"A discovery at the Spirit of America well could potentially open up a big new play in the northern D-J Basin." TB not noted for over playing his hand. A subtle reminder perhaps..
Some research while we wait. Oasis have drilled 5 Roosevelt wells in the last 3 months. Two on line and 3 awaiting completion.
And for some colour, here is 2 recent articles regarding other company s drilling on the Fort Peck Reservation to the west and north of Samson. GLTA
Fort Worth Operating drilling on reservation
Fort Worth Operating Company, LLC. is currently drilling a 9000-ft vertical wildcat on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation nine miles north-northwest of Poplar in northeastern Montana. Geologic targets include the Bakken and Three Forks horizons. As of drilling operations on Monday, the company is coring a 90-ft section of the lower Lodgepole, Bakken and Three Forks formations. Core data will be used to design stimulation treatments for future horizontal Bakken and Three Forks wells.
The 29-10 Clark Farms is located a little more than one mile south and two miles west of Poplar Northwest field, where oil has been produced from the Charles and Ratcliffe members of the Madison and the Devonian Nisku. Though existing well data in the area is encouraging, there is no current production from the Bakken or Three Forks formations in central/western Roosevelt County. The well is a north offset to a 2135-ft well that tested the Upper Cretaceous Eagle sand at 1396-1640-ft before being shut in/abandoned.
Approximately one and a half miles to the north, Carter Oil Co. in March 1954 completed its 1 Mason as an 8649-ft dry hole. Twenty years later, Union Oil Co. of California (Unocal) reentered the 1 Mason and deepened the well to 9076 ft. A core cut in the Red River at 8950-9010 ft. yielded an oil stain. Unocal plugged the well in mid-l974.
Fort Worth Operating, based in Fort Worth, Texas has a shallow Upper Cretaceous gas exploration program slated to commence as soon as weather conditions permit. The rig necessary to drill the initial ten well program is on location and the company anticipates commencing drilling operations within the next 10 days. The results of the initial ten well program will help define a larger scale drilling program as well as design requirements of the gas gathering infrastructure necessary to deliver the gas to market.
Fort Worth Operating Company, LLC. has expanded its leasing efforts and continues to acquire oil and gas leases covering both fee and allotted owned lands in an area between the city of Poplar and the Big Muddy Creek. The company anticipates requesting the right to acquire oil and gas leases covering Tribal owned lands in an attempt to supplement its leasehold position in preparation for commencing a large scale Bakken and Three Forks exploration program slated for this expansion area.
The second article is another company having ago. Havent done any results from this well as yet.
After years of virtually almost no activity, the oil industry may be returning to Fort Peck with the "fracking" of an oil well north of the reservation on an allotted piece of land.
"This is history," Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Superintendent Grant Stafne said. "If this goes as planned, then there could be these kinds of wells all across the reservation,
"Red Willow Production Co. set up the first Bakken reserve Oil Well on the reservation, which can potentially produce thousands of barrels of crude oil from the earth, Tribal Executive Board member and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Stoney Anketell said.
The well, known as the "Iron Bear Well," was drilled 9,000 feet into the ground. Through the process of fracking, a mixture of sand, water, and air will be pumped into the ground and that will, in turn, break up the rocks the drill goes through, and if all goes as planned, oil will leak out of the fractures in the rock (see separate story).TEB members and several officials from the BIA went on a tour of the site last week. Red Willow employees showed them the new facility, which has been under construction for the past few months. The crown jewel piece of the site is the actual pump, which stands in the center of the site about 20 feet tall. Through this, oil would be pumped into large tanks by the pump.
Though the well sits on allotted land, the Tribes will eventually benefit from the taxes on the well and will also benefit from future wells, Anketell said. The discovery of oil on that land could mean that there are vast amounts of oil from the Bakken reserve under the reservation that are not being drilled and the Tribes could eventually began drilling into the Bakken, earning top dollar for the oil, he said.
It will be at least a few weeks before any production can be seen on the reservation. However, officials are hopeful that there will be some activity with the production of this new well, Anketell said.
The company first came to Fort Peck in 2006 to survey the land to see what kind of potential there was for the oil industry on the reservation.
During their visit, they noticed something that the other companies failed to notice and that sparked them into drilling for oil north of the reservation. Though they will not say what they discovered, Anketell said that it is a good sign that there will be some type of oil industry soon on Fort Peck.
When companies drill these wells, they invest millions of dollars into making these wells work. They do much surveying of the land before they drill so they know they are not wasting a small fortune when they dig, Anketell said.
The well is based on current technology. Previously, companies would have to use explosives to break fractures in the rock. Now, a mixture of sand, water, and air is pumped into the ground at 8,500 pounds per square inch, which breaks up the rock and allows the oil to freely flow through into the pipe.
Anketell said that Red Willow Production Co. is planning to put up two more wells on the reservation.
SSN Price at posting:
12.5¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
