Hess Corp. landed two 4-mile laterals in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale in February.

They were the first of their kind drilled in the historic oil play, Hess said.

The two 4-mile wells run parallel, north to south, in the Beaver Lodge Field northeast of Williston, North Dakota.

Hess said it leaned on experience from Nabors Industries, which operated the drilling rig. The company also pulled lessons learned from earlier 2- and 3-mile Bakken wells.

The breakeven for a 4-mile well is “significantly reduced,” Hess said. The longer lateral boosts EURs per well, while lowering the economic threshold.

Drilling fewer wells with longer laterals underground also reduces surface disruptions associated with drilling, like trucking and equipment haulage, Hess said in an April 23 press release.

The company said it also drilled a 2-mile observation lateral “overlapping the last 2 miles of the producing laterals between the two 4-mile wells.”

Outfitted with fiber and pressure gauges, the observation well aims to document depletion and recoveries from the 4-mile wells over time, Hess said.

“Longer lateral wells are part of a “shale evolution” underway in the Williston Basin, the company said.

Chord Energy announced drilling and completing its first 4-mile Bakken well in late February at a total depth (TD) of 30,400 ft.

Chord is planning several more 3- and 4-mile Bakken wells this year due to their outperformance and economic efficiencies compared to 2-mile wells.

Other Bakken producers see potential to drill longer laterals after completing large-scale M&A in the basin.

ConocoPhillips’ $22.5 billion merger with Marathon Oil consolidated large portions of the Williston Basin.

Devon Energy also added Bakken locations through a $5 billion acquisition of private E&P Grayson Mill Energy.

Hess held 463,000 net acres in the Bakken as of year-end 2024. Net production averaged 204,000 boe/d.

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On hold with Chevron

As Hess moves forward in the Bakken, it’s still waiting to close a $55 billion sale to Chevron Corp.

The Chevron-Hess merger, although approved by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is not yet completed.

Hess is in a dispute with Exxon Mobil about interests in an E&P partnership offshore Guyana. Hess, Exxon and stakeholder CNOOC are in arbitration over the matter,

An arbitration hearing is scheduled to begin in May with a final decision expected later this summer.

Under the FTC’s conditions for the Chevron-Hess merger, Hess CEO John Hess agreed to not join the Chevron board of directors.

But earlier this month, the FTC said it may reconsider the ban against Hess and a similar agreement that barred Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield from holding an Exxon board seat.

Exxon closed a $60 billion takeover of Pioneer last year.

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