Wednesday, February 1, 2012

1284 Acres on 1280-Acre Spacing -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Update

A big "thank you" to all who responded.  The best answer: the earth is not flat.

I was sent the following link: search section, township.

I am very familiar with this link (EarthPoint) but haven't used it in awhile except to check out an example:  when you go to the link, for example, and type in North Dakota, 5th Meridian (for all of the North Dakota Bakken), and then type in T148N-R49W, section 22, you will see that this "640" acre section is, in fact, 617 acres.  Just one more reason why probating minerals is so expensive.

Original Post

NDIC now posts the number of acres "drained" by a particular well. It's a great addition.

Elsewhere, they are asking why a 1280-acre unit has a well that actually has 1,284 acres. I think the "answer" the folks are positing is missing the mark. It seems pretty obvious to me but I will wait to see what others say.

The first response was that the NDIC had made an error. That is certainly incorrect. The NDIC is not in error here.

5 comments:

  1. Is the world flat?

    anon 1

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  2. Because all sections are not exactly 1240 acres. As you go from north to south and the latitude lines get longer you have to correct and add in a section every now and then. As in driving a N-S road that has a correction in it every once in a while that prevents it form being a straight line.

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  3. There is "deeded land" and land used by roads, railways and large bodies of water. When a well goes down a mile or two the road and rail right of way or public bodies of surface water are irrelevant.

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  4. My great uncle paid $10 for his additional 4 acres in 1907 because his quarter section (he homesteaded)was 164 acres, It's because the world is not flat.

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  5. KRS says;

    The extra acreage is becxause the land is along the correction line. There are wells with a 1350 acre spacing unit because of this line, Check out the north end of the townships that border along the 156 N township line and you will see the "lots" along this line are larger than most.

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