Newfield Exploration Company - Rocky Mountains
Percent of 2008 Total Company Reserves: 27%
Percent of 2009e Total Company Production: 18%
Percent of 2009 Capital Budget: 17%
Location: Headquarters in Denver, Colo., with operations in Utah, North Dakota and Montana
Focus: Long lived, unconventional oil play with deep gas
potential at Monument Butte, Utah. Extensive mix of oil and natural gas
development primarily in North Dakota and Montana, including the Bakken
and Three Forks/Sanish play. This region's assets are nearly 70% oil.
Links:
Map of Monument Butte
Map of Williston Basin
Deep Gas Formations at Monument Butte
We have a portfolio of assets throughout the Rocky Mountains. At year-end 2008, 27% of our total reserves were located in this growing region. With headquarters in Denver, Colo., our Rocky Mountain Region provides a growing presence in oil provinces, as well as exposure to unconventional gas resources.
The Monument Butte oil field continues to be the centerpiece of our Rocky Mountain operations. Our program here consists of drilling shallow, lower risk oil wells as we continue to develop the giant Monument Butte field. At year end 2008, the field had 1,273 producing oil wells. We own an interest in approximately 184,000 gross acres in the Monument Butte area and have thousands of remaining infill drilling locations. Since we purchased the field in 2004, we have drilled more than 900 wells. We have drilled 128 wells on 20-acre spacing and are confident that a large portion of the field will be developed on 20-acre spacing with initial production rates exceeding expectations. We plan to drill 150 wells in Monument Butte in 2009.
Through two separate agreements with Ute Energy LLC, we have an interest in 45,500 net acres north and adjacent to Monument Butte. By mid-February 2009, we had drilled 45 wells on this acreage and are encouraged with results.
In 2008, we began to assess a deep gas resource beneath Monument Butte. During the year, we drilled six successful wells that confirmed the resource potential and provided significant geologic data. Prospective targets include: the Wasatch, Mesa Verde, Blackhawk, Mancos and Dakota. Due to lower natural gas prices in early 2009, we have curtailed our operations here in 2009.
In 2007, through a $575 million property acquisition, we added 200 Bcfe of proved reserves and exposure to new basins. The acquisition expanded our base of operations and significantly enlarged our Rocky Mountain Region, adding new opportunities in the Green River and Williston Basins. One of our major growth areas in the Rockies is the Williston Basin. At year-end 2008, we had 473,000 net acres in the Williston. In 2008, we drilled 9 successful wells. Our recent drilling efforts have focused on the Bakken and Three Forks/Sanish formations. We will maintain a one-rig drilling program in 2009 and expect to drill 10-12 wells.