This group has been pretty quiet lately and maybe that's reflective of the oil & gas business in the area? I'm remembering back to March when I received a call from Montana Oil Properties with a standard initial offering for a top lease - $100/acre, 15% royalty. When I asked if they could do any better on the bonus I was told he would get back to me, but I've never heard a peep. Maybe I should have taken the offer? Maybe they got cold feet for some reason. Perhaps he changed his mind when he learned I'm not the sole owner of two sections, but only hold 80 net acres. There was a grand idea involving test holes and wildcatting, and now I'm sitting here guessing what happened. I should have called him back months ago, but didn't want to look desperate and now my initial lease has expired and it's kinda late.
Now I'm wondering if I should reach out to a different outfit, and if anybody out there has had success doing so. It seems that the standard procedure is for the oil & gas people to reach out to the mineral owners. Have any of you had any luck contacting the companies directly?
Living out of state I read on line about how Richland Co. is busy - maybe I should be more patient and hope drilling will migrate south. I have heard of some wells in the Bloomfield area that are doing pretty well and that adds to my hopefulness. I know there's a new hotel in Glendive which should be a good sign too. I have a couple of informants locally, but it seems like I learn more here on this site.
Let me know your thoughts - what would you do at this point? Call MOP back, contact some other outfits, sit back and be patient, or go buy a lottery ticket?
I just spoke with a representative of one of the major Bakken players. I had contacted them to see if they were interested in leasing my land in Dawson County. The landman said all the major players are looking at Dawson but nobody wants to take the risk to make the first move. From what I can gather, a lot of the leasing activity in Dawson in the last couple of years has been driven by outfits coming in to scoop up leases cheaply that they will then resell to the major players at a good profit when the majors come in. When will the majors get busy in Dawson? A year of two? Who knows?
Thanks for your reply Robert! It's nice to hear a little information about our county. I suppose it is a matter of being patient, and you're right-who knows when things will pick up in Dawson County? Everything I read recommends being patient when it comes to leasing, but I don't want to hold out and miss out on an opportunity either. I guess it's a good idea to learn the leasing fundamentals, stay connected on this forum, and know what to do when the time comes.
Thanks again for your reply, I look forward to reading future posts from you and others in our group!
Here's an update. Since the end of January 2014 Denbury Resources has been running ads in the Glendive Ranger-Review to fill 9 positions in the Glendive area. These include pump operator, production optimization foreman, I & E technician, and others. I have not seen such ads previously. Hope this bodes well for activity in Dawson County in 2014. Denbury uses innovative methods like CO2-based extraction, and explores formations other than the Bakken, particularly the Red River. The RR wells have a more gradual decline curve than the Bakken wells, from what I read. Hope this is of interest, and that others can shed some light on what's going on.
Thanks for the info Robert! Nice catch seeing the classified ads in the Ranger too. Makes me wonder about where their target area might be. I'm not good to keep in close touch with the websites that have information, but trying to do a better job. Let us know if you learn more about Denbury or any of the major players coming to Dawson County. Thanks!
JW, I should have added that the Denbury ads specifically state "Denbury has an immediate need for the following positions in the Glendive area." And, Fidelity Exploration & Production Company has also run ads in the Ranger-Review seeking oilfield personnel. They also state that their positions are based in Glendive. So, let's hope this staffing-up represents the wave of the (near) future.