File #30486 | Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company LP / ConocoPhillips Company | McKenzie County
API
33053-06656
Target Formation
Middle Bakken
Permit Explained
Partially
Permit Cycle Assessment
The well file demonstrates contemporaneous regulatory documentation supporting well drilling and completion operations. The primary permit approvals (January 15, 2015 drilling permit; January 22, 2019 completion waiver) are conditioned by: (1) setback compliance requiring fully cemented shoe and no frac-out capability, justified by North 50' boundary proximity; (2) tubing/packer waiver explicitly tied to fracture stimulation flowback period with specific casing pressure ratings and monitoring requirements; (3) open hole log waiver granted on offset well basis. However, no post-completion permit or approval document is present in the file. The file contains drilling prognosis, directional survey, completion procedures, and cementing reports but lacks explicit contemporaneous documentation of a discrete 'new permit' approval or regulatory approval order dated immediately prior to or contemporaneous with well operations. The document record is comprehensive for drilling and completion execution but does not establish a time-bound regulatory trigger for a newly issued permit during the active drilling/completion window (spud November 28, 2018 through January 13, 2019 TD). All major operational constraints and waivers are well-documented, but the specific 'new permit' anchor date is not clearly articulated in the file as a standalone approval event.
Permit Cycle Signals (4)
Waiver from tubing/packer requirement during completion flowback period immediately following fracture stimulation (2019-01-22)
Operator explicitly requested regulatory waiver from NDAC 43-02-03-021 casing/tubing/cementing requirements. Waiver was approved, conditioning the permit approval with specific operational assurances: 7" casing API burst rating 11,640 psi; frac design safety factor 0.80× API burst; damage detection via monitoring; 300# gauge on surface casing during flowback.
Production liner cemented to total depth in lateral; fully cemented shoe with no ability to frac out the shoe per setback policy justification (2015-01-15)
Setback compliance (North 50' based on 200' N/S setback policy) directly drove liner design: 4.5" 13.5# uncemented production liner from 10,500–20,734 ft MD, with fully cemented shoe at TD. This non-standard uncemented design in lateral required regulatory acknowledgment as operational risk mitigation tied to boundary proximity.
Open hole log waiver granted December 14, 2014; CBL and GR logs plus mud log to be submitted in lieu of full suite (2014-12-08)
Operator justified waiver by reference to offset well (Merton 21-15MBH) with full log suite. Approval conditioning permitted well drilling to proceed without standard open hole logs, substituting CBL/GR from production casing run. This waiver conditioned subsequent drilling and completion operations.
Scab liner (4.5" × 6" production liner) completion design deployed January 14, 2019 with two-plug system cement job and rotating dog sub packer setting (2019-01-14)
Production liner cementing job (191 bbls primary cement @ 13.5 ppg, 560 sacks) with calculated top of cement 10,433 ft, hole of cement 11,164 ft executed per approved design. Two-plug system with pump-down plug and liner wiper plug; packer set with rotating indicating dog sub. This represents the executed completion methodology that validated the waiver and uncemented liner design.
Historical Non-Routine Signals (4)
Drilling permit renewal cycle: original permit issued January 15, 2015; renewed December 9, 2015, December 12, 2016, January 17, 2018, December 18, 2017; final permit renewal request submitted January 17, 2019 (with permit expiry date January 15, 2019) (N/A)
Multi-year permit holding period (2015–2019) created regulatory maintenance obligation. Each renewal required gas capture plan affidavit and capacity attestation (ONEOK compressor stations Bear Den, Galaxy, Grail). Operator commitment to flaring reduction and compliance with mandated gas capture targets persists as operational constraint through production phase.
Gas capture plan affidavits submitted December 2015, December 2016, December 2017 committing to ONEOK network with stated Q1 2020 first production date; anticipated oil rates 350–450 bopd/well and gas rates 1,000–2,000 Mcfd at month one declining to month twelve (N/A)
Gas marketing and production scheduling obligations establish flowback protocol, compressor capacity constraints, and flaring reduction commitments. Anticipated production rates and pipeline connectivity to ONEOK Garden Creek Plant (Sec. 35, T151N, R98W) define operational envelope and compliance requirements for completion and early production phases.
Temporary abandonment notice placed on well January 22, 2024 after non-production for >1 year; placed in abandoned-well status with requirement to return to production, seek temporary abandonment approval, or plug within six months by July 22, 2024 (N/A)
Well failed to achieve sustained production, triggering mandatory regulatory status change and compliance deadline. Operator must remediate production failure or face single-well bonding requirement equal to plugging cost. Status persists as material operational constraint requiring regulatory action by July 2024.
Filter sock and waste container requirement effective June 1, 2014 per NDAC 43-02-03-19.2; covered, leakproof, placard container required on-site beginning spud through completion and flowback (N/A)
Operational waste management protocol remains mandatory through production phase. Filters and exploration/production wastes (drilling mud, invert mud, tank bottom sediment) must be disposed in authorized facility per NDAC 33-20-02.1-01 solid waste transport permit requirement; forwarding to Tervita or equivalent authorized handler.
Historical Operator Profile
Total Wells:N/A
Active Wells:N/A
Notable Patterns:None identified
Confidence Assessment
Level: Medium Rationale: Well file is comprehensive for drilling and completion execution (directional surveys, cementing reports, wellsite geology, casing/tubular records). Regulatory approvals for waiver (tubing/packer completion flowback waiver, open hole log waiver) are explicitly documented with approval dates and conditions. However, no discrete 'newly issued permit' approval is identified in the file with a clear approval date that anchors the permit-cycle analysis. The file contains the original 2015 drilling permit approval and the 2019 completion waiver approval, but lacks clear post-completion operational permit or final approval order. Historical context (abandonment status, production failure) is well-documented but occurs far downstream of permit issuance. Confidence is limited by absence of explicit permit approval order document contemporaneous with well operations and by OCR/transcription artifacts in some drilling program documents.