|
August 6, 2010. The date may not ring a bell to you. But for those in the oil business it’s a day that changed history. That’s the day Continental Resources, in conjunction with the North Dakota Petroleum Council's Oil and Gas Research Program, released the results of a two-reservoir test targeting the Middle Bakken and Three Forks/Sanish formations.The object of the joint study was to determine once-and-for-all whether these two zones were separate reservoirs or one and the same. I’ll let Harold Hamm, Chairman and CEO of Continental Resources tell you what happened next: "The high initial productivity (average 995 Boepd in its initial 7-day test period) indicates that we tapped new, un-drained reservoir rock as we fracture-stimulated the companion well... The marked difference in production between the two wells is the strongest evidence... The technical data supports our belief that the Middle Bakken and the Three Forks/Sanish reservoirs are separate in this area of the play... From a technical point of view, that is the only plausible explanation for this level of initial productivity." It was confirmed. The two formations were indeed separate. But could the Three Forks actually replicate the amazing growth the Bakken has enjoyed so far? Is it a “Bakken 2”? The answer may surprise you... In 2002 , the Bakken produced 560,323 barrels of oil and accounted for only 1.83% of the total oil produced in the state. By 2010, it produced 85,075,338 barrels and accounted for 75.6% of the total oil produced. Three Forks/Sanish only produced 187,876 barrels in 2009. One year later, Three Forks/Sanish produced a whopping 464,976 barrels -- more than double the previous year’s production. The Three Forks/Sanish explosive growth is very reminiscent of the Bakken back in 2002. And because techniques already learned from the Bakken will be used to advance this zone, the Three Forks/Sanish boom could happen much quicker than what we saw in the Bakken. Stay tuned for what happens next in North Dakota. It’s going to be a very profitable ride.
Roger Gaines |
