SPE 15180

SPE
Society of Petroleml Engineers of AIME

Rediscovering an Abandoned Reservoir: The Lakota Formation

at Lost Soldier Field, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
by D.J. Schmechel and M.J. McGuire, Amoco Production Co.

Copyright 1986, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held in Billings, MT, May
19-21, 1986.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the
author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the
author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers
presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where
and by whom the paper is presented. Write Publications Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836. Telex, 730989, SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT caused by the predominantly vertical uplift of base-

The Lakota reservoir at Lost Soldier Field was
discovered in 1922. The Lakota produced about 5 MMBO
between 1922 and the early 1950's, when the reservoir
was abandoned. Since 1979 32 wells have been com-
pleted or recompleted in the Lakota formation. These
wells should produce about 1 HMBO. The rediscovery
of the Lakota reservoir at Lost Soldier Field pnints
out a wide opportunity--to reenter abandoned reser-
voirs and develop overlooked reserves.
INTRODUCTION
ment blocks.
The Lost Soldier Lakota structure is cut by
numerous normal faults which agree in trend with
mapped surface faults (Reynolds, 1968 and 1971). The
eastern flank and northern end of the structure are
cut by faults which are oriented perpendicular to the
basement uplift and which die out up and down struc-
ture. The northern plunge of the structure is seg-
mented into fault blocks by faults which cut across
the top of the structure and which shift the Lakota
structural axis to the east.

Lost Soldier Field is located in Sweetwater LAKOTA STRATIGRAPHY

County, Wyoming, in Townships 26 and 27 North, Range
90 West. Discovered in June, 1916, the field has At Lost Soldier Field, the Lakota formation is
produced hydrocarbons from the Frontier, Muddy, defined as the stratigraphic interval between the
Lakota, Morrison, Sundance, Tensleep, Madison and Cretaceous Skull Creek and Jurassic Morrison forma-
Flathead formations, and from fractured Precambrian tions, an interval more commonly referred to as the
rocks. Amoco Production Company has owned and oper- Cloverly Group (Figure 3). Average depth to the
ated the field since 1975. Lakota is about 1, 900 feet. 1

Lost Soldier is one of several producing fields The Lakota formation at Lost Soldier Field is a
which parallel the Granite Mountains Uplift braided to meandering fluvial system. Channel sands
(Figure 1). The subsurface struc-ture at the Lakota have sheet-like and pod-like geometries, and grade
level is a northwest-trending, doubly-plunging, laterally into crevasse splay and floodplain
nearly-symmetrical anticline. deposits. The complex geometries of channel and
channel margin facies make detailed stratigraphic
LAKOTA STRUCTURE correlation impossible on a fieldwide basis.

The western flank of the Lost Soldier structure LAKOTA RESERVOIR HISTORY
dips into the Great Divide Basin with an average dip
of about 40 (Figure 2). The southern end of the The Lakota reservoir at Lost Soldier Field was
structure plunges to the southeast. The eastern discovered in June of 1922. Between 1922 and the
flank dips to the northeast with an average dip of early 1950s the Lakota produced about 5 MMBO. The
about 40, but is truncated by a zone of steep dip early Lakota producing wells were drilled mainly on
and high angle faulting. The northern end of the the top of the structure and along lease lines
structure dips steeply to the north, with measured (Figure 4). No well histories exist for these early
dips up to 65. The zone of steep dip and faulting Lakota wells, but all of the wells were shut-in by
to the east and the abrupt dip to the north are the early 1950s when the Lakota formation, thought to
related to the draping and high-angle reverse fault- be depleted, was abandoned. The Lakota reservoir at
ing of the underlying Paleozoic sediments, and are Lost Soldier Field remained abandoned until 1979.

References and illustrations at end of paper.

597
2 Rediscovering an Abaondoned Reservoir: The Lakota Fm. at Lost Soldier Field, Sweetwater County, WY SPE15180

