Eternal Not So Eternal -- Random Look at Activity Northwest Corner of North Dakota -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Eternal not so .... well, er, eternal

When you look at the GIS map server, this jumps out at you: all the activity in northwestern North Dakota. Compared to the rest of the state it may not be all that much, but when this boom began there was very little activity this far north/west. Now a quick glance reveals no fewer than seven (7) rigs up in this area, and represented by multiple companies.  "ros" -- rig on site.

• 22231, ros, SM Energy, Torgeson 2-30HNA, West Ambrose, Divide,
• 22385, ros, Crescent Point, CPEC Elgaard 32-31-164N-100W, Colgan, Divide,
• 21871, ros, American Eagle/Eternal Energy, Cody 15-11-163-101, Colgan, Divide,
• 20802, ros, Samson Resources, Charger 7-6-162-98H, Ambrose, Divide,
• 22053, ros, Baytex, Randy Olson 8-5-161-98H 1PB, Plumer, Divide,
• 21948, ros, Baytex, Bentson 25-36-161-98H-1AP, Moraine, Divide,
• 21364, ros, CLR, Nordness 1-18H, Wildrose, Divide

Eternal Energy has three permits in North Dakota -- or should one say -- had three permits in North Dakota. Their three permits -- all wildcats -- are all now permanently canceled (PNC).  It appears American Eagle picked up one of their permits/location and has two additional locations, also in Colgan field. When you gooogle "American Eagle Energy," you see "eternalenergy.com" as the "old" URL, so this may simply be a name change or some sort of "merger." When you go to the site, the company mentions that previous SEC documents will be found under "Eternal Energy." Ah, here it is, a December 20, 2011, press release announcing the merger between Eternal Energy and American Eagle Energy.

Data points re: American Eagle Energy

• Merges with Eternal Energy, December 20, 2011
• Acquires all of Synergy Resources LLC prospects in Williston Basin Bakken and Alberta Bakken -- January 24, 2011
• CEO of American Eagle Energy is Richard Findley
• Richard Findley is credited with discovering Elm Coulee in Richland County, Montana
• Elm Coulee, 2000, started the Williston Basin boom in the Bakken

American Energy's mission statement from its website:

We are targeting energy resources in the North Dakota Bakken and Three Forks Formations; the Alberta Basin Bakken Source System located in Montana; and the Hardy Bakken Project located in Saskatchewan, Canada. American Eagle Energy's portfolio of properties, combined with management's expertise in the exploration, development and production of Bakken resources, will allow American Eagle Energy to quickly build stockholder value.

According to their website this date, the company has seven (7) horizontal wells that are either being drilled or planned for the near future; they will be operated by either American Eagle or another "key" operator in the area.

If you go to the website (which is a very good website), check out the Spyglass and West Spyglass prospects. Note that "EERG" refers to Eternal Energy well sites. It is quite amazing to see all the activity in this part of the Basin.

So, much more than I had expected to write, but sheds a little light on activities in this part of the state.

Again, there may be errors in information presented above but I've tried to be as accurate as possible based on publicly released information.

Mike Filloon, over at SeekingAlpha.com has discussed American Eagle on several occasions, including: July 24, 2011; October 24, 2011.