There's Oil In Them There Hills!!!

[misisipiflyer]

USA DOES HAVE OIL !
The repotrt below does not even include the area in Alaska that I believe is called theAnwar Area and according to what I've read contains more oil than Saudi Arabia. Why isn't our government exploring this??


Subject: OIL here in the USA=Please read this!!



PLEASE - PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!SOMETHING HAS GOT TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS!!!!!! THANK-YOU SO MUCH


Subject: OIL---you better be sitting down when you read this ! !

You "will" pay $5 a gallon + again and you won't complain loud enough to make a difference, RIGHT!

Here's an astonishing read. Important and verifiable information :

About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together." Please read below.

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008 that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5...3 trillion.

"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.." says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.


"This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years," reportsThe Pittsburgh Post Gazette . It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' It stretches from Northern Montana , through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves..... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!


That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from 2006!


U.. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World


Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006


Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil hy are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?


They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth.. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia


- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait


- 22-times as much oil as Iran


- 500-times as much oil as Yemen


- and it's all right here in the Western United States .


HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reportsThe Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to.Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?


Got your attention yet? Now, while you're thinking about it, do this:


Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you complain about gas prices - by doing NOTHING, you forfeit your right to complain.


Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.

By the way...this is all true. Check it out at the link below!!!
GOOGLE it, or follow this link. It will blow your mind.
www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

[wingsbeneathme]

At one time, back in mid 2006, the

cmkxownersgroup.com had this gasoil2.pdf on its site

I don't recall whose handwriting it was that wrote in Williston Basin

Here is that old pdf link

replay.waybackmachine.org/20060108230937/http://cmkxownersgroup.com/oilgas2.pdf

[wingsbeneathme]

Here is some more information on Williston Basin, Bakken Formation Oil and Gas

Great videos and maps you can view, from August 2008

Bakken Formation

Throughout history, most of the great oil and gas fields have been discovered. This one will be unlocked through innovation.

The Bakken Formation is one of the largest contiguous deposits of oil and natural gas in the United States. It is an interbedded sequence of black shale, siltstone and sandstone that underlies large areas of northwestern North Dakota, northeastern Montana, southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba. The Bakken was deposited within the Williston Basin and is Late Devonian to Early Mississippian in age.

The Bakken Formation consists of a lower shale member, a middle sandstone member and an upper shale member. The shales are organic-rich and of marine origin. They are rich source rocks for oil and natural gas. All three members of the Bakken Formation have been known to yield oil and natural gas.

Just a few years ago the Bakken was considered a marginal to submarginal resource because the oil and gas are locked in a rock formation with a low permeability. However, advances in drilling and recovery technology such as horizontal drilling and hydrofracturing have transformed it into a viable resource. The formation is expected to provide a boost to our energy supply and economy. Much of the oil in the Bakken requires additional advances in technology or higher oil prices for profitable recovery.

The USGS Assessment for the Bakken Formation estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated / dissolved natural gas, and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the United States portion of the Bakken Formation. These resources are contained within both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. The Bakken Formation in Canada contains additional resources and has been called one of the largest oil fields in Canada.

In early 2008 only a few wells had been drilled into the Bakken and its viability as a resource was uncertain. However, through late-2008 several successful wells have been drilled with the new technologies and an explosion of interest now surrounds the deposit.

Throughout history, most great oil and gas fields have been discovered. This one will be unlocked through innovation.

Updated: August, 2008

geology.com/articles/bakken-formation.shtml

[sandi66]

older post:

Sask. could overtake Alta. in oil production
« Thread Started on May 25, 2009, 9:13am »

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REGINA -- Saskatchewan may soon overtake Alberta as the country's largest conventional oil producer, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said Monday at an international oil conference in Regina.

Boyd told about 900 delegates at the 17th annual Williston Basin Petroleum Conference that Saskatchewan's oil and gas industry set several records last year.

"We set a new record for oil production in Saskatchewan last year,'' Boyd said, referring to 161 million barrels of oil produced in the province last year, breaking the previous record o 156 million barrels set in 2006.

The province also set a record for land sale revenues of $1.12 billion in 2008, of which $916.5 million was spent in the southeast. Not coincidentally, southeast Saskatchewan is where North America's hottest oil play — the Bakken play — is located.

The Bakken formation — a deeper light oil-bearing formation extending throughout the Williston Basin — is estimated to contain anywhere from 100 billion to 400 billion barrels of oil in place. Of that, roughly one quarter is estimated to be located in Saskatchewan.

Production from Saskatchewan's portion of the Bakken has jumped from 950 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) in October 2004 to 54,000 (BOPD) in October 2008. As of December 2008, Bakken production exceeded 57,000 BOPD.

Thanks mainly to the Bakken, Saskatchewan's oil production has slowly but steadily increased in the last eight years, after doubling between 1990 and 2000.

By contrast, Alberta's conventional (non-oilsands) production has steadily declined from 350 million barrels in 1995 to 191.6 million barrels in 2007. (Alberta Energy spokesman Jeff Chance said 2008 production numbers won't be released until June.)

If current trends continue, Saskatchewan could overtake Alberta in conventional oil production within a few years. In fact, Boyd said such an outcome was likely, if not inevitable.

"I understand we are very close,'' Boyd said, following his speech. "We may not quite be able to make that claim yet, but I think we will be able to before very long . . .

"The positive trendline for Saskatchewan (oil production) is increasing and Alberta is going in the other direction,'' Boyd said. "Our production is increasing and it's great news for the province.''

As for 2009, Boyd said the first quarter numbers were down substantially from last year, as producers wait for oil prices to recover. "Our budget estimated that we would be down a fair amount in terms of land sales and total revenues. But (it's) still a pretty positive number in the overall scheme of things.''

While Saskatchewan saw 2,824 oil wells drilled last year, the second-highest next to the 3,608 drilled in 1997, only 232 wells were drilled in the first quarter of 2009. Land sale revenues are also down dramatically from last year's pace, with $17.9 million in land revenues from the first two sales of 2009.

The provincial budget forecast $128 million in land sale revenue in fiscal 2009, down $800 million from 2008, and $573 million in oil revenue, a $915-million reduction from last fiscal year.

www.leaderpost.com/business/Sask+....9576/story.html

[sandi66]

Re: Petro Resources Provides Operations Update:Bak
« Result #7 on Dec 29, 2008, 11:14am »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Symbol NYSE



Petro Resources Announces Revised CAPEX Budget and Operational Update


2008-12-29 10:10 ET - News Release

Also News Release (U-ALTE)


HOUSTON, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/29/08


Petro Resources Corporation (NYSE Alternext US: PRC) ("the Company") announced today that it is has revised its 12 month CAPEX forecast to approximately $10.7 million; a reduction from the previously estimated budget of $19.0 million.

The downward revision in capital expenditures is generally driven by a reduction in drilling operations in 2009 by several of the Company's exploration partners and is representative of the overall reduction of drilling activity across the industry. The Company has reduced forecasted capital spending in each of the Company's active exploration areas.

The Company continues drilling operations in the Cinco Terry Field in Crockett County, Texas operated by Approach Resources. The operator has reduced the number of drilling rigs active in the field from four to three. A three drilling rig case should provide for approximately forty eight new wells during 2009. Production continues to increase from the Cinco Terry Field with the Company's net daily production averaging approximately 330 boe per day of natural gas and oil.

Drilling operations also continue on the fourth well in the Surprise Prospect in Nacogdoches County, Texas operated by Goodrich Petroleum. The Surprise Prospect has three previously drilled vertical wells each of which been cased and is currently in or awaiting completion operations. The Company anticipates that two additional wells will be drilled on the Surprise Prospect during 2009.

In the East Chalkley Prospect, the Company continues to produce from the Pine Pasture #2 well that was drilled earlier this year. The Company anticipates continued development of this prospect during 2009 with the drilling of a salt water disposal well and at least one development well. The Pine Pasture #2 well continues to produce at rates in excess of 100 bbls of oil per day and the Company has a 34% working interest in the prospect.

Production from the Williston Basin area of North Dakota continues to average approximately 340 boe/day of oil and natural gas. The Company has reduced its CAPEX budget in the Williston Basin for 2009 and will minimize capital expenditures there until such time as oil prices begin to rebound.

In total, the Company is currently producing approximately 700 boe per day from all areas, representing a 75% increase since the beginning of 2008.

The Company has acquired a 50% working interest in a 300 acre prospect located in Allen Parish, Louisiana known as the LeBlanc Prospect. The prospect is an up-dip oil play supported by 3D seismic. The prospect will be operated by the Company and is scheduled to be drilled during the first half of 2009.

Don Kirkendall, the President of Petro Resources Corporation, commented, "The reduced CAPEX budget and the lowered level of anticipated activity should still allow for the Company to expand its production in 2009; although, not at the pace we had anticipated six months ago. The Company will also continue to look for additional opportunities during this downturn."

About Petro Resources

Petro Resources Corporation and subsidiaries is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition of exploratory leases and producing properties, secondary enhanced oil recovery projects, exploratory drilling, and production of oil and natural gas in the United States.

The Company is currently producing oil and natural gas from a geographically and geologically diversified reserve base. The Company's net total proved reserves of more than 3 million barrels of oil equivalent is distributed among 18 fields in the states of Texas, North Dakota, and Louisiana.

For more information, please view our website at www.petroresourcescorp.com.

Forward-looking Statements

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements, without limitation, regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: (1) the Company's proposed exploration and drilling operations on its various properties, (2) the expected production and revenue from its various properties, and (3) estimates regarding the reserve potential of its various properties. These statements are qualified by important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to: (1) the Company's ability to finance the continued exploration and drilling operations on its various properties, (2) positive confirmation of the reserves, production and operating expenses associated with its various properties; and (3) the general risks associated with oil and gas exploration and development, including those risks and factors described from time to time in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2008 and our subsequently filed reports. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur.


Contact:
Don Kirkendall
President
[phone]




www.stockwatch.com/swnet/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=U-i0462923-U:NYSE-20081229&symbol=NYSE&news_region=U

[sandi66]

Re: Ryland Oil outlines plans for potentially huge
« Result #8 on Oct 14, 2008, 11:13am »

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Ryland Expands Its Roncott Bakken Play Holdings, Acquires Additional Saskatchewan Crown PNG Licenses
Tuesday October 14, 8:01 am ET


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 14, 2008) - Ryland Oil Corporation (TSX VENTURE:RYD - News) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a 100% working interest in additional Saskatchewan crown petroleum and natural gas licenses and leases covering 26,286 gross and net acres of land. The licenses and leases, which include all rights, are located in southeast Saskatchewan and are adjacent to Ryland's current acreage.
PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT


Said Dick Findley, Chairman of Ryland: "In this sale we targeted certain very specific acreage, largely because of its Bakken potential, and are pleased with the additional holdings we acquired. Our Roncott Bakken Play has become an important focus of our current drilling program. Through our recent acquisition of Viceroy Resources Ltd, Ryland now operates the Roncott Bakken Field. The Roncott Field, discovered in 1956 has had some of the best vertical Bakken production in the entire Williston Basin (both in the U.S. and Saskatchewan), greatly exceeding production from vertical wells in the Saskatchewan Viewfield area. The Viceroy acquisition was not made for its modest production but as a strategic move to acquire up to 22 horizontal Bakken drilling locations (11 net locations) directly offsetting excellent proven vertical production as well as multiple surrounding wells exhibiting good porosity and oil saturations similar to the historic wells in the pool which were productive."

Ryland's additional Crown acreage was acquired at a total cost of CDN$767, 300 or $29.19 per acre. The acquisition has increased the Company's total holdings in Southeast Saskatchewan and North Dakota to approximately 394,446 net acres. With the addition of these new crown licenses, Ryland estimates that it now owns up to 80 net drilling locations surrounding the Roncott Pool. Two licenses immediately adjacent to Ryland's Roncott holdings went for approximately $2100/acre (13,257 acres) and $1800/acre (11,500 acres). Ryland's average cost per acre for its holdings in southeast Saskatchewan now stands at approximately $85. "This sale has highlighted once again the value of Ryland's acreage position," continued Mr. Findley. "We believe Ryland's current market cap is well below our land value alone, considering the high level of Bakken drilling activity resulting in new production in the area and the dramatic rise in prices being paid for Bakken acreage." Ryland is currently drilling its third horizontal well in the Roncott area and is very encouraged by its initial results. Ryland has already applied for 4 additional horizontal drilling permits in this area.

RYLAND OIL CORPORATION

Gerald J. Shields, President

Issued and Outstanding: 161,929,906

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept any responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release, and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.



Contact:
Mr. Jim Welykochy
Ryland Oil Corporation
Vice President Corporate Development
[phone]
Website: www.rylandoil.com


biz.yahoo.com/ccn/081014/200810140490974001.html?.v=1

[sandi66]

GeoResources, Inc PRs
« Result #9 on Aug 12, 2008, 8:55am »

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GeoResources, Inc. Provides Operations Update
Tuesday August 12, 8:30 am ET
Continues Successful Horizontal Drilling in Texas and North Dakota


HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GeoResources, Inc., (Nasdaq:GEOI - News), today provided an operations update. The Company has completed additional horizontal wells in Texas and North Dakota.
ADVERTISEMENT


DRILLING RESULTS

GeoResources continues its successful exploitation of the Austin Chalk formation in the Giddings Field, Grimes County, Texas with its completion of the Keisler #2-H horizontal dual lateral well for an initial production rate in excess of 20 MMCFPD. This is the third dual lateral and the ninth successful completion since closing the acquisition of the field in February of 2007. The Company has achieved a 100% success rate in drilling these Austin Chalk horizontal wells. Previously, the Company reported that the Jeff Haynie was completed for 17 MMCFPD. This well has reached the 1 Billion Cubic Feet of cumulative gas production in just 70 days, quicker than any other well the Company has drilled, and it is continuing to produce at over 10 MMCFPD. The significance of reaching this milestone in such a short time period is the quick payout of the drilling capital as well as an indication of the ultimate gas recovery from the well. Several wells in this area that have cumulative production of 1 BCF within the first four months are reasonably projected to have estimated ultimate reserves exceeding 5 BCF. The Company continues to pursue its development strategy and is currently drilling the Bax #1-H as a dual lateral well which is expected to be completed and placed on production during the third quarter.

