Malcolm Shaw April 19 (the independent Malcolm Shaw :) ) TAO put out a tweet on Monday saying that the fracture stimulation of the vertical BED 1-7 well was completed successfully and that over 100 tons of sand and 4,000 barrels of water was injected at high pressures and pump rates. That’s music to my ears as it suggests that the frack was successful in opening up significant connected reservoir volume in order for the well to take that much sand. Recall that frac sand is pumped into the target horizon (the ARF in this case) with fluids under high pressure in order to induce fractures that fill with the sand/water mixture. Once the pressure pumping is complete, the well is flowed back in order to recover the frac fluid, leaving the sand grains wedged in the newly formed fractures within the target horizon. This is how fracture stimulations increase the connected surface area/volume available for hydrocarbon production. Now, with what sounds like a successful fracking operation behind them, it’s all about flow rates. It should take a couple of days of flowback to recover the load fluid (water pumped in with the sand), after which TAO will be measuring oil flow rates in the field. Companies in western Canada often put out test rates in new plays after 1-2 weeks of testing, but IP30’s are always preferred. Perhaps TAO will end up with a shorter term update, followed by an IP30… I’m not sure. Therefore, my timeframe for when the market might see flow rates is anywhere from 7-30 days from now. I’ll have more to say after some flow rates come out, but for now I’m just happy that the fracture stimulation went according to plan. The first time you do something in an area where it isn’t often done, it always takes a little longer, but TAO’s operational experience at BED 1-7 will be invaluable when it comes to planning a multi-stage completion in the first horizontal well this summer. After a long wait, this one is just getting ready for showtime. If I see a decent-to-good vertical test rate (300-400 bopd), I’ll just hold on with both hands for the journey because the writing will be on the wall for the horizontal. Remember that all of the infrastructure needed for production is right there. If this play works, it’s going to be some highly economic oil and it will have a very short path (and low cost) to production.