What Have They Found in The Alger?

This post is just noting a couple of data points. Make of it what you want.

1. The Alger oil field seems to be getting a lot of attention lately. See the February 24 - 26, 2010, docket.

2. Someone just paid the equivalent of $4.7 million for 640 acres of mineral rights in the Alger oil field. Someone was willing to pay $7,300/acre for 120 acres in the Alger oil field.

3. Despite a huge backlog of permits that were granted in 2009, BEXP seems it couldn't get to its permit in Alger field, # 18654, Sorenson 29-32 1-H, fast enough. This permit was granted just a few days ago: January 26, 2010. BEXP had a rig on site on February 4, 2010 (just 9 days later), and started drilling almost immediately.

4. Hess added two cases to the February docket; one case could have waited but it seems the second case was URGENT. This case is a request by Hess to have the aforementioned BEXP Sorenson 29-32 1-H permit revoked.

5. The Alger wells are mediocre based on IPs, but there are a lot of wells in the Alger that remain on the confidential list. One can easily ask: what have these confidential wells produced, and/or what have the seismologists noted about the Alger? It seems there is just too much "weirdness" going on in the Alger right now. Or maybe I've been listening to too many conspiracy theories. With more than 1,000 wells/permits backlogged, and of the 137 permits granted so far in 2010, why was BEXP so eager to drill this well and Hess so eager to block it?