The Bakken Shale Discussion Group; Staggering

Just a reminder: some folks are posting some nice information regarding the Bakken over at the discussion group. Right now, there is some excitement regarding Whiting's plans for 15 wells in a drilling unit.

For newbies: if you are unfamiliar with the number of wells operators are planning to place in drilling units, scroll through the most recent dockets. As a couple of examples from the November hearings:

• 21370: CLR, Alkali Creek-Bakken, 30 wells on an existing 2560-acre unit, Mountrail, McKenzie
• 21258: Hess, Little Knife-Bakken, 8 wells on one 640-acre unit
• 21242: Oasis, Alger-Bakken, 21 horizontal wells on some or all of the 1280-acre units in this field; Mountrail
• 21243: Oasis, Alkali Creek-Bakken, 21 horizontal wells on some or all of the 1280-acre units in this field; Mountrail, McKenzie, Williams
• 21244: Oasis, Camp-Bakken, 15 horizontal wells on some or all of the 1280-acre units in this field; McKenzie, Williams
• 21245: Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, 16 horizontal wells on some or all of the 1280-acre units in this field; Mountrail, Burke
• 21246: Oasis, Crazy Man Creek-Bakken, 9 horizontal wells on some or all of the 1280-acre units in this field; McKenzie, Williams 
• 21247: Oasis, Robinson Lake-Bakken,  21 horizontal wells on some or all of the 640-acre and 1280-acre units in this field; Mountrail
• 21248: Oasis, Sanish-Bakken, 21 horizontal wells on some or all of the 640-acre and 1280-acre units in this field; Mountrail, McKenzie

In case anyone missed that, I will place it in red/bold: Oasis is looking to put 21 horizontal wells on some or all of its 640-acre units in some fields in the heart of the Bakken. When I first started blogging, the "word on the street" was one well/section would be the norm in the Bakken.

An aside: 21 wells x 640 acres x $4,000/acre lease upfront money: $54 million in lease money that it will not cost them because the acreage is held by production. $54 million is not trivial. And that's just one section. And $4,000/acre in the best of the Bakken is certainly on the low side.