Some Wildcats To Watch -- North Of Minot

There are two Madison oil fields north of Minot, Norma and Smith. Sitting between them and moving south are several new wildcat wells, which are probably going to be Madison wells. One is already producing. These are probably about 35 miles northwest of Minot:

• 26508, PNC, Fram Operating, Peterson #1, Norma, canceled 11/6/15 during price slump;
• 25580, PNC, Fram Operating, Murphy #2, Wildcat, canceled 6/16/15 during price slump;
• 25472, AB/72, Fram Operating, Schlak 3, Norma, t11/13; cum 6K 9/15; looks like it will be abandoned;
• 21972, PNC, Fram Operating, Goettle 1, Wildcat, canceled 12/11/14 during price slump;
• 19783, SI/NC, Fram Operating, Schlak 2, Norma,
• 19782, PNC, Fram Operating, Schlak 1, Norma,
• 19781, dry, Fram Operating, Helmers 1, Wildcat, dry as of 3/16/14
• 19474, PA/12, Fram Operating, Nailor Trust 1, Wildcat, t6/14; producing nothing; this will likely be abandoned;

For a geological description of the Madison in North Dakota, click here for a pdf. The Madison is more than 700 feet thick in some places in North Dakota. It will be interesting to see if "Bakken technology" changes the future of conventional (non-tight) oil; it's counter-intuitive, but twenty years from now, we might have the answer.