Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sidonia Township (T158N-90W) May Be the Most Active Township Right Now

This will change in a month, but right now, I would be hard pressed to find a more active township than T158N-90W, in the Clear Water field.

Of the 36 sections in this township, there is a permit or a well in all but 9 sections. There are 16 sections with new permits. There are five rigs on site, and there are two wells almost completed (rigs off site); and there are two wells producing, both short laterals; one with an IP of 626 bopd, and one with an IP of 1,131 bopd.

Anyone want to guess which producer "owns" this township? Yup, it's EOG. Again.

The Clear Water field is about five (5) miles northeast of Stanley. It is north of the very prolific Parshall field. One township sits between the Parshall and the Clear Water, and it is the Ross field between the Parshall field and the Clear Water field.

KOG: $8,000 vs $4,000 investment.

This is purely for investors; it really shouldn't be on the this blog, but I was curious about something I was seeing on Yahoo!Financial messages on the Kodiak Oil and Gas (KOG) board. There seemed to be a group of folks that were positive about KOG and others that were negative about KOG on that board. Whether an investor is positive or negative about a company probably has to do with whether the investor makes or loses money in a particular security, KOG in this case.

Out of curiosity, I did two calculations. In the first calculation, I determined how much money one would have invested and what that investment would be worth right now if one had put $100 into KOG on the first of the month each quarter from January, 2007 through January, 2010.  There were 13 quarters in that time frame, which would have meant one would have invested $1300 in KOG. With $100 at the beginning of each quarter, one would now have 1,236 shares. At the current price, about $2.50, those 1,236 shares would be worth $3,090. One hasn't made much money, but one has not lost one's principal that was invested.

In the second calculation, I imagined investing $100 the first of each month from January, 2007, through February, 2010. There were 38 months from January, 2007, through February, 2010, so that would have been a total of $3,800 invested (at $100 at the first of each month). Buying $100 worth of KOG at the beginning of each month since January, 2007, one would now have 3,159 shares. At the current price, about $2.50, those 3,159 shares would be worth $7,897.50.

On-line brokers charge about $10/transaction, so total commission in the second example would have added $380. One would not have gotten rich doing this but one would have doubled one's investment.

Folks that have lost money on KOG must have bought high, sold low, or bought very high and are still holding.

Some investment professionals recommend dollar-cost averaging when investing. If one is dealing with a) uncertainty; b) volatility; and, or c) a questionable boom, one might consider dollar-cost averaging when investing.

Kodiak was granted its first permits in North Dakota (in the current boom) in 2006. Kodiak was granted three permits in North Dakota in early 2006 (February, March, and July). Kodiak announced the results of their first two wells (on three of those permits; one permit was not drilled) in 2007 (February and April).

(You know, doubling your money over 38 months isn't all that bad.)

Bakken: Slawson

Slawson is not publicly traded but it has a very exciting presence in North Dakota.

Slawson Exploration Company, a subsidiary of Slawson Companies.
See also NOG. NOG has partnered with Slawson.

Slawson is doing some very interesting things: I have found three occasions on which Slawson has drilled one well just 105 feet or so from another well, in the same section. There are probably many more examples, but I found these three in a matter of minutes. Even EOG doesn't seem to be doing that. EOG puts a well in each section; BEXP is pioneering 24- and 28-stage fractures; most of WLL's wells are 1280-acre spacing; and now, it looks like Slawson is putting two wells right next to each other. Very interesting. I noted this when looking at the "active rigs" and saw Slawson ready to move the rig on Skybolt to Howitzer. December, 2010 (Update: obviously things have changed: EOG now putting three wells in a section. Other producers putting multiple wells on one site/pad -- March 29, 2010)

NEWS

June 21, 2014: NDIC order for the huge Slawson case in Big Bend oil field.

March 29, 2014: a thousand more wells for Slawson in Big Bend oil field?

March 27, 2012: Slawson wells updated.

