- July 15, 2011: Overview of all Bakken small (<$500 million market cap) producers; Michael Filloon, SeekingAlpha.com.
- Oasis is one of five Bakken operators Filloon is bullish on, February 16, 2014.
- Operational update on Williston Basin wells, April 8, 2013.
- Update on sale of non-operated assets in the Bakken/Three Forks; ops update; March 15, 2013
- To sell non-operated assets in the Bakken/Three Forks; operational update; February 20, 2013
- November 20, 2012: announces sale of its 25% interest in Eagle Ford; 544 acres in DeWitt County; $3 million ($5,500/acre). Had acquired Eagle Ford acres in September, 2012;
- April 2, 2012, update.
- February, 2012, presentation.
- Motley Fool takes a look at Abraxas, December 27, 2011.
- Update, August 9, 2011.
- Announces completion of first well in Eagle Ford, Texas. February 2, 2011.
- Set its 2010 capital expenditure budget of $30 million, an increase of $10 million over its current annual budget. The company will focus primarily on oil projects in 2010, including Abraxas’ first Bakken horizontal well in North Dakota. November 19, 2009.
- selling 87 wells, December 29, 2015
- Confirmation and update regarding bankruptcy, October 27, 2015
- Company confirms it will declare bankruptcy: May 11, 2015
- 2013 proved reserves estimate.
- Stellar 3Q13 earnings, shares surge; Mike Filloon AMZG;
- Update, American Eagle Energy as an investment, SeekingAlpha.com
- Update, September 27, 2012; American Eagle ramps up drilling in the Bakken.
- Update, April 3, 2012
- Merges with Eternal Energy, December 20, 2011
- Acquires all of Synergy Resources LLC prospects in Williston Basin Bakken and Alberta Bakken -- January 24, 2011
- CEO of American Eagle Energy is Richard Findley
- Richard Findley is credited with discovering Elm Coulee in Richland County, Montana
- Elm Coulee, 2000, started the Williston Basin boom in the Bakken
- July 28, 2010: Bought by Hess in an all-stock transaction. Announced July 28, 2010. Deal announced just months after AEZ sold all assets in Wyoming to become a pure-play company in the Bakken. American Oil and Energy will no longer be followed.
- March 2, 2011: announcement of an additional acquisition in the Bakken.
- May 11, 2014: is Anschutz involved in an exploration will in Slope County?
- March 21, 2013: Anschutz announces it will leave northern Montana in the Blackfeet Indian reservation; not enough oil found to make it economically viable.
- I had removed Anschutz when they sold to OXY USA. It turns out Anschutz still had some Bakken acreage. It was announced August 10, 2011, that Anschutz sold the rest of it's remaining Bakken acreage for $115 million to an unidentified Canadian company. August 10, 2011.
- March 25, 2012: first heard of them this date; business model similar to NOG's
- new name for Ante5 (proposed name change, 3/12)
- 20,000 net acres
- March 23, 2012: Arsenal reports a nice well.
- March 22, 2011: Operations update.
- December 9, 2010, news release: At Stanley North Dakota, Arsenal as operator has spud the Brenlee one mile horizontal Bakken well. Arsenal has acquired an additional 27% in the well increasing its working interest to 73%. After the Brenlee well the drilling rig will move directly to the Amy Elizabeth (62% WI) two mile horizontal Bakken location.
- I now follow Baytex here; it's linked at the sidebar at the right
- 4Q12: sets production records
- Strategy here.
- Canadian company; was a trust; changed name to a corporation in January, 2011
- new name for Ante5 (proposed name change, 3/12)
- 20,000 net acres
- An Alberta Bakken company
- Could be another KOG in a few years; shares selling for 56 cents; February 22, 2011.
- Enters the Bakken, December, 2011
- Joint venture with Denbury Onshore
Clear Creek Energy Services, LLC:
- Website
- May 14, 2011: Picked up all tracts in Stark County in this month's state lease auction that were up for auction
- I am told that Clear Creek Energy Services, LLC, is a subsidiary of Chesapeake (reliable source; makes sense based on news reports and Stark County action, May 14, 2011)
There are Corinthian wells in North Dakota/Spearfish, but it's all owned by Legacy if I understand this correctly.
