Any Stark County ND Oil or Gas News

We are about to sign a lease. I am having a real hard time finding out any thing to compair to in Stark Co. North Dakota. Stark co. is on the real south rim of the Bakken formation. Can any body help?

Hello James Weymouth, I took a look at the rig stats for this week, and sorry to say, didn’t see any activity. Stay tuned. Hopefully something will develop.

I know this is 4 mos. later, but we are in the same position signing a lease in Stark Cty. We are being offered a $50/acre bonus with a 1/6 royalty. How does this compare to your offer. I am also finding it hard to find comparison

What township and range is your property in. Do they have an oil drilling company tied to the lease?

Township 137 No. Range 96 W being offered by Empire Oil Co.

Cristina said:

What township and range is your property in. Do they have an oil drilling company tied to the lease?

It doesn’t appear that there is anything going on in that area. So your offer is probably ok. Empire Oil is a leasing company, not a drilling company.

Sally Witman said:

Township 137 No. Range 96 W being offered by Empire Oil Co.

Cristina said:
What township and range is your property in. Do they have an oil drilling company tied to the lease?

Reagan- where do you find the rig stats? My lease is NWNW 23 139 96 in stark co. thanks

Reagan Thompson said:

Hello James Weymouth,
I took a look at the rig stats for this week, and sorry to say, didn’t see any activity. Stay tuned. Hopefully something will develop.

We’re also in Township 138 98 and wondering what lease companies other than InterWest Petroleum are interested in this area. Our lease has one more year remaining.

we have rights in the South Heart oil field and have been offered $225 an acre on a 3 year lease with a 2 year option at a $125 an acre with 1/6 royalty from Empire Oil. What do you think???



tom marsh said:
we have rights in the South Heart oil field and have been offered $225 an acre on a 3 year lease with a 2 year option at a $125 an acre with 1/6 royalty from Empire Oil. What do you think???

Greetings! for what it’s worth, being an idiot at all this, my hubby has the rights and he is indisposed with ill health, and HATES the oil business with a passion (he leased his rights way back thirty years ago once, too, thinks it’s hocus pocus, hehe, he’s no geologist!.., Anyway, he leased his rights in Glenora/Williston (near Burke County?) No Questions Asked, for only 100 bucks an acre, with 1/6th royalty, to EMPIRE OIL, and that was very difficult for him, and lost his SSI, heh… ! OOPS! Well, I was not able to influence him as he has heart disease and a very bad temper, what does he know? he is not even computer literate! I did warn him though, firstly! So, this is what I found about Empire Oil these days, seems they may be just a LEASE Gathering Company, anyone? They were sued by their first partner for some sort of breach of promise/dumped the guy somehow… (have to find the site). They won’t even answer our emails!!! BUYER BEWARE! I wish they never called us. Hate them! Mike asked them how much is the fair market value of his rights, and they wanted to charge him $300 bucks for the information, others do it for alot less. So, now I find, they just bought 100 acres in the lucrative Montrail Co… for $6600 bucks an acre!(see quote/address below)… whewie! wish my ole’ man was that smart! Anyway, I asked and asked them if they were DRILLING YET, no answer, MUTE, nothing, Zip. So, I’d say Buyer Beware! Oil speculation is a big rush, and there really is a ton of Oil in the Bakken/Three Forks plays, so, whatever… (http://www.ogfj.com/index/article-display.articles.oil-gas-financial-journal.unconventional.bakken-shale.february_s-_47m_bakken.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html)

(Quote) February Bakken lease sale 2nd highest in North Dakota history

Published: Mar 5, 2010

North Dakota’s February Bakken lease sale raised $47 million, the second-highest amount in the state’s history (#1 was November 2009, at $71 million). The sale “bodes well for the pace of drilling activity and portends a growing rig count in the play, which currently sits at around 80 rigs,” noted Madison Williams Equity Research.

Highlights The highest bid was submitted by Irish Oil & Gas Inc. The company bid $7,300 an acre for three 40-acre tracts in Mountrail County. Other acres in Mountrail averaged $1,617/acre. The second highest bid was also made for Montrail County. Empire Oil bid $6,600 an acre bid for 100 acres in the county. The most leased acres came out of Burke County with 11,977 acres leased. The bids in the county averaged roughly nearly $600 an acre.