October 6, 2010: GeoResources reports results of its Slawson wells.

July 4, 2010: Slawson and Voyager partnering in Wyoming's Niobrara. Voyager's CEO is J. R. Reger, of the Billings, MT, Reger family and NOG.

March 30, 2010: Slawson Snake Eyes. Slawson has been granted two permits for another pair of snake eyes, this time in Van Hook oil field: #18870, Moray Federal 1-10H and #18871, Neptune 1-15H, both in NENW 15-151N-92W. In addition, Slawson was granted another permit the same day (today) for another well in the Van Hook field, #18872, Mustang 1-22H, SWSE 22-151N-92W.

March 29, 2010: Slawson Snake Eyes. Slawson has been granted a permit for another well on same pad as earlier well in the Big Bend oil field, continuing a trend I first noted back in December, 2009. I called them "EcoPads Lite," but I think I will  start calling them "Slawson Snake Eyes." The new permit, #18854, Silencer 1-29H, joins #18574, Mole 1-20H, on section 20-151-92.  One lateral will go north, and one lateral will go south, no doubt. 

February 27, 2010: Slawson's string of wells in the Kittleson Slough field

February 8, 2010:  Interview with Slawson CEO.

February 9, 2010:  A very nice Slawson well reported Feb 9, 2010 -- 1,208 bopd; 42,000 bbls in first 59 days; Fox 1-28H in the Van Hook field. Thoughts on Slawson; my sentiments exactly.

February 8, 2010: A new partner with Triangle Petroleum, a new player in the Bakken.

Slawson: 48 wells on the confidential list; a most intriguing operator; not publicly traded; see the number of Slawson wells in Big Bend/Van Hook. Are Slawson wells 640-acre spacing still? January 23, 2010.

Slawson: Eco-Pads Lite? Slawson drilling two wells from one pad; one lateral going north; one lateral going south. December 15, 2009.

Red River Formation

30-second soundbite, posted September 8, 2019, the Red River:
  • extends from Canadian border to South Dakota
  • in North Dakota extends from Montana state line to about about 35 miles east of the state line
  • about 10 sub-formations
  • six to twelve feet in thickness (very thin, even compared to the middle Bakken which tends to be around 20 feet thick
  • very, very high TOC in some of the sub-formations
  • geo-steering now makes the Red River even more accessible
From a reader:
The oil wells in SW ND and NW SD are laying on/near the Cedar Creek Anticline. This Anticline runs from South of Glendive MT to Buffalo , SD. The natural Uplift of this feature has naturally fractured the strata, so I have never heard of any further fraccing being done. 
A good description of the various Red River formations (A, B, C, and D) can be found at the geologist's report for #11409.

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Red River exploration in Harding County, South Dakota, by VAALCO, December 30, 2012.

Random update of Red River wells, December 5, 2012.

Three formations folks may not know about, including the Red River, December 5, 2012.

Review of high production Red River wells drilled in 2006. See comments: a reader suggests that Red River C and D formations are the source rock for Red River A and B.

See Cedar Hills oil field.

Update of Red River wells in Cedar Hills, compiled May, 2012. 

See CLR's presentation regarding its Red River units

Horizontal drilling brings new life to an "old" formation. Click here and scroll down to first long comment by Degas. February 21, 2010.

NEWS

September 8, 2019: get ready to rock and roll.

February 15, 2017: on the March, 2017 NDIC dockets -- request to unitize two Red River units in far southwest North Dakota.

December 23, 2011: Whiting requesting a horizontal targeting the Red River formation; update regarding activity in that area (pretty void of activity).

August 9, 2011: Bakken shale not the only game in town -- Investopedia. CLR investing $65 million in the Red River formation (discovered in 1967); RR still accounts for about 10% of North Dakota production. 

November 8, 2010: Permit # 16064, 72, CLR, MPHU 44-9, Medicine Pole Hills, 9-130-104