Sam Fletcher
OGJ Online
HOUSTON, Mar. 14�A 25,855-ft step-out well drilled in central Wyoming by Burlington Resources Inc., Houston, proved noncommercial, but the data gained could add as much as 600 bcf of natural gas reserves to the Madden field, officials said Wednesday.
It took about 300 days to drill the Bighorn 6-27 well to its total depth in early January, at a cost of some $30 million. It was drilled to test the Deep Madison formation about 700 ft down dip from one of four wells currently producing from that formation, all drilled to 24,000-25,000 ft.
Had it proved successful, the latest well could have added an estimated 1 tcf to the previously determined 2.4 tcf of gross reserves in the Madison formation. But subsequent testing showed it encountered more water than gas, Burlington spokesman John Carrara told OGJ Online.
Still, he said, information from that well, combined with data and production history from the four successful wells, should help reservoir engineers expand the lower edge of that gas-producing formation.
�We think this well put us close to the outside edge (of reserves). But if calculations move that line even halfway between the two wells, it would add 300 bcf to the gross reserves,� said Carrara.
Moreover, if data from the latest well helps extend that production boundary beyond what might be indicated by data from just the four earlier wells, Burlington Resources and its partners could capitalize some of its cost instead of absorbing the full expense. Burlington Resources is operator with 49% working interest.
Meanwhile, the rig has been moved to drill a development well on the crest of the structure. The partners are now shifting to a two-rig program to drill seven development wells, with no more step-out drilling planned.
The four wells previously drilled in the Madison formation are capable of producing a cumulative 200 MMcfd. But production is currently constrained to 130 MMcfd by processing capacity at the Lost Cabin Gas Plant in Lysite, Wyo.
A third train is under construction at that plant and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2002. That would increase its capacity to 310 MMcfd.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected]