Lincoln County, CO - Oil & Gas Discussion archives

Hello Chad ----

Nighthawk, I believe was in some kind of partnership with Running Foxes for several years and in 2012 completed a buyout of Running Foxes' interest in the acreage in the area. Probably how Nighthawk ends up holding leases for the 410K acres that you mentioned.

I think you've hit the nail on the head in your analysis of Nighthawk's land position being excessive in relationship to their balance sheet, financial capability, etc. Unless they bring in industry partners, in a big way, there is no way they can drill up the land that they hold right now because imho, cash flow will not produce the cash quick enough to drill the leases out before they expire.

Regarding your comments on the 5 yr, 4yr, leases being long, etc. One needs to remember that this area has and for all practical purposes, still is, rank wildcat territory. Unless you're next door to a discovery, you don't find oil types beating down your door to get you leased up. Further, I'd push back a little on your thoughts re: lease bonus payments being irrelevant. Our land sat out there for 40 yrs. having only one lease on it during that time for our interests. No activity all that time re: drilling close enough to us to make any thing happen on our property. The Jolly Ranch field woke me up and then I discovered activity within two miles to the SW also.

One needs to start somewhere and if a mineral interest owner in this area holds out for two / two yr. leases, hard driven lease terms and forget about the lease bonus, I think the owner will end up with no lease at all and nothing happening for years.

I like to work with leasing agents / operating Cos. to encourage them into making something happen. Aggressive lease bonuses for me is good that it shows me that they have good intentions. The lease I cut had an aggressive bonus offer with it and I liked that. They wanted more years then I was willing to give so we compromised. The royalty agreement was also more than they offered but less than I wanted, so we compromised.

I'm 70 yrs. old and my bucket list includes sitting on a rig drilling a well on the property we have out there. We'll see what life has in store in that regard.

Good luck Chad and keep digging on the oil and gas facts of Lincoln County CO. A bunch of us really appreciate it. BTW, if you go to either Running Foxes website or Nighthawk's website, they have a terrific pdf presentation on the geology in the area down to granite. I think you would enjoy reviewing that presentation. If you can't find it, get back with me and I'll dig out more specifics on the website location.

Thanks Allan. You are right about the bonuses in wildcat territory. In northern Oklahoma, Sand Ridge, Chesapeake, Shell, etc have been known to pay more than $1000 an acre, and that makes a big difference. The main thing is, that you get to sit on your well as it's being drilled. You are in a good area, and you want the Morrow sandstone. I am just sitting on a well for Chaparral in northern Oklahoma, working the night shift, so I will have plenty of time to look deeper into the info you mentioned. Thank you

I'm guessing that if oil prices continue to stay high, that Kit Carson, Lincoln, Cheyenne, and Kiowa are going to get very hot. Heard there was a well drilled in Cheyenne that came on doing 2,000 bod. That'll make some big headlines and get a lot of operator's attention.

Hi Brittany That is good news I have mineral rights in Cheyenne , Lincoln , and Kiowa . If you here anything more let all know

Here is a link to an article about the well in Cheyenne County: New Oil Gusher in Eastern Colorado.

Hi Keller Thanks read that whole article . It seems to me they found oil at a new depth . So interesting if deeper layer . I know one find will not change the world but very good sign none the less. If like others could cover large area . Looks like will know more oct. of this year . Unless the someone knows more?

For those interested in more details, here is the COGIS Well Info. -----

http://cogcc.state.co.us/cogis/FacilityDetail.asp?facid=01707727&type=WELL

Hey, Chad Foster -----------

If you've got some time, why not zero in on the geology at work in the Pronghorn State 16-15-48#1 well and give us mineral owners some insight of what may be going on with this well.

This initial production is a big deal and if it holds up, will for sure bring some serious heat down on this area from interested oil & gas companies. The Pronghorn well is some 50 mi +/- ESE of Punkin Center

where our interests are located. Any chance the geology might stretch that far?

Any input would be appreciated.

Hi Allen, I actually got a few days off the oil location, and have been enjoying the quiet. Just read the post about the 2000 bbl/day well, that is great. If they leave it alone and go slow and not get greedy, it may remain a barnburner. Usually what happens is greed sets in and they start offsetting and fracking around a good well, and poof. . . no good wells. I will see if I can join the Colorado geological survey, or at least pull data from there. I will thoroughly analyze the topography for any obvious structural indicators, and I will post what I think, which could be totally off, but I will try to get as much right as I can. Will have fun with it, might take a couple weeks, or less. I can say one thing for sure, if it's a Morrow, then it will be isolated. The Morrow can come in huge like that, especially if it was horizontally targeted, but that sure would be a bulls eye! and hats off to the geologist!! If I have any specific questions will let you know. Thanks!

