Ten More Permits: On Track for 1,315 New Permits This Year. BR Notable New Permits

Activity in the Bakken has not slowed down: ten (10) new permits today, all except three in McKenzie County. This keeps "us" on track for 1315 new permits in North Dakota for 2010, well above the 945 or so last year, the previous record in the current boom.

Of most interest: BR is putting four wells on one pad on Lot 4 Section 1 of T151N-9W in the Clear Creek field. I love the naming system: one can quickly tell which two of the wells will target the Three Forks Sanish and which two will target the Middle Bakken. In addition, one can easily tell which horizontals run north and which run south.

For newbies, CLR pioneered this scheme, calling it an Eco-Pad.

Here are the new BR permits on one pad:

• 19283, Sunline 11-1MB-3SH
• 19286, Sunline 11-1TF-2SH
• 19285, Rising Sun 11-1MB-3NH
• 19287, Rising Sun 11-1TF-2NH

These are the first permits granted in the Clear Creek field, so far, in 2010.

In 2009, there were four permits granted in the Clear Creek field. #18442, BR, Mesa Verde 24-22H, had an IP of 2,348. The other three Clear Creek permits are Petro-Hunt wells; two are plugged/producing, and one has not yet reported (18388, 18404, and 18379).

By the way, if I remember correctly, NDIC no longer requires permission to go to 1280-acre spacing; until recently, 640-acre spacing was standard. Now the NDIC requires permission fro 2560-acre spacing, but it's pretty much "rubber-stamped" with two conditions: a) not less than 6 wells on each 2560-acre unit; and, b) all wells completed in "a reasonable period of time" once the first one has spudded. In other words, NDIC does not want an operator to hold control of 2560 acres with one well.

As long as I'm rambling, this is for newbies. People often ask why oil companies keep their wells "confidential." I think this is a good example. We have no idea how good the Petro-Hunt wells are. If BR had access to this information, it would help make the decision whether to drill/not drill in the area. Yes, BR had one great well, but how will the Petro-Hunt wells come in? My hunch is: the Petro-Hunt roughnecks drink beer (or colas) in the same taverns as the BR roughnecks.

Wow, I miss North Dakota.