Oil & Gas Financial Journal Article Categories:(unquote)



kathy young said:


tom marsh said:
we have rights in the South Heart oil field and have been offered $225 an acre on a 3 year lease with a 2 year option at a $125 an acre with 1/6 royalty from Empire Oil. What do you think???

oh, our’s is a five year lease by the way…


Greetings! for what it's worth, being an idiot at all this, my hubby has the rights and he is indisposed with ill health, and HATES the oil business with a passion (he leased his rights way back thirty years ago once, too, thinks it's hocus pocus, hehe, he's no geologist!..., Anyway, he leased his rights in Glenora/Williston (near Burke County?) No Questions Asked, for only 100 bucks an acre, with 1/6th royalty, to EMPIRE OIL, and that was very difficult for him, and lost his SSI, heh... ! OOPS! Well, I was not able to influence him as he has heart disease and a very bad temper, what does he know? he is not even computer literate! I did warn him though, firstly! So, this is what I found about Empire Oil these days, seems they may be just a LEASE Gathering Company, anyone? They were sued by their first partner for some sort of breach of promise/dumped the guy somehow... (have to find the site). They won't even answer our emails!!! BUYER BEWARE! I wish they never called us. Hate them! Mike asked them how much is the fair market value of his rights, and they wanted to charge him $300 bucks for the information, others do it for alot less. So, now I find, they just bought 100 acres in the lucrative Montrail Co........ for $6600 bucks an acre!(see quote/address below)....... whewie! wish my ole' man was that smart! Anyway, I asked and asked them if they were DRILLING YET, no answer, MUTE, nothing, Zip. So, I'd say Buyer Beware! Oil speculation is a big rush, and there really is a ton of Oil in the Bakken/Three Forks plays, so, whatever...
(http://www.ogfj.com/index/article-display.articles.oil-gas-financia...)

(Quote) February Bakken lease sale 2nd highest in North Dakota history

Published: Mar 5, 2010

North Dakota’s February Bakken lease sale raised $47 million, the second-highest amount in the state's history (#1 was November 2009, at $71 million). The sale “bodes well for the pace of drilling activity and portends a growing rig count in the play, which currently sits at around 80 rigs,” noted Madison Williams Equity Research.

Highlights
The highest bid was submitted by Irish Oil & Gas Inc. The company bid $7,300 an acre for three 40-acre tracts in Mountrail County. Other acres in Mountrail averaged $1,617/acre. The second highest bid was also made for Montrail County. Empire Oil bid $6,600 an acre bid for 100 acres in the county. The most leased acres came out of Burke County with 11,977 acres leased. The bids in the county averaged roughly nearly $600 an acre.


Oil & Gas Financial Journal Article Categories:(unquote)

I recently received an offer from Roxann Nolan, representing Blanca Peak Energy LLC, for $300/acre for 3 years + 3 year option and 1/5 Royalty in Stark County, Township 137N, Range 99W, Section 33 & Section 35. Does anybody have information/feedback regarding this offer? Great? Good? Bad? We have not received any offer at all in quite a while, so this seems pretty good. I cannot find any information on Blanca Peak Energy LLC, which makes me a little nervous. Thanks for any feedback.

I don’t know too much about Stark County but from my understanding, companies are just starting to move into that area. I also know that there is a lot of leasing activity near Taylor. Stark County contains reefs which can result in huge wells if your minerals sit on one of these. They havent really drilled in this area in a long time because it use to be hit or miss. They would drill vertical wells and some of the wells that hit have ip-ed at 3-5 thousand barrels and have gone on to produce millions of barrels The companies that are starting to drill there are continental and whiting. Both are pretty good operators and have produced some exceptional wells

Thank you for your feedback Philip.

Philip Mollner said:

I don't know too much about Stark County but from my understanding, companies are just starting to move into that area. I also know that there is a lot of leasing activity near Taylor. Stark County contains reefs which can result in huge wells if your minerals sit on one of these. They havent really drilled in this area in a long time because it use to be hit or miss. They would drill vertical wells and some of the wells that hit have ip-ed at 3-5 thousand barrels and have gone on to produce millions of barrels The companies that are starting to drill there are continental and whiting. Both are pretty good operators and have produced some exceptional wells

I am at stark county 139n/96w/23. I signed about a year ago for $50/acre and 1/16th, so yours is pretty good. No drilling yet, or any more communication. Did receive a letter the other day from someone offering to buy my rights for $500. Guess they figure someone might really need $500.

Thank you for sharing your insight & personal experience on this matter. Very helpful.

DG said:


Blanca Peak Energy LLC

Search on North Dakota Industrial Commission site: Not listed as an operating company. It has no history of drilling wells. Check for yourself:

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/findwellsvw.asp

Business Records Search on ND Secretary of State site: Does not appear to be registered to do business in ND; check for yourself--

http://www.nd.gov/sos/businessserv/registrations/entitynamesearch.a...

