HORIZONTAL DRILLING PACE BRISK IN ROCKIES

Exploration and development drilling with horizontal and high angle well technology continues at a brisk clip in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region.

Despite reports of waning interest, many operators continue to pursue established horizontal plays and test new formations in new areas.

GREEN RIVER IN UTAH

Coors Energy Co., Golden, Colo., scheduled the Uinta basin's first horizontal well.

Petroleum Information reported Coors will drill 14-16D Ute Tribal in 16-4s-4w, Duchesne County. Coors plans a measured depth (MD) of 4,325 ft, with a true vertical depth (TVD) of about 3,234 ft.

The operator is aiming for Eocene Green River in Duchesne field, which taps Green River and Eocene Wasatch.

In addition, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. will drill to Green River at a reentry in Northeast Utah's Wonsits Valley field, about 42 miles east of Coors' site.

Chevron's 136 WVFU in 21-8s-21e, Uintah County, originally was completed in 1981 in Green River at 5,193-5,205 ft. By July 1991 the well had produced 150,061 bbl of oil, 14.861 MMcf of gas, and 1,201 bbl of water, PI reported.

Chevron will deepen the well to about 6,155 ft and kick off northward 550 ft to 6,731 ft MD. TVD will be about 6,200 ft.

PI said Chevron's Wonsits Valley field has produced more than 43 million bbl of oil and 23 bcf of gas from Green River.

CANE CREEK PLAY

Elsewhere, Columbia Gas Development Corp. staked a fourth horizontal wildcat in its Pennsylvanian Cane Creek play in the northern Paradox basin (OGJ, Aug. 12, p. 39).

The 28-1 Kane Spring Federal will be drilled in 28-25s-19e, Grand County, Utah, a little more than 1 mile west of its 27-1 Kane Spring Federal discovery well that flowed 914 b/d of oil and 290 Mcfd of gas (OGJ, Apr. 22, p. 36).

PI said Columbia was drilling below 8,655 ft at its 19-1A Kane Springs Federal in 19-26s-20e, a replacement well for the 19-1 which had downhole problems.

Chevron is drilling below 3,560 ft at its 1-36 Cane Creek State horizontal wildcat in 36-27s-20e, San Juan County, Utah. And PI said Meridian Oil Inc. was drilling ahead at its 22-33H Hatch Point about 4 miles east in 33-27s-21e, San Juan County, also aiming for Cane Creek shale.

NIOBRARA ACTION

The Cretaceous Niobrara continues to attract operators to Southeast Wyoming and northern Colorado.

Exxon Corp. tested a Niobrara well near the center of Silo field in 6-15n-64w, Laramie County, Wyo. Exxon's 1H Blevins Oil Unit flowed 288 b/d of oil and about 108 Mcfd of gas from open hole at 8,299-12,041 ft.

PI reported horizontal displacement of 4,223 ft, which includes 3,300 ft in the Niobrara B zone between 8,125 ft and 8,135 ft TVD. MD is 12,410 ft.

Exxon produced 11,000 bbl of oil while drilling the well, PI reported.

Snyder Oil Corp., Fort Worth, drilled the Niobrara horizontally at its 1 Equus Farms 20-1H in 20-5n-61w, Weld County, Colo. PI said Snyder reached MD of about 11,000 ft. TVD is expected to be about 6,100 ft.

And Ralph R. Gilster III Inc., Victoria, Tex., has begun drilling 1-9 Gilster-Wells in 9-5n-62w, Weld County, targeting Niobrara. The operator expects to reach 7,504 ft MD with a TVD of about 6,307 ft.

GREENHORN OBJECTIVE

EOG (New Mexico) Inc. is drilling for upper Cretaceous Greenhorn limestone at a Laramie County, Wyo., horizontal reentry 8 miles southeast of horizontal Niobrara production in Silo field.

EOG's 14-16H Louth in 16-14n-63w will go to about 10,000 ft MD, with a TVD of about 8,500 ft. Although the operator is not reporting details, PI said the well was spudded about Sept. 22.

True Oil Co. drilled the well in 1986 to 8,513 ft. It was not produced, but a drillstem test of Greenhorn at 8,016-98 ft recovered 5,280 ft of oil and 90 ft of mud in the pipe and 2,000 cc of oil and 1.2 cf of gas in the sample chamber.

Nearest Greenhorn production is 60 miles south-southwest in Colorado's Wattenberg field.

