Australia-based Whitebark Energy successfully drilled its Rex-3 Wizard Lake development well in Alberta, Canada, to 3,673 m MD, encountering excellent quality reservoir with oil shows and porosities up to 23% over horizontal intervals of at least 1,800 m (Rex-1 1,200 m and Rex-2 1,500 m). Total length of the horizontal well from heel (1,575 m MD) to toe (3,673 m MD) was 2,098 m. While the well remained within the Rex unit, it penetrated a 190-m shaly lens along its length (vertical thickness less than 2 m), before reentering excellent quality reservoir and drilling to TD. The well drilled through the base of the channel as planned. The reservoir net to gross in the horizontal well remains very high at almost 90%.
Whitebark is readying the well for a frac program of the Rex reservoir zone in the horizontal section of the well. As per Rex-2, the company will use sliding frac sleeves to isolate each zone and focus frac energy to ensure maximum penetration of the zone. The company, which drilled Rex-3 ahead of schedule and budget, took advantage of doing so to drill an additional 300 m in the horizontal section, maximizing exposure to the reservoir. Whitebark added that it “drilled horizontally for almost 2.1 km without challenge and this means we can plan longer development wells with a high degree of confidence.”
Rex-3 is the third horizontal well to be drilled in the multiwell development of Wizard Lake oil field. The well was drilled from the same pad as Rex-1 and Rex-2 and follows a drill path parallel to and ~300 m to the east of Rex-2.
The well penetrated the overlying Sparky Coals at 1,398 m TVD, and the top of the Rex Sand unit at 1,403 m TVD, both within 2 m of prognosis. The 2,098-m horizontal section was drilled in 65 hr at an average rate greater than 30m/hr. Excellent quality reservoir was encountered over a minimum of 1,800 m of the horizontal well, with free oil noted on the shakers. Oil shows (fluorescence and cut) and elevated gas readings were noted in the reservoir section. By drilling Rex3 deeper towards the toe, the well passed out of the base of the channel as planned but remained in oil up to that time, establishing a new lowest known oil in the channel complex and confirming a minimum oil column of 49 m. Further updip and downdip potential remains to be tested.
Rex-3 confirmed Wizard Lake field extends to the east and south of previous wells and maintains excellent quality reservoir properties over a wide area. Well results validate the geological model and provide strong support for additional development drilling in 2020, once production facilities are operational. Whitebark plans at least 20 additional wells.
Wizard Lake development began Nov. 24, 2018, with spudding Rex-1. Initial flow testing of Rex1 recorded rates of more than 300 b/d Total oil produced from the 16-day flow test was 2,845 bbl, 55% greater than initial estimates. Production facilities and a pipeline were completed early-June 2019 and Rex-1 began producing June 5, 2019.
Drilling and fracing of Rex-2 occurred in August 2019 and testing in September, with peak production of 865 boe/d (540 bbl oil and 2 MMcf gas) before the well was constrained due to the unexpectedly high gas production. A 3-km, 6-in. OD pipeline is under construction to connect Wizard Lake gas to Petrus Resources’ gas processing plant.
