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Whiting Focuses on Drilling Bakken Gen 4 Wells in Q3; No Niobrara Completions

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Whiting Petroleum reported its Q3 2018 results.

Highlights:

- Q3 2018 Production Averaged 128,680 BOE/d, up +13% YOY and up +2% from 2Q18

• The Bakken/Three Forks plays in the Williston Basin averaged 106,835 BOE/d - up +4% from 2Q18

• The Redtail Niobrara/Codell plays in the DJ Basin averaged 21,240 BOE/d - flat from 2Q18

No New Niobrara TILs

The Company put 45 wells on production in the Williston Basin and no wells on production at Redtail during the quarter.

Bakken - Expanding Gen 4.0 Well Completions

Whiting plans to test Generation 4.0 completions in its Wildrose and Cassandra areas, located primarily in Williams County, in late 2018.

The tests position Whiting for development in these areas, which represent over 230 net future drilling locations.

In the Sanish area, the Bartelson drilling spacing unit (DSU) further confirms the high productivity achieved by newer generation completions. Three new Bartelson Bakken wells were completed with Whiting's latest generation (Generation 4.0) optimized completion approach and have produced an average of 51 MBOE per well over the first 45 days. This represents an 83% increase compared to the legacy Bakken well in the DSU. Also in the Sanish area, the previously announced six-well McNamara DSU infill project has reached payout in only 16 months and is projected to deliver a 108% rate of return at a $65 NYMEX oil price.

In the north Hidden Bench Tarpon area, the 14-well pinwheel pad demonstrates Whiting's ability to conduct large scale, Generation 4.0 completions in an area with geographical and regulatory constraints. By utilizing innovative wellbore planning and extended reach laterals, reserves of oil and gas are now being produced that would have been inaccessible with conventional Bakken spacing. The pad was completed between July and September of 2018 and the average well tested at a 24-hour rate of 2,614 BOE/d.

Will Begin Drilling at Foreman Butte Area in Early 2019

In the Foreman Butte area, permitting is moving forward on the Company's recently acquired acreage. The first wells are scheduled to spud in early 2019. This acreage has the potential to add over 100 additional high-productivity wells to Whiting's development inventory. In July 2018, Whiting completed the Loken wells located in southern Hidden Bench, which is adjacent to the Foreman Butte area. The wells were completed in the Middle Bakken formation and have produced an average of 100 MBOE per well over the first 90 days. In September 2018, a third-party operator tested a well on the eastern boundary of Whiting's acreage at a 24-hour oil rate of 2,724 barrels of oil per day. Whiting holds a 46% working interest in the well. These strong results further validate the potential for advanced completion approaches to deliver top-tier results in the Foreman Butte area.