Human Interest Story on Tyler Formation -- North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Regional newspaper so link will be broken soon.

The article covers a meeting given by:

Cole Gustafson, a researcher from the North Dakota State University extension branch, told the 50 or so in the audience that now is the time to do some planning and thinking.

Gustafson was talking about local farmers starting to plan and think about oil industry coming into Hettinger County to tap the Tyler formation.

There has been some leasing activity in northwestern Hettinger County, in the rural area near New England.

Based on geological maps, that area of the county is in a hot zone for the Tyler formation, one that has been vertically drilled in the past couple of decades in Stark and Billings counties and which state oil officials think would respond to horizontal fracture treatments, similar to what's working in the Bakken further north.

Lease offers seem to be fairly modest at about $200 an acre, much lower than Bakken acreage bonuses and an indication that oil developers aren't willing to bet much on future value until someone proves up horizontal drilling success.

New England (the North Dakota hamlet) is about 35 miles northeast of Bowman. Bowman is in southwestern North Dakota, near the edge of the Bakken, but near the Three Forks pinchout.