The Company has acquired additional acreage in the Giddings Field area and is in the process of permitting more drilling locations. Based on continued technical evaluation, successful leasing and acceptable well performance, GeoResources expects to retain the current drilling rig and crew and spud a new well approximately every 60-75 days for the next three years. The Company is the operator of these wells and holds a direct 7.2% working interest. In addition, an affiliated partnership owns an 82.8% working interest. The Company holds a 2% general partner interest in the partnership, which increases significantly in accordance with economic performance parameters under the terms of the partnership agreement.

The Company’s Mountrail County, North Dakota drilling activity remains quite active with the Pathfinder #1-9H (5.1% Company Working Interest (“WI”)) now completed with an initial production rate of 1,463 BOEPD but limited to 600 BOPD by oil pipeline capacity issues. The Prowler #1-16H (6.1%WI) was fracture stimulated during late July and had an initial rate of 908 BOEPD. The Prospector #1-36H (5.1%) and the Payara #1-21H (6.0%WI) are both currently in process of completion. The Voyager #1-28H (8.9%WI) is expected to commence drilling within three weeks of moving off the completion of the Payara #1-16H. The second contracted rig is currently scheduled to commence drilling of the Goldeneye #1-2H (4.1% WI) in approximately two weeks with the Peacemaker #1-8H (3.8% WI), the Bandit #1-29H (10.0% WI) and the Nightcrawler #1-17H (4.5% WI) scheduled to follow. These and previously reported wells total nine gross wells and the Company presently has an additional eight wells scheduled. The program is continuing and numerous projected wells are in process of being planned and of being permitted.

The Company holds a 10–15% working interest in approximately 26,000 acres in Mountrail County, North Dakota and is participating in numerous Bakken Shale wells through a joint venture with Slawson Exploration. Continuous drilling with one drilling rig is expected throughout 2008 and 2009 and a second rig has been contracted and is scheduled to commence operations within the next two weeks. In addition, GeoResources presently has minor interests in twenty-four wells or locations that are producing, in various stages of drilling and completion or are scheduled. These small participations result in valuable engineering and geological data. As the Company concentrates on Slawson operated wells, it will evaluate all available technical information while attempting to increase its position in this expanding play.

OKLAHOMA ACQUISITION

The previously announced Oklahoma acquisition results in approximately 100 additional drilling locations with the vast majority being proved undeveloped locations. In addition, management believes that the acreage provides significant exploration and development opportunities directly associated with the acquired interests and in regional proximity thereto. GeoResources’ management and technical staff have significant prior experience in Oklahoma. The acquisition closed in June and the Company is presently organizing a drilling program which is expected to begin in the 4th quarter.

COMMENTS

Frank A. Lodzinski, Chief Executive Officer of GeoResources, said, “Our drilling and development program continues to deliver positive results. We expect to continue to develop our assets and expand our acreage and prospect inventory. We are pleased with our entry into Oklahoma, where we have considerable prior experience. That acquisition brings significant drilling opportunities and we believe we can expand in the areas. Over the next few months we expect to be revising our capital budget to incorporate our Oklahoma drilling and to reflect results of other projects currently under development. We believe our diversified approach will allow the Company to continue to grow profitably.”

About GeoResources, Inc.

GeoResources, Inc. is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition and development of oil and gas reserves through an active and diversified program which includes purchases of reserves, re-engineering, and development and exploration activities, currently focused in the Southwest and Gulf Coast, the Williston Basin and the Rocky Mountains. In April 2007, the Company completed the merger with Southern Bay Oil and Gas, L.P. and Chandler Energy, LLC. For more information, visit our website at www.georesourcesinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information herein contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" or "continue," or comparable words. All statements other than statements of historical facts that address activities that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Readers are encouraged to read the SEC reports of the Company, our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB/A for the year ended December 31, 2007, and any and all other documents filed with the SEC regarding information about GeoResources for meaningful cautionary language in respect of the forward-looking statements herein. Interested persons are able to obtain free copies of filings containing information about GeoResources, without charge, at the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov).



Contact:
GeoResources, Inc.
Cathy Kruse, 701-572-2020 ext. 113
[e-mail]


biz.yahoo.com/bw/080812/20080812005511.html?.v=1

[sandi66]

Re: Fields of dreams - Saskatchewan
« Result #10 on Aug 11, 2008, 7:08am »

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The Bakken Formation, initially described by geologist J.W. Nordquist in 1953,[1] is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about 200,000 square miles (520,000 km²) of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, covering parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan.

It is estimated that there are significant reservoirs of oil spread beneath the Bakken's shale. As the oil is beneath the shale rather than in it, these reservoirs are not considered oil shale. Oil was first discovered there in 1951, but efforts to extract it have historically met with difficulties. An April 2008 USGS report estimated the amount of technically recoverable oil in the Bakken Formation at 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels, with a mean of 3.65 billion.[2] The state of North Dakota also released a report that month which estimated that there are 2.1 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the Bakken.[3]

Contents [hide]
1 Geology
2 History of Bakken Oil Generation Estimates
3 Oil production estimates
4 References

Geology
The rock formation consists of three members: lower shale, middle dolomite, and upper shale. The shales were deposited in relatively deep marine conditions, and the dolomite was deposited as a coastal carbonate bank during a time of shallower water. The middle dolomite member is the principal oil reservoir, roughly two miles (3.2 km) below the surface. Both the upper and lower shale members are organic-rich marine shale.

Porosities in the Bakken average about 5%, and permeabilities are very low, averaging 0.04 millidarcies—much lower than typical oil reservoirs.[4] However, the presence of horizontal fractures makes the Bakken an excellent candidate for horizontal drilling techniques in which a well drills along the extent of the rock layer, rather than punching a hole vertically through it. In this way, many thousands of feet of oil reservoir rock can be penetrated in a unit that reaches a maximum thickness of only about 140 feet (40 m).[5] Production is also enhanced by artificially fracturing the rock,[6] to allow oil to seep through for centralized collection.


[edit] History of Bakken Oil Generation Estimates
A landmark paper by Dow and a companion paper by Williams (1974) recognized the Bakken as a tremendous source for the oil produced in the Williston Basin. These papers suggested that the Bakken was capable of generating 10 billion barrels of oil (BBbls). Webster (1982, 1984) as part of a Master’s Thesis at the University of North Dakota further sampled and analyzed the Bakken and calculated hydrocarbon generation capacities to be about 92 BBbls. These data were updated by Schmoker and Hester (1983) who estimated that the Bakken was capable of generating 132 BBbls of oil in North Dakota and Montana. A research paper by USGS geochemist Leigh Price in 1999 estimated the total amount of oil contained in the Bakken shale ranged from 271 billion to 503 billion barrels, with a mean of 413 billion barrels.[7] While others before him had begun to realize that the oil generated by the Bakken shales had remained within the Bakken, it was Price, who had spent much of his career studying the Bakken, who particularly stressed this point. If he was right, the large amounts of oil remaining in this formation would make it a prime oil exploration target. Unfortunately, Price passed away in 2000 before his research could be peer-reviewed and published. Nevertheless, the drilling and production successes in much of the Bakken beginning with the Elm Coulee Oil Field discovery in 2000 have proven correct his claim that the oil generated by the Bakken shale was still there. New estimates of the amount of hydrocarbons generated by the Bakken were presented by Meissner and Banks (2000) and by Flannery and Kraus (2006). The first of these papers tested a newly developed computer model with existing Bakken data to estimate generated oil of 32 BBbls. The second paper used a more sophisticated computer program with extensive data input supplied by the ND Geological Survey and Oil and Gas Division. Early numbers generated from this information placed the value at 200 BBbls later revised to 300 BBbls when the paper was presented in 2006."[8]. In April 2008, a report issued by the state of North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources estimated that the North Dakota portion of the Bakken contained 167 billion barrels of oil[9].

While these numbers would appear to indicate a massive reserve, the percentage of this oil which might be extracted using current technology is another matter. Estimates of the Bakken's technically recoverable oil have ranged from as low as 1% — because the Bakken shale has low permeability, making the oil difficult to extract — to Leigh Price's estimate of 50% recoverable.[10] Reports issued by both the USGS and the state of North Dakota in April 2008 seem to indicate the lower range of recoverable estimates are more realistic with current technology.

The flurry of drilling activity in the Bakken, coupled with the wide range of estimates of in-place and recoverable oil, led North Dakota senator Byron Dorgan to ask the USGS to conduct a study of the Bakken's potentially recoverable oil. In April 2008 the USGS released this report, which estimated the amount of technically recoverable, undiscovered oil in the Bakken Formation at 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels, with a mean of 3.65 billion.[11] Later that month, the state of North Dakota's report [12] estimated that of the 167 billion barrels of oil in-place in the North Dakota portion of the Bakken, 2.1 billion barrels were technically recoverable with current technology.


[edit] Oil production estimates
The greatest Bakken oil production comes from Elm Coulee Oil Field, Richland County, Montana, where production began in 2000 and is expected to ultimately total 270 million barrels. In 2007, production from Elm Coulee averaged 53,000 barrels per day — more than the entire state of Montana a few years earlier.[13]

New interest developed in 2007 when EOG Resources out of Houston, Texas reported that a single well it had drilled into an oil-rich layer of shale below Parshall, North Dakota was anticipated to produce 700,000 barrels of oil [14]. This, combined with other factors, including an oil-drilling tax break enacted by the state of North Dakota in 2007,[15] shifted attention in the Bakken from Montana to the North Dakota side. The number of wells drilling the North Dakota Bakken jumped from 300 in 2006[16] to 457 in 2007.[17] Those same sources show oil production in the North Dakota Bakken increasing 229%, from 2.2 million barrels in 2006 to 7.4 million barrels in 2007.





[edit] References
^ "Mississippian stratigraphy of northern Montana", Nordquist, J.W., Billings Geological Society, 4th Annual Field Conference Guidebook, p. 68–82, 1953
^ "3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate". U.S. Geological Survey (April 10, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
^ ND study: 167 billion barrels of oil in Bakken
^ Diagenesis and Fracture Development in the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin: Implications for Reservoir Quality in the Middle Member, by Janet K. Pitman, Leigh C. Price, and Julie A. LeFever, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1653, 2001.
^ Donald Barrs, Devonian System, in Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, CO, 1972: p. 98.
^ Yedlin, Deborah (2008-01-16). "Using horizontal drilling techniques in Canada". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
^ "Origins and Characteristics of the Basin-Centered Continuous Reservoir Unconventional Oil-Resource Base of the Bakken Source System, Williston Basin".
^ Bakken Formation Reserve Estimates, which is a July, 2006 Press Release from the North Dakota Industrial Commission which is part of the North Dakota State Government thus in the Public Domain
^ ND study: 167 billion barrels of oil in Bakken
^ State of North Dakota Bakken Formation Reserve Estimates (PDF).
^ "3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate". U.S. Geological Survey (April 10, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
^ ND study: 167 billion barrels of oil in Bakken
^ Elm Coulee Field.
^ Bakken Oil FAQ
^ Measure offers oil tax rate cut.
^ 2006 North Dakota Oil Production by Formation (PDF).
^ 2007 North Dakota Oil Production by Formation (PDF).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation"
Categories: Geologic formations | Geology of the United States | Geology of Montana | Geology of North Dakota | Oil fields of the United States

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation

[sandi66]

Advances in oil pumping technology
« Result #12 on Jul 20, 2008, 8:02am »

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Advances in oil pumping technology
By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

SIDNEY - The sound of seven 2,200-horsepower generators running full blast is a deafening, teeth-rattling roar.

It is also the sound of the oil boom playing out on the rolling prairie near Sidney. The generators, mounted on semitrailers, power pumps that force sand and a watery gel into layers of
oil-saturated rock 10,000 feet below the surface.

The liquid, shooting out of a perforated steel pipe at pressures of thousands of pounds per square inch, creates horizontal fractures in the rock some 50 feet out to each side of the pipe. The sand keeps the cracks open, and the oil flows through the sand, ready to be drawn to the surface.

That new technology, paired with ever-increasing world demand for oil and the prospect of untold billions of barrels waiting to be sucked from the plains of Eastern Montana and North Dakota, is fueling a new kind of oil boom - one that seems destined to last many years.

Jimmy Knapp, the founder of Knapp Oil Corp. in Sidney, came out from Michigan to Baker during an oil boom in 1954. The current cycle, he said, is his third oil boom, maybe his fourth.

"But this one doesn't look like it's going to go bust, not for a long time," he said.

Tom Richmond, a petroleum engineer and administrator of the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, said the boom in Richland County, of which Sidney is the county seat, accounts for 99 percent of all the oil activity in Montana, and all of it is basically a "technology play."

