We are in 135n 98w sections 7 & 18. We have never leased. Anyone have an idea how we may impacted by the Rundle Trust & Powell, are we close enough? Thanks, Tom
Tyler, Thanks; I think:) Marathon leased part if 18 at a State auction a while back & some in 99n section 12 last year. I guess I am going to cross my fingers. Thanks again. Tom
Thanks to everyone that’s keeping tabs on, and posting about the recent wells and their progress in Slope County.
I’m still curious as to why MRO pulled the rig out of Slope County, after drilling just 3 wells. They’d docketed for 4 wells, and with the trouble with the first Rundle well, they drilled again nearby, so that means 2 of the 4 docketed locations are undrilled and to best of my knowledge, not yet permitted for drilling.
I hope once the frac is done, they decide to drill the other two this spring/summer.
Predictions of activity for Slope County to pick up around 2015 might be according to the results of these test wells. I know of many people that still haven’t been offered a lease in Slope County, and the recent State Auction prices for leasing haven’t been great.
I really appreciate the photos posted.
Thanks
my brother in law worked the oil field in ND back in the late 70’s early 80’s. so when I told him what rig drilled the fritz he really laughed and said he thinks it was one from back then. I suppose they were trying to save a buck or two. I still hope they can work some magic to get better production.
how would they determine if MRO did or didn’t hit a fault line on that first Rundle well?
Seems to me that RWK has watched this industry for a while. He suggests patience and optimism. (3/12, 3:28). I’ve read his posts for a while and am taking his advice…but its also nice to hear from folks we know who can visit the well sites.
The Fritz well #25347 drilled by Williston Exploration in Billings County, 137/100/15 which is only about 4 miles north of the Slope County border, but about a dozen or more miles to the Rundle well, came off confidential list awhile back.
I read the file on that, didn’t understand much, but did read where they had several areas while drilling, that were quite difficult/slow to drill due to the formation rock. It seemed like forever that rig was on their site too, and they did overshoot where they intended to produce the oil from, so that also took longer for production. I do hope they aren’t finished with that well, and can get better production to happen.
I’m just wondering if that difficult formation rock extends further south into that area of Slope County, and that’s why drilling was slow. The rundle was a wildcat just a section or two out of the Rocky Ridge oilfield.
The site of the burning coal vein, to the best of my knowledge is a few miles NW of the rundle wells. I am just curious if a fault runs through that area, if that is what sparked the coal to burn however many decades ago, when the fault was shifting.
The burning coal vein that I am aware of is several miles west/northwest of Amidon which puts it a fair distance from the Rundle well. Also, the depth of the burning coal is fairly shallow (less than 50 feet) so I am not sure the two are related.
From what I have read, I think the Heart River Fault may be present in this area. It would make sense that MRO would target this fault to try to take advantage of the displacement, (uplift), and natural fracturing that could be present as a result of the fault. From a review of the information presented in the file on the well they lost, it looks like they got stuck twice before they plugged and abandoned the hole. This leads me to believe that they encountered some sort of subsurface anomaly that gave them problems, as opposed to a mechanical failure or human error. This could be a good thing if this is, in fact, the Heart River Fault and they can accurately trace it in the subsurface and figure out the best way to drill it.
Chris, I can understand being anxious to get started. I would wait to find out what the Rundle Trust well does before I do anything. I do think it will be long in the future before you see significant operations in your area. Right now, I don’t think you could get more than a couple hundred dollars per net mineral acre for your minerals. There is so much Bakken acreage, not the best but pretty much a sure thing that they just arn’t doing real exploring. Marathon is forward looking to be drilling outside of the “known” Bakken area. Taking a flyer on getting in on the ground floor, so to speak. All I can say is your area is not yet, may never be [but I think it will] but your acres will bring little right now, that is pretty much a sure thing. People want to invest in the NOW and if they are willing to hold it for 20 years, they want it to be cheap. They are more impatient than you are.