Legacy bought all of Corinthian's acreage in North Dakota, June, 2014.
Corinthian, earlier, was bought by Surge Energy in 2010/2011-time frame (or later); Corinthian "reorganized" as a private company (not publicly traded); Surge Energy may have bought 40% of the "new" private CorinthianCredo:
- Operational update, April 26, 2011. Will increase working interest in wells.
- Drills first horizontal well in the Bakken (this link has been broken). January 16, 2010.
- Operations update on Credo's first five wells in the Bakken.
- Website
- Subsidiary of X-Change (Houston)
- Press release, April 9, 2012 -- enters the Bakken; acquires 44,000 net acres @$700/acre
- 2 - 4 wells/year for the first three years
Devon Energy Corporation is selling overseas assets to concentrate on continental US assets.
As far as I know Devon is not in the Bakken in North Dakota, but I would keep an eye out for them. I think Devon has more than enough to develop without getting into the Bakken but one never knows. September, 2011: Lynn Helms says Devon entering the Bakken.Earthstone: formerly known as Basic Earth Science Systems (BSIC) is now known as Earthstone. First posted update is here.
March 17, 2011: Operations update; wells from the past year.
Encana: now known as Ovintiv Production;
Eternal Energy
- Merged with American Eagle, closed December 20, 2011; now known as American Eagle
G3 Operating, LLC: a wholly-owned subsidiary of GeoResources.
GeoResources, Inc.: Moved GEOI to its own page on January 17, 2011. Bought by Halcon; has it's own page (same link, I believe).
GTL Energy (Australia) is shipping lignite from New Zealand to North Dakota.
GTL Energy is testing the technology developed at the coal beneficiation plant in North Dakota. By the most conservative estimates, North Dakota has 800 years of reserves of lignite coal. December 6, 2009. UPDATE: the test was a success. July 27, 2010.GMX Resources
- GMXR is now followed at this site
- Overnight, from nothing to 70,000 net acres in the core Bakken, January 28, 2011.
- Enters the Bakken, January 21, 2011.
Hunt Petroleum: bought by XTO in 2008.
JayHawk enters the Bakken, January 20, 2011.
Lario: adds acreage in the Bakken. October 7, 2010.
Legacy Oil + Gas
- Acquired by Crescent Point, May 27, 2015
- Extending their Spearfish play into North Dakota, February 22, 2011.
- February 13, 2013: operational update; March 13, 2013, update did not mention the Bakken
- website
- see Bakken Shale Discussion Group thread
- acquired 18 wells from Summit Resources
- Liberty is now followed here; no more updates for Liberty on this page
- A newcomer to the Bakken in the autumn of 2011
- Liberty Resources; subsidiary of Riverstone Holdings; Carlyle Group
- Newfield transferred some wells to Liberty Resources in autumn of 2011
- Interesting play in Tyrone oil field
- Lime Rock Resources is now followed here; updates might not be placed here;
- OXY rumor, September 28, 2015.
- February 2, 2015: MDU sale of assets to Lime Rock: Fidelity Exploration transferred about 81 gross wells, of which 49 are operated by Fidelity to Lime Rock Resources III-A. All of these were in Mountrail County; 6 in Alger field, 43 in Stanley field. The sale included 4,363 acres with production of about 2,000 bopd. The earlier permit/well file number was #17359; the most recent permit/well file number was #27192. According to the NDIC, Lime Rock has 51 wells/permits, so this is a new operator in North Dakota, also. Or it appears to be a new operator. If this is their website, the company previously had three core areas, all outside of the Bakken (mid-continent -- Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi); the Permian Basin; and, the Texas Gulf Coast). If this is the right company, this is their first property in the Bakken. [Update: Don sent me the link to the original press release which provides more background information: http://www.mdu.com/news/2014/07/21/mdu-resources-announces-sale-of-certain-mountrail-county-north-dakota-production-assets.]
- Sells non-core assets in Divide County; $666/acre;
- PennEnergy update
- Outstanding 4Q13 and full year 2013
- SeekingAlpha update; September 16, 2013
- Magnum Hunter acquires acreage in Marcellus, Utica with purchase of Viking International Resources;
- Press release: credit facility increases by almost 20% due to increased reserves in three unconventional plays.
