Spearfish Formation Tight Oil Play of the Williston Basin

Abstract

Operators in the Williston Basin realized the production potential of the Spearfish sands in the early 1950’s. Localized development of the Spearfish, focused in Bottineau County, has continued into the 21st century. Historically, Spearfish production was comingled with intervals from the underlying Madison Group with cumulative production over 61 MMBO. A stand-alone Spearfish play was revived in the 2010’s following advances in horizontal drilling and completions techniques. Since 2010, 105 wells have produced over 3.5 MMBO exclusively from the Spearfish Formation. While the Spearfish play has centered on Bottineau County, the vast majority of Spearfish sands remain untested. This talk will focus on the geology of the Spearfish Formation, why the play has worked and what the future may hold for this play in the basin.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90357 ©2019 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 15-18, 2019