Thank you Charles for your comments/posts. My N.M.A.'s are around 300. Yes, mine are further west than your acreage, and right now it seems more logical to me that leasing will be more prevelant closer to ND as permits are obtained. I wll call regarding my change of address and clerks office should be able to tell me the procedure needed to get this done if either a certified letter or as you did hiring an attorney. Do you know what the Montana O&G Comission regulations are regarding what acreage makes up a “unit”? Again thanks for your feedback and I am sure I will be posting on this site again.
Richard:
A unit is normally 1280 acres for horizontal wells in both ND and MT. Some were drilled in the beginning on a 640 acre spacing but the ones I’ve seen lately is mainly 1280. There are exceptions in ND on the sections which border MT as these are undersized sections. Again, these are on the ND side. Good luck with the County Clerk office and if you have to use an attorney, I used Laura Chistoffersen in Culbertson, MT. Her charges were minimal but this back in 2004. She was very efficient and completed my work very quickly.
Richard:
Sounds good!! I have heard that the activity in the County Clerk’s remains very brisk. Alot of this activtiy is possibly landmen researching records for top leases since the clock is running on these expiring leases and so many mineral acres are involved. Good luck with your deal.
Yes Charles, I am sure top leasing is a priority right now on those leases expiring with no option clause whether they were 3 or 5 years. With that being said it sounds like there may have been many 3 year leases taken in 2008.
Richard:
You are correct as many of these leases, including mine, were an extension of a 2004 lease which was re-negotiated in 2008. Alot of temp. space applications for this area was made in 2009 - 2010 but still very little activity has occurred. The big show has remained in ND but things are migrating to the West very slowly.
I agree that priority will be on those leases that are expiring.
Richard:
Looking at the T28N;R50E area, it appears you are located next to McCone County. I noticed the area has several plugged wells and appears several new permits have been issued to Ft Worth Operating Co. LLC. As I stated earlier, get your records in order and you will probably be hearing from a landman. My minerals are located to the East of yours , near the ND border.
Called Clerks office in Wolfpoint and there is a form they are sending me for JUST an address change, I also asked about activity in their office and the lady said they are very busy!!! Looks like activity is picking up in Eastern Montana.
I think that 2012 will be a very interesting year for us mineral owners in Roosevelt County. Noticed on the NDIC website (Directors Cut) today, that the Director of that agency stated on his November Monthly Report that leasing was migrating into the Eastern MT. area. Just another indicator that things are about to change.
According to the Sydney Herald article last month, temp spacing permits only last 6 months before they have to be renewed. They also mentioned in the article that there are 200 rigs in ND and twenty in MT, but think rigs will be moving west depending on outcomes of drilling in ND. Looks like most of the work will concentrate in Richland County first.
I would think that when these operators get serious about the drilling in MT, their first priority would be to drill the areas which are nearing expiration dates whether it is in Richland, Roosevelt or Sheridan counties. I was not aware that a temp. space permit was for 6 months only. The only expiration I am familiar with is a drilling permit, which expires 1 year after it is approved and usually, the operator renews the permit.
Charles: As written in the Sheridan County forum by a mineral owmer after doing some research, they found capped or plugged wells in their area. As these may be older vertical wells from the past having played out or dry bores, I have a question. Is thre a resource available on old wells which shows the data they had production or none, and if there was production what it was and how long the well was in production? Is this information available through the State Oil & Gas Comission or is this proprietary information only to the owner of the well or production company?
Richard:
I think if you google Esser.com and enter your Township, Range, Section, a map of the area will come up on your screen, using your mouse, you can click on these P&A’d wells and it will provide certain info on the well. You might have to scroll down for the information. This info is also on file with the Montana Oil and Gas Commission and it is most likely public info. The only catch is that you or someone else would have to physically go research these records as I doubt they would do it for you over the phone. You might try and call but in the past, they will only give so much help via the phone probably due to the vast amount of requests for info. Hope this helps.
I tried Googling both and neither worked regarding wells. Is there something special that needs to be done or is it hidden somewhere in the various choices? Thanks
Richard & John:
It is eser instead of esser. My mistake, got carried away on the s’s. When I use this website, I always just click on it from the “Million Dollar Way” wevbsite.
Richard:
Looks like the “Round Prarie 3D” seismic work would cover our area but I will guess that any information obtained, would cost you. This company most likely does it’s own seismic work for private sale and it might also do work via contract with an interesting company. If you hear anything further about this matter, please let me know. Thanks.
The site you probably need to find through google or go to You Tube and type the name on the header line to bring up the video. It may appear on the right hand column you would then need to click on it there. I think I did the google site. The just of writing to you about the video is the amazement of how many wells drilled in ND in 2010. It also shows a couple around your lands and a couple near Poplar, MT. The website may just be anreport.com. I have to run for now but let me know if you can’t find it. I am going to look at the MT government DNRC site that David Peterson references above, as he mentioned that you can find specific wells and production rates are shown. It was also interesting yesterday at the Oil & Gas Comission site to see the production, both O & G, that was being listed in the 2010 report for the Northeastern Montana sector.