands Commission and California Coastal Commission approval. The project is expected to produce 100 million bbl. of oil. The Santa Barbara Daily Sound reports that environmental groups back the project, while companies such as ExxonMobil Corp. oppose it, claiming that it could tap oil reserves more efficiently by constructing onshore facilities on Air Force-owned land. Under the agreement, 17 new wells will be drilled in a 25-acre parcel from Platform Irene and three other offshore platforms off Point Conception. Plains currently produces about 8,300 bbl. of oil per day, and with Tranquillon Ridge could make an additional 30,000 bbl. at peak production. The oil is currently pumped from wells in federal waters as part of Point Pedernales Field. The Air Force uses the Vandenberg site to launch three to four military satellites each year.

2 Continental Resources Inc., Enid, Okla., reports four new producers on the northern Nesson Anticline. The #1-1H Omar, in Section 1-159n-95w, flowed at an average rate of 1,126 bbl. of oil equivalent daily from a horizontal lateral in Sanish/Three Forks in North Tioga Field, Williams County. Also in North Tioga Field, but in Burke County, #1-30H Overlee, Section 30-160n-94w, averaged 198 bbl. of oil equivalent daily from a horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken.
In Divide County, the horizontal #1-21H Skar, in Section 21-160n-95w, flowed an average of 394 bbl. of oil equivalent daily from a Middle Bakken lateral; Continental holds a 54% working interest.
North of #1-21H Skar, a Sadler Field well, #1-16H Bliss, flowed an average of 476 bbl. of oil equivalent daily. Located in Section 16-161n-95w, in Divide County, #1-16H Bliss is a horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken. Continental holds a 54% working interest in this producer. Recently, Continental received permits for three horizontal Bakken tests near #1-16H Bliss.
The company has 10 rigs operating in the Bakken play and is completing three more Sanish/ Three Forks wells.

3 Enid, Okla.-based Continental Resources Inc. has completed a horizontal Bakken discovery near Watford City, N.D., initially pumping 689 bbl. of oil with 533,000 cu. ft. of gas daily. The #1-32H Kermit, in Section 32-150n-96w, McKenzie County, produces from a fractured horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken that extends from 11,258 ft. northward to total depth of 20,250 ft. A pre-perforated production liner was set in the lateral between 10,455 ft. and total depth. Formation tops include Lodgepole at 10,158 ft. and Middle Bakken at 10,905 ft.

4 EOG Resources Inc. of Houston reports a 3,633-bbl.-of-oil and 885,000-cu.-ft.-of-gas-per-day producer on its Austin lease in Parshall Field, Mountrail County, N.D. The #6-15H Austin, in Section 15-154n-90w, is a horizontal lateral and produces from a fractured Middle Bakken interval perforated at 9,780-14,384 ft. Flow was measured through a 44/64-in. choke with a casing pressure of 1,475 psi, and a 4.5-in. production liner set between 8,840 and 14,520 ft. According to IHS Inc., five EOG Austin lease producers made 1.13 million bbl. of oil and 505 million cu. ft. of gas between January and August 2008.

5 Near White Earth, N.D., Hess Corp., New York City, has completed a horizontal exploratory test that initially flowed 248 bbl. of oil, 470,000 cu. ft. of gas and 120 bbl. of water per day. IHS Inc. reports that the #0508H-1 EN-Moe-154-94, Section 5-154n-94w, Mountrail County, produces from a fractured horizontal lateral in Middle Bakken. A pre-perforated production liner was set between 6,645 and 20,360 ft. Flow was gauged through a 25/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 550 psi. Formation tops include Bakken at 10,544 ft. and Middle Bakken at 10,653 ft.

