Wattenberg Field Area, A Near Miss & Lessons Learned After 35 Years of Development History

Stephen A. Sonnenberg Robert J. Weimer

Wattenberg Field DJ Basin

WYOMING
PIERRE SHALE

Pay
-2 00 0

Typical Depth 4300 4800

NEBRASKA
SUSSEX (TERRY) SS PIERRE SHALE SHANNON (HYGIENE) SS PIERRE SHALE

0 00 -3

00 -40

-5000

-6000

Rang e

WATTENBERG

NIOBRARA A NIOBRARA B

6800

Front

DENVER

NIOBRARA C
FT HAYS LIMESTONE CODELL SAND
-30 00

-6000 -5 0 00

-40 00

7100

CARLILE SHALE
-2 00 0

KANSAS Source Rock

GREENHORN LS
GRANEROS SHALE
D Sand

COLORADO Source Rock

J3 SAND

J2 SAND

7600

SKULL CREEK SHALE DAKOTA SAND

7800

Sonnenberg, 2002

Diagrammatic Cross -Section Cross-Section Denver Basin

West
WATTENBERG FIELD

Basin Center Accumulation with: Six Potential Reservoirs Main Pays: J Sandstone with Codell commingle Secondary Objectives: Dakota, Niobrara, Sussex, Shannon

East

ex Suss nnon Shan

ara Niobr ll Code
e dston J San ta Dako

ce Sour ce Sour

Rock Rock

t en sem Ba

t men Base

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

Weimer & Ray, 1997

History of Wattenberg Gas Field

A Near Miss! All DSTs or cores taken in the J indicated shows of gas

Core analyses of the J compared with those of the Dakota in the SJB Old wells in area remarkably similar Earlier discovery at Roundup - 1967 Wattenberg discovered - 1970 Matuszczak, 1973

Original Est. EUR 1.3 TCF

Conventional & Unconventional Reservoirs & The Resource Triangle

Conventional reservoirs Small volumes that are easy to develop Unconventional large volumes difficult to develop Improved technology

Holditch, 2005

Increased pricing

Currently Productive Areas-GWA

Wright, 2005; Modified after Ladd, 2001

Dakota Discovery Codell Discovery

Sussex/Shannon Discovery J SS Discovery

Wright, 2005

Cumulative Production GWA

180

786
Sussex/Shannon
Codell/Niobrara
D SS
J SS
Other

1302

220

1524

Cum: 4012 BCFe (34%)

Modified from Wright, 2005

GWA Spacing History

1970: 320 acre units for drilling & spacing of J Sand 1979: Additional J Sand well allowed per 320 acre unit 1980: Section 29 tax credit; Tight Tight gas sand designation (exp. 2002) 1983: Codell spaced on 80 acre 1984,85: Niobrara added to Codell spacing order 1991: J Sand wells can be recompleted to C-N & commingling of all downhole zones allowed 1998: Rule 318A allows 5 wells wells per quarter section in GWA for all Cretaceous age formations (81 townships) 2005: Rule 318A modified modified to to allow allow for section line & quarter section line wells (~ 20 acre spacing 27 townships)

Modified from Wright, 2005 & Weimer, 2005

Oil & Gas Field Growth

Low High
Produced Reserves

Level of technology required

High

Step outs Infill drilling New horizons Improved economics Improved geologic model Improved reservoir model Improved technologies Fracture stimulation Drilling & completion Recompletions Changing operator Enhanced recovery

Resource quality

Re ser ve

Gro w th

Low

Sonnenberg, 04

The The Wattenberg Wattenberg Geothermal Geothermal Anomaly Anomaly Vitrinite Vitrinite Reflectance Reflectance Values, Values, %Ro %Ro

Higley & Cox, 2005

Wattenberg Thermal Anomaly

Related to igneous masses in basement Located where CMD intersects Denver Basin Direct temperature measurements in wells Ro values GORs

Modified from Weimer, 1995

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

DEPTH

O DR HY ST IC AT I AD GR T( EN 3 0.4 i/f ps t)
Pierre Shale Sussex (Terry)

5000
ES PR ER OV E UR SS RE RP DE UN

6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 0

Shannon (Hygiene)

Migration Paths

Source Rock

Sharon Springs Mbr Niobrara Codell Benton Gp. Muddy J SS

D RE SU

1000

2000

3000 4000 5000 PRESSURE PSI

6000

7000 Weimer, 1995

Overpressuring in Rockies Basins

INCREASING THERMAL METAMORPHISM

MATURE VOLUME OF GENERATED FLUID HYDROCARBONS

VOLUME OF ORIGINAL UNMETAMORPHOSED IMMATURE ORGANIC MATERIAL (KEROGEN)

VOLUME OF METAMORPHOSED ORGANIC MATERIAL

ASSUMES GENERATED HYDROCARBONS ARE RETAINED IN SYSTEM & CONVERT TO STABLE SPECIES

SAS, 04

Modified from Spencer, 1987 and Meissner, 1980

Structural Overview

30

00

W.

WF

Fort 0 2 50 Collins
1500 17.5 2000

30

00

27

B.H.

50

P.

