Montney gas wells are reaching record levels of productivity as the formation continues to prove its dominance in western Canadian natural gas production.

This is especially true in northeast British Columbia’s Heritage field, which is home to the top five gas wells in terms of IP90 performance metrics, said Alex Renaud, senior engineering advisor at geoLOGIC systems ltd.

Operated by Ovintiv Canada, these five wells have the highest initial gas rates recorded since the inception of the prolific play in 2005.

“Onstream numbers start at 27 mmcf/d and climb from there,” said Renaud. “The top producer (100/06-27-079-16W6/00) began at a staggering 33 mmcf/d and produced 4 bcf in its first 15 months.”

Click here for free maps, frac data and drilling data on the five wells.

Three of the five highest IP90 wells were drilled on the east side of the Heritage field in an E-W orientation; the others were drilled in the conventional NW-SE direction, added Renaud.*

Ovintiv has drilled 1,470 wells into the gas window since it began Montney activity 17 years ago. It has 1,025 wells remaining in its premium inventory — a 30-year supply at maintenance drilling levels of around 30 wells per year, Ovintiv reported at its recent Montney update.

The company is driving productivity with its cube development strategy first tested in U.S. shale plays. At its thickest, the Montney offers up to 1,000 feet of pay zone, enabling Ovintiv to target multiple stacked pay zones from a single location. In the Heritage field, the highest productivity wells are being drilled in the Upper Montney. A recently-drilled, seven-well pad reported initial production rates of around 200 mmcf/d.

View free maps, frac data and drilling data for the Top 5 Montney IP90 gas wells here.

Ovintiv and other Montney gas focused companies have enjoyed productivity increases in the post pandemic period. Average natural gas IP90s have jumped 136 per cent at Ovintiv when comparing Montney wells drilled 2018-2020 and post-2020. Murphy Oil and ARC Resources have seen IP90s climb around 50 per cent in the same timeframe.

Click here for individual production plots for the Top 5 Montney IP90 gas wells and view aggregate production. This visualized data is instantly available free of charge to guest users of geoLOGIC’s gDC Cloud. This is optimally accessed via a desktop or laptop.

*Based on Montney wells onstream from Jan. 1, 2021, to production thru August 2022.