Seven (7) new permits --
- Operators: Hess (3), Emerald Oil (3), MRO
- Fields: Hawkey (McKenzie), Sheep Butte (McKenzie), Reunion Bay (Mountrail)
- Comments:
It was my understanding that the government shutdown could/would affect all drilling activity on Federal land. I don't know if that means "active" rigs will become inactive in much of Dunn County, on the reservation. It sounds like even "the big guys" don't know what will be shut down and what will not be affected. And folks used to take me to task for being worried about federal fracking permits. The link takes you to a Rigzone article in which it sounds like the federal shutdown will have minimal effect OFFSHORE (short term) and most affect ONSHORE activities, but not much more specifics.
Sheep Butte is a very small field (only 9 sections) in central-west McKenzie County. Half of the field is under US Forest Service management (National Grasslands). This whole area is pretty much void of any oil activity.
The graphic below is from the NDIC GIS map server. The area in grey is under US Forest Service management (with every federal government website closed down, the NDIC map is nice to have). This is about 25 miles southwest of Watford City.
By the way:
- 7648, 60/PNA, ANR Production Company, USA 22-24, a Red River well, t12/80; cum 120K 8/92. Just think, I spent the first 18 years of my life growing up in North Dakota and this Red River well in the National Grasslands was never mentioned once.
