The Rumor Persists -- EOG Could Be Bought Out -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Buried in this Motley Fool article, yesterday, October 5, 2011:

EOG Resources, down about 24% over the past year, is another big player in the Eagle Ford shale, and has been shifting its focus some, from gas to oil. It does a lot of drilling for other companies, such as Northern Oil & Gas, and with its strong track record, some speculate that it could be bought out.

Another nugget: "EOG does a lot of drilling for other companies..." and that's why I'm not all that concerned with the chatter about Bakken companies might lose their leases because they can't get to them fast enough.

This "EOG does a lot of drilling for other companies..." might also account for two other things I've noticed:

• Relative paucity of EOG wells reporting out of the Bakken (although this might be a stretch)
• And absolutely NO EOG wells in their best Bakken field, the Parshall

Go to the NDIC GIS map server and compare Whiting's Sanish field with the EOG Parshall field: Ohhhh, I'm wrong. Today there is ONE rig in the Parshall and it is an EOG well (Wayzetta 157-2835H). Contrast that with 10 rigs in Whiting's Sanish field right next dor.