Tom, sorry for the delay. The leasing company is Pacer Energy out of Gilette, WY. Their number is 307-685-3700. The person my brother dealt with is Brent Brothers and his number is 701-580-7196. Sorry, I don’t know the percentage, only the lease amount.
Thanks Patty. I just spoke with Brent. He reported that Marathon had leased enough acreage to explore the area. Depending on what they find, they may or may not being seeking additional acreage. Brent stated they will know more by the fourth quarter of this year. Tom
Thanks Tom for sharing The info with the contact information with Brent of Pacer energy. We were wondering when something may happen in Slope…We have two Sections they have leased in the North East part of the County…Mike
Thanks Patty for the update and phone numbers.
Tom, I’m wondering what they have in the works for the 4th quarter, but it gives us all hope they might start the activity for Slope again.
As much money Marathon spent on that state auction in 2011, I would guess they intend to drill and recapture some of their expenses with those leases.
Snues, My understanding is that between now & the 4th quarter, they are going to poke some holes in the ground. If they like what they see, they will seek more acres in the 4th quarter. At the same time I got the sense they had a budget during the 4the quarter if 2011 to secure some acres. So, it may be that they look at what kind of resources they have going into the end of the year & spend what they can on adding acres. If it is a matter of what they find as they explore, we will all do better than 250.00 per acre or get nothing at all.
Patty, I tried to copy/paste all of the August 2011 State Auction results for Slope county, but there is a 4000 character allowance on this comment. I did paste the ones specific to your minerals. Marathon bid high on this parcel, but not so high on the others. It was Chesapeake Oil that really went bonkers on the amounts they bid. This tells me, among the first sites to drill in Slope will likely be your acreage, so they can recoup their expenses within the State Lease.
OG1101026
135
99
12
NE4
PACER ENERGY LLC
80.00
$1500.
OG1101027
135
99
12
SE4
PACER ENERGY LLC
80.00
$1500.
OG1101028
135
99
12
SW4
PACER ENERGY LLC
80.00
$1500.
Tom, I wonder if that’s considered seismographing, or if they have a newer way to do core samples to see whats down-under. Does this require a state permit to explore or not? I have noticed on the NDIC daily reports where they have a permit to explore a certain area, within other counties. I’ll keep my eyes open to seeing anything permitted along those terms in Slope. It would be awesome if they drilled with some consistant success, even if they’re not a barn burner.
I can see the 4th quarter would be when a company sees the balance of their budgets, as to how much they can use to secure some new leases. Especially exploratory leases in unproven fields.
As to the $250, those that held rejected leases from Chesapeake, will likely be shy to lease again, for possibly less money than Chesapeake offered, but I do agree, if they find positive testing results, they’ll be willing to up the $250 bonus amount.
Snues, I am bit perplexed. We are in 135 sections 7 & 18 98W. At the Aug 2011 auction, Pacer bought part of 18 & as you indicate most of section 12-135-99W. The remainder I assume is Patty’s acreage. The part that confuses me is that Marathon seems to be buying up acres in the same section we are in & the section directly to the west(12) but has not approached us. Got any ideas?
Tom,
Very interesting question as to why/where that Marathon has/hasn’t leased. I did find they’d leased at the state auction in your 18, South half. You would think they’d want to add your NE4 just as they added Patty’s acreage.
I looked in the NDRIN, and only found Agri Bank leases to Empire Oil, for section 7 S2 & 18 NE4. No other current oil leases held for other minerals owners of those sections.
I then checked in section 6 and found Chesapeake leases, section 8 & 17 and found Chesapeake and Marathon leases, section 19 and found Chesapeake, Marathon and Great Northern Energy leases. Those are all bordering sections to your 7&18.
To see the GIS map, there is a handful of dry holes from way back, along with one canceled permit; around Patty’s acreage its void of any activity(new or old). I have no idea if they have data from past seismograghing or just how they decide their locations to do research.
