Roger Peters

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1988

Drilling in Kansas fell to a new low of 3,260 completions in 1988, off 3% from 1987. Operations continued to focus attention on development drilling, which was 72.8% successful, up 4.5% from 1987. Exploratory wells were also up 2.6%. The average depth of a development well was 2,524 ft and that of an exploratory well was 3,957 ft. In Missouri, the major effort in 1988 was to extend Runamuck field in Atchison County. Six Precambrian wildcats were drilled in the area. All tests failed to find more production. In 1988 in Nebraska, exploration continued to be focused on the Paleozoic play located on the northeastern flank of the Denver-Julesburg basin. Cheyenne and Hitchcock Counties were the scene of 3 new discoveries each. In Wisconsin, no drilling took place in 1988. However, 432,000 ac remain under lease. Iowa and Minnesota reported no drilling activities in 1988.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1987

Amoco Production drilled a remote 17,851-ft test into the Mid-American rift system in Carroll County, Iowa. The location was about 200 mi northwest of the 1984 Texaco 1 Poersch well in Washington County, Kansas. Amoco abandoned the hole, and no information has been released. In Kansas, drilling in 1987 fell to a new low of 3,161 completions, off 24% from the 1986 figure of 4,185 completions. Operators drilled considerably fewer new-field wildcats and focused attention on development drilling. The overall success rate was up slightly at 61%. In Missouri, an important Ordovician discovery was made in Atchison County in the Forest City basin of northwestern Missouri. In southwestern Nebraska, exploration activities continued to focus on the Paleozoic play along the northwestern flank of the Denver-Julesburg basin. Three important discoveries were reported in 1987: 1 in Kimball County and 2 in Cheyenne County. Wisconsin and Minnesota reported no drilling activities in 1987.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1986

Three wells were drilled in Iowa during 1986. Two were dry holes in southwestern Page County, and the third was a small oil well in Washington County, 5 mi from the first known oil producer in the state (drilled in 1963, that well produced only 412 bbl of oil). In Kansas, drilling continued a downward trend to a total of 4,185 completions, 30% fewer than reported in 1985. Exploratory drilling found 173 new discoveries, a third fewer than in 1985. The most active area in the state was the Anadarko basin. The petroleum industry in Missouri concentrated its entire drilling effort in the Forest City basin. The 22 wells drilled in 1986 were only 17.6% of the total number of wells drilled in the state in 1985. Oil production was down 42%, partly because of the abandonment of 1 steam flood in Vernon County. In Nebraska, 185 exploratory and development wells were drilled in 1986. The success rate for exploratory wells was 18.27%; the success rate for development wells was 47.3%. Wisconsin and Minnesota reported no drilling activities. However, the Minnesota Geological Survey is studying the Mid-Continent rift from Vibroseis data contributed by Petty-Ray (Geosource) and supplemented with gravity and magnetic models.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1984

Common to the Committee on Statistics of Drilling District 12 area are the recent exploration activities associated with the Central North American rift system or Mid-Continent geophysical anomaly (MGA), a major feature that runs from the Lake Superior area south into Kansas. For the last several years, much preliminary geologic and geophysical work has been undertaken, which usually proceeds a major play. The primary purpose is to test the Cambrian and Precambrian sediments know to have oil seeps in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1984, Texaco USA drilled the first deep test, which was in Kansas. Although the well was apparently a dry hole, Texacos findings have not been released. Kansas had a very active year with 7,451 completions, 45 more than those reported in 1983. The success rate of all wells drilled for oil or gas (7,307) was 57.5%, down slightly from 59.3% in 1983. Drilling for oil continued to predominate with 3,783 oil wells and 419 gas wells completed. Total footage was 22,486,535, up 4% from 1983. The average depth of a test drilled for oil or gas was 3,026 ft. In Missouri, the number of wells drilled for oil or gas declined 17% from 1983 levels. Most drilling continued to be in the western part of the state. A deep test in Vernon County penetrated 2,080 ft of Precambrian rocks. In Nebraska, 12 new discoveries were made in the western part of the state. Seven found new oil reserves, and 5 were tight holes; all were classified as new-field wildcats. The average depth was 5,465 ft in the 7 discoveries where the operator reported the total depth. In Mills County, Iowa, 4 wildcats were drilled to the Cambrian with depths from 3,000 to 3,300 ft. All were located approximately 35 mi north of the Tarkio field in northwestern Missouri. It is estimated that 2,000,000 ac are leased in Iowa along the MGA. In Minnesota, 400,000 ac were leased during 1984. The leases were concentrated mainly along the MGA from Duluth to the Iowa border. About 1,000 mi of Vibroseis was run across this feature. In Wisconsin, regional geophysical surveys along the MGA have been run. Companies are now doing more detailed seismic work. Acreage leased from October 1983 to January 1985 was estimated at 214,000 ac. A dry hole was drilled 1,000 ft into quartzite in Barron County.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1983

