Recent article out of Divide County - great news
Hunt seeks OK to blanket Alexandria, Sioux Trail with wells
Posted 1/08/13 (Tue)
By Steve Andrist
Hunt Oil Co. is awaiting state approval of its plan to blanket Alexandria and Sioux Trail townships in southwest Divide county with 36 oil wells.
Hunt representatives told the North Dakota Industrial Commission that each completed well would cost $7.9 million, which would total over $142 million in each township if all the wells are drilled.
David Luttner, an engineering advisor for Dallas-based Hunt, said the wells would target the middle Bakken and upper Three Forks formations.
He said Hunt anticipates recovering 400,000 barrels of oil from each well.
“The economics are very favorable,” Luttner said at a December Industrial Commission hearing.
At that hearing, Hunt brought its request for the Alexandria Township project to the commission, asking to create 18 spacing units of 1,280 acres each. Each spacing unit would cover two sections, therefore blanketing the township.
Its request seeks approval to drill one horizontal well in each spacing unit.
A second request seeks approval for similar development in Sioux Trail Township. The hearing on that request was held in October.
The Industrial Commission has not yet issued an order regarding either request.
Industrial Commission staffer Bethany Kadrmas said once a hearing is complete, it can take a few months until the commission issues an order.
When drilling commences is as yet undetermined, because Hunt must wait for orders before it proceeds with seeking permits and starting development.
Luttner told the Industrial Commission that Hunt already has two wells in the area, but it doesn’t yet have a good indication of the gas and oil productivity of them.
He said the company has started talking with companies about gathering the gas from the wells it will drill, but agreements won’t be reached until Hunt can prove there is enough gas to sell.
Hunt plans to drill three more wells in the area, then move its rig further east, so “It will be about a year or more before we have the results we need.”
He said the area is very remote, and at this point there is not even access to electricity.