General Field Information |
| Produces Oil: Yes Produces Gas: Yes |
| Geologic Province: |
Sedgwick Basin |
| Exploration Method: |
Subsurface geology and economics |
| Surface Formation: |
Wellington Formation (Sumner Group) |
| Oldest Formation Penetrated: |
Arbuckle Group (Lower Ordovician) |
| Drilling Casing Practices: |
Exploration began in the mid-1950's and was greatly enhanced by the introduction of mechanical stimulation. Initial development was primarily for gas because oil exploration was hampered by a poor market condition for low gravity crudes. With the 1973 OPEC Embargo and the Natural Gas Act of 1978 intense development and expansion took place until 1983.
Most operators drilled 25' to 150' into the Mississippian and perforated selective intervals. Almost all wells required mechanical stimulation. Much experimentation has been done with "frac" sizes; most operators, however, treated the Mississippian with 500 to 1500 gallons of mud acid, generally followed by a 40,000# sand x 40,000 gallon, or larger, fracture treatment.
The State of Kansas requirement for the protection of fresh and usable water in this area of Barber County is approximately 250' of surface casing to be cemented to the top. |
| Electric Logging Practices: |
The majority of the operators ran open hole logs. The most common log run in the Hardtner Field was a Radiation Guard Log, which was sometimes accompanied by one or more porosity logs. |
| Comments: |
Well spacing: 160 acre spacing for gas; 40 acre spacing for oil
Other shows: The Misener Sand (Mississippi-Devonian) is present in a few wells in the Hardtner Field. One well was completed in the Misener as an oil well; production, however, was short lived and as of 1985 the Misener had not proven to be of commercial significance. |
| Discussion: |
The Hardtner Field was intensely developed in the 1950's because of the introduction of mechanical stimulation and the need for gas by eastern United States cities. When successful, mechanical stimulation, or frac treatments, often overcame natural limitations in horizontal permeability thereby improving the conductivity of gas and liquids into the borehole. By 1965, most of the gas area was developed. Because of the low gravity crudes associated with the high BTU gas, it was not until the OPEC Embargo of the early 1970's that there much interest in expanding the Hardtner Field. High oil and gas prices after the Embargo led to a boom period from 1978 through 1983 in the Hardtner Field. By 1983 the Hardtner Field was fully defined. Due to the soft gas market in 1985, infield drilling decreased to a minimum.
In conclusion, the Hardtner Field was one of the largest gas fields in Kansas, with a 160 acre average of over 2 BCFG per well. Although the Hardtner Field contains a large amount of oil in place, it is doubtful that much of the oil can be recovered by secondary or tertiary techniques due to the discontinuity of the chert section from well-to-well. |
|
| Depth Top: |
4791 feet |
| Geological Age: |
Lower Pennsylvanian |
| Depositional Environment: |
The Cherokee Sand was the product of an encroaching sea. The sand tended to fill the irregularities of the Mississippian land surface. Consequently, the sand deposition is not uniform and its distribution is apparently controlled by permeability changes and by a combination of ancient topography and structure. |
| Formation Lithology: |
Tan to gray, very fine to medium grained, angular to sub-rounded, well to poorly sorted micaceous sandstone, grading to shale and chert (conglomerate) in various wells. |
| Formation Geometry: |
The Cherokee Sand is present as thin, lenticular sand bodies. Where gas productive, the sand is generally medium grained while on the flanks of the Hardtner Field the sand tends to be very fine to fine grained with a high degree of accessory clay minerals. Thickness varies from 0' to 18'. |
| Trap Type: |
Stratigraphic. The producing zone pinches out northwest and northeast. To the south, it gets too low to produce gas in the Mississippi chat. With respect to areas to the northeast and northwest, the area is low. Locally, there are structural nosings plunging south-southwest. |
