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Amendment to Arikaree Water Flood Enhanced Oil Recovery Project in Eastern Colorado

In an effort to expedite its previously approved larger waterflood project for its Arikaree field asset in eastern Colorado, Nighthawk Energy (ticker: HAWK / NHEGY) filed an amendment to the original filing on Friday April 29, reducing the size of the initial water flood area (known as the pilot).

Nighthawk, in a press release issued May 4, 2016, said that as the pilot achieves expected results, the remaining acreage from the original water flood proposal could be developed fully.

Water Flood Pilot vs. Original Project Comparisons

Nighthawk estimates the total Oil in Place in the entire field potentially may be up to 16.6 million barrels.  The estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) under the water flood project is projected to be between 30%-40%.  The Nighthawk-provided table provides comparison of the estimated recovery for the original water flood project and the new proposed pilot project.

 

Original Project
Range
Pilot Project
Range
(in Mmbbls) (in Mmbbls)
Low High Low High
Estimated total OIP 16.6 16.6 8.6 8.6
Estimated Recovery 30% 40% 30% 40%
Total Estimated Recovery 4.98 6.64 2.6 3.4
Production to date (est.) (1.5) (1.5) (0.4) (0.4)
Estimated remaining recoverable reserves 3.5 5.1 2.2 3.0
PDP currently booked in reserve report (1.4) (1.4) (0.7) (0.7)
Estimated incremental recoverable reserves 2.1 3.7 1.5 2.3

 

Nighthawk said the pilot project is estimated to recover approximately 70% of the original incremental reserves for $2.4 million. The revised capital cost projections for the pilot project are less than half of the originally projected capital costs of $5.1 million.

Due to lower actual historical production in the southern part of the field, the pilot has a disproportionately higher share of the remaining OIP, Nighthawk said in its release.

Nighthawk said the state approval of the original project was subject to the obtaining 80% approval of the non-cost bearing royalty interest owners within the next six months, using an agreed upon revenue allocation method.  “Management is confident that expected required royalty owner approval level for the pilot will be met,” the company said in its news release.

Nighthawk expects its amendment will be reviewed in the June meeting of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and it believes an approval will be received at that time.

Oil & Gas 360 - Nighthawk Energy Colorado Waterflood Project

Source: Nighthawk Energy

The work on the asset goes back to late 2012 when Nighthawk drilled five new wells across its acreage and made a significant oil discovery with the Steamboat Hansen 8-10 well, marking a significant Mississippian discovery in the Smoky Hill project.  Successful completion of this well helped to de-risk the potential for future development of the Mississippian as well as the Cherokee formation on Jolly Ranch. The area around the Steamboat Hansen 8-10 well is undergoing further development and is known as the Arikaree Creek Oil Field.  Nighthawk’s two primary projects, Smoky Hill and Jolly Ranch, comprise more than 300,000 gross acres. Nighthawk is the operator and holds 100% working interest in the asset.


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