My family owns several acres of mineral rights in Converse county just outside of Douglas. Chesapeake has the lease on these and has had for some time. I saw that they did get the permit to drill in late July 2011.We have heard nothing and have found out that there is a 6 month confidentiality phase. This 6 months should be up. We are not in the area and have no idea what is going on. Any help out there as to what is going on or when we could possibly hear something? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Can you give the Township and Range where you have minerals? That would help to identify what activity we may know about. Many drilling units have been formed "just outside of Douglas". We are in T34 R69 and I have been trying to follow activity over that way, but I don't know where your interest is. Thanks John
T 34 R 75. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!
Sorry to say I have not been following activity in the T34 R75 area. But maybe someone else will pick up on what the activity is in that area. Good Luck! John
I can't help on your location either as my interest is in another part of the county. However, i can offer some answers in general. Not hearing from a company after the lease is signed is normal so don't worry about that. After leasing, the next contact you may have would be receiving a Division Order which generally comes months after a well was drilled and completed. If no well is drilled you might never hear back from them.
Typically Chesapeake, and other companies, remain secretive about their intentions. So all you (we) can do is watch what they do (try http://WOGCC.State.WY.US ). Specifically Chesapeake blocked up a huge amount of acres all over Converse County. They can't possibly drill everything they've leased before those leases expire. So they may, or may not, intend to drill your. However the fact they filed for a permit last July is a positive sign. Those permits are in effect for one year. So your next clue is if they drill, or file to renew that permit, by July of this year. For mineral owners it can be like watching paint dry... Hurry up and sign that lease! Then wait for years to see any activity. It is often just the nature of the business. Good Luck.
Pat:
Chesapeake made an application to drill in the Frontier Formation at about 5600 ft depth in T34 R75 Section 5. They received approval for the permit in July, 2011. The mineral owner below the well is Federal and the Fed Llease is WYW153565. The well API is 49-009-28455.
Also in T34 R75 Section 10 Chesapeake has another well permitted into the Niobrara . It was approved That well is also on Fed Minerals lease WYW176220.
Over in T34 R69 we have a similar situation. Right next to me was a federal lease WYW 152628. The federal leases have a 10 year term, WYW152628 was leased in 2001. Chesapeake wanted to drill and didn't want to lose the lease, so they applied to the BLM for a Federal Exploritory Unit -- the BLM approved it. That gives Chesapeake some extra time to drill before losing the lease.
In the case of T34 R75, the Fed Lease WYW153565 looks to me like it was leased sometime in the 2002 to 2003 timeframe -- just a guess. You can go into the BLM LR2000 system and look up the lease. Add 10 years and you know approximately when they Fed lease will expire. If Chesapeake wants to drill that area, they will find some way to extend it.
Have you called Chesapeake and talked to the land man who is responsible for that area? You might learn a little about their plans. I found the Chesapeake land man in our area to be a real nice guy to talk with. You don't learn a lot, but you get some idea of their interest.
Good Luck!
John
Pat,
Not much activity in that part on the world yet. Noticed in the Feb. 2012 BLM auction that there seemed to be more interest in the 35N, 75W lands. John has noted the one well, in section 10, that CHK has drilled. Much more activity directly north of Douglas (33, 34,35N-70, 71, 72W) and then north-northwest Converse Co.(37,38N-72, 73, 74, 75W). Many companies will get a permit but never drill. The permit is good for one year, then they have to re-apply if it is not drilled within that time. Not sure what the time frame would be, but in general, that area is not currently seeing much development. Rob