Highlights of the NDIC November Hearing Dockets -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I eagerly await the monthly agenda for the NDIC hearing dockets -- for me, it's like opening Christmas presents.

The November dockets are no different. Here are some highlights:

First, this is the most intriguing, and I've done a stand-alone post on this one already:

• 16198, BEXP, request to produce the Kalil 25-36 2H well as a horizontal Bakken in the Bull Butte-Bakken but with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole Formation

How many wells are we going to see in the Bakken?

• 16199, Dakota-3, to create a 3840-acre unit in Van Hook or Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, 22 wells, McLean
• 16110, Hess, up to 6 horizontal wells and eight vertical wells in one 1280-acre spacing unit in Hawkeye-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16232, Dakota-3, 2 wells on a 320-acre unit, Eagle Nest-Bakken, Dunn
• 16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16244, Enerplus, 4 wells on a 640-acre unit, Antelope-Sanish, McKenzie

How many wells are operators asking for in single cases?

• 15861, cont'd, Newfield, 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit, Epping-Bakken, 5 units, 35 wells, Williams
• 16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16199, Dakota-3, to create a 3840-acre unit in Van Hook or Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, 22 wells, McLean
• 16194, CLR, create 18 1280-acre units with seven wells on each, 126 wells, Williams
• 15916, cont'd, North Plains, add two 1280-acre units with 7 wells each, Truax-Bakken, 14 wells; Williams/McKenzie
• 16131, MRO, 7 wells on three 1280-acre units, Lake Ilo-Bakken, 21 wells, Dunn
• 16118, WLL, 4 wells on 3 1280-acre spacing units, Ellsworth-Bakken, McKenzie (12 wells)
• 16119, WLL, 4 wells to be drilled on nine 1280-acre spacing units, McKenzie, (36 wells)
• 16120, WLL, 4 wells on two 1280-acre spacing units (8 wells), McKenzie

The standard is now 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit. In the better Bakken, we are seeing 4 wells in 640-acre spacing, or 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit. 

The activity is moving to McKenzie County.