NORTHWEST COLORADO

Oryx Energy Co., Dallas, is looking for Niobrara pay at an 8,355 ft hole in Northwest Colorado. The wildcat, 1 Dry Creek Unit HD 31 in 31-6n-88w, Routt County, presumably is in preparation for a horizontal Niobrara well, PI said. The well was spudded in late July.

Site is 1/4 mile southwest of a recently abandoned horizontal well, Oryx 4-29 HD Dry Creek Unit in 29-6n-88w, and 2 miles west-southwest of an abandoned Niobrara discovery.

Also in Northwest Colorado, Online Oil & Gas Inc., Houston, completed a horizontal Niobrara producer on the northern edge of Craig Dome field in Moffat County.

The 1 Silver et al. in 4-6n-91w pumped 160 b/d of oil from Niobrara A above 7,000 ft TVD. Production stabilized at about 40 b/d after 8 days.

Online told PI the A and B benches of the Niobrara were swabbed, but lost tubing and hole sloughing prevented production from the "highly productive" second bench.

PICEANCE BASIN

Oryx is conducting a horizontal wildcat program in the Southeast Piceance basin of western Colorado.

PI said Oryx reached total depth at its 1 HD Acapulco Federal Unit in Mesa County, a Mesaverde test in 16-8s-92w, and spudded its 1 HD Collier Creek Federal Unit in 25-8s-94w. Oryx is going for upper Cretaceous Cozzette and Corcoran there, with a proposed 12,000 ft MD and 9,700 ft TVD.

Oryx's 1 Aransas Federal Unit HD wildcat location is in 27-9s-92w, also in Mesa County, where the targets are Cozzette and Corcoran. MD of 11,700 ft is expected, with TVD of 9,250 ft. The well is 3 miles southeast of Cozzette and Corcoran production in Sheep Creek field.

Oryx plans another wildcat in nearby Garfield County.

The 1 Mazatlan Federal Unit HD is staked in 26-7s-93w and is to bottom at 12,000 ft MD with about 10,400 ft TVD.

Meanwhile, Chandler & Associates Inc., Denver, is evaluating upper Cretaceous Mancos B on the western flank of the Piceance basin about 8 miles southwest of Rangely, Colo.

The 8H-1-2 Southwest Rangely Federal, Rio Blanco County, spots in 8-1s-102w and will drill to about 4,810 ft MD with TVD of about 3,310 ft.

The well is in Rangely field, where Chandler has been developing Mancos and Castelgate gas pools since 1989. Three of Chandler's Rangely field vertical wells produced about 720 MMcf of gas in less than 1 1/2 years.

BIG HORN BASIN

Wyoming's Big Horn basin may see some horizontal Mississippian Madison tests.

Davis Exploration Co., Worland, Wyo., asked the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for permits to drill as many as four horizontal wells in Lite Butte field on the eastern flank of the basin in Big Horn County.

The program includes reentering two vertical wells that are producing from the Madison and drilling two new horizontal wells.

One of the reentries is 1 Lite Butte Federal in 2-50n-92w, which has produced about 33,000 bbl of oil and more than 21 million bbl of water from 11 ft of Madison below 4,165 ft. In April the well averaged 22 b/d of oil and 8,000 b/d of water, PI said.

The other reentry 3 Lite Butte Federal in 35-51n-92w, which produced an average 121 b/d of oil and 20,000 b/d of water during April, PI said.

The two new locations are in 2-50n-92w and 35-51n-92w. PI said Davis estimated the four horizontal wells could drain the 12.7 gravity oil in the field as efficiently as 40 vertical wells on 10 acre spacing.

MONTANA

Horizontal drilling in the northern Rockies continues to fan out.

Central Montana's Musselshell County is the site of a horizontal Pennsylvanian Amsden test by Delphi International Inc., Tulsa. Montana Oil Journal (MOJ) said it is the first horizontal well in Central Montana.

MOJ reported Delphi is preparing to drill the horizontal section at 1 Goffena in 26-9n-27e. The company completed the build angle section at 6,100 ft and is preparing to drill a 1,800 ft horizontal lateral.

Bottom hole location, in the same section, is near the abandoned Dephia field discovery well, which produced from Amsden.

Texaco Exploration & Production Co. continues to focus on Bowes field in Blaine County, Mont., testing Jurassic Sawtooth.