That's because geologists have known for years about layers of oil trapped in the Bakken formation, as it is called, but it wasn't until horizontal drilling was used in tandem with fracturing that any appreciable amounts could be recovered.

This spring, the United States Geological Survey estimated that there are 3.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil using existing technology in Montana and North Dakota portions of the Bakken formation, which also extends into Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The whole oil-producing region is known as the Williston Basin.

As if that weren't tantalizing enough, a USGS geochemist estimated eight years ago that the Bakken could contain more than 400 billion barrels of oil. Match either estimate with oil selling last week at around $130 a barrel and you've got a boom on your hands.


'Always a chance'
In the Elm Coulee field, the name given to the long, narrow band of prairie near Sidney where exploration and drilling are clustered, the boom has already peaked. Richmond said oil production in Montana dropped 4 percent in 2007 from 2006 - from 36.2 million barrels to 34.8 million - and has since leveled off. But as ever in the oil business, anything could happen.

"In Elm Coulee, there's always a chance of somebody finding another sweet spot," Richmond said. "That's why people are so excited - the reports say there is more oil there than has been found."

One sign that this boom is fundamentally different is that it is already longer than the last one, with no sign of a let-up, Tim Lechner said. Lechner is a Billings native who moved to Sidney in 1990 to work for Burlington Resources and later went to work for Headington Oil Co. as a drilling and production engineer. He got into the business in 1978 after graduating from Montana Tech, near the middle of the last boom.

Because of the long dry spell between booms, Lechner said, the oil industry essentially "lost a generation." Lots of people working in the industry are in their 20s and lots are over 50, but few are in between.

"It's been a hard boom in that respect - everybody has had to carry a big load," he said.

That applies not least to the workers out on the drilling rigs and doing the fracturing, or "frac jobs" as everybody calls them. Richmond said the rigs used to have three crews working eight-hour shifts. Now, thanks to a shortage of labor, the rigs employ two crews working 12-hour shifts.

"We hire whatever local people are available," Lechner said. "We need more people over here, but we have trouble attracting them."

That might come as a surprise, considering the high wages.

"If you can pee in a jar, 25 bucks an hour to start. That's not bad for a kid straight out of high school," Richmond said.

And with jobs in the oil field going begging, it's harder than ever to fill positions at Main Street businesses in Sidney. Those well-documented troubles - The Gazette reported last year that the McDonald's in Sidney was routing drive-through orders to a California call center - have come to be seen as a cost of being at the center of an oil boom.

Wendell Elliot, the owner of Elliot Oil, said some businesses may have to close earlier in the evening because of the labor shortage, but they're making money when they're open.

"It's been very good to the community," he said. "The local businesses have done extremely well."

Another difference noted by several observers is that the oil field workers don't come to town to spend money as they did in the old days. The motels are still busy, but with crews working 12-hour shifts and often living on-site in "man camps," they don't use the motels or local housing nearly as much as they did in the boom of the 1970s and '80s.

Larry Tveit, a former state senator from Sidney and an independent consultant to landowners sitting on oil-producing land, said the workers are also less rowdy than they used to be, thanks to stricter DUI enforcement and frequent drug testing - the peeing in a bottle mentioned by Richmond.

"They don't come to town to play like they did in the other boom," Tveit said.


Lesson learned
On the other hand, Elliot said, Sidney and other towns in Richland County have learned the hard way how to cope with the boom. There has been none of the rush to build housing or other projects, which resulted in a lot of developers and contractors turning houses over to the banks

"This boom is being handled a lot differently," Elliot said. "The last time the community really overbuilt."

Knapp echoed that statement. "It's not as crazy as it was before," he said. "They learned their lesson."

Even so, Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser thinks the state is not doing nearly enough to make sure the effects of this boom are lasting. Montana appears to have at least 15 or 20 years of oil, Smelser said, and while that will produce a continuing stream of tax revenue, it won't add many jobs in Sidney and other areas of the oil patch.

More than anything, he said, there should be at least one oil refinery being built in Eastern Montana. Such a project has been talked about for years, Smelser said, but there has been nothing more than talk. He's convinced that the guarantee of a "clean and healthful environment" in Montana's 1972 Constitution - and all the lawsuits resulting from that guarantee - scares away investors.

So does the perception that Montana doesn't welcome new business, Smelser said, exemplified by the state's business equipment tax, which has an effective rate of about 1.5 percent.

"Basically our constitution is one hang-up and our tax system in the other," he said. Montana has been drilling the Bakken since 2002 and North Dakota has been doing so for only two years, he said, "but I'd say they're two years ahead of us in infrastructure, in adding value-added infrastructure."

"As fast as our state moves, I think North Dakota will have two or three refineries before we have our first one," he said. Smelser said Gov. Brian Schweitzer promised two years ago to do what he could to promote the construction of new refineries in Eastern Montana, but Smelser hasn't seen much progress.

Tveit, the former state senator, echoed that criticism, saying the state and Schweitzer are too beholden to environmentalists.

"He talks good," Tveit said of the governor, "but he does a lot that's anti-business."

Evan Barrett, the governor's economic-development director, said the Schweitzer administration has been doing what it can to bring a refinery to Eastern Montana.

Barrett said he made a presentation specifically about refineries to a group of about 30 business people and civic leaders, including Smelser, in Sidney two months ago. The presentation included property tax comparisons between Montana and North Dakota and a look at the permitting process in Montana and four or five other states.

Barrett said he also spoke about the possibility of building everything from a "mini" refinery employing six to 10 workers to a "mid-tier" refinery the size of those in Billings. Overall, Barrett said, Montana "looks very favorable from a permitting perspective," and though "taxes are always complex and always contentious, we're not in a hugely uncompetitive position." North Dakota has no tax on business equipment.

Barrett said he told people at the presentation that the next step was up to them. If they want the governor's help in attracting a company to build a refinery in Eastern Montana, they need to come together as a community and demonstrate support for such a project, he said.

Schweitzer is "looking forward to them making a community decision to proceed," Barrett said, and stands ready to help, but "we don't feel like the state should impose a choice on the community."


Lots of tax revenue
Smelser is also critical of the way Montana apportions proceeds of the tax on oil and gas production.

Under a 1999 law that created incentives for horizontal oil wells, the state tax on such wells is just 0.8 percent on gross value for the first 18 months in the life of the well. After 18 months, the tax goes to the maximum, 9.9 percent. Because the Montana boom started in 2002 or so, nearly all the wells are "off the tax holiday," to use Richmond's words.

That 9.9 percent tax generates an enormous amount of money. In just one quarter of 2007, the tax brought in more than $62 million, of which nearly $29 million was distributed to the counties where oil and gas production occurs. Most of the rest of the money goes into the state's general fund, with some going to the university system, natural resource operations and other funds.

The Legislative Fiscal Division estimated that the oil production tax would generate $101 million for the general fund in fiscal year 2008.

In Richland County, which accounts for almost all of the oil activity and some of the natural gas, the revenue stream is wide and deep. From May 2007 to May 2008, Richland County's share of the tax came to just over $48 million, of which $22 million went to the county itself and the rest to elementary and high school districts in Sidney and seven other Richland County communities.

Even so, Smelser said, towns like Sidney receive, proportionally, very little. All they get is a cut of the "license and privilege tax" imposed on wells by the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation. That tax can be no higher than 0.3 percent, and it has been gradually reduced over the past few years because the fund balance had grown so large.

Under state law, the difference between the old, higher tax and the new, lower one is distributed to towns and counties in the oil patch. Smelser said the tax - which brought nearly $1 million to Sidney last year - definitely helped. Among other things, Sidney has purchased a new fire truck, undertaken a sewer replacement program and built a water slide at the city swimming pool.

But to really take advantage of the boom and position itself for the future, Smelser said, Sidney should be getting a much bigger share of the taxes - and Helena should be getting a lot less.

"I think there's so much else we could do if the rest of the state would give us the financial resources or let us do it ourselves," he said.

When the boom started, Smelser said, he figured the population of Sidney would have grown to 7,500 by now. Instead, "we're struggling to make 5,000 in the next census."

His biggest concern, Smelser said, is that North Dakota is making so much money off the oil boom - and making it on both sides of the state line. Thanks to lower taxes there and a friendlier business climate, he said, up to three-fourths of the crews working in the Montana oil fields are based in the Williston, N.D., area.

"There's still a huge amount of money flowing across the state line," he said. "That's the part of this I don't think Western Montana understands."


Questionable impact
At least one economist in Western Montana downplayed the importance of oil to the Montana economy. Larry Swanson, director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula, said the revenue generated by the oil boom "is a meaningful component" of the state budget, "but it's not driving it."

In 2006, when the oil boom in Montana was as its peak, he said, employment figures showed that health care, government, construction, retail, professional and technical services, manufacturing, financial services and transportation all ranked ahead of mining, which includes the oil and gas industry.

Swanson said years of "brainwashing" have convinced Montanans that it's a good thing when commodities prices rise because Montana is a commodity state. But in Swanson's view, while the oil boom has created some millionaires and boosted business in a few communities, high oil prices have been a huge drag on the rest of the state's economy.

During the last energy crisis, in 1981, when a barrel of crude was going for a then-whopping $35, energy expenditures as a share of total personal income rose to a record high of nearly 20 percent in Montana, Swanson said. If oil prices continue to rise as they have in recent months, that figure could rise above 20 percent during 2008, he said.

Swanson said the state should be investing in conservation and alternative energy. There was talk of such things after the last energy crisis, he said, but as soon as oil prices fell again, "we were all fat and happy and we didn't have to think about that."

"We lost 25 years since last energy crisis," he said. "We can't afford to do that again. You've got to have leadership, and that leadership has to say, 'This is going to come sooner or later.' "

In the meantime, in the words of longtime oilman Jimmy Knapp, "there's a lot of people making a lot of money out here."

With so much oil under the Williston Basin and with world demand continuing to rise, Knapp sees a long, steady boom. Even if oil prices were too fall to $80 a barrel, or even a little less, he said, it would still be profitable to drill in the Williston. But he doesn't see prices dropping that low for a long time.

"I don't think I'll ever see it," he said.

But Richmond, with the oil and gas board, has seen the crash of expectations before. At the tail end of the last boom, people were so caught up in the excitement that they kept drilling wells even after it had become clear that they were unlikely to cover the costs of drilling.

He said it was "like the guy at the slot machine: Maybe the next quarter will win me a million dollars."

Despite the amazing rise in oil prices, Richmond said, he's been around the business long enough to know how quickly things can change.

"People tell you the fundamentals have changed, that the price can't go any lower than this," he said. "Well, I've heard that before."

Contact Ed Kemmick at [e-mail] or 657-1293.


Published on Sunday, July 20, 2008.Last modified on 7/20/2008 at 1:31 am

www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/07/20/news/state/16-oilpumping.txt

[sandi66]

Re: Fields of dreams - Saskatchewan
« Result #13 on Jul 20, 2008, 7:58am »

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Getting Bakken oil out a big, complicated operation
By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

At the site of the Hartland 14X-26 oil well about five miles southwest of Sidney, a whole lot of activity is packed into the 430-by-300-foot patch of prairie.

There are seven semitrucks, each mounted with a 2,200-horsepower engine, 56 tanks of water containing nearly 17,000 gallons of water each, and two boxcar-sized containers full of fine sand. Another tanker truck is loaded with gel, and three truck-mounted cranes stand by, ready to hoist and move innumerable pieces of equipment, piping and lengths of heavy hose.

Also on the scene is an RV-like vehicle that houses the computerized control room where engineers and technicians keep an eye on every step of the operation. Working the site is a crew of 16.

They work for a French oil field services business, Schlumberger, which has two such teams working in the Williston Basin. One crew is based in Worland, Wyo., and the other in Williston, N.D.

"That's how our neighboring states achieve over 100 percent employment," jokes Tim Lechner, a production manager for Headington Oil Co.

They are working on a "frac job," which involves fracturing layers of oil-bearing sandstone and siltstone two miles underground, in a geological stratum known as the Bakken formation.

After a vertical well is drilled to that level, the drill goes horizontal, a technique that had been used for years. In the Bakken - named for a North Dakota farmer on whose farm the shale layers were first identified in the 1950s - horizontal drilling is paired with another technique, fracturing. That involves forcing a mixture of sand, water and gel underground at enormous pressures, thanks to those banks of 2,200-horsepower pump trucks.

As the mixture shoots out of holes in the horizontal pipe, the water opens up cracks in the rock and the sand flows in behind it, holding the fractures open so oil can ooze down into the pipe - the same one used to pump in the mixture of sand and liquid - and from there to be drawn to the surface.

"It's kind of like a mining operation, in a way," Lechner said. "You need more tunnels."

In the case of the Hartland 14X-26 well, the frac crew worked for a little more than two days, pumping 700,000 gallons of water and gel and about 800,000 pounds of sand into the ground. A typical drilling unit will have as many three lateral wellbores per two sections of land, which is 1,280 acres. The perpendicular fractures run out about 50 feet on both sides of each lateral. The laterals have perforated pipes, called liners, that keep the wellbores from collapsing after the frac job.

It is an expensive proposition. Lechner said the first horizontal well he worked on for Headington in 2002 cost $2 million. The price nowadays is somewhere between $5 million and $7 million per well. But with oil at nearly $129 a barrel (with 42 gallons to the barrel), the investment is well worth it.

