American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018 - 92

SpecialReport: Rockies Profile
The Theo Fed, which was turned to
sales on Dec. 9, generated peak 30-day
production of 2,187 boe/d, which is equivalent to 318 boe/d per 1,000 feet of stimulated lateral. That represents the top
IP30 Turner horizontal well performance
in the Powder River Basin, according to
DeDominic, who notes the Theo Fed had
a peak IP60 rate of 1,862 boe/d and a
peak IP90 of 1,721 boe/d. The Theo Fed
produced 154,859 boe during its initial
90 days on line.
Meanwhile, the Remi State, which
was turned to sales on Feb. 18, generated
a peak IP30 of 2,141 boe/d, or 265 boe/d
per 1,000 feet of stimulated lateral. It
produced 64,215 boe in its initial 30
days, DeDominic goes on.
"Both wells continue to produce more
than 1,000 barrels a day," he lauds.
Finding The Formula
DeDominic says there are a number
of reasons for the record wells. "We feel
long laterals are an important piece of
these wells' economic success," he reveals,
noting that Anschutz plans to extend
future laterals to 10,000 feet.
He also lists the ability to stay in the

target zone and an enhanced completion
design that includes more perforations
and tighter spacing as important contributing factors. However, the company
is using smaller proppant loads than what
has become common practice in horizontal
well construction.
"These wells are 10,500 feet true vertical depth with as much as 22,500 feet
measured depth," DeDominic remarks.
"There is a lot of reservoir pressure.
These are good, tight sandstone rocks,
so it is our belief that you do not need to
hammer them that hard. You just have to
hit them with the right design. These are
light well completions by industry standards, and we are all still learning."
He says Anschutz pumped 1,050
pounds of proppant per linear foot in the
Theo Fed and 860 pounds in the Remi
State.
DeDominic points out that Anschutz
has tightened its frac stages from 250280 feet to 200-215 feet.
"How many clusters per stage is the
right number?" he posits. "We are still
working on that. We want to get the proppant effectively into all the perforations,
impacting as much rock as possible. We

are pushing our team for more clusters
per stage. Right now, we have seveneight clusters per stage, but that may be
10-12 in the near future."
Anschutz has six Turner formation
wells awaiting completion and plans to
drill six more this year. DeDominic says
Anschutz is drilling four wells per 1,280acre unit.
"It is our philosophy that if you don't
drill and complete those four wells at
once, and then go back at a later date, the
wells aren't nearly as good," he contends.
"Given the rock and the pressure, we believe you need to drill all four wells at
once to drain the reservoir effectively. If
you don't drill the right number of wells,
there will be a lot of oil left down there."
He says Anschutz is drilling two wells
per pad, but is drilling two pads in conjunction with each other.
In addition to the Turner formation,
DeDominic says the Powder River Basin
has other zones, including the Niobrara
and the Mowry. "There is a lot of room
for future growth," he allows.
Anschutz has 400,000 net acres in the
Powder River Basin and is operating 26
wells. It is running one rig.
Low Risk

Anschutz Exploration Corp.'s record Powder River horizontals, the Theo Fed 3571-17-51FH and the Remi State 3671-16-21-9FH, ﬂowed at peak rates of 3,193 barrels of oil
equivalent a day and 3,123 boe/d, respectively, from the Turner formation in northeastern
Wyoming. The two wells, which were put into production in December and February,
still were making more than 1,000 bbl/d in June.

92 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

The giant Wattenberg Field in the DJ
Basin is the most active play in the Rockies, and one of the most misunderstood
reasons for that, according to Bart Brookman, is the low risk factor.
"The Wattenberg Field has the highest
return, lowest risk drilling in the country,"
maintains Brookman, who is president
and chief executive officer of PDC Energy.
As an example of the extremely efficient mode companies are employing in
the Wattenberg Field, he says PDC Energy is operating three rigs and one fulltime frac crew in the play, and will spud
135-150 wells this year. By comparison,
the company has three rigs in West
Texas' Delaware Basin, but those three
rigs will drill only 25-30 wells this year
because of the more challenging drilling
environment.
"We are averaging less than 10 days
spud-to-spud on our two-mile laterals,"
Brookman offers. "That shows the efficiency of the Wattenberg."
PDC Energy has 100,000 net acres in

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018