Frustrating to sit on the sidelines and wait for leasing or activity to pick up. Did you ever get offers from Chesapeake/Hallador/Blanca Peak when they were pursuing leases for the area?
OG1101013
135
98
18
S2SE4
PACER ENERGY LLC
40.00
$120.
OG1101014
135
98
18
S2SW4
PACER ENERGY LLC
40.00
$120.
Snues, Are you certain about the Agri Bank lease to Empire of the south 1/2 of 7( 135 n 98w) Because we own that acreage. We have never been approached by anybody on our Slope mineral rights. Thanks for work & response. Tom
Tom, I didn’t quite understand the lease but would be more than happy to send you a pdf of it. I will friend you.
I was chatting with someone who has some acres in T-134 R-104 that has been approached by Empire Oil to lease $75 acre 15% 3 year with 3 year option $75 acre plus yet another option for 3 years $100. I think they are speculating and want the ability to tie acres up for 9 years if it looks good down the road. I don’t know if it’s shot in the dark speculation though. Chesapeake had blanketed the area with permits for the Red River formation in 1997. I have no idea if they did seismic. If anyone can comment on leasing back then and if you know if seismic was done, it would probably be helpful to those in the group.
I wouldn’t be wild about 15% royalty $75 an acre especially with 2 consecutive options for a maximum of $250 over 9 years, but of nobody else is asking, you have to make the decision that benefits you most.
I think Empire is wanting to pre-package blocks to flip for a profit, not saying there is anything wrong with that. I will say that I think there is a good chance that they would not take your lease unless they can make a fairly solid block. I recommend that you not send them your lease until you have payment. Either place your lease and a draft with your bank with instructions to not send your lease until cash hits your account or just send a BOLDLY marked COPY of your executed lease and Empire or whoever can have the original after you have cash. No need to let anyone sit on your lease for half a year while they see if they can put a block together or not, and possibly decide not to lease you after all and then you have to worry about your lease being recorded or getting your lease back.
Note: National Geographic March 2013 issue Front cover, “AMERICA STRIKES OIL”…This is all about North Dakota oil…I just received it in the mail today 3/7/13…
I am wondering if there is a time limit on the permits to drill for oil?
Mike,
Permits expire after one year, but they only cost $100; if a company doesn’t get to a location, that’s like a cup of coffee, to renew the permit for a later date.
Leases on the other hand, would likely dictate to a company if they must get the drilling started before leases expire.
Mike, the operators also have credit cards on file and it only takes a phone call to have a permit except on weekends, it can happen fast. I have never heard of a permit being denied. Operators who do not have the majority of the leasehold can even pull a permit and try to drill, but the operator who has the majority will protest and stop them dead in their tracks if they intend to drill it themselves. I don’t attach much importance to permits.
Thanks for the info on my question about lease expiring from rw Kennedy and snues…
Everyone needs to check out the article in the Minneapolis paper about North Dakota oil which I guess started to appear 5/1/13…Go to www.startribune.com go to business section and look on right side of page for ( Oil estimates double: 7.4 billion barrels in N.D. and Montana. The article mentions The Three Forks Formation where a lot more oil Lies of which is located 100 more feet below the Bakken. I believe this formation is located under Slope County… If someone knows better please correct me if I’m wrong…Mike
I don’t know about Three Forks production in commercial quantities but I believe it’s possible that they could find commercially viable Red River production. The Red River is an even deeper formation more than 2,000 feet deeper than the Three Forks and they should gather information on every formation on the way down and they can always plug back and lateral in any one of the formations encountered, whichever looks most promising.
The Tyler has been promising in parts of Slope. The Bakken has been fair in NE Slope. In 1997 Chesapeake had permits to drill many, more than a dozen, Red River wells in Slope county and I think it is the best chance to find a formation equivalent to the Bakken that would be present through most of Slope county. I think there are some speculators who agree with me because I have heard of them trying to lease in Slope anticipating a test of the Red River. There is Red River production from Dunn county and in Montana, it would be nice to see if they could fill in the gap.