Indeed, the level of interest in the Williston Basin, and the booming nature of the oil business in general, is evidenced by this: At the time the Hartland 14X-26 well was being fractured, Lechner worked for Headington, a privately owned oil business. In mid-July, Headington's Montana and North Dakota assets were sold to XTO Energy of Fort Worth, Texas, in a $1.8 billion deal. XTO has also entered into an agreement to buy Hunt Petroleum Corp. for about $4.2 billion.

The deal with Headington involves 325,000 acres of Bakken shale land in North Dakota and Montana.

These days, most of the activity is in the Bakken fields of North Dakota. Production in Montana peaked at 36 million barrels of oil in 2006. That number fell to 34.8 million barrels last year.

In North Dakota, the numbers are still climbing. Production there was 35.6 million barrels in 2005, just under 40 million in 2006 and 45 million last year. In the first four months of this year, production stood at 17.2 million, putting North Dakota on track to pump more than 50 million barrels this year.

www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/07/20/news/state/18-bakkenoil.txt

Published on Sunday, July 20, 2008.
Last modified on 7/20/2008 at 1:31 am

[sandi66]

Questar Updates/and Wexpro Sub - Green River
« Result #14 on Jul 7, 2008, 6:56pm »

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Questar Updates Estimates of Probable and Possible Reserves and Petroleum Resource Potential at Questar E&P and Wexpro Subsidiaries


2008-07-07 18:48 ET - News Release


Company Website: www.questar.com
SALT LAKE CITY -- (Business Wire)

Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) today provided revised estimates of net probable and possible reserves and petroleum resource potential for affiliates Questar Exploration and Production Company (Questar E&P) and Wexpro Company (Wexpro). The company last provided estimates for Questar E&P non-proved reserves in July 2006, but has not previously disclosed non-proved reserve estimates for Wexpro.

Questar E&P estimated proved reserves as of March 31, 2008 increased 16% to 2.16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (Tcfe) from 1.87 Tcfe at year-end 2007. The increase includes the February 29, 2008 acquisition of two significant natural gas development properties in northwest Louisiana;
Questar E&P estimated net probable reserves increased 68% to 4.20 Tcfe, compared to the prior estimate of 2.50 Tcfe disclosed in July 2006;
Questar E&P estimated net possible reserves increased 46% to 5.14 Tcfe, compared to the prior estimate of 3.51 Tcfe disclosed in July 2006;
Questar E&P estimated net petroleum resource potential increased to 18.43 Tcfe, up 836% from the estimate of 1.97 Tcfe disclosed in March 2005; and
Wexpro estimated net probable reserves are 1.09 Tcfe, and estimated net possible reserves are 0.17 Tcfe. Wexpro estimated proved reserves at year-end 2007 totaled 0.64 Tcfe.
Questar is providing these estimates to help investors better understand the future exploration and development potential beyond that reflected by currently booked proved reserves. Investors should note that the company cannot currently include this information in financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The significant increase in reported estimates of non-proved reserves is a result of our ongoing efforts to evaluate the full potential of our significant leaseholds in the Rocky Mountain and Midcontinent regions,” said Charles B. Stanley, Questar COO and head of the company’s exploration and production businesses. “New play concepts on older leases, combined with recent acquisitions in some of the hottest resource plays in North America, are driving the dramatic growth in our inventory.”

The tables and information below provide further detail. Because the definition of each category implies a probability of potential recovery, the quantities reported are not risked. The company cautions investors not to sum the estimated quantities without considering the significant differences in probability of potential recovery of the reserve quantities reported in each category. All estimates of Questar E&P non-proved reserves and resource potential were prepared by in-house technical staff and reviewed by the independent reservoir engineering consultants that prepare estimates of the company’s proved reserves. Wexpro non-proved reserve estimates were prepared by in-house technical staff.

Questar E&P net proved and non-proved reserves and petroleum resource potential in billions of cubic feet of gas equivalent (Bcfe)


Major Operating Area Proved
Reserves(a)
Probable
Reserves(b)
Possible
Reserves(b)
Petroleum
Resource(b)

Pinedale Anticline 1,021.5 2,054.7 - 936.0
Uinta Basin 305.7 919.2 1,842.5 7,968.4
Rockies Legacy 164.4 1,062.9 2,760.4 7,868.8
Midcontinent 664.7
167.1 532.9 1,651.8
Questar E&P total 2,156.3 4,203.9 5,135.8 18,425.0

(a) As of March 31, 2008. Includes previously announced February 29, 2008 acquisition of certain properties in NW Louisiana and other minor producing property acquisitions and divestitures.

(b) As of June 1, 2008

Pinedale Anticline estimates of probable reserves include 1,205 5-acre and 10-acre locations, with per-location gross estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) ranging from 2.5 to 8.5 Bcfe. EUR varies by both structural position and density. Estimated petroleum resource potential on the Pinedale Anticline includes 199 Rock Springs/Hilliard locations on 40-acre density with gross per location EUR of 7.8 Bcfe and 274 locations with shallow Ft. Union Formation potential with gross per-location EUR ranging from 0.4 to 1.1 Bcfe;
Uinta Basin estimates include 22 probable, 45 possible and 189 locations classified as resource potential in shallow Green River Formation oil reservoirs (including both horizontal and vertical locations) on 40 to 160-acre density with gross EUR ranging from 0.2 to 1.8 Bcfe per location; 664 probable, 1,124 possible and 3,639 resource potential Wasatch/Mesaverde/Mancos/Dakota Formation natural gas locations on 40-acre density with gross EUR ranging from 2.7 to 4.7 Bcfe per location; and 24 probable and 14 possible locations in the Flat Rock Area on 160-acre density with gross EUR of 5 Bcfe/location;
Rockies Legacy estimates include 496 probable, 770 possible and 2,376 resource potential locations on 40-acre density for Baxter Shale and Frontier/Dakota sands in the Vermillion Basin with gross EUR ranging from 1.8 to 2.5 Bcfe per location; 88 possible horizontal locations on a combination of 640 and 1,280-acre density in the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin with average gross EUR ranging from 537 to 800 MBOE/location; 138 probable and 251 possible locations in the Wamsutter area on 40-acre density with gross EUR of 1.1 Bcfe/location; 368 resource potential locations on 40-acre density with gross EUR of 3.5 Bcfe/location in the Paradox Shale play of the northern Paradox Basin; and 481 resource potential locations on 40-acre density with gross EUR of 2.5 Bcfe/location in multiple unconventional objectives in the Powder River Basin;
Midcontinent estimates include 273 probable and 959 possible Hosston/Cotton Valley locations on 20 to 40-acre density with gross EUR ranging from 0.72 to 2.0 Bcfe/location; 864 horizontal resource potential locations on 80-acre density for Haynesville Shale with gross EUR of 4.7 Bcfe/location; 21 probable, 77 possible and 160 resource potential locations on 40-acre density in the Granite Wash/Atoka play in the Texas Panhandle with gross EUR ranging from 1.4 to 3.6 Bcfe/location; and 12 probable, 12 possible and 392 resource potential horizontal locations on 160-density for the Woodford Shale in the central Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma with gross EUR ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 Bcfe/location.
Wexpro net proved and non-proved reserves (Bcfe)(c)


Proved
Reserves
Probable
Reserves
Possible
Reserves
Petroleum
Resource

Wexpro 641.9 1,085.6 168.8 0.0

(c) As of December 31, 2007.

Wexpro estimates include 411 probable and 43 possible locations in the Moxa Arch/Labarge Platform Area of Wyoming; 258 probable locations on the Pinedale Anticline; 70 probable and 78 possible locations in the Uinta Basin; and 224 probable and 40 possible locations in the Vermillion Basin and Powder Wash areas along the Wyoming/Colorado border;
Wexpro develops and produces gas and oil on certain properties for affiliate Questar Gas under the terms of the Wexpro Agreement, a long-standing comprehensive agreement with the states of Utah and Wyoming. Pursuant to the Wexpro Agreement, Wexpro recovers its costs and receives an unlevered after-tax return of approximately 19-20% on its investment in commercial wells and related facilities – adjusted for working capital and reduced for deferred income taxes and depreciation – its investment base. The term of the Wexpro Agreement coincides with the productive life of the gas and oil properties covered therein. Wexpro’s investment base totaled $314.5 million at March 31, 2008;
Estimated risked net capital to develop the non-proved reserves and proved undeveloped reserves on Wexpro-operated properties is $1.4 billion.
Additional information, including a reconciliation of the current reported estimates to those previously reported, by major operating area, is available on the company’s Web site: www.questar.com.

Rationale and Approach

Reserve and resource estimates were prepared for only those properties that are currently under evaluation as potential exploratory/development drilling projects. The company has additional acreage not included in the current evaluation.

The review included documentation and summary of all available surface and subsurface geological data, geophysical data, and engineering information including well data, cores, logs, pressure measurements, production tests and other supporting information. Company technical personnel then prepared estimates of the gross volumes and types of hydrocarbons initially in-place and estimated recoverable quantities based on volumetric calculations, comparisons to analogous producing fields, and other generally accepted reservoir-engineering methods. During this process Questar E&P technical personnel met periodically with the independent reservoir engineering consultants to review available data and agree on approaches to preparation of the estimates, documentation procedures, and appropriate classifications. After these meetings, technical reviews, and iterative exchanges of data and analyses, Questar E&P submitted its estimates and supporting data to the consultants for final review and approval. In conducting their review, the consultants relied upon the accuracy and completeness of data furnished by the company, including leaseholds, interests owned, production and well-test data from examined wells, geological structure and isopach maps, well logs, core analyses, pressure measurements and other supporting information.

The process of preparing estimates of non-proved reserves is complex. The company and its consultants interpreted data and made assumptions that may turn out to be inaccurate. Further, different engineers may make different estimates, and the same engineer’s estimates may change over time as new data becomes available.

Estimates of proved, probable and possible reserves conform to the definitions set forth in the Petroleum Resources Management System collectively approved by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the World Petroleum Congress, the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

About Questar

Questar Corp. (NYSE:STR) is a natural gas-focused energy company with an enterprise value of about $14 billion. Questar finds, develops, produces, gathers, processes, transports, stores and distributes natural gas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included or incorporated by reference in this report, including, without limitation, statements regarding the company's future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Although these statements are made in good faith and are reasonable representations of Questar Corporation’s expected performance at the time, actual results may vary from management's stated expectations and projections due to a variety of factors. The company cannot include information about unproved reserves and resource potential in financial statements and notes filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has no obligation to update these estimates in the future.

Contacts:

Questar Corporation, Salt Lake City
Martin H. Craven, 801-324-5077

Source: Questar Corporation

www.stockwatch.com/swnet/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=U-b006087-U:STR-20080707&symbol=STR&news_region=U

[sandi66]

Re: Saskatchewan Oil - Bakken
« Result #15 on Jun 27, 2008, 10:22am »

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Bakken Formation: Will it fuel Canada's oil industry?
There may be as many as 503 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation that runs under Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Montana.

Mining trucks carry loads of oil laden sand after being loaded by huge shovels at the Albian Sands oils sands project in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (Jeff McIntosh/AP)It's common knowledge that there is a lot of oil in the Western part of North America, but it's difficult and expensive to get out of the ground. What may surprise some, though, is that much of that oil is under regions that aren't known as major oil producers —Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Montana.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there may be as many as 503 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation - a natural geological phenomenon in the region - and estimates say that anywhere from three to 50 per cent of it is recoverable by currently available technology.

The Bakken Formation is a 350 million-year-old underground layer of rock that occurs in much of the Williston Basin, a vaguely heart-shaped warp in the otherwise flat prairies on the U.S.-Canada border. It was discovered in 1953 by a geologist named J.W. Nordquist and named after Henry Bakken, owner of the Montana farm where Nordquist first drilled.

While it was postulated as early as 1974 that the Bakken could contain vast amounts of petroleum, it wasn't until Denver-based geologist Leigh Price undertook a field assessment for the USGS in 1995 that anybody tried to find out how much was actually there.

His findings were shocking.

Price estimated in 1999 that the Bakken contained between 271 and 503 billion barrels of petroleum, with 413 billion barrels the most likely amount.

That compares with 125 billion barrels at the massive Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, 7.8 billion at Alberta's Pembina Cardium and 21.4 billion for the entire U.S. reserves, not including the Bakken.

"All this generated oil remains in the Bakken shales and in the rocks adjacent to them at relatively shallow burial depths," wrote Price, who died of a massive heart attack in 2000 before his report could be published or peer-reviewed. "There is no other basin worldwide where we may presently draw this conclusion. This certain knowledge that 413 billion barrels of in-place oil exists in the Bakken source system rocks in the Williston Basin presents the oil industry with an unparalleled exploration opportunity."

Deeper investigation
The problem is that the oil available in the Bakken, however much there may be, is encased in sheets of non-porous shale. Traditional drilling methods yield little usable oil compared to the expense required to retrieve it.

David Bardin, a lawyer who specializes in energy-related issues and who was a deputy administrator of the U.S. Federal Energy Administration under former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, knew of Price and his work. In 1993, Bardin recommended to Hazel O'Leary, then U.S. Secretary of Energy, that the Bakken should be investigated. But when oil prices dropped to $8.50 US in 1997, the U.S. government lost interest and the big oil companies left the area.

As oil prices began to rise again in 2000, Bardin recommended once more that the U.S. government conduct research in the Bakken region. But by that time, a Billings, Montana-based geologist named Dick Findley had already stepped in. And he succeeded almost by mistake.

"He was drilling for oil in Montana at a depth well below the Bakken; he found some, but not enough to be commercially viable," said Bardin. "But he decided to investigate a bump that his drill hit about halfway down — it was huge, it was the Bakken."

