Sixteen (16) New Permits -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Operators: CLR (4), EOG (4), Whiting (2), Oasis (3), XTO, Ballantyne, Cornerstone.

Fields: Pershing, Mondak, Sanish, Heart Butte, Spring  Coulee, Kittleson Slough, Alkali Creek, Woburn, and two wildcats.

The four CLR permits represent an Eco-Pad, Pershing oil field, McKenzie, development wells.

The four EOG permits represent four wells all in immediate area, probably on same pad.

One of the wildcats is another Whiting well in Stark, near South Heart.

The other wildcat is southeast of Williston, about 6 miles, but north of the river. If you want to see the site, it's gonna be a heck of a ride on county roads. It's pretty quiet out there.

On track for 1,614 new permits in North Dakota for calendar year 2010.

South Heart Coal Resubmits Its Application to Mine Coal (ND, USA)

The Dickinson Press is reporting that South Heart Coal has resubmitted its proposal to strip mine coal in southwest North Dakota for a coal gasification plant three miles west of South Heart, North Dakota. For a primer on three coal technologies being pursued in North Dakota and an update on the South Heart Coal proposal, click here. For an update on the coal beneficiation plant north of Bismarck, click here.

From wikipedia, coal gasification:

... is the process of producing coal gas, a type of syngas –a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas – from coal. Carbon monoxide, which is a combustible gas, was traditionally used as a source of energy for municipal lighting and heat before the advent of industrial-scale production of natural gas, while the hydrogen obtained from gasification can be used for various purposes, such as making ammonia, powering a hydrogen economy, or upgrading fossil fuels. Alternatively, the coal gas (also known as "town gas") can be converted into transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel through additional treatment. This latter purpose of coal gasification has been implemented by nations that have abundant sources of coal but little to no petroleum reserves, as well as by nations seeking to decrease their dependence on foreign sources of petroleum.

There are also indications that a coal beneficiation plant will be built in the same area.

Briefly, coal beneficiation is a coal-drying process in which water and toxic chemicals found within coal seams (such as mercury and sulfur) are removed, producing a "better" coal. This coal can then be used in conventional coal-powered electrical plants. This coal can also be used for gasification.

So, coal from the South Heart area --> beneficiation --> gasification.   Or coal from the South Heart area directly to gasification.

Hopefully I have that correct; it is still somewhat confusing to me exactly which companies are doing what where.

Note: the correct spelling for this process appears to be "beneficiation," though even local and regional North Dakota newspapers spell it "benefaction." I, too, have misspelled it, but I'm going back and trying to find all errors to correct them.