Enerplus's US Production Grows With Fort Berthold Bakken Production

August 19, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Enerplus grew U.S. oil production to more than 20,000 boe/d in the second quarter. Production from the Bakken was the primary driver, with volumes growing to 15,000 boe/d from the company's Fort Berthold assets.

Enerplus invested $78 million drilling 4.7 net wells and bringing 6.1 net wells to production during the second quarter. Service costs and well costs continue to fall. Enerplus has realized savings of 10% compared to its plan at the beginning of 2013.

The company's Fort Berthold assets are the primary focus of development. Enerplus has drilled 92 wells to date (74 Bakken & 18 Three Forks) and estimates its acreage holds:

6 year drilling inventory or 130 undrilled locations
Downspacing potential at 160 acres per well that could add another 150 undrilled locations
Potential in the second, third, and fourth benches of the Three Forks.

Read the full Q2 press release at enerplus.com

Bakken Oil Production Sets Record At More Than 750,000 b/d In ND - June 2013

August 15, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Bakken oil production grew a little more than 10,000 b/d from May to June to set a new record at just under 757,000 b/d. The play drove North Dakota to an all time oil production record of a little more than 821,000 b/d. Including Montana, it's likely Bakken and Three Forks production surpassed 800,000 b/d in June.

While impressive, the results are much less dramatic than those reported by Genscape earlier in the week. Genscape predicted the Largest Monthly Bakken Production Increase on record.

We haven't spoken to anyone at Genscape, but we have two thoughts as to why their estimate might have been inaccurate:

Weather delays in May mean oil produced during the month might have been stored and shipped in June. In that scenario, rail shipments of oil would have been much higher than actual production in June. Genscape uses data from rail terminal shipments and pipelines to estimate production.
Our other thought is that May production might not have been impacted as much as thought due to the weather and that delays impacted June more than May.

Both scenarios suggest we're in for a larger than normal production bump as operators catch up in the North Dakota oil patch.

Other notable items from the NDIC's director's cut include:

Natural gas production grew to 930 mmcfd
Number of producing wells set a record at 9,071
Well completions fell by 4 from May to 139 in June
Time from spud to total depth held at 22 days
Time from well spud to first production averaged 116 days
Backlog of wells waiting to be completed fell 10 to 490

Read the full directors cut at www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/

Bakken Oil Production Sees Largest Monthly Increase Ever In June - 50,000+ b/d

August 14, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Genscape is predicting that North Dakota's monthly Bakken production data will show an increase of 54,000 b/d June. The jump surpasses the record of 41,000 b/d set in February of this year and will drive North Dakota oil production above 860,000 b/d.

June will represent only the third time North Dakota production has increased more than 40,000 b/d in a single month (Jul 2011, Feb 2013, Jun 2013).

“Revised August 15, 2013: NDIC reports Bakken oil production grew a little more than 10,000 b/d from May to June.”

May Was A Record Month In The Bakken Too

Production climbed to a record of more than 810,000 barrels per day in May even though it was the wettest month on record in the Bakken. The delays caused by weather primed June to be a good month for production.

Genscape estimates 70% of production moved by rail during the month and that North Dakota production will grow another 68,000 b/d to more than 920,000 b/d by year-end 2013.

Oasis Petroleum's Backlog Of Bakken Wells Waiting To Be Complete Grows

August 13, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Oasis Petroleum's Bakken production held relatively flat at an average of 30,171 boe/d in the second quarter, but expect as much as 10% in the third quarter as more wells are brought online.

The company's inventory of wells drilled and not yet completed swelled to 37 in the quarter, but that number will shrink in the next few months. Oasis is expected to complete 40-45 wells in the third quarter after completing just 51 wells in the first half of the year.

“We completed 20 gross operated wells with an average working interest of 70%, which is in line with what we projected. This allowed us to keep production relatively flat quarter over quarter. We completed 14.7 net operated and non-operated wells in the second quarter of 2013, while our backlog of wells waiting on completion grew significantly as we began pad drilling during the quarter.”

— Thomas B. Nusz, Oasis' CEO

Operated well costs in the Bakken have fallen to $8.2 million or approximately $7.8 million when accounting for savings realized through Oasis Well Services. The company is now running 11 rigs in the region and expects to realize additional savings as operations turn to pad drilling.

Watch for results from two Lower Three Forks wells being drilled in the Indian Hills and North Cottonwood areas. The company's assessment of the play will be completed by year-end and you can expect to see Lower Three Forks wells in the 2014 development plans.

ConocoPhillips' Bakken Oil Production Impacted By Bad Weather - Still Growing

August 12, 2013 R.T. Dukes

ConocoPhillips Bakken Leashold and Mineral Acreage Map

ConocoPhillips' Bakken production grew 3% over the first quarter to average 30,000 boe/d in the second quarter of 2013. Production was impacted by extreme weather in May and June, but the company stated it is "back on track" and running 11 rigs in the region.

See related article: Wet Weather Forcing Delays in Bakken Oilfield.

Conoco plans to grow production from 30,000 boe/d to 45,000 boe/d by 2017. Current development plans project to more like 50,000 boe/d or more over the next few years. It's safe to say the company's published estimates are conservative.

ConocoPhillips has an over 600,000 acre position in the Bakken and expects its ultimate resource potential is more than 600 million barrels.

Read the company's full press release at conocophillips.com