In Iowa, a drilling permit, issued for Crawford County, resulted in a dry hole which apparently penetrated the Devonian. Leasing activities were reported during the year in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In Kansas, drilling continued to be very active in 1983. Although the number of wells declined to 7,406 (19% less than the record high of 9,166 wells in 1982), it was still high when compared with previous levels. Total footage drilled (including stratigraphic and miscellaneous tests) was 21,618,166, off 27% from 29,614,751 in 1982. Of the 1,559 exploratory tests drilled, 168 resulted in new oil pools, 31 in new gas pools, and 152 in extensions to existing production. The average depth of an exploratory well was 3,806 ft, 257 ft less than in 1981 when the average depth was 4,063 ft. All wells classified as exploratory had a success rate of 22.5%, and development wells were 69.6% successful. The overall success rate for all tests drilled for oil or gas was 59.3%. In Missouri, drilling activity declined 65% from 1982. No new-field wildcats were drilled, new-pool wildcats declined 75%, and extensions dropped 64%. Most drilling was in the southern portion of the Forest City basin and the Cherokee basin of western Missouri. Total drilling footage, exploratory drilling, and exploratory footage declined in Nebraska in 1983. The success rate for exploratory wells increased. Seismic exploration also increased.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1982

In Kansas, completions reported in 1982 reached an all-time high of 9,166 wells. This is an increase of 34% over the 6,865 wells reported in 1981. Part of the increase can be attributed to the large carry-over of 1981 wells. Exploration and development drilling of oil reservoirs continued to dominate, with 4,108 oil completions compared to 810 gas completions. Both were up 33% from the 1981 figures. Total footage drilled came to 29,614,751. The average well depth was 3,221 ft, 219 ft less than the 1981 average well depth of 3,440 ft. The drop was more evident in exploratory holes, which averaged 3,770 ft or 293 ft shallower than in 1981. The average development well was 3,065 ft, off 195 ft. Exploratory drilling resulted in 245 discoveries, of which 197 were oil and 48 ga . Approximately 23% of all holes were exploratory, 75% were development, and 2% were stratigraphic and miscellaneous tests. The success rate for all classes of exploratory wells increased from 21% in 1981 to 26% in 1982, while the success rate of development wells remained about the same at 65%. The overall success rate of all wells drilled for oil or gas in Kansas in 1982 was 55%. Drilling operations in Nebraska declined 25% from a record high of 607 tests in 1981 to 453 in 1982. Over the same period, exploratory tests were off only 10%. There were 42 oil and 3 gas discoveries in 1982. All were classified as new-field wildcats. Total footage amounted to 2,059,439, off 31% from 1981. Consequently, the average well depth was 4,537 ft, or 373 ft shallower than in 1981. The overall success rate for oil and gas wells was up slightly to 43.9%. In Missouri, drilling activity continued its upward trend with 469 tests, up 18% from 1981. Total footage increased a surprising 39%, from 133,531 to 186,385 ft. The average well depth in 1982 was 397 ft. Much of the drilling in the state continued to be along the western border, although recent activities in western Illinois are spurring interest in the pre-Mississippian rocks in northeastern Missouri.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1981

