CALGARY, AB–(Marketwired – May 08, 2017) – Front Range Resources Ltd. (“Front Range” or the “Company“) (TSX VENTURE: FRK) announces the results of the second well in its horizontal Montney winter drilling program. Both wells are located on the Company operated 44-section Pepper, Alberta land block (100% W.I.) and represent frontier Montney discoveries, some 42 kilometres from the next nearest producing horizontal Montney wells.
The Company’s first horizontal Montney well at East Pepper, Alberta has been successfully completed and flow tested in the Basal Montney. The 100% W.I. 06-28-52-22W5 well (the “6-28 Well“) has confirmed the presence of natural gas and 42° light oil in this horizon. Reservoir quality appears to be excellent (up to 6 to 9% porosity, 0.1 mD permeability) and open fractures were noted in samples from the well. The Company believes that this combination of reservoir quality and fracturing is responsible for the high observed per frac productivity.
Over the last 24 hours of the 15 day flow test period, the 6-28 Well flowed at an average rate of approximately 4.36 mmcf/d of natural gas (0.03% H2S) and 1.25 barrels per day of 42° light oil at a flowing casing pressure of 6,187 kPa (897 psi). To date, load fluid volumes representing 47.5% of total load fluid have been recovered. It is of note that free oil appeared only after 42.9% of the load fluid was recovered. The reason for the difference in oil production between the 6-28 Well and the Company’s 3-21 vertical well drilled in October 2014 is being evaluated.
The 6-28 Well was drilled to a total measured depth of 4,385 metres (3,609 metres TVD) with a 671 metre horizontal leg in the Basal Montney. The 6-28 Well was completed with 10 fracs with an average of 47.8 tonnes of proppant placed per stage.
Peter Cowling, President of Front Range, stated, “In my experience, it is remarkable for a well to exhibit this kind of productivity from only a 10-stage completion, particularly this early in the delineation of a play. These results confirm our view that the Pepper Montney play compares very favourably with other established fields in terms of reservoir quality, pressure, and productivity. Despite operational challenges encountered during drilling that limited our lateral length and completion program, we are seeing flow rates and pressures that are suggestive of a top-tier Montney resource. Productivity per frac came in at 436 mcf per day (4,360 mcf divided by 10 stages), which stacks up very favourably against established deep basin Montney fields with 60 or more wells. Determining per frac productivity and confirming the presence of oil in the Basal Montney were key deliverables for us in this well. Productivity per frac is an important metric in that it indicates how we would expect total well productivity to scale in future wells with longer laterals and higher stage counts”.
The table(1) below gives a comparison of our East Pepper test to latest published results from other established Montney fields.
Montney Field | Stage Count | IP30 mcfe/day per stage | Area Well Count |
Pepper, Basal Montney | 10 | 436(2) | 1 |
Kakwa | 38 | 316(3) | 450 |
Glacier | 28 | 268(4) | 108 |
Bigstone | 40 | 237(5) | 86 |
Simonette | 71 | 118(6) | 63 |
- Above information obtained from publicly available industry data. These numbers are not necessarily typical of average wells in the areas but represent the most recent results by the key industry participants in the respective areas. IP30 mcfe/day per stage is not meant to represent an economic comparison but is used as a comparison of different fields per stage deliverability.
- Final 24 hour average rate after 15 day flow test.
- Seven Generations Energy Ltd. March 8, 2017 press release indicating average stage count of 38 stages and average IP30 rate of 2,000 boe/day on most recent 6 well pad.
- Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. May 2017 Corporate Presentation indicates budget type curve of 7.5 mmcf/day and 28 stage frac for 3 Lower Montney wells.
- Delphi Energy Corp. May 2017 Corporate Presentation indicates recent well drilled 13-15 IP30 rates of 1,579 boe/day with 40 stage completion
- Cequence Energy Ltd. March 13, 2017 press release indicates 16-33-61-27W5 well completed with 71 stage frac and 21% liquids. Public data shows IP30 of 6.6 mmcf/day.
He added, “I believe that the first wells into a new play are seldom your cheapest or your best. Accordingly, I have seen well costs drop and productivity increase as Montney plays mature and I would expect the same here. The difference in oil gravity and yield between the 6-28 Well and the vertical 3-21 well suggests that there may be some compartmentalization in the Basal Montney at this particular location, or it may mean that we just haven’t recovered enough load fluid yet. We have identified several modest-cost options that would allow us to further evaluate Montney gas and liquids compositions in the immediate area. I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us to this point and I look forward to updating shareholders on our future plans in due course. Given the scale of the opportunity here, and in light of the productivity potential identified in this Basal Montney well, we are now evaluating multiple paths with respect to our next steps at Pepper.”