Feedback: Based on personal experience, I would not lease to a company that I could not find information on, and I would not believe anything its agents told me without iron-clad verification. I would not enter a lease for such a small bonus when the going rate is now exceeding several thousand dollars per mineral acre; I would not enter a lease with an option to extend; I would not enter a lease that gave the lessee the right to assign or transfer rights/obligations (i.e., sell the lease) to another. I would not enter a lease with any company that I could not verify as being a bona fide operating company that was actually going to develop my minerals and had operating control of the spacing units where my minerals are located. Even then, however, I would not enter a lease with any company that would seek to create and/or place my minerals in an oversized spacing unit because that means that my interest would be unnecessarily diluted--and in that case, I would be better off as an unleased mineral owner. I would be patient and not jump on the first offers that are presented.

William Leverenz said:

I recently received an offer from Roxann Nolan, representing Blanca Peak Energy LLC, for $300/acre for 3 years + 3 year option and 1/5 Royalty in Stark County, Township 137N, Range 99W, Section 33 & Section 35. Does anybody have information/feedback regarding this offer? Great? Good? Bad? We have not received any offer at all in quite a while, so this seems pretty good. I cannot find any information on Blanca Peak Energy LLC, which makes me a little nervous. Thanks for any feedback.

We hired an attorney from Dickenson to review the contract before we signed- well worth it.



William Leverenz said:

Thank you for sharing your insight & personal experience on this matter. Very helpful.

DG said:


Blanca Peak Energy LLC

Search on North Dakota Industrial Commission site: Not listed as an operating company. It has no history of drilling wells. Check for yourself:

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/findwellsvw.asp

Business Records Search on ND Secretary of State site: Does not appear to be registered to do business in ND; check for yourself--

http://www.nd.gov/sos/businessserv/registrations/entitynamesearch.a...

Feedback: Based on personal experience, I would not lease to a company that I could not find information on, and I would not believe anything its agents told me without iron-clad verification. I would not enter a lease for such a small bonus when the going rate is now exceeding several thousand dollars per mineral acre; I would not enter a lease with an option to extend; I would not enter a lease that gave the lessee the right to assign or transfer rights/obligations (i.e., sell the lease) to another. I would not enter a lease with any company that I could not verify as being a bona fide operating company that was actually going to develop my minerals and had operating control of the spacing units where my minerals are located. Even then, however, I would not enter a lease with any company that would seek to create and/or place my minerals in an oversized spacing unit because that means that my interest would be unnecessarily diluted--and in that case, I would be better off as an unleased mineral owner. I would be patient and not jump on the first offers that are presented.

William Leverenz said:

I recently received an offer from Roxann Nolan, representing Blanca Peak Energy LLC, for $300/acre for 3 years + 3 year option and 1/5 Royalty in Stark County, Township 137N, Range 99W, Section 33 & Section 35. Does anybody have information/feedback regarding this offer? Great? Good? Bad? We have not received any offer at all in quite a while, so this seems pretty good. I cannot find any information on Blanca Peak Energy LLC, which makes me a little nervous. Thanks for any feedback.

The company that leased our rights was Longshot Oil. They aren’t on the list either, I assume because they are brokers, not drillers. They were checked out by our attorney and appear to be legitimate, so it is possible Blanca is a good company.

How do you define "good company"? Whether or not a company is "good" depends on what the mineral owner is looking for. When you "lease" your minerals, you are actually selling them and all you have left is a small royalty interest and a possibility of reverter. The owner of property has an absolute right to sell or not sell, and if he chooses to sell, he has a right to choose his own buyer based on the criteria that is important to him. Once you sell your minerals, you no longer have control. The lessee, i.e. buyer, owns the working interest. If the working interest owner is an investor or speculator or lease flipper, who is looking out for your interests? You can agonize over every detail and every provision in your lease and find out later that your lease is a meaningless piece of paper because your minerals have been pooled into an oversized spacing unit. Based on current practices of the NDIC with respect to spacing wells and pooling, the most likely scenario is that your minerals will be located in an oversized spacing unit (that will require 7 or more wells to adequately develop the pool underlying the unit) and your interests will be diluted because you will be forced to share in just one well. Even though the spacing unit is oversized and most of the acres are unproductive (not contributing to the joint pot), working interest owners (lessees) are force pooling you and holding those unproductive acres "by production." You will be deprived of equal protection of the law and your fair share of the oil in the common Bakken pool. Some spacing units will have 7 or more wells sucking oil from the pool and your spacing unit might only have one--and there is no way to force the operator to drill more wells. How is an unsophisticated mineral owner supposed to deal with this mess?


mary Gress said:

The company that leased our rights was Longshot Oil. They aren't on the list either, I assume because they are brokers, not drillers. They were checked out by our attorney and appear to be legitimate, so it is possible Blanca is a good company.

What is a good company? As you say, I am an unsophisticated mineral owner, so I hired a ND attorney who specializes in mineral rights to represent me. He vetted the lease company and said it seemed to be a good contract. Maybe he was fooled too, but it was the best I could do. I recommended the OP hire an attorney to do the same, rather than assuming Bianca was not legitimate because it wasn’t on the driller list.