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Stage Completions’ Bowhead II Technology Allows Blackbird to Achieve Montney Record in 1 Hour Stages

Blackbird Energy’s (ticker: BBI) 102/2-20-70-7W6 Upper Montney well has set a new record for the play. Using Stage Completions’ Bowhead II fracturing system, Blackbird was able to complete a 3,757 ton, 76 stage completion program at rates as high as 10 cubic meters per minute (63 barrels per minute), making it the largest completion in a 4.5 inch monobore Montney well without coil tubing assist, according to a press release from the company Tuesday.

The collet design of the Bowhead II also reduces time between stages. Coupled with the pumping rates, this allows for each stage to be completed in approximately one hour, with the fastest stage in Blackbird’s well taking only 45 minutes. The improvements in both direct and indirect costs that this provides has made it possible for Blackbird to reduce its well cost to $5.5 million, down from an average cost of $9.7 million in the company’s first three wells, Blackbird said in a statement.

The success of the Bowhead II system in Blackbird’s wells has prompted the company to move ahead with closing its previously announced acquisition of an indirect 10% minority interest in Stage Completions for $3 million. Blackbird’s minority interest in Stage Completions will allow BBI to purchase completion equipment from Calgary-based Stage at cost plus an administrative fee and offers Blackbird preferential access to products, the company said in an investor presentation.

Montney producers’ stocks outperforming their Permian peers

Year-to-date, the share performance of companies in the Montney has outpaced the performance of companies in the major U.S. basins including the Permian, according to data compiled by EnerCom Analytics.

Disruptive technologies like Stage Completions’ Bowhead II are helping companies operating in the basin realize greater EURs than companies in the Permian at a significantly lower cost per acre. Based on a price weighted index, EnerCom’s Montney index is up 125% year to date. Blackbird, for example, has seen its share price increase 260% year-to-date.

YTD indexed share performance by basin shows Montney players outperforming companies in US basins including the Permian

The success of the Stage Completion technologies in Blackbird’s wells has made the Montney play economic at $45 oil, BBI CEO Garth Braun told Oil & Gas 360®.

“For those that are waiting for $50, $60 and $100 oil, they can continue to wait, but the liquids-rich corridor of the Montney is profitable at $45 WTI,” Braun said.

Stage Completions expanding to more plays

Stage Completions said in its press release Tuesday that its technology is expected to be deployed in the Montney, Cardium, Permian, Eagle Ford, SCOOP, Unita, and Bakken plays by the end of Q1 of 2017. A Stage Completions system is also scheduled to be shipped to China in the near-term and deployed by the end of January 2017, the company added.


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