6 Oil flowed at a rate of 765 bbl. with 760,000 cu. ft. of gas daily from a Brigham Exploration Co. Three Forks discovery close to Stanley, N.D. The #25-1H Adix, in Section 25-155n-92w, Mountrail County, is producing from a 15,885-ft. horizontal lateral in Three Forks through 7-in. casing. The company is installing production tubing and will fracture-stimulate 12 intervals. Brigham owns a 32% working interest and a 26% net revenue interest in the discovery. The #25-1H Adix is the first horizontal Three Forks test on Brigham’s 27,780-acre Ross area prospect and is one of the first Three Forks projects drilled east of the Nesson Anticline. Brigham is based in Austin.

7 EOG Resources Inc., Houston, is reporting production of 982 bbl. of oil and 335,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from a well on the eastern flank of Parshall Field, north of Parshall, N.D. The #1-20H John, in Section 20-153-89w, Mountrail County, produces from a fractured horizontal Middle Bakken interval at 9,237-13,675 ft. A pre-perforated production liner was set between 8,417 and 13,814 ft., and flow was measured through a 22/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 1,700 psi. Log tops include Upper Bakken shale at 9,106 ft. and Middle Bakken at 9,181 ft.

8 A New Orleans-based Helis Oil & Gas Co. LLC Three Forks/Sanish producer on the southern Nesson Anticline initially flowed 971 bbl. of oil and 588,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. The #16-14H Jones is in Section 14-150n-95w, McKenzie County, near Mandaree, N.D., and produces from six fractured stages in a horizontal lateral extending from 10,985 ft. to a total depth of 15,489 ft. A production liner was set in the lateral between 10,793 and 15,385 ft., and flow was gauged through a 26/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 650 psi. Formation tops include Upper Bakken shale at 10,675 ft., Lower Bakken shale at 10,808 ft. and Three Forks at 10,902 ft. Three miles from the new producer, Helis recently staked a location for #3-2H Foreman in Section 2-150n-95w.

9 Edward Mike Davis LLC has opened East Dill Field near Kimball, Neb., with the completion of a J sand discovery initially pumping 338 bbl. of oil and three bbl. of water per day. The #23-5 Wilke, in Section 5-15n-56w, Kimball County, is producing from J sand perforated at 6,640-52 ft. Total depth is 6,800 ft. Log tops include D sand at 6,551 ft. and J sand at 6,640 ft. Houston-based Davis has locations staked for six more 6,900-ft. J sand tests on its Wilke lease in Section 5-15n-56w.

10 Las Animas Arch activity abounds. Citation Oil & Gas Corp. of Houston has completed a reentry 18 miles from Kit Carson, Colo.?The #6 Bledsoe Ranch 22C-31, in Section 31-12s-50w, Cheyenne County, initially pumped 77 bbl. of oil per day, with no water. Citation added perforations at 5,507-14 ft. and acidized and perforated Marmaton intervals at 5,499-5,514 ft.?Also in Cheyenne County, Wiepking-Fullerton Energy LLC, Englewood, Colo., plans to drill six 2,200-ft. Codell and Niobrara exploratory tests.
Mount Pleasant, Mich.-based Michiwest Energy Inc. has a permit to drill a 5,500-ft. wildcat on the Las Animas Arch near Stratton, Colo. The #1 Weingardt, Section 28-10s-45w, Kit Carson County, will test Pennsylvanian Morrow and Mississippian Warsaw zones.
Meanwhile, Denver-based Halcyon Exploration Co. LLC has applied for a drilling permit for a 5,200-ft. Las Animas Arch exploratory test near Holly, Colo.; objectives of #1 Neugebauer, Section 20-20s-42w, Kiowa County, include Pennsylvanian Morrow sands.

11 According to E&P Daily, the Alaska Bureau of Land Management has awarded oil and gas tracts in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) for about $31 million. The tracts were awarded to Anadarko Petro­leum Corp. (The Woodlands, Texas), ConocoPhillips (Houston), Petro-Canada (Calgary), FEX LP, a subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. (Calgary), and Dallas-based Petro-Hunt LLC, and covered 150 tracts on more than 1.6 million acres in the 23-million-acre reserve. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates NPR-A holds 9.3 billion bbl. of recoverable oil and 59.7 trillion cu. ft. of recoverable natural gas.

Comments