American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - 65
SpecialReport: Rocky Mountain Playmakers
Record Powder River IPs
Driven by the initial drilling results
targeting stacked tight oil formations, the
U.S. Department of Energy is forecasting
double-digit production growth in the
Powder River this year.
With its recent move to privatize, Continental
now leverages all the strengths
of one of the largest " big independents "
with the nimbleness of a private company
to quickly adapt to changes and capture
opportunities. That gives the company
unique advantages, whether in its core
Bakken operations or in its up-and-coming
Powder River assets, says Scott Donnelly,
vice president in the Williston Basin.
" We are excited that we finally have
the ability to avoid the noise of the public
markets after turning private. With that,
there is a lot of opportunity that presents
itself, " Donnelly comments.
Opportunities include taking advantage
of in-house expertise honed in the Williston
and Anadarko basins to delineate and develop
the Niobrara in the Powder River
with an eye on the underlying Mowry
Shale, adds Ryan Baker, Continental's
vice president in the Powder River.
" Our Powder River and Williston teams
are working together to turn the Powder
River Basin into the next Williston Basin,
and that's very exciting for our entire
team, " Baker relates.
Over two years, the company has
amassed 400,000 surface acres after closing
on acquisitions from Chesapeake Energy
and Samson Resources II, with much
of Samson's assets in the Powder River
core in Converse County, Wy. Already
the top Williston producer, Continental
is now second in the Powder River, with
average 90-day initial productivity exceeding
an eye-popping 65,000 barrels
of oil on the company's best Niobrara
wells in Converse County, he reports.
" Over the past year and a half, we
have developed seven of the 10 top 90day
IPs in Niobrara wells on our block
of acreage, and we are making great
strides toward really understanding and
delivering a development program that
is competitive across Continental's full
portfolio, " Baker says.
With a $350 million capital budget in
the basin this year, Continental is running
two-three rigs to add 35 wells to a current
producing inventory of about 550, he
says. An undisclosed number of potential
drilling locations will number in the thousands,
Baker adds, while the company's
drilling program on federal lands is largely
permitted well into 2025.
With an operations team that knows
the importance of incremental value
from extending laterals, Continental is
challenging the Powder River group to
be the first in the company to achieve
an average lateral length of 2.5 miles,
with expectations to reach that goal in
2024, Baker comments.
" Because our Powder River position
is less developed than other, more mature
basins, we have a good opportunity to
define three-mile development corridors,
with infrastructure that matches our modern
well performance, " he says.
During stimulation, some wells were
completed using as much as 3,000 pounds
of proppant and 50 barrels of fluid per
lateral foot, while the company assessed
reservoir performance, Baker reveals.
" Key Niobrara wells with lesser proppant
volumes of about 2,000 pounds/foot are
exceeding our expectations for optimum
oil recovery and value, " he remarks.
Williston Basin Refracs
With its history as an innovation leader
in the Bakken play, Continental continues
to test completion designs on upspaced
wells to enhance returns while pumping
slickwater with more than 1,500 pounds
of proppant per lateral foot in some areas,
Donnelly says.
The company is running four rigs and
plans to drill 220 wells this year on its
1.3 million acre position, with the operations
team continuing to push laterals
beyond three miles while assessing how
other operators are faring with four-mile
extensions, he says. In-house expertise is
optimizing refracs and adding production,
Donnelly continues.
" We are excited about opportunities
that are not just in the core, and we are
also excited about activities that do not
even involve a drilling rig, " he says.
He reports that Continental has brought
a dozen refractured wells on line since
Bakken heavyweight Continental Resources is building on its substantive Rockies operations
by bringing in new horizontal wells in the emerging Powder River tight oil plays
with 90-day IPs as high as 65,000 bbl/d and restoring production comparable to initial
rates in its Bakken refracturing program.
JULY 2023 65
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023
Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Intro
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - 4
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - 5
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover3
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover4
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