Texaco's D135-H Bowes Sawtooth Unit in 35-32n-19e has been completed pumping 174 b/d of oil. MD is 4,871 ft.

Two miles southwest the company set production casing in G703-HR Bowes Sawtooth Unit in 3-31n-19e, which reached MD at 5,760 ft early in October.

One of the company's first horizontal wells in the field, A502 Bowes Sawtooth Unit, initially pumped 127 b/d of oil and 54 b/d of water from a 1,500 ft horizontal section of Sawtooth. It produced 11,857 bbl of oil and 12,666 bbl of water during its first 4 months on line, PI said.

In contrast, Texaco's D502 Bowes Sawtooth Unit, a vertical east offset, produced 10,913 bbl of oil and almost 100,000 bbl of water in its first 6 1/2 years on production.

Meridian filed an application for an order delineating part of 8 and all of 9-25n-59e, Richland County, Mont., as South Cattails field for production from Mississippian Ratcliffe. The application includes a request that the field rules provide for a horizontal well involving more than one spacing unit.

NORTH DAKOTA

Mississippian Madison may be the objective in a multiple leg horizontal drilling program in northern North Dakota proposed by Whitehawk Energy Inc., Williston, N. D.

North Dakota Industrial Commission heard testimony from Whitehawk for a three well, multiple leg program in Bottineau County's North Haas field.

The company plans to reenter three wells in 20-163n-82w, aiming for pay the Kisbey sand member of the Mississippian Mission Canyon.

The 1H Schwartz will have a 2,093 ft horizontal lateral extending northwest from the surface location. The 1H Anderson will have 1,480 ft, 1,806 ft, and 1,708 ft horizontal laterals extending west and southwest. The other reentry, 2H Anderson, will have three laterals of the same length as the 1H well extending to the north, northwest, and west.

Whitehawk estimated about 173,158 bbl of oil are recoverable from Kisbey under each quarter section.

Meantime, North Dakota has seen several strong Mississippian Bakken completions.

PI reported production data released by the state shows Meridian flowed 4,599 bbl of oil and 4.146 MMcf of gas in 14 days at its 14-21H Rough Rider in 21-145n-101w, McKenzie County, averaging 329 b/d of oil and 296 Mcfd of gas.

Conoco Inc.'s 1 Devil's Pass Federal in 24-144n-102w, Billings County, produced 2,201 bbl of oil and 2.250 MMcfd of gas during 10 days in June.

And Farmers Union Central Exchange Inc. (Cenex) produced 646 bbl of oil, 646 Mcf of gas, and 14 bbl of water in 7 days from its 167H Federal in 7-143n-101w, in Billings County's Elkhorn Ranch field.

PI said the operators have released few details on the wells.

SAN JUAN BASIN

Niobrara, Mancos, Fruitland coal, and Dakota, all Cretaceous, are objectives for horizontal wells in the San Juan basin of Northwest New Mexico and Southwest Colorado.

American Hunter Exploration Ltd. is waiting on a completion unit at its first horizontal Niobrara test in the area.

The 81-1 Jicarilla spots in 8-27n-1e, Rio Arriba County.

N.M. American Hunter planned a 2,500 ft lateral through the Niobrara A. PI said the company reached 4,245 ft MD.

American moved the rig to 2A-1 Jicarilla in 2-27n-1w, Rio Arriba County, a proposed 6,814 ft horizontal Niobrara well.

Meridian asked the state for a permit to drill a high angle Mancos well in 21-20n-3w in Rio Puerco Mancos field of Sandoval County, N.M.

The 1 San Isidro Wash is to be drilled vertically to about 3,000 ft, then kicked off to the southeast. After an angle of 80 is reached the operator plans to drill a 4,000 ft lateral through Mancos.

Arco Oil & Gas Co. will drill Fruitland coal horizontally on the northern edge of Igancio Blanco gas field in Southwest Colorado.

The 8-4X Southern Ute 329 will be in 8-32n-9w, LaPlata County, and will have about 5,475 ft MD and about 3,205 ft TVD.

PI said two Arco Fruitland wells in the section produced a total of about 370 MMcf of gas and 137,500 bbl of water during their first 11 months on line.

Arco staked a horizontal Dakota test 5 miles east-northeast in 32-33n-8w. The 33-8 Southern Ute 32-7 will go to 11,313 ft MD with about 8,665 ft TVD.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.