Twenty (20) New Permits; MRO Will Report A Nice Well Wednesday; OXY USA Cancels Five Permits In North Dakota; EOG Submits Record Number Of Permits In Wyoming -- October 15, 2014

Wells coming off confidential list Wednesday:

• 23587, drl, XTO, Kristensen 24X-9B, Temple, no production data,
• 27558, 1,749, MRO, Samann 34-24H, Chimney Butte, t7/14; cum 24K 8/14;
• 27680, drl, Hess, EN-Pederson-LW-154-94-0408H-2, Alkali Creek, no production data,
• 27904, 214, American Eagle, Richard 2-13N-163-101, Colgan, t7/14; cum 11K 8/14;
• 27918, drl, Hunt, Sioux Trail 160-101-14-23H-1, Charlson, no production data,

Wells coming off confidential list today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Twenty (20) new permits --

• Operators: KOG (8), Emerald Oil (6), Hess (5), Armstrong Operating,
• Fields: Stockyard Creek (4), Epping (4), Boxcar Butte (McKenzie), Truax (Williams), 
• Comments:  Armstrong has a permit for a wildcat in Stark County; the permit is for a well just to the southwest of Dickinson, near city limits; where Armstrong has a producing Lodgepole well (t9/09; F; cum 580K 8/14;) and a Lodgepole well on DRL status, s7/14;); it looks like it may be very close to an old Bakken well (9/97) and re-entered 4/04 -- dry both times) - the scout ticket says Bakken but the well file suggests the target was the Lodgepole, which makes more sense. The Lodgepole can be referred to as part of the Bakken pool.

OXY USA cancels five permits:

• 24125, Thomas Sletteland in Dunn County
• 23171, Tomahawk in Stark County
• 24151, Wannemacher in Dunn County
• 23819, Federal Otto Boehler in Dunn County
• 23687, Willis Downs in Dunn County

Active rigs:

	10/14/2014	10/14/2013	10/14/2012	10/14/2011	10/14/2010
Active Rigs	190	183	192	195	153

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Speaking Of Permits

Casper Star-Tribune is reporting:

EOG filed about 200 drilling applications in Laramie County during the last two weeks, a significant spike signaling rising competition among the companies seeking to unlock the area's rich reserves.

The move is aimed at protecting EOG Resources Inc.'s growing assets in the capital region, industry observers said. Multiple companies often own a stake in one well, but the first to file a drilling permit wins the right to operate it. The operator of the well decides when and how that well will be drilled. 

The flood of permits represents a significant increase in drilling applications. Oil companies submitted 65 applications to drill in Laramie County during August. In September, that number was 484, by far the most applications ever filed in the county. Before that, the number of applications crested above 100 in only two months -- April and May of this year. 

EOG has indicated it plans to submit about 400 permits this month.  

"They don’t plan on drilling on these all in one year. The permit is good for one year, but they can continually renew them," Watson said. "They are going to do this over a four- or five-year period."

EOG has become increasingly bullish on the Denver Basin around Cheyenne, with much of the company's efforts targeting the Codell sandstone formation.

EOG executives dedicated much of their first-quarter earnings call to the potential of the area, saying it boasted a net reserve potential equivalent to 85 billion barrels of oil.

Company officials said EOG controlled 85,000 acres in the region and had plans to drill 39 wells this year.

EOG did something very, very similar in the Bakken at the beginning of the boom.

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Halloween Horror 

If president Obama is canceling golf to meet with so-called "partners" regarding ISIS, you know ... well, as VP Biden would say, "This is a big freakin' deal." FoxNews is reporting:

President Obama acknowledged setbacks Tuesday in the war against the Islamic State, to the backdrop of fierce fighting for control of a Syrian border town and fresh concerns over Turkey’s cooperation.

I wonder if it wasn't Joe Biden that started this in the first place with his "joke." (Previously reported.)