- Proposed acquisition of Eagle Operating by Williston Hunter ND, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Magnum Hunter did not close; "bad blood" between them; previous lawsuit to go forward
- Magnum Hunter / NuLoch acquires an additional 5,000 net acres, May 4, 2011.
- Acquires NuLoch Resources, 78,000 net acres in the Bakken, January 19, 2011.
- Anyone interested in a snapshot of Marathon wells in the Bailey oil field can click here. Bottom line: averaging 400 boepd, all long laterals, most completed before multiple-stage fracturing became the norm. December 14, 2009.
- Permits for two wells 100 feet apart in Reunion Bay, #18692 and #18693, Feb 8, 2010.
- Says it will drill 75 wells in the Bakken in 2010.
- Marathon said that drilling costs average about $5.5 million/well, and can drill a well in 16 days, "compared to an average of 33 days for competitors." At the end of 2009, Marathon said it produced 11,000 boepd from its 200 wells in North Dakota, and will reach 15,000 boepd by 2013. Marathon has four (4) rigs. Marathon says it is also evaluating other potential pay zones above and below the Middle Bakken. Cost to extract well: operational costs, $5/barrel and development costs averaging $18/barrel. February 12, 2010.
- July 26, 2011: added some Williston Basin Bakken acreage (MT and ND) to their portfolio; apparently entered the Bakken this date
- March 5, 2012: to sell 5,000 net acres in Bakken Pool, southwest McKenzie County
- small player in the Bakken; homepage here; ND assets here;
- August 13, 2012: will acquire Robbins & Myers Inc., a pumping equipment company based in Willis, TX, for $2.5 billion in cash.
North Plains Energy, LLC:
- Autumn, 2011: KOG announces that it will buy all of North Plains
- Denver-based
- 40,000 net acres (2010; corporate webpage)
- 2 rigs
Oasis and Fidelity appear to be partnering. It appears this started in the summer (or earlier) in 2009. See Bakken: Fidelity (MDU). November 15, 2009. Follow Oasis and Fidelity at their respective pages: see sidebar on the right.
Oil for America, LLC. Click here for updates.
Open Range Petroleum, first noted on the blog on June 27, 2011. News and updates will be tracked at this page.
Ovintiv Production: formerly known as Encana;
Peak North Dakota
- June 8, 2011: Most (all?) assets acquired by Enerplus
- Enters the Bakken, February, 2011, with purchase of Sagebrush assets in North Dakota
- Launched as new company, October, 2010
- an extremely small independent in the Bakken; less than 800 boepd in 2015 (record amount)
- first post here
- Primary Petroleum, in a reverse takeover, is out of the oil business and is now an internet video content provider (I can't make this stuff up)
- OXY USA buys 32.5% of Primary Petroleum (Alberta Bakken), January 21, 2013
- Sells Williston Basin/Bakken acreage; will concentrate on its other Montana acreage (Alberta Basin/Bakken?), update, February 29, 2012
- SeekingAlpha, recommendation, Part I, August 3, 2011
- SeekingAlpha, recommendation, Part II, August 3, 2011
- SeekingAlpha, recommendation, Part III, August 3, 2011
- Mentioned by Mike Filloon, July 24, 2011
- Amasses almost 300,000 acres in Alberta Bakken, June 13, 2011
Renegade Petroleum:
- September, 2011, corporate presentation; entering the North Dakota Bakken; Renville County.
- Operational update, February 15, 2011. Corporate presentation.
Resource Drilling, LLC:
Rosetta Resourcs
- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble as of July, 2015; introduces Noble to highly-coveted Eagle Ford
- confirmation and update regarding bankruptcy, October 27, 2015
- files for bankruptcy protection; will keep operating -- September 17, 2015
- seeks bankruptcy protection -- August 15, 2015
- may have to restructure through bankruptcy -- April 1, 2015
- first mentioned on the blog, January 23, 2012
- first popped up in Daily Activity Report, December 15, 2015
- at this site: In March 2014, SFC Energy Partners II made an equity investment in Sedalia Energy, LLC. Sedalia is a privately held company based in Denver, Colorado and will be focused on the acquisition and development of oil properties in the Northern Williston Basin of North Dakota
- no longer updated at this site; moved over to the "big list" of Bakken operators, September 30, 2014
- first mentioned in blog as stand-alone post, April 27, 2014
- 39,090 net acres (January, 2013)
- small privately held company; active in the Bakken for several years; appears to have moved to a "new level" in January, 2013, when it raised $100 million in revolving credit
- February 25, 2013: 4Q13 earnings call mentions their first Bakken well in Sheridan County; will spud a Three Forks well in Sheridan County in 2Q13.
