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Early planning, strong Q4 pays off for WPX in Permian, Bakken | Bismarck State College

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Early planning, strong Q4 pays off for WPX in Permian, Bakken

Published: Mar 03 2017
The unveiling of a plan late last year by Tulsa-based WPX Energy for multi-year future production growth is paying off already. As many operators are faced with service cost fluctuations, increases and availability as activity continues to ramp across North America, WPX recently told investors that it was able to work with some service firms in 2016 and Q1 2017 to secure both services and prices.

Through 2017, roughly 70 percent of its drilling and completion costs for planned drilling and completion projects have been contracted. Clay Gaspar, chief operating officer, said the company also began dealing with sand mines, chemical vendors and other service providers directly in 2016. “We are certainly not bulletproof and we will be exposed to market forces,” Gaspar said regarding service cost inflations from previous years.

2016 wasn’t only about securing future rates or services, according Gaspar. WPX has now joined the best-of-club for Bakken producers, he said. In 2016, the E&P was the No. 1 producer in the Williston Basin for the categories of cumulative oil basis for 90 and 180 days. To end the year, WPX brought on 6 middle Bakken wells and 8 from the Three Forks formation. For the full year, WPX completed a total of 19 drilled but uncompleted wells. Roughly half of the wells were drilled with three-mile laterals with the other wells reaching two-mile laterals. The three-mile wells averaged 1,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The two-mile wells averaged 2,600 boe/d. With two rigs currently deployed, WPX intends to spend $240 to $260 million in the Williston Basin this year to complete 38 to 42 wells.

Read more at http://northamericanshalemagazine.com/articles/1845/early-planning-strong-q4-pays-off-for-wpx-in-permian-bakken.