Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on August 19, 2010 at 8:54

Lorea, the JAG Braley 11 is a lease well, not a unit well. You can tell this by the name. Look at the other wells in the section and you will see that they have names such as HAY RA SU3, Holland (Haynesville Reservoir A, Sand Unit 3). A unit well has the unit designation preceding the well name. By reviewing the depths and unit designations of the surrounding wells, the Braley appears to be permitted to the Smackover depth. However keep in mind that it will be classified once completed by the depth of the perforations in the vertical wellbore. There are productive wells in the section for both the SMK and the Hay zones.

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 20, 2010 at 7:03

Sorry Skip. You lost me there. I was not aware that there different types of wells (lease vs unit). What is the difference between them? Also, how do you know how many acres this well covers, royalty wise? Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on August 20, 2010 at 7:18

The Louisiana Office of Conservation generally recognizes three well types dealing with how the mineral interests are managed. A lease well is a single well covering the allowed acreage for the maximum spacing, in other words 40 acres for production of a formation for which the LOC spacing maximum is 40 acres. The operator has all 40 acres under lease and this well is non-unitized. There are two types of units where multiple wells are allowed, Voluntary and Compulsory. In a Voluntary unit, the operator holds the rights to all the leases covering all the acres (no unleased mineral interests) and may drill as many wells in the continuous lease block as spacing regulations allow. The units that we discuss regarding the Haynesville Shale are Compulsory Units and this is where the term and concept, Force Pool, comes into play. By order of the LOC, all mineral interests within a unit boundary are made available for development by the operator. Those interests that the operator has under lease, those interests that others have under lease and all those which are unleased. The concept of Forced Pooling is to provide a legal means to facilitate development of minerals for the benefit of state revenues while seeking to protect the interests of those mineral owners who are compelled to participate in production from the unit. I do not know off hand the spacing requirements for HAY wells such as the JAC Braley 11.

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 20, 2010 at 8:09

Skip:
Thank you very much. Even though I am not as clueless as I used to be, there is still a lot to learn.

Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on August 20, 2010 at 7:21

Lorea, if you download the well permit it will identify the target zone and also have a well plat that should show the leases and/or unit.

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 20, 2010 at 8:08

Les:
Where do you download it from? I am not familiar with this. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on August 20, 2010 at 9:34

On the SONRIS Start Page (link below) , Click on Document Access under the heading, Content Management. Then click on Document Type and choose Well Permit To Drill/Amend from the search list. Enter the well Serial number and check the box, Get associated documents. Then come back and ask the next couple of dozen questions that all this information will create. Enjoy.

http://sonris-www.dnr.state.la.us/www_root/sonris_portal_1.htm

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 23, 2010 at 6:41

Thanks Skip. I am headed that way and promise to save all my questions until I have pushed all the buttons and levers. This will be more fun that a kid in a candy store. I enjoy learning new stuff about the Sonris site.

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 23, 2010 at 8:17

One quick question. The permit states that they will be drilling to the Smackover, non-unitized. What does that mean?

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on August 23, 2010 at 8:27

The well is permitted to drill as deep as the SMK formation should the operator choose to do so. A number of Haynesville Shale wells have applications for SMK as the "permitted horizon". Check out the DNR Home Page HA Wells spreadsheet to see them all. The operator may or may not actually drill to the SMK, you'll just have to wait and see. In order to test the entire thickness of the shale, an operator has to drill through it. When doing so, they end up in the SMK but only slightly so. Where the operator has the science from wells drilled in close proximity and are confident of their target depth, they often kick off well short of the SMK.

Permalink Reply by Lorea Cobb on August 24, 2010 at 5:45

Okay, but where does the non-unitized come into play? Is that in reference to their uncertainty as to which formation they will actually end up drilling to?

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on August 24, 2010 at 7:50

A non-unitized well is one being drilled as a lease well and no unit order has been granted at the time the well is permitted. On many occasions the unit is formed after the well is permitted or drilling but not yet complete. As soon as the unit order is granted, the permit is amended to show the unit designation, HA RA SUA for example. No matter how deep or to what formation the well is drilled, it is classified by the formation in which the production perforations are located.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page