Findley acquired leases on prime land in the area and worked on ways to retrieve the oil more efficiently. To cope with the flat shape of the deposits, he advocated horizontal drilling. To get the oil out of he rock, he came up with fracturing — pumping sand at high pressure into the well, collapsing the oil-rich rock and allowing the oil to flow back up.

"If I had a contribution, it's maybe to get people to re-think things," said Findley. "When you take off the blinders and think big, you start to see pretty big regional accumulations of oil. If geologists think big, they will be able to find some bigger things."

'The colour of honey'
And they have been finding big things indeed. The first successful Bakken wells were established in 2000 at the Elm Coulee Oil Field in Richland Country, Mont. Within three years, it doubled Montana's oil production.

"This Bakken deal is incredible," said Steve Reger, a geologist associated with the project. He pointed out that an unprecedented 98 per cent of the wells drilled at Elm Coulee have yielded oil. "It's about the colour of honey and smells sweet."

Indeed, the quality of the oil is excellent. Bardin notes that, in contrast to that which comes from Alberta's oil sands, the oil from the Bakken is "liquid and free of water, sulphur and other impurities."

Elm Coulee was so successful that The Wall Street Journal in 2005 called it the "highest-producing onshore field found in the lower 48 states in the past 56 years."

Canadian connection
And the success has not been limited to the U.S. About a quarter of the Bakken Formation lies in Saskatchewan, and a much smaller portion juts into Manitoba.

"Production from the Bakken has been stupendous," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Energy and Resources. "As recently as 2004, production was 278,540 barrels; last year, 2007, we were nudging up against five million barrels - the exact figure was 4,965,000 barrels."

While those numbers aren't enough to put OPEC out of business any time soon, they have created something of an oil boom in the area.

"Saskatchewan had the hottest housing market in all of Canada last year and looks to be on pace for that again this year," said Schneider. "And I hear it's impossible these days to get a hotel room in the southeastern part of the province."

And while production keeps growing, Schneider says that there are no reliable estimates as to how much oil is actually on the Canadian side of the Bakken.

"We have not estimated an overall reserve figure because the ground is constantly moving beneath our feet," he said. "We have seen three different estimates in three years of how much oil is down there from the U.S., and each one is higher than the last."

"Mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota," can be unearthed using current technology, according to the results of a study released by the USGS in April.

A similar study by North Dakota reported that there are about 167 billion barrels of oil under the state, of which 2.1 billion barrels are recoverable with current technology.

Bardin warns people not to take those numbers very seriously - mainly because they could lead to an underestimation of the value of the field. "When the USGS talks about 'undiscovered volumes,' they are only estimating the amount that is not already part of proven reserves, so you have to add that to proven reserves," he said. "Every time you drill new wells, it passes from undiscovered to proven reserves."

He agrees with Schneider that the USGS keeps upping its estimates as oil prices affect how much of the oil can be recovered economically.

"I'm sure we'll see bigger numbers as we go along," he said. "If oil stays at $120 a barrel, you'll see one number; if it goes back to $60, you'll see another and if it goes to $300, you'll see yet another."

As for the total amount of oil down there, he won't hazard a guess, but he did note that when Price estimated between 271 billion and 503 billion barrels, he didn't include Canada, because he didn't expect to find any oil that far north. The fact that Saskatchewan is already producing five million barrels a year indicates that Price may have underestimated the amount by a significant amount.

"About 25 per cent of the Bakken is in Saskatchewan," said Schneider. "So it stands to reason that 25 per cent of the oil is too."

Growing pains
North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan has complained that a lack of pipeline capacity - most of the pipelines in the state are already filled with Canadian oil headed south - has hurt Bakken development. But Schneider maintained that's not a problem in Saskatchewan.

"We've been pumping oil from Weyburn since 1944," Schneider said. "So the infrastructure is in place."

Some critics have postulated that investing in the Bakken will divert research from alternative energy sources, but Bardin disagrees.

"Sure it will run out, all oil will run out; but even in a best-case scenario, those technologies are decades away from replacing petroleum," he said. "You've got to remember that those old wells in Texas and Alberta are petering out; we need to use the petroleum from the Bakken to get up to speed on alternative energy sources without ruining our economies."

But Bardin warns that the Bakken find, though profound, is not a panacea that will supply all our energy needs.

"You hear numbers like 413 billion barrels and instantly think that it's more than there is in Saudi Arabia," Bardin said. "But at this point, you're comparing apples to oranges, because all the oil in Saudi Arabia is easy to get out of the ground."

He does concede that as technology develops, more and more of the Bakken will become recoverable; and that as oil prices rise, technology tends to develop more quickly.

And many Canadians, who have seen the meteoric rise of production from the oil sands as petroleum prices have risen, know that if the oil is in there, then someone will find a way to get it.

www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/05/23/f-langton-bakken.html

[sandi66]

Re: The Bakken Oil Formation - May 2008
« Result #16 on Jun 3, 2008, 11:49am »

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Dakota Oil Fields of Saudi-Sized Reserves Make Farmers Drillers

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- John Bartelson, who smokes Marlboro Lights through fingers blackened with tractor grease, may look like an average wheat farmer. He isn't. He's one of North Dakota's new oil barons.

Every month, he gets a check for tens of thousands of dollars from a company in Houston called EOG Resources Inc., which drilled two oil wells on his land last year. He says the day his first royalty check arrived was one to remember.

``I smiled to beat hell, and I went to town and had a beer,'' Bartelson, 65, says.

His new wealth springs from the Bakken formation, a sprawling deposit of high-quality crude beneath the durum wheat fields of North Dakota, Montana and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bakken may give the U.S. -- the world's biggest importer of oil -- a new domestic energy source at a time when demand from China and India is ratcheting up the global competition for supplies and propelling average U.S. gasoline prices to almost $4 a gallon.

And unlike the tar from Canada's oil sands, Bakken crude needs little refining. Swirl some of it in a Mason jar and it leaves a thin, honey-colored film along the sides. It's light - -almost like gasoline -- and sweet, meaning it's low in sulfur.

Best of all, the Bakken could be huge. The U.S. Geological Survey's Leigh Price, a Denver geochemist who died of a heart attack in 2000, estimated that the Bakken might hold a whopping 413 billion barrels. If so, it would dwarf Saudi Arabia's Ghawar, the world's biggest field, which has produced about 55 billion barrels.

Thin Deposit

The challenge is getting the oil out. Bakken crude is locked 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) underground in a layer of dolomite, a dense mineral that doesn't surrender oil the way more-porous limestone does. The dolomite band is narrow, too, averaging just 22 feet (7 meters) in North Dakota.

The USGS said in April that the Bakken holds as much as 4.3 billion barrels that can be recovered using today's engineering techniques. That's a fraction of the oil that Price said should be there, but it's still the largest accumulation of crude in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. North Dakota, where Bakken exploration is most intense now, won't become Saudi Arabia unless technology improves.

``The Bakken is the biggest thing in oil in the lower 48 right now,'' says Jim Jarrell, president of Ross Smith Energy Group Ltd., a research firm in Calgary. ``And among the least understood.''

Delaying the Peak

Some oil, like the 10.4 billion barrels estimated to be recoverable in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, remains off limits -- as a nature conservation measure -- even as President George W. Bush renews his calls for drilling there. North Dakota, already crisscrossed by farm roads, is open for business.

As traditional oil fields become scarce, exploration companies must tackle trickier ones to stay in business. Their success will determine when the world reaches peak oil -- the high point in production after which new supply will no longer be there to slake new demand. It's a gloomy concept. Peak oil theorists predict the mother of all oil shocks, complete with famine and wars for energy.

These days, big new oil deposits often come with caveats. Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA says its offshore Tupi field contains as much as 8 billion barrels of oil, which the company hopes to start pumping next year. But the field is under more than four miles of water and rock, where pressure can crush drilling equipment.

Hedge Bus

The Bakken dolomite is hardly an obstacle, by comparison. And even if Price was too optimistic, the Bakken is big enough to make investors rich. Some have made fortunes already.

In April, a busload of hedge fund managers drove by Bartelson's land, ogling the metronomic pump jacks and the devilish orange flares of excess natural gas that are making parts of North Dakota look more like west Texas.

``There's nothing that can stop this play,'' says Mike Reger, chief executive officer of Northern Oil & Gas Inc., a five-person company near Minneapolis that has leased the mineral rights under 32,000 acres (13,000 hectares) in the North Dakota Bakken.

Reger, 32, brought the hedge fund managers up to see the oil field. Some, like Ryan Zorn of Houston-based investment management firm Saracen Energy Advisors LP, are investors in Northern already. Northern shares have risen 61 percent since being listed on the American Stock Exchange on March 26.

Fool's Gold

For decades, the Bakken was the fool's gold of the oil industry. The name describes a geological formation that looks like an Oreo cookie: two layers of black shale that bleed oil into the middle layer of dolomite. It's named after Henry O. Bakken, the North Dakota farmer who owned the land where the first drilling rig revealed the shale layers in the 1950s.

All of the layers are thin -- about 150 feet altogether -- and none of them give up oil easily. In older, vertical wells, oil would often flow for a month and then fizzle.

Now, companies like Austin, Texas-based Brigham Exploration Co.; Denver-based Whiting Petroleum Corp.; and EOG are drilling horizontally. They go straight down 10,000 feet and then put a slight angle in the mud motor, a 30-foot piece of tubing that drives the bit, so they hit the Bakken sideways, making a horizontal tunnel 4,500 feet long through the dolomite.

That exposes more of the oil-bearing rock. Then they pump pressurized water and sand into the hole to fracture the dolomite, making cracks for oil to seep through.

It eventually winds up in a pipeline that runs east to Clearbrook, Minnesota, and then south to Chicago.

Where Billionaires Roam

Several billionaires are at work in the Bakken. Harold Hamm's Enid, Oklahoma-based Continental Resources Inc. has leases on 487,000 acres in Montana and North Dakota. Hamm, who started out driving a truck, owns 73 percent of Continental, worth $7.9 billion. Philip Anschutz, 68, founder of Qwest Communications International Inc. and Regal Entertainment Group, is there, too.

So are two sons of billionaire H.L. Hunt, the 1930s wildcatter. Petro-Hunt LLC is owned by the trust estate of William Herbert Hunt, who was convicted in a civil trial with his brothers Lamar and Nelson Bunker of trying to corner the silver market in 1979. Hunt Oil Co., another Bakken operator, is owned by their half brother, Ray L. Hunt.

The big winner so far has been EOG, formerly a subsidiary of bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. It drilled a horizontal well in western North Dakota just north of Parshall -- population 1,028 -- in April 2006. The well came online a month later and kicked out 1,883 barrels in the first seven days. Unlike the older vertical wells, it's still going. In March, it produced 2,305 barrels, according to the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

No Slam Dunk

EOG has eight rigs running on 320,000 acres of mineral leases in the North Dakota Bakken. The company said in its 2007 annual report that the area has the highest return of all the places in which it operates -- including Texas's Barnett Shale, the Gulf of Mexico coast and the Permian Basin of New Mexico.

The Bakken isn't foolproof. Far from it. Drilling there is expensive -- about $5 million a well, according to EOG -- and takes experience. Dallas-based Petro-Hunt's first well in the North Dakota Bakken didn't make money, company geologist Steve Bressler says. Brigham's Bergstrom Family Trust well came online at 277 barrels a day -- viable at today's high oil prices but not a gusher.

``There will be variances,'' says John Gerdes, an oil and gas analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. in Houston. ``The rock matters. The people matter.''

Oil Rush

The success of EOG's Parshall well set off a land grab in North Dakota's Mountrail County. Land men -- the experts who move from boom to boom leasing mineral rights -- swarmed, paying ever higher prices for ground that for decades grew crops and concealed Cold War missile silos.

On private acreage, land men negotiate with mineral owners like Bartelson. They offer a bonus upfront to hold the mineral rights for three to five years, and they agree to pay a fraction of the revenue from any oil produced each month -- often from 1/8 to 3/16. On land with a producing well, the mineral lease lasts as long as the well does. On government land, the bonus is set at auction.

Bartelson in 2004 granted a five-year lease on 1,400 acres, under which he owns half the mineral rights. He got a bonus of $25 per mineral acre, or $17,500, plus one-sixth of any oil revenue. Times have changed since then. In November, Sinclair Oil Corp. of Salt Lake City paid $16,500 an acre at auction for half the mineral rights on 320 acres of government- owned land in the Parshall Field, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

`No Acreage'

``That's a record for Montana and North Dakota,'' BLM spokesman Greg Albright says.

Among the biggest companies punching holes in the North Dakota Bakken are Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp., the fourth- largest U.S. oil company, and Hess Corp. of New York, which is No. 5. No. 1 Exxon Mobil Corp. isn't active in the Bakken. John Freeman, an analyst at investment bank Raymond James & Associates Inc. in Houston, says Exxon is looking for bigger deposits overseas.

``Now, there's no acreage left,'' he says.

The truest believer in the Bakken might be Reger, the CEO of Northern Oil. He's certainly the loudest promoter.

Reger is a fourth-generation oilman. His great-grandfather managed operations for Mobil Oil, now part of Exxon Mobil, in the Williston Basin, the 110,000-square-mile (285,000-square- kilometer) geological formation in the northern plains that holds the Bakken and other deposits. Reger's grandfather leased land atop all of them. His father, uncle and brother are in the business, too.