Tom, you just can’t get past the fact that there is still alot of places that have proven Bakken that haven’t been drilled yet. Operators are going to get their favorite cash cow areas into full production before they start branching out in earnest to explore and find other sources. There is also the matter that operators are still hung up on extended long laterals that are great for holding land but not always efficient in areas that don’t have great field pressure. You or I would go after the very best first too in their place, because if they didn’t the stockholders would get them fired, at least where the guy who makes the decisions is not the majority stockholder, cough, cough, Harold Hamm. and Harold Hamm isn’t exploring, he’s holding land by production for the future and milking his cash cows. People have gotten used to things moving fast. 10 years ago people would have said Bakken what?.
I believe the Slope area is not as thermally mature and has not produced as much gas. Really that could mean there is more oil but it will be a little harder to get out without the gas to push it AND 10,000 foot laterals are not going to be the most effective way to get the oil out. A pump can only pull so much. every bit of oil, gas and water produced in the first 5,000 feet, lessens the pull in the second 5,000 feet, practically to nil. Operators are going to have to go to shorter laterals to economically produce in areas with lower field pressure. They drill 4,500 foot laterals in Texas all the time and have for years, not because they are stupid but because 4,500 foot laterals are efficient at producing oil, just not as good at holding land. Yes I forsee a long period still where operators are more interested in holding land than they are exploring for oil, 10 to 20 years. There is a plus side to that though, the percentage of real world recoverable oil keeps going up. You don’t want to be a guinea pig, get a poor well and have more than necessary of your oil stay in the ground. I have 5 such wells. It’s pretty pitiful to see wells drilled a year later near yours produce twice as much oil twice as fast as your well.
I suppose you could offer to lease for $50 an acre and 12.5% royalty to attract them faster but that defeats the purpose of having a well. I wish I saw something better in the near term.
So, after years of sitting and waiting with no lease offers, I have decided that I would like to sell my mineral rights. I know that there is potential, but I just don’t have the time.
That said, I wouldn’t know the first place to look in order to value my mineral rights. Sadly, I can’t afford to hire someone to survey. I, personally, own 7.142860% interest or 91.428608 mineral acres under 1280.00 gross acres. I would be interested to read your opinions on pricing for the following:
135-98-08: W2 (320.00 gross) / 7.142860% = 22.857152 NMA
135-98-09: All (640.00 gross) / 7.142860% = 45.714304 NMA
135-98-10: W2 (320.00 gross) / 7.142860% = 22.857152 NMA
RW, My family has mineral acres next to Chris in sections 7 & 18. Are you saying it could be a long time/20 yrs before there significant operation in the area regardless of what happens with Rundle Trust? I appreciate your posts, keep them coming! Tom
hello, great comments from everyone , chris schmit I read your comment and your position is similar to a pary living near me who sold minerals near me at a public auction in Bowman recently . I also was at an auction in Mott where mineral acres were sold…, if you are interested, contact me and I will give you name and person to contact, not sure if name would be appropriate here but it was a public auction so I think it would be Okay
RW is right. From what I am seeing, most areas of Slope will not have much if any drilling for a number of years. The Tyler formation is somewhat of an afterthought at this point to Bakken oil companies. A few may drill a well or two in the next few years, but any drilling in large numbers will likely be years off yet. Even Marathon doesn’t seem to really want to focus on the Tyler for at least a few years yet, and from what little they are leasing now, they won’t be drilling that many wells in the next three years. Robert, do you know if the workover rig is still on the Rundle Trust? I would imagine they should be getting done by now
Thanks for the comment Tyler r…
Current Confidential well list shows 26794 Rundle Trust 21-29th and the 26223 Powel 31-27th…So I guess things are moving along southwest of our two sections…But I wunder where the rig went???..Mike
So the question is, do you think Marathon will renew their permits for Rundle and Powell?
(I believe) The end of the confidential period for these two wells is listed as 4/28/2014.