Nearly 4,300 BOEPD and 80% oil
Day one at the 2017 EnerCom Conference featured Jim Volker, Whiting Petroleum (ticker WLL) CEO, giving an overview of the current advancements the company is achieving in the Bakken.
Whiting was confident that its recent operations were generating tangible improvements, so the company ordered an independent reserve analysis at the end of Q2. This analysis reported a 23% increase in reserves from year-end, rising to 775 MMBOE. 60 MMBOE of this increase was specifically due to improved well results, which Volker then detailed.
According to Volker, there has been a general assumption that the Three Forks formation does not produce quite as strong of results as the Bakken, but this is not necessarily the case. One of Whiting’s newest wells proves the point. The Koala 31-25, which targets the Three Forks formation, was recently brought on with an IP of 4,287 BOEPD, a tremendously strong result.
In addition, unlike the recent well results from the Permian and SCOOP/STACK, the Bakken has very high oil content. The Koala well achieved this flowrate with 80% of production from oil, higher than the results from competing basins. “This well is a testament to the quality of our Three Forks acreage,” Volker commented. The Koala 31-25 is only the first in a six well pad, and all wells should be on production in early September, meaning we will certainly hear about this pad in the coming months.
The enhanced completions run by Whiting can generate strong returns even in a $40 NYMEX oil price environment. The most recent wells consistently exceed the company’s 1 MMBOE type curve, with some reaching 1.5 MMBOE. Even at $40/bbl oil, with each 1.5 MMBOE well, “You’re adding about $6.3 million in PV10 every time you put the bit in the dirt,” Volker commented.
America is in the middle of what Volker terms an “oil renaissance,” and with solid returns even at lower oil prices, Whiting will be able to continue to grow and play a part in the current shale resurgence.
Jim Volker’s webcast presentation at the EnerCom conference is available to view and download here.
