Update
See comment: "Yates Petroleum is a large ol and gas company in west Texas. Been around for a long time."
Here's their website.
However, I don't think that answers the question. Yates is not an operator in North Dakota according to the NDIC website. Yates has been buying mineral acres in North Dakota going back to at least 2010. Most of the names, in fact, almost all the names, on the auction sales list are not known operators in North Dakota. They appear to either represent an oil E&P company or they are holding the acreage for themselves with working interest in wells drilled in their holdings. It appears from their website that Yates is a participant / working interest in wells drilled in their holdings, but that's just a guess.
Original Post
With regard to the North Dakota state land lease sales yesterday, a reader wrote me, curious who Yates Petroleum represents. Their query:I know Chesapeake uses various companies to bid their auctions. I noticed in Billings County, that Blanca Peak Energy had many of the bids, and I know they're part of Chesapeake, but I am curious about Yates.Anyone know?