BEFORE THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF BARRETT RESOURCES CORPORATION FOR AN ORDER ALLOWING ADDITIONAL WELLS WITHIN EXISTING SPACING UNITS IN THE RULISON AND GRAND VALLEY FIELDS, GARFIELD COUNTY, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 139, 510, 440, 479

DOCKET NO. 0107-AW-07

 

 

APPLICATION

COMES NOW Barrett Resources Corporation ("Applicant"), by its attorneys, Gorsuch Kirgis LLP, and makes application to the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission of the State of Colorado for an order allowing additional optional wells to be drilled within existing drilling and spacing units established for the Williams Fork Formation of the Mesaverde Group and in support of its application states and alleges as follows:

1.                  That Applicant is a corporation duly authorized to conduct business in the State of Colorado.

2.                  That Applicant owns all of the oil and gas leasehold interest in the following described lands:

Township 6 South, Range 94 West
Section 20: E/2SW/4 and W/2SE/4

Township 6 South, Range 96 West
Section 33: SE/4

(hereinafter "Application Lands").

3.                  On July 16, 1979, the Commission issued Order No. 139-8, which established 320-acre drilling and spacing units for the Mesaverde Formation covering Section 20, T6S, R94W.  Subsequent thereto, Applicant designated the E/2 of Section 20 as a 320 acre drilling and spacing unit for the Mesaverde Formation and the W/2 of Section 20 as another 320 acre drilling and spacing unit for the Mesaverde Formation. 

4.                  On March 14, 1994, the Commission issued Order Nos. 440-14, 479-3 and 139-26 which allowed up to four (4 ) Williams Fork wells to be drilled and completed in the above described 320-acre drilling and spacing units.

5.                  On March 15, 1995, the Commission issued Order Nos. 440-16, 479-5 and 139-28 which allowed up to eight (8) Williams Fork wells to be drilled and completed in the above described 320-acre drilling and spacing units.

6.                  On February 6, 1998, the Commission issued Order No. 139-33 which allowed up to sixteen (16) Williams Fork wells to be drilled and completed in portions of the above described 320-acre drilling and spacing units including the E/2SW/4 and W/2SE/4 of Section 20 of the Application Lands.

7.                  On June 9, 1994, the Commission issued Order No. 510-1 which amended and set new setback rules for locating wells to be drilled and produced from the Williams Fork Formation underlying covering certain described lands including the SE/4 of Section 33 of the Application Lands.

8.                  On March 21, 2000, the Commission issued Order Nos. 139-32, 479-6, 495-2 and 510-3  which established 40-acre drilling and spacing units for the Williams Fork Formation covering certain lands (including the SE/4 of Section 33 of the Application Lands) and allowing up to two (2) wells to be drilled into and produced from the Williams Fork Formation within each of such 40 acre-units drilling and spacing units.

9.                  Applicant has drilled, tested and completed multiple wells in the Williams Fork Formation of the Mesaverde Group upon the Application Lands and other nearby lands.  In respect of the Application Lands, Applicant has drilled and completed the maximum number of Williams Fork wells allowable under existing orders of the Commission.

10.              Applicant believes that a significant and substantial percentage of Williams Fork gas underlying the Application Lands will not be produced by existing wells and therefore desires to drill additional wells upon the Application Lands as a pilot project to determine the feasibility of recovering a greater percentage of Williams Fork gas by the drilling of additional wells.

11.              In undertaking such a pilot project, Applicant would conduct selected pressure, production, geoseismic and other tests to determine whether the drilling of additional Williams Fork wells at a greater density than allowed under existing orders would result in the recovery of gas that otherwise would not be recovered by existing wells.

12.              The pilot project would also allow Applicant to study the feasibility of drilling additional wells from existing well pads located upon the Application Lands.  For this pilot project, Applicant would commit to drill all additional wells directionally from existing well pads.

13.              In addition, for this pilot project, Applicant commits to obtain consent of the affected surface owner prior to the commencement of drilling operations.

14.              That, to promote efficient drainage of the Williams Fork Formation within that portion of each of the 320-acre drilling and spacing units and 40-acre drilling and spacing units constituting the Application Lands, the Commission should allow the optional drilling of two (2) additional Williams Fork Formation wells to bottomhole locations within each of the quarter- quarter sections of the Application Lands, each such well to have a bottomhole location no closer than 200 feet from the boundaries of the drilling unit and no closer than 200 feet from the boundary of the Application Lands.

15.              That the above proposed spacing rules and well location rules for the Williams Fork Formation of the Mesaverde Group will allow more efficient drainage of that formation; will not promote waste; will not violate correlative rights and will assure the greatest ultimate recovery of gas and associated hydrocarbons from the reservoir.  In addition, the drilling and producing of these optional additional wells will allow Barrett to accumulate pressure, reservoir, geoseismic and other data in order to determine the degree to which Williams Fork Formation wells drilled on a denser basis can be efficiently and economically produced from the Application Lands and from other surrounding areas.

16.              That the names and addresses of the interested parties according to the information and belief of the Applicant are set forth in Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part hereof.

WHEREFORE, Applicant respectfully requests that this matter be set for hearing in July, 2001, that notice be given as required by law and that upon such hearing this Commission enter its order consistent with Applicant's requests as set forth above.

Dated this _____ day of May, 2001.

GORSUCH KIRGIS LLP

 

 

 

By:           

William A. Keefe

 

 


STATE OF COLORADO                        )

                        ) ss.

CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER                        )

 

Mark Rothenberg, of lawful age, being first duly sworn upon oath, deposes and says that he is the Petroleum Engineer for Barrett Resources Corporation and that he has read the foregoing Application and that the matters therein contained are true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.

 

       

Mark Rothenberg

 

 

Subscribed and sworn to before me on May ________, 2001.

Witness my hand and official seal.

My commission expires:           

 

 

        

Notary Public

 


EXHIBIT A

 

 

Barrett Resources Incorporated

Attention:  Annette Apperson

Tower 3, Suite 1000

1515 Arapahoe Street

Denver, Colorado  80202

 

Yates Drilling Company

ABO Petroleum Corporation

MYCO Industries, Inc.

105 South Fourth Street

Artesia, N.M.   88210

 

Mark Bean, County Planner

109 8th Street  #303

Glenwood Springs, CO  81601