Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Thursday

Congratulations, Jesse.  Hopefully you'll not mind my adding a little context.  This three section lateral is 14,508'.  You can think of it as three individual wells with average lateral lengths of 4914'.  That would be 21,508 mcf/d average for each non-CUL well which would be a very good average per well.  The three unit lateral wells are a way for operators to save money but aren't that different from horizontal wells with the same or similar completion designs that produce from a single unit/section.  Instead of drilling three well, they drill one - saves money.  Instead of three surface locations, one - saves money.  Fracing two or more wells at the same time - saves money. It is less the lateral length and more the completion design that is responsible for the Initial Production (IP) rate.  And a more open choke setting is required for the well to "clean up" - flow back the water and sand that was used in the frac.  The completion designs today are a far cry from eight years ago and far, far different from twelve years ago.  Frac stages are shorter - ~100' compared to ~300".  The two Horton wells have stages of ~150 (14,742/98 stages)  Perf clusters are vastly different but there is little publicly availabe data on how different.  The proppant loads per linear foot of perforated lateral are ~3600 #.  Early wells averaged anywhere from ~1200# to ~2000#. Amazing evolution in well and completion designs but unfortunately it has taken fifteen years or so to get to this point.  The rush to drill and HBP (hold by production)  the millions of acres of original leases meant the same well and completion designs were used over and over with little to no effort to make improvements.  The well designs now are much more productive.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jesse Joyner on Thursday

Thank you, Skip. Please add your expert context anytime. I like learning stuff I don't know, and I've truly learned so much from GHS and your heroic efforts over the years.

I think these 3 CULs, two initially permitted on SONRIS as a twosome, then a bit later, the third permitted a bit later, where held back on the land-rush drilling by the first operators before BPX acquired the rights. This may've been done due to the high IP stats on an early vert in section 30 from years ago. In other words, I'm speculating that the other operators (and later BPX) initially delayed the drilling of this location since the rock was so darn good.

Now, of course, I could be wrong. It could've been numerous other reasons, e.g., leasing, pipeline, development $, etc. Unsure. But as it turned out, my family looks to be benefiting from the delay per the advancement in completion technology. Lucky us.

Plus, BPX, even though their new CEO had cut back to just one rig (due to low NG prices) in Bossier P. over these last couple of years -- that might be changing. Unsure. But now they seem to be putting the pedal to the floor. I could be wrong. Yet from my family's other mineral-right locations and from scuttlebutt, it smells like there's a bit of aggression going on.

So, thank you, sir. My family truly appreciates all the info sharing you've done over these last 16 years or so. You da man. LSU has some great alum. My alma mater.

  

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Thursday

You're welcome, Jesse.  Keep learning.  It pays to know as much as you can about your mineral interests.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by w.r. frank on Thursday

Very good Skip. The really good news is, evidently, it is a Bossier in 16N!!! You are correct that most wells come in at 20,000 Mcfd to 25,000 Mcfd/unit. They are very quickly dialed back to about 12,000 Mcfd/unit and pressure draw down is very closely monitored with choke size to avoid production decline. §§§30&19&18 are right on the N/S line with 12W. So16N is really. really encouraging if it is Bossier.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Les on Thursday

Very interesting discussion...way above my level of knowledge on the technical side of the industry but I'm always willing to learn. Likewise, I haven't mastered the use of SONRIS yet. I have some mineral interests in Bossier Parish, Section 12, Township 16, Range 12 West, but I can't seem to tell if my interests are anywhere near these new BPX wells you are referencing. Any help would be appreciated. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Thursday

Les, use the link below and print out a township grid that shows the relationship of sections.  Then use this link and save the SONRIS search page to your computer.  When you search leave the section box blank and just enter the Township and Range information.  The you will see all sections and wells in that township.  From there just ask questions.  Good luck.

https://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/sundown/cart_prod/cart_con_sectwnrng1

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=township+g...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Les on Thursday

Thank you!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Thursday

You're welcome, Les.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Friday

Les, I should have added something about how SONRIS organizes well data.  The wells are organized by the section where the well pad, drilling location is located.  However these are horizontal wells and operators prefer to drill from pads that are adjacent to the section or sections that a well will produce.  Since the wells are drilled on north/south axis, this is what you should keep in mind.  A well in Section 6 may be drilled north from Section 7 or south from Section 31 in the township immediately to the north.  With long lateral wells, a drill site in 5 might drill south to produce from Sections 8, 17 & 20. It is rare but occasionally a section or sections may be drilled from a site that is in a section to the east or west.  For example, a drill site in the southeast corner of 7 could drill the vertical portion of the wellbore eastward into Section 8 and then south.  SONRIS was created and designed in the age of vertical wells when there were very few if any horizontal wells and few directional wells.  That was when the state created the "Deep or Horizontal" severance tax incentive that has cost the state billions of dollars in lost revenue and supercharged the profits of horizontal drillers.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant 4 hours ago

WR, the Horton 30-19-18 HC wells appear to be Haynesville completions as opposed to Bossier Shale.  All the H wells in Section 30, drilling north  have TVDs of 10,904 to 11,041.  That 137' variance in landing depth does not look like Bossier to me.  In that locale I would expect something on the order of a 500' variance in TVD between a Haynesville Shale well and  a Bossier Shale well.

• ▶ Reply