In Kansas, drilling activity in 1981 reached an all-time high of 6,865 wells, a 30% increase over 1980. Exploration and development drilling of oil reservoirs dominated this activity with oil completions up 42.4% to 3,089, while completions of gas wells were up only 8% to 617 wells. Total footage drilled amounted to 23,618,361 compared with 14,546,356 in 1980. Approximately 22% of total wells were classified as exploratory, 77% were development, and less than 1% were miscellaneous tests. Exploratory drilling continued to spread slowly into the lesser drilled areas of the state while development drilling favored the well-established producing counties. The average depth of an exploratory test was 4,063 ft or 79 ft deeper than last year, while development wells averaged 3,2 0 ft in depth. All wells classified as exploratory had a success rate of 21%, compared to 64% for all development wells. The success rate of all wells drilled was 54%. In Missouri, drilling was up a moderate 13.5% over last year. However, the most startling information was the 200% increase in new-field wildcat completions, which were drilled in 6 counties. Total footage drilled was 133,531 compared with 77,525 in 1980. The average depth of a test was 339 ft. Oil production for the year was 226,206 bbl, up 70%. The success rate among all tests drilled was 42.13%.

North Mid-Continent

During 1980, 5,156 wells were drilled in Kansas, up 19.7% over 1979. This is the largest jump in drilling since 1974. Total footage amounted to 17,456,018 in 1980, compared to 14,546,356 in 1979. Of the total footage, 17,168,368 was drilled for oil and gas production, and the remaining 287,650 ft was drilled for 84 miscellaneous tests. Approximately 78% of the tests are classified as development holes (13,109,028 ft), and 22% are classified as exploratory tests (4,346,990 ft). The average depth of an exploratory test was 3,984 ft, compared to 3,865 ft in 1979. Among all exploratory wells, the success ratio was 19.7%, and 63.4% among development wells. The overall success ratio for tests drilled for oil and gas was 54%. In Missouri, drilling increased from 81 completions to 304 in 1980. Much of the drilling occurred in Vernon County in the western part of the state. A total of 77,525 ft was drilled. The average test was 258 ft deep. No drilling activities were reported for Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1979

Preliminary estimates indicate that Kansas increased its oil production in 1979 by a small margin of 0.7% over 1978, the first increase since 1956. Natural gas production is estimated to be down a slight 6.6%. Total number of wells drilled was 4,306, which is about the same as last years 4,322. Total footage amounted to 14,546,356, compared to 14,479,279 in 1978. Of the total footage drilled, 14,291,282 was for oil and gas production and the remaining 255,064 was in 70 miscellaneous tests. Approximately 73% of the tests were development holes (10,125,231 ft) and 25% were exploratory tests (4,166,051 ft). Average depth of an exploratory test was 3,865 ft in 1979 compared to 3,206 ft for the average depth of a development well. The success rate among all exploratory wells as 21.5%; among development wells it was 63.8%. The overall success rate for tests drilled for oil and gas was 53%. Drilling nearly doubled in Missouri in 1979 with 81 completions reported. Most of the activity continued to be in the westernmost counties of the state. Total footage drilled was 19,783: 15 exploratory wells (5,271 ft), 50 development wells (10,162 ft), and 16 miscellaneous holes (4,350 ft). The average test was 244 ft deep. Drilling activity in Nebraska increased 15.23% with 453 completions. No drilling activities were reported in Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.

Oil and Gas Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1978.

In Kansas, discoveries were up 27%, from 126 to 160 wells in 1978. The heaviest concentration of drilling was in the same areas as in recent years, but there were indications of more rank-wildcat activity. Total footage drilled was up 13.8% from 12,727,382 to 14,479,279 ft in 1978. Of the total footage drilled, 12,406,941 ft was for oil and gas production and the remainder, 320,441 ft, was in 44 stratigraphic and miscellaneous tests. Approximately 74% of the tests were development holes (10,036,354 ft drilled) and 26% were exploratory tests (4,200,471 ft drilled). The average depth of an exploratory test was 4,170 ft compared to 3,102 ft for an average development well. Drilling was down 9% in Missouri with 49 completions compared to 54 in 1977. Total footage drilled was 16,702: 7 exploratory tests (4,485 ft), 25 development holes (6,631 ft), and 17 stratigraphic and miscellaneous tests (5,585 ft). The average test was 304 ft deep. Except for 1 deep stratigraphic test drilled by the U.S. Geological Survey for seismic evaluation, drilling was confined to the western border of the state. Drilling activity in Nebraska decreased 6.8% with 384 completions. No drilling activities were reported in Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.