Oasis Reports a Nice Wildcat North of Williston: Sandaker 5602

Oasis Petroleum North America, LLC, is reporting a nice well north of Williston:

• 18418, 1,228, Oasis, Sandaker 5602 11-13H, Wildcat, 13-156-102, north of Williston, Bakken

This was a wildcat and it's truly out in the middle of nowhere. But there are a string of wells on the confidential list stretching to the west of the Sandaker, and there is a rig on site at another Oasis well, file #19308, Glover 5601 12-17H.

The confidential wells to the west are:

• 19131, Oasis, Somerset 5602 12-17H, Bull Butte field
• 19412, BEXP, Kalil Farms 14-23 1-H, Bull Butte field
• 19091, Oasis, Horne 5603 44-9H, Bull Butte field

Just west of the Horne 5603, is #18204, a long lateral running directly north-south, BEXP, BCD Farms 61-21 #1-H, with an IP of 1,553, reported out back in February, 2010.

I can't remember the hundreds of times I would have driven this area north of Williston when I had my 1948 Willys Jeep in high school. I remember seeing oil wells around Tioga but never, never saw any oil activity in this part of the country. And now, it looks like BEXP and Oasis are going to open up a whole new area of activity. This just really gets me excited.

First-Time Unemployment Claims Increase; Breaks A 5-Week Streak

Just two days ago, I wrote about the unemployment picture getting worse.

Today it was reported that first-time unemployment claims increased last week for the first time in five weeks.

Initial claims for jobless aid rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 465,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Many economists had expected a flat reading or small drop.

As usual, the standard line: the numbers surprised the analysts.

Initial claims for jobless aid rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 465,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Many economists had expected a flat reading or small drop.

As Warren Buffett said this past week: we are still in a recession.

CORRECTION: Samson Resources vs Samson Oil and Gas

My bad.

I was not aware that the permits granted to "Samson Resources" as reported on the daily activity reports were not related to Samson Oil and Gas.

SAMSON RESOURCES and SAMSON OIL AND GAS (SSN) are two completely different entities. 

On NDIC's current active drilling rigs, the three "Samson" files refer to Samson Resources, "a large, privately held exploration and production company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, with International and Offshore Divisions headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA," according to its website. Samson Resources has nineteen (19) wells listed on the confidential list.

On the other hand, Samson Oil and Gas (SSN) is an E&P company headquartered in Australia. Its interests in North America include the Bakken in North Dakota and the Niobara in Wyoming. This past summer Samson Oil and Gas entered into a deal with Chesapeake Energy Corporation, in which the former sold the latter leases in Goshen County, Wyoming.

Yesterday, Wednesday, September 22, 2010, SSN requested that trading in its shares be halted due to ongoing activity with the Goshen County sale. 

Current status of that SSN - CHK deal can be found here (dated Thursday, September 23, 2010).

I have to thank a reader for sending me this information, especially setting the record straight regarding Samson Oil and Gas AND Samson Resources. I consider that a major mistake on my part. I have made many errors on this blogsite, but this has to be one of the worse!  I am quite embarrassed. But life will go on.

Okay, now why didn't my Australian readers point out the error of my ways! Smile.

On Track for 1,416 New Permits by the End of the Year

With eight (8) more permits granted today by the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC), North Dakota is on track to issue 1,416 new permits by the end of the calendar year.

Click here to see how this increases the work that is waiting to be done in the Bakken. 

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Add another operator that is drilling multi-well pads: Samson (SSN). In today's daily activity report, we learn that Samson will be putting two wells on one pad in Blooming Prairie oil field, file numbers 19595 and 19596: Barracuda 27-34-163-98H and Torino 22-15-163-98H. The pad is located in section 27-163-98.  [Actually, Samson was granted permits earlier this year for three previous multi-well pads. All four (4) Samson multi-well pads are for two wells on a pad. This is similar to what Slawson is doing.

[Correction: see comments below. This should be Samson Resources drilling multi-well pads, not Samson Petroleum (SSN). These are two completely separate companies. The former is a private company based in Denver, Colorado (USA). The latter (SSN) is a publicly-traded Australian company.]


Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, The Animals

Morning News, September 23, 2010, From the Bakken (ND, USA)

Another pipeline approved. From the Bismarck Tribune.com, it is being reported that the Bridger Pipeline has been approved.

A new oil pipeline through three western North Dakota counties will help deliver crude to at least three regional markets and will reduce truck traffic on the region's roads, state regulators say.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission endorsed a route for the 12-inch pipeline, which will stretch for 77 miles through Billings, Dunn and McKenzie counties. Bridger Pipeline LLC hopes to begin construction soon and finish by next summer on the $29 million project.

The company said the pipeline will be capable of carrying at least 60,000 barrels of oil daily. It should reduce traffic on area roads by about 300 truckloads each day, the company said.

The pipeline will reach from a point north of North Dakota Highway 23, about 15 miles west of the Four Bears Bridge on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, to a connection with another line about 18 miles northwest of Dickinson, commission filings say.

Spokesmen hope this pipeline will be able to connect to TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline in the future.

This reminds me of the Arrow Pipeline story, and also here. The Arrow Pipeline is also on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.This should give folks an idea of 1) how much oil is coming out of the reservation; and, 2) how strategic planning by the tribal chiefs seems to be playing out. Good for them.

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Infrastructure story in the Minot Daily News.com. Update on highway improvements.

Otherwise, pretty quiet in the oil patch.

NOTE: most of these stories will be available on the web for a short period of time. Many of them will not be accessible some weeks from now. The links will be broken. Googling the topic will generally find the an alternate source for the story.