Dakota

Initial tests of a process used in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota indicate that up to 80% of the water used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) may be recycled successfully, according to the state’s chief oil and natural gas official.

The latest monthly totals for oil and natural gas production in North Dakota show continued growth in September, albeit at a slower pace than previous months, a report from the state Industrial Commission’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) showed Tuesday.

In Montana in a “forgotten corner of the Williston Basin,” a Texas company is gathering up acreage with the expectation that it can turn what some call the False Bakken into a true gem. And if that doesn’t work, northeast Montana has more to offer in and near the Bakken Petroleum System.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. unit Triad Hunter LLC has agreed to buy all of privately-held Viking International Resources Co. Inc. (Virco) for $106.7 million, picking up 51,500 net Appalachian Basin mineral acres in West Virginia and Ohio.

Tulsa, OK-based Unit Corp. said Friday its petroleum subsidiary has closed a previously announced sale of a little more than one-third of its interest in Bakken Shale properties to QEP Energy for $228 million. The deal was final as of July 1, 2012.

Littleton, CO-based American Eagle Energy Corp. expanded its existing carry agreement to accelerate drilling. Last May the company entered into a six-well carry agreement; the amended agreement extends the terms of the financing to an additional four wells, all of which will be drilled in the Bakken or Three Forks zones of its Spyglass Project. “The expansion of our existing carry agreement…allows us to continue aggressively pursuing our development program within the Spyglass Property while minimizing our capital outlay,” said President Brad Colby. The expansion of the scope of the agreement allows American Eagle to contract a second drilling rig to begin drilling infill locations on the Spyglass property. American Eagle expects a second Nabors Drilling rig to arrive by the middle of September and anticipates drilling and completing a total of 12 gross wells (4.2 net) with the two rigs by the end of 2012, including all 10 wells covered by the amended carry agreement.

Officials from North Dakota’s Health and Mineral Resources Departments were busy over the weekend as part of the clean up following a fatal oil well blowout that occurred last Tuesday night, spewing about 400 barrels of crude over surrounding agricultural fields. A health department environmental scientist was assessing the risks of contamination to crops and local water supplies, and the Department of Mineral and Resources coordinated the cordoning off and management of the site itself. New Mexico-based Black Hawk Energy Services was in the process of putting production pumping equipment into place at the partially completed well. One worker was killed when he was run over by a truck being relocated away from the well site. The Williams County Sheriff’s Office told local news media in Williston that the incident is still under investigation. Two parts of the well’s pre-production work had been done, but it was not ready to begin commercial production, state officials told local news media.

In the latest of a rash of energy proposals coming from Republicans, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California Thursday introduced legislation that calls for the Interior Department to add a lease sale off the coast of Virginia to its five-year plan, to step up permitting for energy development on federal lands, and give the go-ahead for the construction of the northern leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale continued climbing in April, according to a state Industrial Commission preliminary report released Wednesday. A continuing supply glut wreaks havoc on prices for Bakken crude, according to an analysis from RBN Energy LLC.