J. WFZ
0

7N

Greeley

North-trending structural axis Northeast trending right lateral wrench faults Antithetic and synthetic horsts and grabens

Be.
10

0 30

27 50

N
2 75 0
300

2 75

27

50

t mon e 5N g n Lo t Zon l Fau

00 25 27.5 1500

25

3N
te yet ne a f La lt Zo Fau
2500

00

00 0 2 0 25 0 50 27
30 00
3250

30

00

30 00

Boulder

1N 1S

27.5

3 25

35 00

25 00

3750

RM A
C. G .

WF Z

Golden

3S

3000

Denver
S.L.

5S 68W 66W 64W

Contours represent subsea depths to top J SS

T 5 N

T 4 N

Codell Faulting Density is Greater than J Sand

Ladd, 2001

J Sandstone Stratigraphic Nomenclature

7900

Huntsman Shale
7950

D Sand

Mowry Shale
8000

J Sandstone
Skull Creek A Skull Creek Marker
8100 8050

Skull Creek Ash

Skull Creek Shale

Sec 9 2N 67W Sec 31 1N 65W

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

J SS

LS E/ SB
Skull Creek

Sequence Stratigraphy of J Sandstone

7900

Huntsman Shale
7950

D Sand

TSE / LSE

Mowry Shale FC2

8000

TSE Horsetooth Member (LST/TST) Fort Collins Member (HST) LSE

J Sandstone
Skull Creek A Skull Creek

FC1
8050

8100

Skull Creek Ash

Sec 9 2N 67W

Sec 31 1N 65W

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

J Sandstone Original Gas in Place

T4N

R 68 W

R 67 W

R 66 W

R 65 W

R 64 W

EUR Red > 15 Bcf / sec. Green 10 - 12 Bcf / sec. Blue < 8 Bcf / sec.

T3N

T1N

T2N

A B

B
Hu, 2002

T1S

Sequence Stratigraphy of Fort Collins Member

SW10 2N 67W

SW12 2N 67W

SW10 2N 66W

SW11 2N 66W

SW12 2N 66W

SE11 2N 66W

SE11 2N 67W

SE12 2N 67W

W Huntsman Shale (Graneros) Mowry Shale Fort Collins 1 Skull Creek A Skull Creek

SE10 2N 66W

SE12 2N 66W

SW7 2N 66W

SW8 2N 66W

SE8 2N 66W

SW9 2N 66W

SE7 2N 66W

SE9 2N 66W

FC 3 FC2 FC 2A FC 1

100 Ft.

5000

10000 ft.

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

Kugel 21-18

Horsetooth Valley Cross Section

SW19 1N 67W SW17 1N 66W NE33 2N 66W NE25 1N 67W NE19 1N 66W NE17 1N 66W NE27 2N 66W SE33 1N 66W SE27 2N 66W SW4 1N 66W NE8 1N 66W NE4 1N 66W

SW

NE

Huntsman Shale (Graneros) Mowry Shale

FC3 FC2 FC2A FC1
100 Ft.

Fort Collins Member Skull Creek A Skull Creek

0 5000

10000 ft.

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

J Gas Trap Is Stratigraphic (Facies Pinch-out & Muddy Valley-fill)

R 68 W
T4N

R 67 W

R 66 W

R 65 W

R 64 W

T2N

A
FC

T1N

st ra nd lin e

y le l a v o le a P

T3N

Stacked FC 1 and FC 2
y le al ov le Pa

J %Ro > 1 (blue line after Higley & Cox, 2005)

T1S

Pa l

Stacked FC 2 & 3

y le al ov le Pa

eo va lle

modified from Hu, 2002; Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

Pertinent Data Muddy J Sandstone, Wattenberg Field

Depth oF BHT, o BHP, psig Gross sand, ft Net pay, ft Porosity, % Permeability, md Original spacing Est. original reserves Current Est. Cum 7,600 8,400 ft 260 2,900 50 to 100 10 to 50 8 to 12 0.05 0.005 320 1.3 TCF 1.3 TCF
modified from Matuszczak, 1976

Production Sweet Spot

Dome # 1-13 Frank Sec. 13-T4N-R65W

B CHALK

C CHALK

NW SE NW Sec. 8, T3N-R67W
FT. HAYES 7100

CODELL CARLILE
G.R.

7200

7000

6900

Niobrara & Codell Type Log

NIOBRARA
A CHALK

Resis.

3 0
30

Dens. Neut.

10%

-10

Gustason and Sonnenberg, 2003

Codell Pressure Gradient

Based upon P-buildups Range: 0.366-0.669 psi/ft. Coincident with basin axis Most north of Wattenberg High Follows J Ro =1% outline (blue) High GOR, sweet spot (gray area) coincident with temperature anomaly

Birmingham, 2000

Pertinent Data Codell Sandstone, Wattenberg Field

Depth oF BHT, o BHP, psig Gross sand, ft Net pay, ft Porosity, % Permeability, md Original spacing Est. original reserves 7,100 7,300 ft 220 4,600 10-15 5-12 8 to 12 0.05 0.005 80 NA

Lessons Learned
Bypassed pay Technology Field growth Long range migration Reservoir compartmentalization LRLC pays Geothermal anomalies