``It's our basin,'' Reger says.

Bakken Hunters

If it works out the way Reger says, he and his partner, a former derivatives trader named Ryan Gilbertson, will be the Sergey Brin and Larry Page of the Bakken. Like the Google Inc. founders, Reger and Gilbertson are young -- Gilbertson is also 32 -- and they aren't afraid to roll the dice.

The lanky, blue-eyed Reger wears cowboy boots and a saucer-sized belt buckle emblazoned with an ``R.'' He vacationed this year in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and insisted on a stopover to see Dubai's building boom. Gilbertson, meantime, shot a 10-foot-tall brown bear at eight paces in Alaska in 2007. He has a picture of him and the dead bear on the wall in his office.

`Son o' pregnant doges'

The future partners met while boating on Lake Minnetonka, outside Minneapolis. Gilbertson is from the area and traded derivatives for Piper Jaffray Cos. and a hedge fund firm named Telluride Asset Management LLC in nearby Wayzata, where Northern is based. Reger moved from Montana to St. Paul to attend the University of St. Thomas.

``We're both cowboy-boot-wearing, country-music-listening, gun-toting sons o' pregnant doges,'' Gilbertson says. These days, they both drive black Cadillac Escalade SUVs and wear designer jeans.

Gilbertson says he knows more about interest-only mortgage bonds than he does about oil. But he says Northern will succeed because he and Reger weren't in business during the busts of earlier decades, so they aren't gun-shy today.

When EOG hit oil, they leased as many mineral rights in Mountrail County as they could, even as prices rose.

``The fear of these busts has clouded the judgment of so many players,'' Gilbertson says. ``We just grabbed everything with both hands.''

Turning Over Leases

Northern makes money without actually drilling or operating wells. Its strategy is like the game of Monopoly: lease in promising areas and get paid when someone else uses the land to drill.

The strategy is possible because of the way land is assembled for drilling. Reger's grandfather, uncle and father had made their money as lease brokers: They'd lease the land themselves or buy leases already granted and then sell them at higher prices to exploration companies.

Reger and Gilbertson intend to keep their leases, pay a share of the drilling costs and keep a portion of the oil revenue. Gilbertson says it was his idea. ``I saw the family's model as flawed,'' he says.

Leasing mineral rights means finding mineral owners. That's not always easy, because the farmer who owns the surface may not own the ``minerals,'' as they're known. Farmers can sell land and retain the minerals. When a mineral owner dies, the rights are often passed in equal portions to his or her children, Reger says, making them hard to track down.

Hauling County Records

To find mineral owners in Mountrail County, land men spend months in the courthouse, poring over photo-album-sized books that show who owns mineral rights and whether they've been leased.

One day in April, there were 50 people lugging books around. They line up well before the courthouse opens to get a spot on the first floor so they don't have to haul volumes up the stairs to an old law library that's been filled with folding tables to accommodate the horde.

Reger started leasing land for oil and gas exploration in Montana at age 15. He carried a portable typewriter to bang out contracts on landowners' kitchen tables.

It takes more than mineral rights to drill. Most western states are divided into neat little squares called sections. Each is one square mile, or 640 acres. If you want to drill an oil well in a section, you lease the mineral rights inside it. You don't need all of them, but you have to find all of the rights owners in that section and offer to let them participate.

This is where Northern makes its money.

Watching Permits

Reger's favorite time of day is 4 p.m., when the North Dakota Industrial Commission posts the names of companies that have gotten permits to drill. Very often, a rig is heading to a section in which Northern has mineral rights. He knows then that it will be a matter of time before he gets a letter from the company asking if he wants to share the cost -- and the revenue -- based on the percentage of mineral rights Northern controls in that section. He almost always says yes.

Reger makes it look easy because the Bakken is hot, says Summerfield ``Sam'' Baldridge, a partner at Montana Oil & Gas Properties Inc., founded by Reger's uncle, Steve, in Billings, Montana. Bigger companies are eager to drill, their wells are producing and oil prices are high.

``If it goes bad, you can go broke really quick,'' Baldridge says. ``You have to have guts and capital.''

Booms and Busts

Baldridge, 51, knows from experience. He was leasing mineral rights for Mobil in Montana in February 1986 when he heard on the radio that oil prices had plunged. In two days, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $15 from $20.

``We knew it was history,'' Baldridge says. ``From Calgary to Houston, everything went south.''

North Dakota has seen booms and busts from an array of oil deposits. The Bakken began forming 360 million years ago from dead algae that sank to the bottom of an ancient sea, where they were buried by successive layers of rock. Heat and pressure turned the algae into oil-saturated shale. Now it lies like a buried blanket under much of the Williston Basin.

Amerada Petroleum Corp. roughnecks started drilling what would become the first well in North Dakota on Sept. 3, 1950. They went through the Bakken before producing oil from deeper Silurian dolomite on April 4, 1951. A year later, Amerada (now Hess) finished the Henry O. Bakken well. Cuttings from the hole showed the shale layers that are now known by the same name.

Finding Porosity

Exploration in the Williston Basin grew for a few decades after that, ebbing and flowing with the price of oil. Mostly, drillers pursued deposits deeper than the Bakken. Those who tried to exploit it usually failed. The oil wouldn't keep flowing. ``Bakken was a four-letter word,'' says Dick Findley, a geologist in Billings.

In 1996, Findley, now 56, had a revelation. The consultant-turned-oilman went out to his rig in eastern Montana one night to check on things. At 2 a.m., it hit the Bakken dolomite and produced an unexpected rush of oil. Oil expands as it forms, and the pressure drives it into rock fractures. In the past, the dolomite hadn't seemed porous enough or fractured enough to release it.

``We got porosity that I didn't know existed,'' Findley says.

Findley and his partner, a land man named Bob Robinson, thought they could re-enter old wells and blast the middle dolomite layer with pressurized water to make cracks for crude to flow. They produced oil but not enough. So they turned to horizontal drilling. The technique had been around for decades.

500 Wells

Some had tried horizontal drilling in the Bakken in the early 1990s. They had aimed for the upper shale layer, though. Findley thought they could produce more by staying in the middle dolomite, even though the best, most porous rock was just 10 feet thick.

They drilled their first horizontal well in May 2000, blasted it with water, and the oil flowed. The field is called Elm Coulee, and today there are more than 500 wells there. Findley sold much of his interest to investors who could afford the drilling, though he still has an override -- a small percentage of any production.

Findley's success got others thinking about the Bakken. One was Michael Johnson, an independent geologist in Denver. Montana and North Dakota require companies to make public the information they collect when drilling, including gamma ray logs, which register the location of oil-bearing shale. Johnson examined logs from hundreds of wells east of Elm Coulee. He zeroed in on a dry one in Mountrail County that had similarities.

Word of Mouth

Johnson and two partners, land man Henry Gordon and geologist Robert Berry, leased about 38,000 acres in the area and shopped the mineral rights around. EOG bought 75 percent across all of the acres. In April 2006, EOG started drilling near a stream called Shell Creek. Workers drilled down some 9,000 feet and then started angling into the Bakken. They hit natural gas and crude.

Oil companies try to keep discoveries quiet so they can snap up more leases around them. Information travels fast in the Williston, though, where all of the roughnecks and rig operators know one another. Reger and Gilbertson had just formed Northern Oil when they got word from a lawyer in Montana that EOG had hit a big one. Reger sent his brother J.R. to lease as much land as he could, as close as he could, to EOG.

Pathfinder

In April, Reger took his busload of hedge fund managers to a well called Pathfinder being drilled by Slawson Exploration Co. out of Wichita, Kansas. Northern owns only 3 percent of Pathfinder but has land all around it. Success here would almost certainly mean more drilling in adjacent sections.

``From this location, we are literally masters of all we survey,'' Reger says.

The drill had hit the Bakken layer two weeks earlier, on Easter Sunday, producing a burst of natural gas. Where there's gas, there's often oil. As the rig clanks and groans like a motorized Godzilla, the hedge fund managers gather inside the trailer and crowd around the desk of Jon Starkweather, a ``mud logger'' who analyzes the rock chips coming up the hole. His window is covered with long charts that look like electrocardiograms.

``We landed this one just right,'' the bearded Starkweather says. Recent gas ventings, called kicks, confirm it.

Even if Reger and Gilbertson stopped gathering more mineral leases, they would make a fortune on what they have already, Reger says.

``I could take a nap for two years under my desk and wake up a hero,'' he says.

Millionaires

Reger's 14 percent stake in Northern is worth about $49 million. Gilbertson has shares worth $24 million. Whiting Petroleum's shares have more than doubled in the past 12 months, triple the 34 percent gain for a group of 96 energy companies in the Russell 2000 Index.

The other people doing well in the Bakken are the mineral owners under the oil wells -- folks like John Bartelson. Whiting paid them $56 million in 2007. EOG declines to say what it paid, though it's certainly more because it operates more wells. Whiting gets much of its Bakken revenue from shares of EOG wells it owns. It acquired them by buying Robert Berry's remaining stake in the Parshall acreage after EOG struck oil.

Bartelson's checks are about to get bigger. One more EOG well just came online, he says, and another is about to be fractured with water. Still another has been permitted for drilling. For now, he's farming. The oil market is fickle, he says. Previous crashes drove the rigs out of North Dakota for years, leaving only the wheat.

``It'll crash again,'' Bartelson says, sipping on a late- afternoon cup of coffee beside his tractor.

Maybe so. But with crude trading above $125 a barrel, it'll be a long time before the rigs leave again, and John Bartelson is likely to be a wealthy man before they do.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Effinger in Portland, Oregon, at [e-mail]

Last Updated: June 3, 2008 02:26 EDT

[sandi66]

Re: XTO Energy makes Bakken Shale buy
« Result #19 on May 29, 2008, 10:31am »

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Deal struck on Bakken land
By The Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. - Two Texas companies have reached a $1.85 billion deal on oil-producing properties and undeveloped land in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana.

North Dakota Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said it's the biggest oil transaction on record for the state's part of the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken formation.

"This is a major deal," Helms said.

XTO Energy, of Fort Worth, announced Wednesday that it would buy 352,000 acres of Bakken shale land in Montana and North Dakota from Headington Oil Co., a privately held company based in Dallas.

XTO said the deal includes $1.06 billion in cash and common stock valued at $790 million, or $67.35 per share.

Gary Simpson, an XTO vice president, said the agreement includes all Headington's "assets, field people and operations people," though he did not immediately have a figure on the total number of jobs.

"XTO has never been in the Bakken before and it's my understanding that Headington will now pull out completely," Helms said.

Headington officials did not immediately return telephone calls or an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Headington said last month that it had about 150 wells working in the Bakken - about 100 of them in Montana - with plans to drill at least 100 more. The company has said it was among the first to successfully drill beneath Lake Sakakawea earlier this year, using horizontal drilling technology.

Simpson said XTO currently produces about 50,000 barrels of oil daily, mostly in western Texas. He said the Bakken acquisition, which is expected to close by July 15, will increase the company's production by 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

The Bakken deal is the second biggest in company history, Simpson said, behind a $2.5 billion acquisition last June of utility company Dominion Resources Inc.'s operations in the Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, New Mexico's San Juan Basin and South Louisiana.

The Bakken shale formation encompasses about 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of the acreage is in western North Dakota, where the oil is trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface.

The U.S. Geological Survey released a study last month that estimated that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana, using current technology.

The Geological Survey said about 105 million barrels of oil have been produced from the Bakken through last year. The Elm Coulee oil field discovered in 2000 in eastern Montana, near the North Dakota border, has produced about 65 million barrels of the total, the agency said.

XTO estimates there are 68 million barrels of oil in proven reserves on the land it acquired from Headington. The acquisition's primary producing field is in the Elm Coulee oil field, the company said.

www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/05/29/news/state/48-bakken.txt

[sandi66]

Re: XTO Energy makes Bakken Shale buy
« Result #20 on May 29, 2008, 8:37am »

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$1.85 billion deal reached on Bakken land
May 29, 2008

Two Texas companies have reached a $1.85 billion deal on oil-producing properties and undeveloped land in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana.

North Dakota Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said it's the biggest oil transaction on record for the state's part of the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken formation.

"This is a major deal," Helms said.

XTO Energy, of Fort Worth, announced Wednesday that it would buy 352,000 acres of Bakken shale land in Montana and North Dakota from Headington Oil Co., a privately held company based in Dallas.

XTO said the deal includes $1.06 billion in cash and common stock valued at $790 million, or $67.35 per share.

Gary Simpson, an XTO vice president, said the agreement includes all Headington's "assets, field people and operations people," though he did not immediately have a figure on the total number of jobs.

"XTO has never been in the Bakken before and it's my understanding that Headington will now pull out completely," Helms said.

Headington officials did not immediately return telephone calls or an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Headington said last month that it had about 150 wells working in the Bakken - about 100 of them in Montana - with plans to drill at least 100 more. The company has said it was among the first to successfully drill beneath Lake Sakakawea earlier this year, using horizontal drilling technology.

Simpson said XTO currently produces about 50,000 barrels of oil daily, mostly in west Texas. He said the Bakken acquisition, which is expected to close by July 15, will increase the company's production by 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

The Bakken deal is the second biggest in company history, Simpson said, behind a $2.5 billion acquisition last June of utility company Dominion Resources Inc.'s operations in the Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, New Mexico's San Juan Basin and South Louisiana.

The Bakken shale formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of the acreage is in western North Dakota, where the oil is trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface.

