Bakken Core Workshop Offers Insights Into Prolific Rocks
Yesterday I attended a Bakken core workshop, held at the U.S. Geological Survey Core Facility in Denver. It was sponsored by the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council, Rocky Mountain Region.
The short course was illuminating. Julie LeFever and Stephen Nordeng, of the North Dakota Geological Survey, shipped core to the U.S.G.S. facility from 14 wells scattered across the Bakken play. What impressed me was the micro-scale of the porosities within the very fine-grained clastics and carbonates of the Middle Bakken. This is some tight rock, and it’s a testament to petroleum engineers that they can design fracture stimulations that achieve the striking flow rates enjoyed from Bakken wells.
A take-away point was the tremendous upside potential of the Three Forks and Sanish intervals, which occur below the Bakken. The Bakken petroleum source system actually extends 150 feet into the Three Forks, through the Bakken and into the base of the Lodgepole formation. Any reservoir rock within this interval will be charged with oil and associated gas, it seems.
Kudos to Julie and Steve for a fascinating day!
–by Peggy Williams, Senior Exploration Editor, Oil and Gas Investor
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July 16th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Bakken, Bakken, Bakken. That’s all we’ve been seeing recently! Thanks for the insight, Peggy!