Our family has mineral rights leased and we get monthly production reports on the wells. It seems that the production has been decreasing over the last few months. When I research North Dakota state data, the fields show low day counts. Comparing older statements with current ones, it looks like production out of the wells is less even when a full months of days are counted in comparable months. Does the lower production basically mean the wells are starting to run dry? Or, is there some other potential explanation?
Should we contact the company and ask about this issue? I will say that when I looked the area up using GIS (satellite view), it appears that one or two other pads are being prepped for some king of development nearby. These one or two parcels appear to be on the acreage included in the mineral rights.
Any help on this topic is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Call the operator. You could list the wells here and somebody might be able to come up with some informed guesses as to what is going on based on publicly available details for those wells. But I’d try the operator assuming they will take your calls.
The wells should not “run dry”. They should, barring some mechanical failure or human decision, continue on a fairly steady decline that gets shallower and shallower over time. Should get lower and lower over time, but shouldn’t fall off a cliff. Over a 40 year life no well actually stays on steady decline 100% of the time, because something else happens. Pump breaks and needs to get replaced. Rod part. Tubing failure. Frac hits. Full tanks and bad roads. Can’t sell gas so pump slowed down to avoid flaring issues. Etc. Etc. Any of those things could result in less days on, assuming the days on info sent to the NDIC is accurate. And most of those things are fixable and well(s) can eventually get back on its historical decline.
While lower production could indicate that the wells are running dry, there could be other potential explanations. Additionally, the development of nearby parcels could also affect your area’s production.
Consider contacting the company to ask about the issue and see if they can provide any insights or solutions.
On a related note, I recently learned about the Care and maintenance Of Crown Traveling Block in the oil and gas industry. It’s an important process that helps ensure the safety and efficiency of drilling operations, so it’s something to keep in mind as you navigate this situation.
I hope you can get some answers and resolve the issue. Best of luck to you and your family!