The U.S. Geological Survey released a study last month that estimated up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana, using current technology.

The Geological Survey said about 105 million barrels of oil have been produced from the Bakken through last year. The Elm Coulee oil field discovered in 2000 in eastern Montana, near the North Dakota border, has produced about 65 million barrels of the total, the agency said.

XTO estimates there are 68 million barrels of oil in proven reserves on the land it acquired from Headington. The acquisition's primary producing field is in the Elm Coulee oil field, the company said.

www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/05/29/news/state/156621.txt

[sandi66]

Pipeline to tap Bakken gas
LOADING
May 20, 2008 - 04:05:32 CDT
By JAMES MacPHERSON
Associated Press Writer
A Bismarck company is planning a 100-mile-long pipeline to carry natural gas from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana to an existing pipeline that moves the gas to Chicago.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co., a unit of MDU Resources Group Inc., hopes to have the pipeline completed in mid-2010, said Tim Rasmussen, a company spokesman.

The announcement was made on Monday by the pipeline's parent company, WBI Holdings Inc.

The pipeline's cost is pegged at between $50 million and $75 million, and it initially will carry 100 million cubic feet of natural gas daily, or enough to power about 400,000 homes in a year, Rasmussen said. The pipeline's capacity is 200 million cubic feet daily, he said.

The 16-inch pipeline will originate and connect with Williston Basin's existing pipeline system near Tioga in the northwestern corner of North Dakota, Rasmussen said. It will connect with the Alliance Pipeline Ltd.'s pipeline in Bottineau County, near Antler, about 10 miles from the Canadian border, he said.

Alliance Pipeline is a 2,300-mile pipeline system that extends from northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta to the Chicago hub, where the gas is sold to Midwest and East Coast markets.

"The Alliance Pipeline comes through the heart of North Dakota," Rasmussen said. "This provides another market outlet for gas being produced in the Bakken."

The government estimated last month that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil can be recovered from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana, using current technology.

The U.S. Geological Survey called it the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.

The Bakken Formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of the acreage is in western North Dakota, where the oil is trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface.

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said the pipeline would provide more markets for the liquid natural gas produced in the Bakken.

"A lot of the gas being produced now is trucked," Ness said. "This would eliminate truck traffic and provide a market for this high-value, rich Bakken gas."

Rasmussen said there are no plans to pipe the Bakken gas to markets in North Dakota.

Montana-Dakota Utilities, another MDU subsidiary, has about 85,000 natural gas customers.

The utility serves most of North Dakota's largest cities, including Bismarck, Dickinson, Devils Lake, Jamestown, Mandan, Minot, Valley City and Williston.

www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/05/20/news/state/155935.txt

[sandi66]

Brigham Exploration Acquires Rights : Bakken
« Result #22 on May 6, 2008, 9:52pm »

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Brigham Exploration Acquires Rights to Approximately 48,000 Additional Net Acres in the Williston Basin Bakken Play and Provides an Operational Update
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - May 6, 2008) - Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQ: BEXP) announced the acquisition of approximately 48,000 additional net acres of leasehold west of the Nesson Anticline in the Williston Basin Bakken play, bringing its acreage holdings in the Basin to approximately 287,000 net acres. The company also announced that completion operations are underway on its fifth Mountrail County horizontal Bakken well, and that it is currently drilling its first well in its North Stanley extensional area. Brigham also announced the apparently successful drilling of its second 2008 Vicksburg well, with its third Vicksburg well currently drilling.

SIGNIFICANT WELLS RECENTLY COMPLETED, COMPLETING, DRILLING OR PREPARING TO DRILL


Resource Plays Objective WI% NRI Status / Comments
-------------- --------- --- --- -----------------

Manitou State Bakken 100% 81% Completing Mountrail Co. Bakken well
36 #1H ~1 mile northeast of Hynek 2 #1H,
results late May

Johnson 33 #1H Bakken 38% 30% Currently drilling lateral section of
North Stanley extensional area well,
results expected in June

Carkuff 22 #1H Bakken 67% 55% Late May spud of western offset to
Bakke 23 #1H

5th Ross Area Bakken 25% 21% July spud of southern offset to Bakke
Well 23 #1H

Southern Ext. Bakken 100% 85% August spud in southern extensional
Well area where Brigham controls over
36,000 net acres

Fidelity Farhart Bakken 3% 2.5% North Stanley area well completing,
11-11H flowing back fracture stimulation,
results late May

Headington Nesson Bakken 17% 14% Completing Mountrail Co. consortium
State 41 X 36H Bakken well, results expected in June

Headington Nesson Bakken 17% 14% Completed the drilling of Mountrail
State 42 X 36H Co. Consortium Bakken monitoring well

Headington Nesson Bakken 17% 14% Completing third Mountrail Co.
State 44 X 36H Consortium Bakken well, results
expected in June

EOG Austin Bakken 25% 20% Projected June spud of offset to EOG
25-35H Austin 8-26 #1H which commenced at
initial rate of 3,060 Bopd

EOG Wayzetta Bakken 25% 20% Projected August spud of well
13-01H proximal to Austin 8-26#1H

Mrachek 15-22 1H Bakken 100% 79% Horizontal sidetrack of McKenzie Co.
ND Bakken well remediated after
casing leak, frac scheduled for May,
with results expected in late May or
June

Krejci Fed. Mowry 50% 40% Recently fracture stimulated with
#1-32H swell packers, currently testing



Conventional
Wells Objective WI% NRI Status / Comments
------------ --------- --- --- -----------------

Sullivan C-38 Vicksburg 100% 76% Successfully completed and cleaning
up at current rate of approximately
3.2 MMcfed

Sullivan C-39 Vicksburg 100% 76% Currently completing Home Run Field
development well after encountering
137' of apparent pay

Sullivan F-35 Vicksburg 100% 76% Dawson Sand development well in
Triple Crown Field currently drilling
@ 11,200', results expected in late
May

Palacios #1 Melbourne 28% 25% Planned June spud of development well
offsetting producer in Matagorda
County

Richardson 30 #1 Red River 75% 60% Currently drilling offset to
Richardson 25 #1 at depth of ~2,130'

Cary Sr. Estate Oligocene 40% 29% Currently completing Southern
#1 Louisiana discovery

SL 18826 #1 Miocene 50% 39% Planned May spud of 1st of 5 planned
2008 JV wells to test amplitude
related prospects, total depth
~8,000'

SL 19312 #1 Miocene 50% 39% Planned May spud of 2nd of 5 planned
2008 JV wells in Chandeleur Sound Blk
68, total depth ~9,700'

SL 19054 #1 Miocene 50% 38% Planned June spud of 3rd of 5 planned
2008 JV wells testing amplitude
attribute @ total depth ~8,000'

Cotten Land #5 Miocene 43% 33% Planned July spud of acceleration
well developing behind pipe pay in
Cotten Land #3 producer

Williston Basin

Acreage Growth to approximately 287,000 Net Acres -- Brigham has acquired the rights to approximately 48,000 net acres of additional leasehold west of the Nesson Anticline. Brigham purchased the leasehold from a private operator in the trend. As a result, Brigham now controls approximately 199,000 net acres of leasehold west of the Nesson Anticline, in western North Dakota and Eastern Montana. To the east, in Mountrail County, North Dakota and the surrounding area, Brigham controls over 88,000 net acres. In total, Brigham now controls approximately 287,000 net acres in the Williston Basin, with additional leasing activity ongoing.

Bud Brigham, the Chairman, President and CEO, stated, "We're very pleased to have acquired this substantial leasehold position as it provides very substantial potential option value for our shareholders. We expect the improved drilling and completion techniques we're utilizing east of the Nesson Anticline to positively impact the economics of our acreage in the western portions of the Basin. Importantly, the 48,000 net acres provides us with the right to explore all potential producing objectives, including the shallower Madison and Mission Canyon, as well as the deeper Red River. In addition to the currently completing Mrachek 15-22 1H, we believe it's likely we will drill at least one additional horizontal Bakken well west of the Nesson Anticline during the second half of the year, with significant activity anticipated for 2009."

Mountrail County and Extensional Area Operated Activity -- Brigham successfully drilled and is currently completing its fifth operated Mountrail County horizontal Bakken well, the Manitou State 36 #1H. The Manitou State 36 #1H is located approximately one mile northeast of the Brigham operated Hynek 2 #1H and approximately five miles northwest of the Brigham operated Bakke 23 #1H. Results for the Manitou State 36 #1H are expected in late May.

Following the Manitou State 36 #1H, in April Brigham commenced the Johnson 33 #1H in the North Stanley area, which is approximately 16 miles north northwest of the Bakke 23 #1H, and where Brigham controls approximately 5,800 net acres. The Johnson 33 #1H is bracketed to the west and northwest by Fidelity and St. Mary drilling rigs and permits, and to the east and north by the EOG Clearwater and Vanville permits. The Johnson 33 #1H is currently drilling with good shows in the lateral section, with results expected in June.

In early June, Brigham plans to commence its fourth Ross Area well, the Carkuff 22 #1H, which will be followed by its fifth Ross Area well, a south offset to the Bakke 23 #1H. Brigham controls over 27,000 net acres in the Ross Area. Assuming full development on 640 acre spacing, the Ross Area could require over 100 gross, or 42 net wells for full development.

In August, Brigham plans to commence the first well in its south extensional area, where the company controls over 36,000 net acres. Brigham currently plans to keep this operated rig running continuously to drill horizontal Bakken wells in North Dakota.

Parshall/Austin Area Non-Operated Bakken Drilling Activity -- Brigham controls approximately 8,700 net acres in the Parshall/Austin area, which provides for drilling over 13 net wells assuming 640 acre spacing. The company will retain significant working interests in three recently permitted Parshall/Austin area EOG wells proximal to recent high rate Bakken completions. Brigham expects to retain a 25% working interest in the EOG Austin 25-35H in section 35 of 154N-90W, which is expected to spud in June. This well is a south offset to EOG's recently announced Austin 8-26H, which was reported to have commenced production at a rate of approximately 3,060 barrels per day.

One mile to the southeast, Brigham also expects to retain a 25% working interest in the recently permitted EOG operated Wayzetta 13-01H in section 1 of T153N-R90W. The EOG Wayzetta 13-01H is reportedly expected to commence in August.

Approximately four miles to the west, EOG has permitted the Austin 22-31H in section 31 of 154N-90W, which is expected to commence in October. Brigham expects to retain an approximate 25% working interest in this well, which is roughly one mile east of the Murex Jacob Daniel 25-36H in section 36 of 154N-91W. The Jacob Daniel was reported to be producing approximately 750 barrels of oil per day after having already produced roughly 17,000 barrels, with a reported estimated ultimate recovery of over 1 million barrels of oil.

Brigham has additional ownership interests in five sections offsetting three of EOG's discoveries drilled in sections 2, 3 and 9 of 154N-90W. As reported by EOG, these discoveries apparently produced at initial rates of approximately 2,000 barrels of oil per day. Brigham's working interests in the five potential wells is expected to range between 1.6% and 12.5%.

Bud Brigham stated, "Given continued drilling successes and accelerating activity by EOG and other operators in the Parshall/Austin area, we expect to participate in a significant number of non-operated wells during the second half of 2008 and into 2009. In addition, our operated rig line is continuing with the Johnson 33 #1H well in our North Stanley area, which is an important test for us. Subsequent to drilling the Johnson 33 #1H, we'll drill two wells to further delineate and develop our Ross Area, where we could ultimately drill over 42 net wells on our approximate 27,000 net acres, assuming 640 acre spacing. Given that operators have drilled approximately two laterals per section thus far in the Elm Coulee Bakken Field in Montana, we believe there is excellent potential for higher density development of our Ross and Parshall/Austin areas."

Vicksburg Development Drilling -- Brigham recently completed its first 2008 Vicksburg well, the Floyd Fault Block Sullivan C-38, at an initial rate of approximately 3.2 MMcfe per day. Brigham is currently completing its second 2008 Vicksburg well, the Home Run Field Sullivan C-39, which encountered approximately 137 feet of apparent net pay. Brigham is currently drilling its third 2008 Vicksburg well, the Triple Crown Field Sullivan F-35, with results expected by late May.

Bud Brigham stated, "After an eight month gap in Vicksburg completions to reprocess and reinterpret our 3-D seismic, we're pleased to have kicked off our 2008 Vicksburg program with two apparently successful wells. Although these wells will only partially impact our second quarter production volumes, all three wells should fully impact our third quarter volumes."

About Brigham Exploration

Brigham Exploration Company is a leading independent exploration and production company that applies 3-D seismic imaging and other advanced technologies to systematically explore and develop onshore domestic natural gas and oil provinces. For more information about Brigham Exploration, please visit our website at www.bexp3d.com or contact Investor Relations at 512-427-3444.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements include our growth strategies, our ability to successfully and economically explore for and develop oil and gas resources, anticipated trends in our business‚ our liquidity and ability to finance our exploration and development activities‚ market conditions in the oil and gas industry‚ our ability to make and integrate acquisitions, the impact of governmental regulation and other risks more fully described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements may be expressed differently. All forward-looking statements contained in this release, including any forecasts and estimates, are based on management's outlook only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of subsequent developments or otherwise.

