A Question For Mineral Owners In North Dakota -- February 14, 2023

Updates

February 15, 2023,  a mineral own responds:

Our experience has been that Companies will drill in a pool without a division order once the participation interests have been confirmed for that pool via prior wells, etc. 

Original Post

A mineral owner / reader asked me whether oil companies (operators) can drill a well in North Dakota without issuing division orders.

My not-ready-for-prime-time reply:

That's a very, very interesting question. I don't know the definitive answer, but I believe I'm 99% correct in saying that some companies have notified mineral owners that once "things are established" (my words, not theirs), some operators will commence drilling without signed division orders for future wells.

I heard that from one reader with regard to one company and have never verified it but just out of curiosity, I will post it on the blog and see if anyone responds.

So, I'm curious -- do any readers have any experience in this regard?  

I believe the blog allows readers to reply anonymously. In addition, my personal e-mail address is available somewhere on the blog.

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For The Archives -- Nothing About The Bakken

I've mentioned many times my love / hate relationship with The New Yorker. A year or so ago, I started a new subscription after a lapse of several years. The "introductory" rate was about zero dollars for six months. It was ridiculous not to take out a new subscription. 

Then, some months ago, I was offered to renew the subscription at pretty much the going rate, which is very, very expensive by my standards, but not as expensive as organic eggs. The subscription is $169, if I recall correctly, for one year, an issue every two weeks.

I consider myself lucky if there is more than one article / one essay in any given issue that I might read, much less enjoy. Last week there were none. But when there is an article that I enjoy, it pays for the subscription.

This week, there was such an article. The articles in The New Yorker are incredibly long, generally ten to twelve pages. This article, on Austin, Texas, was sixteen pages. I have six more pages to read. 

It's an incredible article written by a writer who has written and lived around the world, and currently writes for Texas Monthly. 

Three takeaways.

I did not know Austin, Texas is now the eleventh largest city in America (needs to be fact-checked).

I had forgotten that Apple, Inc., has a campus in Austin.

There's a reason Palantir, headquartered in Austin, turned a profit for the first time in its history this past quarter.

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A Musical Interlude

It's impossible to not listen to music while reading an article about Austin, Texas. The nice thing about that: Austin, Texas, allows you to listen to any genre one wants, except perhaps Bach or Beethoven. 

 

Link here.