Five (5) New Permits -- North Dakota, USA

Producers: Anschutz, Murex, Sinclair, and MRO (2).

Fields: Manning, Glass Bluff, Cherry Creek, Murphy Creek.

In today's daily activity report, January 13, 2011, BEXP's Brad Olson well was reported. This, I think, is a huge story. See the comments at the link.

By the way, there was another huge well reported in today's daily activity report (I almost missed it). This was Whiting's BSMU 3604, Big Stick oil field, Billings County, #18625: it had an IP of 368. 368 -- that doesn't seem all that great. True. If it was a Bakken well. But BSMU targeted the Madison formation, and most of the Madison wells have IPs in the double digit range or very low triple digit range, so an IP of 368 for a Madison well is pretty interesting. Whiting. Again. [BSMU: Big Stick Madison Unit]

For more on Whiting's wells in Stark County and Big Stick oil field in Billings County, click here.

For all intents and purposes, the Cherry Creek permit could almost be considered a wildcat; it's out in the middle of nowhere -- south of the river and west of the reservation, in an area where there isn't much activity right now.

But just a bit north of this new Cherry Creek permit are a string of wells:

• 19795, rig on site, Newfield
• 19995, confidential, Encore, Lee 34-31NWH
• 18690, producing, long lateral, KOG (taken over from Peak), Schile 8-24H, 1,060
• 20012, confidential, Encore, Sorenson 34-32NWH
• 18805, producing, long lateral, SM, Johnson 16-34H
• 19390, confidential, SM, Broderson 13-35H
• 19305, rig on site, Encore, Hoffmann 149-98-1-12-1H
• 17456, producing, long lateral, Encore, 114 (an early well in the area; probably single-digit frac), Cherry Creek State 44-36H
  
• 19890, confidential, Encore, Johnson 31-6SWH
• 20096, confidential, Encore, Johnson 11-5SEH
• 18998, almost complete; has probably reached TD, Encore, Lundin 14-33NEH

Remember, Encore was bought by Denbury. All of the Encore wells are on a line, running west to east; the other non-Encore wells are in the immediate area.