Contact:
Rob Roosa
Finance Manager
[phone]

www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=853105

[sandi66]

Petro Resources Corporation PRs
« Result #23 on Apr 30, 2008, 10:09am »

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Petro Resources Provides Operations Update
Wednesday April 30, 9:49 am ET


HOUSTON, TX--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 30, 2008 -- Petro Resources Corporation (AMEX:PRC - News) ("the Company") provides an update on the results from operations for year-to-date 2008.
ADVERTISEMENT


Cinco Terry Project

In the Cinco Terry Field, located in Crockett County Texas, the Company in association with the operator, Approach Resources Inc. (NasdaqGM:AREX - News) ("Approach"), has been successful in efforts to acquire additional acreage adjacent to the existing acreage position. A total of 9,482 gross acres of leasehold interest was acquired in two transactions. Approach, as operator for the Company and the other working interest owners in the project, participated in The University of Texas System's 113th Lease Sale. In a sealed-bid auction, Approach purchased approximately 7,843 gross acres for a total cash consideration of $1,900,000. Approach also acquired another 1,639 gross acres from third party operator for cash consideration of $216,000. The Company believes the acreage is prospective for Ellenberger and Canyon Sands production. The additional acreage expands the Cinco Terry Field acreage to a total of approximately 31,382 gross acres. The Company has approximately a 10% working interest in the Cinco Terry Field.

Year-to-date, 21 wells have been drilled and completed in Cinco Terry Field, 13 Ellenberger wells and 8 Canyon wells. As of December 31, 2007, the Company reported estimated proved reserves of approximately 600 Mboe (thousand barrels of oil equivalent) from the Cinco Terry Field. The field is currently being developed on 80 acre spacing with two rigs currently running on a full time basis. The operator has identified 119 additional drilling locations on currently held joint venture acreage.

Williston Basin

Subject to rig availability, the Company expects to spud its first deep test of the Newporte exploration prospect in early May. The Company conducted a 3-D seismic survey of the entire 4,400 acre prospect in the fourth quarter of 2007 and spent the first quarter of 2008 analyzing the data and selecting well locations.

The primary target for this well is the Deadwood Sandstone formation at approximately 9,500 feet. The well will penetrate several formations that are productive in other parts of North Dakota including the Bakken and Red River. The Company plans to take core samples from these formations for analysis. The Company expects that drilling and testing operations will be completed within 60 days from spud date.

Also within the next 120 days the Company plans to drill one new developmental horizontal well in the East Flaxton Madison Unit to capture additional primary production. The Company will also drill two new developmental horizontal wells in the re-pressurized Mohall Madison Unit. The Mohall Madison Unit will be the second unit in the Company's water flood re-pressurization program to have new horizontal production wells drilled.

In the Kolbo prospect, the Company has successfully drilled and completed the Overton 10-20 well. This well was drilled up-dip from a well drilled last year that produced for a short period of time. The well is currently producing about 25 barrels of oil per day along with approximately 200 barrels of water. The Company is currently evaluating the optimization of production from this well.

As of December 31, 2007, the Company reported estimated proved reserves of 2,300,000 boe (barrels of oil equivalent) from the Williston Basin.

East Chalkley Project

The Company recently reached an agreement to acquire a 34.375% working interest in the East Chalkley Project located in Cameron Parish Louisiana. East Chalkley is an oil field appraisal and development project. The project operated by Centurion Exploration Company, a privately owned company, headquartered in Houston, Texas.

The oil accumulation on the east flank of the Chalkley Field is a previously unidentified down-dip oil leg associated with a gas field. The producing fault block has been mapped using 3-D seismic as a three-way closure and has been confirmed by an existing well which is currently producing.

The initial well is scheduled to commence drilling in May and will offset the existing producing well.

Management Comments

Mr. Donald Kirkendall, President of Petro Resources said: "This has already been a very busy year for Petro Resources and the next 90 days look even busier as we get into the meat of our 2008 drilling program. We are excited about operations in North Dakota with both the Newporte exploration project and the continued progress in our water flood re-pressurization program. We expect to realize increases in production from both East Flaxton and Mohall." Mr. Kirkendall went on to say: "The additional acreage in the Cinco Terry Field is very important as the field has become a significant contributor to our growth since development began in 2007."

About Petro Resources

Petro Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition of properties and leases, exploration, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas in the continental United States.

Forward-looking Statements

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements, without limitation, regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: (1) the Company's proposed exploration and drilling operations on its various properties, (2) the expected production and revenue from its various properties, and (3) estimates regarding the reserve potential of its various properties. These statements are qualified by important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to: (1) the Company's ability to finance the continued exploration and drilling operations on its various properties, (2) positive confirmation of the reserves, production and operating expenses associated with its various properties; and (3) the general risks associated with oil and gas exploration and development, including those risks and factors described from time to time in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur.



Contact:
Contact:
Brad Holmes
Investor Relations
[phone]
or
Don Kirkendall
President
[phone]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Petro Resources Corporation

biz.yahoo.com/iw/080430/0392098.html

[sandi66]

Fairborne Energy Ltd. makes offer for Grand Banks Energy Corporation
THE CANADIAN PRESS
April 29, 2008

CALGARY - Fairborne Energy (TSX:FEL) is making a $112-million bid for Grand Banks Energy Corporation (TSXV:GBE), offering to pay $2.90 cash per share.

In a joint statement, the companies say the Grand Banks board of directors has unanimously approved the proposed transaction, saying it is in the best interests of its shareholders.

The offer represents a premium of approximately 30 per cent to the prior 30-day average price of shares of Grand Banks, a TSX Venture listed junior exploration and production company.

Grand Banks operations are focused in southeast Saskatchewan, southwest Manitoba and west central Alberta.

Fairborne said in the statement that it believes there are significant development opportunities in Grand Banks' Sinclair area light oil properties located in the Williston Basin.

Fairborne also says it has agreed to sell its West Pembina sulphur inventory estimated to be 200,000 metric tonnes to Mosaic Fertilizer, the largest sulphur consumer in the U.S.

finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investin....umentid=7044139

[sandi66]

Oil brings in record numbers - HUGE
« Result #25 on Apr 24, 2008, 8:58pm »

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Oil brings in record numbers
LOADING
Apr 24, 2008 - 04:07:02 CDT
By LAUREN DONOVAN
Bismarck Tribune
Hard as it is to get a hotel room in Minot, a person would think Garth Brooks was playing for free at the fairgrounds.

If that was your first guess, you'd be wrong.

If your second guess for all the buzz is the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, you'd be right even if it doesn't seem right.

The conference starts Sunday at the Minot Fair Center, ends Tuesday and is breaking all records for attendance in its history.

A good year attracts around 400 attendees.

This year, the conference has more than 1,200 folks registered, coming from across the country and Canada to talk about one thing: oil.

It's grown so much the past month, conference organizers moved it from a hotel setting to Minot's biggest venue.

The conference is normally so technical that even a geologist could glaze over.

Some of it still will be, but there will be sessions on how to get oil out of the Bakken formation, announced two weeks ago to be the largest continuous oil formation ever discovered in this country.

The formation is about 10,000 feet deep in the Williston Basin, and while drill rigs are poking into it left and right across western North Dakota, some companies are having more success than others.

An estimated 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil are in the Bakken. But it's contained in a dense heavy rock, and getting it to flow is tricky and expensive business.

Ron Ness, head of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said some companies will share their knowledge and so will state oil science experts.

"Everybody's after that information, and this is where they'll come to get at least some of it," Ness said.

The "key" to the Bakken, as it's described, comes in properly fracturing the dense formation.

Companies are placing rigs where they're finding natural fractures, as in some Mountrail County locations, or where artificial fracturing shows success, Ness said.

Besides attendees, the conference trade booth center sold out to 180 vendors, who want to showcase everything from tanks to rigs.

One rig set up requires as many as 75 different support services from vendors.

The Bakken will field a lot of attention, but the conference also will deal with pipeline issues, natural gas and provide time for input from Canadian oil producers.

The conference will end at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday with a keynote talk by Michael Economides, a University of Houston researcher and author of several books, including "The Color of Oil."

For information about the conference, go to www.undeerc.org/wbpc/, or call the Petroleum Council at 223-6380.

www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/04/24/news/topnews/154093.txt

[sandi66]

Republicans press Obama to approve oilsands pipeline

March 31, 2011


WASHINGTON — The heated policy debate over Alberta's oilsands took centre stage Thursday in the U.S. Congress, with Republican lawmakers claiming President Barack Obama has "failed to act" swiftly enough to ensure a secure long-term supply of Canadian crude.


A day after Obama said the U.S. will need "steady and stable and reliable" Canadian oil as it slashes overall imports over the next decade, GOP lawmakers said there is an "urgent" need for the U.S. to further tap Canada's market by approving Calgary-based TransCanada's $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta.


One by one, GOP lawmakers on a House foreign affairs subcommittee pressed Obama to sign a presidential permit authorizing construction of the controversial pipeline, which would ship more than 500,000 barrels of oilsands crude a day from northern Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.


"We need to immediately concentrate on replacing foreign oil from thugocrats like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela with reliable, stable allies like Canada," said Rep. Connie Mack, a Florida Republican who chairs the western hemisphere subcommittee.


"This oil will be extracted and sent to Asia if it is not allowed to support our southern (U.S.) refineries."


Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, said Obama's policy on Canadian oil was to "delay, delay, delay" the Keystone XL project. His message to the U.S. president: "It's time to start laying pipe."


The Keystone XL pipeline has been in limbo as the U.S. State Department weighs whether to grant a presidential permit, required because the project crosses an international boundary.


State Department officials delayed the process further last month by ordering a supplemental environmental impact study to address concerns about pipeline safety and climate change issues around oilsands production.


"It makes absolutely no sense to delay this Keystone XL pipeline," said Rep. Jean Schmidt, an Ohio Republican. "Our friends are Canadians. It is always good to do business with friends."


Several pro-pipeline witnesses at Thursday's hearing said growing unrest in the Middle East poses the biggest threat to America's energy security.


Oil from "quiet, stable, friendly" Canada "is not the perfect answer, but a step toward better energy security for the country," said Paul Sullivan, a former National Security Council member and now a Georgetown University professor.


Increasing U.S. access to Canada's oil resources of 175 billion barrels will "keep certain other countries in check," said Sullivan, citing the price shocks often caused by disruption in supply from OPEC nations.


"Canada is not a member of OPEC. It could be a counter to OPEC."


With the Middle East in turmoil, the witnesses said approval of the Keystone XL pipeline would provide Texas refineries with a source of heavy crude that could further offset declining imports from Venezuela.


Venezuela is currently the fifth-biggest supplier of oil to the United States — behind Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Canada is the biggest supplier — providing about 23 per cent of America's oil imports — but Keystone XL would provide a new link to Texas refineries.


"I would rather the U.S. relies on our friends the Canadians — and our own internal sources of unconventional oil, such as shale oil — than on possibly unreliable oil from what could prove to be a declining regime of Hugo Chavez," Sullivan said.


Rejecting Keystone XL would be "energy security folly," he added.


David Goldwyn, an international energy consultant, said in written testimony that getting Canadian oil to Texas would help "moderate" gasoline prices.


"The alternative is to import longer distance crude oil or import more petroleum products," Goldwyn said. "Both those options will drive up gasoline prices and involve additional emissions for transporting that crude or product to the U.S. market."


The lone anti-pipeline witness at the hearing said Keystone XL's construction would do little to shield American consumers from gasoline price spikes.


Jeremy Symons, vice president of the National Wildlife Federation, said prices of Canadian crude had jumped $20 per barrel since the recent crisis in Libya began.


"Why do oil prices in Canada go up when there is conflict in North Africa? Because oil companies don't care about energy security or price stability," Symons said in his written testimony. "They care about profits. And if there is a crisis in one part of the world, you can bet they will gouge us with high oil prices everywhere."


Symons told the congressional committee Alberta's "scorched earth tarsands operations are the most destructive source of oil on the planet."


Rep. Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said he has not made up his mind about Keystone XL. But he said it was important for the State Department to take its time in examining the project's environmental impacts — a lesson the U.S. should have learned from the regulatory failures prior to last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


While increasing Canadian oil imports might reduce U.S. reliance on Middle Eastern oil, "I wonder whether this pipeline actually increases (overall oil) dependence in the long run," Engel said.

www.vancouversun.com/news/Republicans+press+Obama+approve+oilsands+pipeline/4538450/story.html

[sandi66]

Obama signals support for Keystone XL pipeline

By Ed Brayton | 04.01.11 | 8:01 am

In a speech at Georgetown University earlier this week, President Obama appeared to signal his support of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Canada’s Financial Post reports:

Barack Obama may not have mentioned the Keystone XL crude pipeline expansion specifically at Georgetown University on Wednesday, but the themes of his speech nonetheless support the TransCanada Corp. project.

The U.S. president spoke about looking to neighbours with “stready and reliable oil resources,” such as Canada, Mexico and Brazil. He also stated that America will be dependent on oil for “quite some time.”

The State Department will ultimately approve the pipeline, so supporters of the project should be pleased, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Kwan. At the same time, the administration is demonstrating to opponents that it is willing to re-examine the issues surrounding the controversial project.

TransCanada has prepared the market for a delay and the State Department is likely to ask the company to make relatively minor modifications to the project to demonstrate efforts to protect the environment, Mr. Kwan told clients. Then it should issue a Presidential permit. Although this has become a political issue, Congressional approval is not required.

This has been clear for quite some time, that the project will ultimately be approved. The key question is, how much will the U.S. government demand be done to ensure public and environmental safety in the building of the project — especially in the wake of the million-gallon spill of tar sands crude from a pipeline in Calhoun County last year.

michiganmessenger.com/47836/obama-signals-support-for-keystone-xl-pipeline