Saturday, May 1, 2021

One Well, One Millionaire, June 29, 2008 -- Posted May 1, 2021

The story:

Oscar Stohler was raised in a sod house in western North Dakota and ranched there for nearly seven decades. He never gave much thought to what lay below the grass that fattened his cattle.

When oilmen wanted to drill there last year, Stohler, 83, doubted oil would be found two miles underground on his property. He even joked about it.

“I told them if they hit oil, I was going to buy a Cadillac convertible and put those big horns on the front and wear a 10-gallon hat,” Stohler recalled.

He still drives his old pickup and wears a mesh farm cap — but it’s by choice.

In less than a year, Stohler and his wife, Lorene, 82, have become millionaires from the production of one well on their land near Dunn Center, a mile or so from the sod home where Oscar grew up. A second well has begun producing on their property and another is being drilled — all aimed at the Bakken shale formation, a rich deposit that the U.S. Geological Survey calls the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.

Obituary: December 5, 2013. Not one mention of his "oil." Not unexpected. Life is too short.

The graphics:


The Stohler wells:
  • 16333, see below,
  • 22341, 1,520, MRO, Lorene Stohler 11-3H, Bailey, t10/12; cum 376K 2/21;
  • 22342, 1,142, MRO, Lorene Stohler 11-3TFH, Bailey, t9/12; cum 92K 2/21;
  • 16459, 457, MRO, Oscar Stohler 41-4H, Bailey, t10/08; cum 602K 2/21;
  • 16860, 348, MRO, Stohler 41-3H, Bailey, t2/08; cum 505K 2/21;
Other wells of interest:
  • 37994, loc, MRO, Konstantin 11-3H, Bailey,
  • 37995, loc, MRO, Fredericka 41-4TFH, Bailey,


The initial well:

  • 16333, 235/AB, MRO, Stohler 21-3H, Bailey, t2/07; t--; cum 442K 2/18

Early production:

BAKKEN10-20073184738589684329031350
BAKKEN9-20073090388217749391037600
BAKKEN8-2007311057511242949613759820
BAKKEN7-2007311029196151069633561820
BAKKEN6-20072692019628658599158630
BAKKEN5-20073113195133191165857684240
BAKKEN4-20073012681128911069754873980
BAKKEN3-20073115356150901332937693760
BAKKEN2-20072879127354580454645460
BAKKEN1-200730568055951291354035400
BAKKEN12-200611153012956552532530

2 comments:

  1. "Salt of the Earth" folk; not surprising that for all that late-found wealth, this was his oft reflection..... "He was especially known for his story telling about the good old days."
    Life is interesting. https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/obituaries/oscar-stohler-0

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. Sorry for the delay in posting. Sometimes I get distracted.

      A most interesting obituary. Short. No mention of his oil; little mention of his farming. I assume there were many, many stories to tell.

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