OAS Cancels Two Permits, Gets a New One

I'm only posting this because OAS is in the news with its recent IPO.

In yesterday's (June 18, 2010) daily activity report, it was noted that OAS canceled two permits:

• 18914, Ellis 5602 42-8H, Williams County, SESW 8-156N-102W
• 18915, Somerset 5602 42-8H, Williams County, SESW 8-156N-102W

Based on the legal description, these two wells would have sat on the same pad. Often a cancellation doesn't mean anything. The operator still controls the acreage and may have plans to seek a new permit with new parameters (different pay zone, slightly different drilling location, etc). These wells would have been wildcats but they were just east of the Bull Butte field (according to the GIS map server) where BEXP has reported a good well. (The permits said they were in Bull Butte field.)

and was granted a new one:

• 19152, Mountrail County, wildcat, Hagen 5792 44-31H, SESE 31-157N-92W

This one is permitted as a wildcat but it sits in a section that is bordered by three fields: the Sorkness, the Cottonwood, and the Alger. I know nothing about the Sorkness (a small field with five producers and two confidential wells). The Cottonwood has not been all that impressive, though the south end (where this well sits) has been better than the north end; and the  Alger, which has had some good wells. If it produces oil, the Cottonwood field would probably be extended to include this section, as well as section 30, just north.