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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Glendive, Montana -- Getting Ready for Another Oil Boom -- Not The Bakken (?)

Updates

Later: see first comment. A reader suggests the interest in the Glendive area may be the Red River formation and the "false Bakken." I talk about the "false Bakken" here

Original Post

Link here to the Billings Gazette

Data points:
  • Glendive -- population, 5,000
  • Glendive is 100 miles west of Dickinson; both are located on I-94
  • both are served by BNSF railroad
  • last boom ended 30 years ago
  • now, rentals scarce, pricey; home prices skyrocketing
  • two new housing subdivisions and a hotel are under construction
  • fast food restaurants setting records
  • construction bans along the Yellowstone River floodplain limits construction
  • like Sidney and Bainville, utilities are being maxed out

Go to the link for the rest of a very fascinating story.

The article does not mention which formation is being targeted (unless I missed it). It seems Glendive is at the southwestern edge of the Williston Basin. Since I don't follow Montana side of the border I can't add much. Maybe later.

8 comments:

  1. Several different companies have been buying up leases in Dawson County north and east of Glendive. There is quite a bit of interest in the False Bakken. There have also been some very successful wells drilled to the Red River in the past year.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, that's a big help.

      I've always maintained that interest in the Red River in North Dakota waned many years ago, not because the formation was not productive, but because there were better opportunities elsewhere. Now with oil at $100/bbl and new fields harder and harder to find, these old fields / old formations have new luster.

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  2. The Bakken is present in northeastern Dawson County as evidenced by old well logs, but untested. But it is the False Bakken that is of particular interest right now by landmen. I have heard of lease bonuses for up to $300/acre in northern and eastern Dawson County for horizontal tests in the False Bakken. These are in places quite a ways from the famous Elm Coulee field. I am not sure, but Whiting's Quale test well in Golden Valley county may be part of the same play.

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    Replies
    1. That certainly fits (Whiting/Quale). RMOJ says Quale is a Lodgepole and the false Bakken is considered part of the Lodgepole.

      http://milliondollarway.blogspot.com/2012/03/whiting-spuds-its-second-horizontal.html

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  3. All of your comments may be on the mark. There is some new local activity in Dawson and Wibaux Counties adding to the pressure. However, the basis of the recent "boom" in Glendive is more about the Spill Over Effect.

    As much as anything Glendive housing, rentals, and commercial land has tighten up because of its proximity to the already tight markets in Sidney, Williston, and Dickinson. That combined with Glendive being located on both a rail line and interstate 94 has made it an attractive alternate location for some.

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    1. I agree with you 100%. I am not on the ground there so I felt I could not say too much in the post itself (in comment section, I can say a bit more).

      But that was my original thought when I looked at the map to see exactly where Glendive was in relation to the Williston Basin. It certainly appears that the spill-over effect is as big a reason fro the boom as anything. And yes, the rail line/interstate are godsends.

      Triangulating, Glendive seems to be equidistant from the activity in the Sidney area, as well as in the Beach/Dickinson area.

      With any bit of luck, Glendive could see a significant amount of activity simply because of the interstate and the railroad.

      I have fond memories of Glendive. I often flew to Billings and then rented a car to drive home to Williston. I always stopped at McDonald's (?) -- if that was the fast food restaurant -- where the state highway (16?) broke northeast to Sidney and I-94 continued east.

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  4. As a lease-holder in the NW of Williams County, I am, obviously, inerested in any activity headed my way. Have you any hint?


    Also, I wound love to see a "boom" that brings Hanks back to life. That's where my mother and father went to High School and met each other.

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    Replies
    1. Northwest of Williams County, OR northwest Williams County?

      The 1/4 of Williams County has no less than 8 rigs in the area and the following fields which are pretty active (considering): Strandahl, Bull Butte, and Tyrone.

      But you are correct, in the far northwest corner of North Dakota, not a lot of activity. But eventually.

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