Do I Need to Curb My Enthusiasm? -- December, 2009, NDIC Hearing Dockets

Question: is EOG looking at 570 more wells in the Parshall oil field? See below.

Should I curb my enthusiasm? At other discussion groups and through comments to this blog, I am told on a daily basis I need to curb my enthusiasm. Well, ....drum roll... I feel vindicated. Even the NY Times now recognizes that second tier companies have been buying up outstanding stateside acreage while the majors have missed the opportunity, spending their money acquiring and exploring acreage in politically unstable countries overseas. The story was buried deep in the business pages. December 15, 2009.

Question: is EOG looking at 570 more wells in the Parshall oil field?

I have no idea if this is a big deal or not. I have not followed "dockets" for the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) in the past so I have nothing with which to compare. But the NDIC has released the docket for December 17, 2009.

The December 17th docket is 19 pages long. Repeat: 19 pages long.

Let's look at one case, just one case from that 19-page docket. This is case 11939 from EOG:

1. EOG wants to extend the Parshall or Van Hook-Bakken Pool to include the following:

Sections 12, 13, 19 - 36 in 151N-90W (20 sections); and,
Sections 9, 16, 21 - 28, 34 - 36 in 151N-91W (13 sections); for a total of 33 more sections.

2. EOG also wants permission to drill up to three horizontal wells for each 640-acre spacing unit (that is three wells in each section: one in the upper TFS, one in the lower TFS, and one in the middle Bakken) for the following:

Sections 1 - 36 in 151N-90W (36 sections); and,
Sections 1 - 36 in 152N-90W (36 sections); and, 
Sections 1 - 6, 8 - 17, and 19 - 36 in 153N-90W (34 sections); and,
Sections 1 - 36 in 154N-90W (36 sections); and,
Sections 25 - 28, 31 - 36 in 155N-90W (10 sections); and,
Sections 1, 10 - 15, 23 - 26, and 36 in 151N-91W (12 sections); and,
Sections 1, 2, 11 - 15, 22 - 26, 35, 36 in 152N-91W (14 sections); and,
Sections 5 - 8, 17 - 20, 29 - 32 in 153N-89W (12 sections).

Does this add up to  190 sections? And is EOG asking permission to drill three horizontal wells in each of these sections? If so, that's 570 wells and that's just one case (albeit, perhaps the biggest case).

I may have misread this, or may not understand it, but that seems to be what EOG is requesting.

You can access the full 19 pages of the December 17, 2009, docket at https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/dockets/2009/docket121709.pdf

I suppose I need to curb my enthusiasm.  I have included a summary of the entire docket here.