- November 7, 2012: reports activity in Sheridan County, MT;
"The company has also drilled and completed a well in Sheridan County, Montana, targeting the Bakken/Three Forks objectives, which has been flowing back for approximately 60 days. The company is continuing to lease acreage and plans to permit and drill additional wells in the area in 2013."
- August 13, 2012: Bedwell horizontal well in Sheridan County, Montana, on July 10, targeting the Bakken and Three Forks objectives -- from 2Q12 earnings call.
Sundance (Australia):
- I don't plan on following this company, but if one is interested in the company, one might start here. Notice, that at the top of that web page, one can download a "pdf" file which is a much nicer format than some others.
- Surge Energy is now followed at its own page
- Corporate presentation, March, 2013; 20 hz wells/section in North Dakota; $1.5 million/well
- 2013 CAPEX and operations update; stock fell significantly after this report
- Surge Energy / Corinthian Energy acquires Ritchie's Bottineau Spearfish Wells, March 25, 2011
Triangle Petroleum (TPLM): new player in the Bakken; 4,000 net acres in Wms and McKenzie Counties, Feb 8, 2010.
- Z-Man on Triangle Petroleum; with this link I will move TPLM to the sidebar at the right; TPLM updates will no longer be placed here
- Investopedia article, April 12, 2012.
- January, 2012 presentation
- December 20, 2011: getting more active -- Triangle has permits for a 3-well pad in Ellsworth oil field. Ellsworth is a 36-section (one township) oil field near the bull's eye of the Bakken. It is located about five miles south of Arnegard, southwest of Watford City.
- 16.5 million shares offering; 15% over-allotment authorized, March 4, 2011.
- Zman bullish on TPLM and SSN, January 16, 2011.
- Acquires 400 net acres; $2.5 million; ~ $6K/acre in Williams, McKenzie, Mountrail
- Poised for a Breakout, July 22, 2011 -- SeekingAlpha
- Operational update, July 1, 2011.
- US Energy announced high initial production well; partnership with Zavanna, January 28, 2011.
- Update regarding acquisitions (five wells) in North Dakota and Marcellus, December 14, 2010.
- See Lime Rock Resources, November 1, 2015
- Acquires rest of Encore Energy Partners, LP, July 11, 2011
Ward Williston: Privately held, conventional wells, undated but this article discusses their 2010 capex program so it must be a fairly recent article. January 13, 2010. Still active -- another permit, July 27, 2010.
WellStar Energy
- first mentioned April 18, 2013
- 7,273 net acres; Wolf Bay, in the reservation
- update on the Tyler, Williston Exploration mentioned; November 25, 2012: 10,000 acres ("3,000 acres prior to our purchase of Upton Resources assets [7,000 acres ] for a total of 10,000 acres" -- company e-mail)
- first post, October 25, 2012
- 7,000 net acres; assets owned by Medora Minerals
- targeting the Tyler
Zavanna:
- March 23, 2012: two active rigs.
- Active in Stony Creek and Stockyard Creek oil fields northwest of Williston. One active rig at time of original posting. Still one active rig as of July, 2010. As of November 27, 2010, all further Zavanna postings will be at the Zavanna site.
- March 23, 2012: two active rigs.
- A company to watch. It has 45 wells on the confidential list (in the same ball park as EOG's with 76 wells on the confidential list). I think it might go public if not bought out. Whiting has 32 wells on the confidential list and Whiting is the number 5 producer in North Dakota. Slawson has 39. Even small companies can have significant impact on industry legal issues: this one on fresh water drilling by an oil company. December 15, 2009.
- Cancels five permits in McKenzie County (two other companies also canceled one permit each). The scuttlebutt is that these permits were canceled because they were "640-acre spacing" and the companies were going to go back and ask for "1280-acre spacing." January 27, 2010.