One more question regarding oil

Drilling in the Haynesville shale play, it takes from 45 to 60 days from the time the drill bit begins to the time the natural gas from that well is ready for the pipeline. I know this from experience in my on unit.

I don't know much about drilling for oil or oil shale. I keep hearing commentators say that it takes "years" from the time drilling begins to the time it comes on line.

My question: if all paperwork is in order, permits, ERA, leases signed, rigs ready to punch the hole, exactly how long does it take to drill an oil well to completion, on land, in a known field whether the drilling is for shale oil with fracking or conventional vertical well? Without factoring in potential rig or equipment problems, how long does it take to drill an oil well and do whatever is done to put that oil in the pipeline?

I apologize for all my questions but I do have a reason. I need factual answers from professionals who know the business.

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 24, 2012 at 7:10

LP, it is highly variable just like Haynesville Shale gas wells due to the timing between each phase - drilling, fracture stimulation, completion/placing on production.  So spud to production can vary from a couple of months to a couple of years.

 

By the way, most Haynesville Shale wells are not placed on production within 45 to 60 days after the well spud date. 

Permalink Reply by Aubrey C. Sanders, Jr. on March 24, 2012 at 11:11

LP, The normal time allocated to drill a vertical Smackover well to a depth of about 11,500 well in North Shongaloo-Redrock Field (Webster Parish) is 18 days. Then the well is fracked in one day. Recently the wait time to get frack crew has ranged from about one to three weeks. Then there is normal wait of few hours to let some of pressure bleed off. At that point they will flow well to the slush pit for 12 to 24 hours and they can then immediately turn well to sales if they have pipeline in place.       Sometimes it might take a week or so to build pipeline. Then you should get check within 2 to 3 months. Based upon my experience on quite a few such wells I would say from spud time to sales on line should range from about four to six weeks.

Permalink Reply by LP on March 24, 2012 at 11:21

Thanks Aubrey. I knew it didn't take long but that is even faster than a NG well. Somebody needs to inform the media and most politicians that it does not take "years" to drill an oil well.

Permalink Reply by olddog573 on March 24, 2012 at 12:49
not on land but does take a while on water which is what the media normally refers to.
Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 24, 2012 at 13:16

Aubrey, I'm sure the timing would be very different for an 18,000 ft shale oil well with 20 frac stages. 

Permalink Reply by Aubrey C. Sanders, Jr. on March 25, 2012 at 5:27

Les, you are right about that. All of my experience is with VERTICAL wells, mostly in Smackover and Haynesville SAND. We should be spudding Smack "C" well in about a week on my land. Keep your fingers crossed for us. 

 

Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 25, 2012 at 6:22

Aubrey, I will keep my fingers crossed for the success of your well.

 

My little add-on comment was primarily for others since you are well aware of the variations in the industry.

Permalink Reply by LP on March 24, 2012 at 16:37

Thanks Gosh but I'm not searching for a timeline on a royalty check. I've been receiving royalty checks for a couple of years.

I was seeking information, not about natural gas but about drilling....specifically for oil. Again, not looking for a pay day. Just needed to know some technical or maybe it's engineering detail. I just wanted to know how much time it takes to drill a hole, do all the casing, cementing and then fracking, reaching the oil (not natural gas) (I know how long the process is for NG) bringing that oil up to the surface so that it is ready to pump into the pipeline. Don't need to add the time it takes to connect it or anything beyond just the time it takes the drill bit to start turning, drill down to whatever depth it needs to go, reach the oil and bring it up to the surface. And I'm only interested in the process on land. Not in water. The reason I asked for this info is because every day I hear dumb bells on TV saying it takes "years". One politician (in the WH) even said it takes 5 years. Time in deep water does take more time but not on land. I needed verification from those who actually know, (some members of GHS) the general timeline for the process of drilling an oil well.

I do sincerely appreciate the information from everyone. The GHS is a treasure chest of knowledge.

Permalink Reply by Hale Yayuh on March 25, 2012 at 2:27

I think you will find that most oil wells do not connect to a crude oil pipeline (it is trucked out) but they might have to wait for a natural gas pipeline if it produces a lot of gas. But, anyway, they can have an oil well producing in a few months. Even sooner if it's shallow. But for any given new field, it would take YEARS for it to have a meaningful impact on national production numbers. They don't just all of a sudden have dozens of rigs in a field, it takes time to ramp up. Even longer if infrastructure is needed.

Permalink Reply by RONNY on March 25, 2012 at 2:50

South Mississippi, lower Tuscaloosa, 8300 ft deep vertical.  Spud to oil production in 21 days.  Different fields and formations will have different completion periods but I can speak for this one.

 Most politicians are mental cripples when it comes to the mechanics of anything other than squandering tax dollars.

Permalink Reply by LP on March 25, 2012 at 3:00

Thanks Ronny. That's what I wanted to know. And I understand that it does vary depending to the depth, just as it varies with the depth for natural gas.

Permalink Reply by dbob on March 25, 2012 at 3:22

You can view the RRC data for the Eagle Ford her:

http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/eagleford/index.php

or simply production numbers here:

http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/eagleford/EagleFordOilProduction.pdf

2009 production was more than double 2008

2010 production was more than 12 x higher than 2009

2011 production was more than 7 x higher than 2010

Or to put it a different way, production in 2011 was 232 x production in 2008!

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