In the late 1970s, while drilling Paleozoic
reservoir development wells, high resistivity anom-
alies were observed in the Lakota formation which
indicated bypassed pay in the reservoir. In 1979, a
well was recompleted from the Sundance to the Lakota
with an IP of 65 BOPD and 22 BWPD.
The successful recompletion proved that the
Early Lakota producers had not completely drained the
Lakota reservoir. Since 1979, 32 wells have been
completed or recompleted in the Lakota formation
(Figure 5). These recent Lakota wells have been
drilled to develop a thick net sand trend on the
southern end of the structure, to define the oil-
water contact for the Lakota, and to test the Lakota
production potential in other parts of the field.
The recent Lakota wells should produce about 1 MMBO.
RECENT DEVELOPMENT
The pace of Lakota development drilling peaked
in 1983 and 1984, when 18 Lakota development wells
were completed (Figure 6). Eleven of the 18 wells
were completed as producers. Seven of the 18 wells
tested uncom~ercial quantities of oil or tested water
and were plugged and abandoned.
It is fortunate that the best wells were com-
pleted early in the program, otherwise patience may
have run out before realizing economic success. If
the results of all the drilling could have been fore-
seen, it would have been best to stop three wells
into the 18 well program and so maximized the present
worth and return on investment.
CONCLUSIONS
The rediscovery of the Lakota reservoir at Lost
Soldier Field points out a wide opportunity--to re-
enter abandoned reservoirs and develop overlooked
reserves. The obstacles to pursuing this opportunity
are several--poor or nonexistent well histories, old
logs, depleted reservoir pressure to name a few--and
all of these obstacles lower the chance of success.
But the Lakota rediscovery proves that when the
reservoir is shallow and the well costs are low,
overlooked reserves can be developed economically
despite a low probability of economic success.
ACKNOWLEDGErlliNT
The authors would like to thank Amoco Production
Company for permission to publish this paper.

IPs for the eleven producing wells ranged from REFERENCES

4 BOPD to 431 BOPD, with an average IP of 81 BOPD and
a median IP of 37 BOPD. The great difference between 1. Reynolds, M. W., Geologic Map of the Whiskey
the average IP and the median IP results from the Peak Quadrangle, Carbon, Fremont, and Sweetwater
highly skewed distribution of IP data. Figure 7 Counties, Wyoming, U.S. Geol. Survey, Geol.
shows a wide gap near the high end of the IP Quad. Map GQ-772, Scale 1:24,000, 1968.
distribution.
2. Reynolds, M. W., Geologic Map of the Bairoil
Much of the drilling Amoco did in 1983 and 1984 Quadrangle, Sweetwater and Carbon Counties,
was intended to fill in the gap. Having completed a Wyoming, U.S. Geol. ' Survey, Geol. Quad. Map
well for 431 BOPD early in the drilling program, GQ-913, Scale 1:24,000, 1971.
development continued in the hope of drilling more
wells with very high IPs. As drilling progressed,
however, it became clear that the IP of 431 BOPD was
anomalous, and that few of the Lakota wells would
payout.

Under the average reservoir decline rate and

1984 price forecasts, an IP of 60 BOPD was required
to support economic production. From the distri-
bution of IPs, we should expect economic production
from only about one-third of the Lakota producing
wells (Figure 7). This agrees with individual well
decline analyses, which show that only four of the
11 Lakota producing wells completed in 1983 and 1984
will payout.

The plot of development economics (Figure 8)

shows the change as each well was drilled in present
worth and return on investment, both discounted at
13% to a January 1983 base date. The four money-
making wells show up as peaks on the plot of present
worth. The highest peak represents the well with an
IP of 431 BOPD.

Notice that the 18 well drilling program was a

modest economic success, with a present worth of $1.2
million and a return on investment of about 0. 5.
Notice also that the economic success of the program
is carried by four wells, with a major burden carried
by just one well.

598
 1Sl80

--- --~--- ---------, I

I
R 90 W

Wyoming '
I
I

~t~ ' I
I

Casper ' I
I
T
26
',. I
I N

.
,,,
\
.
,,._ Cheyenne '
------
I
1

Fig. 1-Location map, Lost Soldier field. Fig. 2-Simplified Lakota structure map.

Amoco LSU 109

SE,NE 10-26N-90W
Sweetwater Co., Wyoming

1700
Muddy

Cretaceous 1800
Skull Crk.

Lakota

Morrison
Jurassic

Fig. 3-Type log Including the Lakota formation.

 ] 5 18-0

R 90 W R 90 W

T T
26 26
N N

Fig. 4-Distribution of early Lakota producers. Fig. 5-Lakota wells completed since 1979.

R 90 W

11

T
26
N

18 LAKOTA WELLS COMPLETED

11 PRODUCING WELLS 14
AVERAGE IPP 81 BOPD
MEDIAN IPP 37 BOPD

7 WELLS WET & ABANDONED

Fig. 6-Lakota wells completed in 1983 and 1984.

 SP 1518:0

100

Cum.%
Greater
50
Than 33% Chance For IP> 60 BOPD

0 100 200 300 400 500

IP (BOPD)

Fig. 7-Probability distribution of IP's for Lakota producing wells completed in 1983 and 1984.

PW (13%) ORO I
$M ( 1 3%)
6

2000 5

4
1500

3
1000
2

500

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Fig. a-Economics for Lakota wells completed in 1983 and 1984.