Just doing an areal overview, the Pronghorn state looks to be a structural trap, a trap bounded by an earthquake and a paleo high on one side of the earthquake and it probably has many of the same horizons as the Jolly Ranch Field which also sits in an elbow on a creek. I believe it is isolated and that's why it came in so big. Structural traps tend to hold more petroleum because it migrates to the fault and pools there over many millions of years, slowly accumulating. Why structural??

Get on google earth and follow the Big Sandy southeastward. It just kinda mosies on down and then 2 miles SE of Kit Carson, it makes an abrupt turn to the SW for a half mile. Why? And why is that where this geologist chose to drill. The punkin Center wells sit in a similar pattern too. Coincidence? Probably not. The Big Sandy chose an ancient Paleo valley, and all the other creeks did too. Eventually something big happens in these valleys, like a ripple from a major Rocky mountain earthquake, etc. It seems these geologists are targeting specific types of fields, but I be there are many stratigraphic traps too, that's just higher risk at this point. Better to wait till the infrastructure is here, like gas lines and power grids.

"Get on Google Earth and follow the Big Sandy southeastward."

Did that Chad. Very interesting. Thanks for your thoughts and comments on the subject.

Education for a mineral owner -----

Would you please take a minute and look at http://cogcc.state.co.us/cogis/ProductionWellMonthly.asp?APICounty=017&APISeq=07727&APIWB=00&Year=All

and explain to us what this document means when it says the following:

Horizontal well ----------

Casing has been set to 9300 ft. when it goes on and states ----

Sidetrack #00

Sidetrack #01

Sidetrack #02

Can you tell from the information on the document the vertical depth and the horizontal distance?

Thanks in advance.

I couldn't get the document link to pull up any data. Every company's engineering is different. Some wells have just one horizontal leg, others can have several. It appears here that they are going out in 3 directions from the same well bore. 9300' should be the total cased hole, including the sidetracks. I still haven't found any geology maps to know how deep a vertical hole is in the area, but I'm guessing 6-7000'. So it makes me wonder, because that would mean they weren't going out very far on the legs. I am just speculating here, because this is a different area. If I could read the document to pull up it might help me, and I also have people I can ask.

I have an idea for all of you who want to see what happens in an active county. Just drop onto Noble County Oklahoma. It is a county which I have been actively researching for prospects, but as you will see, it is very congested and the odds of me getting a lease here at $300 + aren't great But . . it is a great learning tool for those of you who want to see an analogy of what may come your way. Now this is a much more geologically complex area, but like I say, it will be a good educational tool.

I hear that Chesapeake is suppose to make an announcement sometime in August about this play that is going on. Not real sure what counties they will talk about though.

Thanks Brittany let us know when you find out.

does anyone know of any active south and west of Punkin Center? we have mineral rights T14S, R58W, Sect 30. The nighthawk group wants to extend our lease for 5 years at 15.00 per acre and 1/8. Does this sound right?

Yvonne ------

We're at Sec.12-T14S-R56W; 4 miles east of Punkin Center right on the highway.

As a crow flies there is production about 1 1/2 mi NE.

Again as a crow flies, there are two producible shut in gas wells about 2 mi to the SW.

One year ago +, I was able to get a 4 yr lease @ $80/acre on 160 net acres (our mineral interest in the sec.) with 1/6 royalty interest. Gave a option to renew for 4yrs at double the original bonus amount.

StratCom Advisors LLC is the lessor out of Morrison, CO @ 303-536-5010.

You might want to run your property up their flag pole and see if they would be interested. The gentleman that I dealt with is now up in the Dakotas leasing property.

Bottom line IMHO, you can do better than the offer that is in front of you. If not, I would wait for further development in the area. If you're not familiar with the process of leasing your mineral rights, I would get some help. Doesn't need to be a lawyer, necessarily, but an individual familiar with the oil patch and minerals leasing agreements in CO.

Good luck.

Thank you for the information. Will give StartCom a call. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, huh.

Nighthawk Oil & Gas's presentation at EnerCom's Oil & Gas Conference in Denver August 2013. Focused entirely on Nighthawk's activity in Lincoln County, Colorado. Several good maps, discussions, etc. Very interesting.

http://www.nighthawkenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NightHawk-Energy-Plc.pdf

That is some of the very best info EVER shared here. Thanks so much. My T 9 sec 19 and T 10 sec 5 coming up for renewal in September . I was waiting on auction results for August Hope to get ideas on value