News

County oil activity to increase in 2015

By Scott Wagar

09/25/2012

In the near future, Bottineau County should be seeing a large increase in oil activity that will reach a pinnacle of around 2,400 wells being drilled. However, according to the North Dakota Industrial Commission and Department of Mineral Resources, drilling will more than likely not start for another two and a half years.

The wait in drilling has to deal with production slowing down in the oil fields out west and finances.  

“Bottineau County drilling will be delayed until demand for services in the Bakken play drops, resulting in lower capital cost or oil prices rise significantly,” said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Industrial Commission and Department of Mineral Resources, who also stated that oil companies’ plans for oil activity would be conducted base on cost. “The Bottineau County operators have indicated they plan to continue defining the resource with one rig drilling, 10 to 20 wells per year, until oil prices increase or cost decrease. At that time, they expect to accelerate to 10 to 15 rigs, drilling 200 to 300 wells per year for six to ten years.

“Of course all of this depends on well costs, oil prices, and well economics aligning properly,” Helms said. “We expect that to happen once the Bakken gets completely into development mode.”

Adding to the pause of when oil activity will increase in the county is the fact that the service companies which will assist the oil companies in Bottineau County are currently contracted out to the companies in the Bakken.

“Oil companies who are drilling in the Bakken are not the same companies who are working on the Spearfish in Bottineau County,” Helms said. “The service companies are the same though, so once demand slows in the west, services like hydraulic fracturing, trucking and completion rigs should become more affordable.”

Once in Bottineau County, Helms stated that the initial drilling will be around Souris and expand in a circle outward a number of miles in each direction.

“This area has proven to have oil saturations,” Helms said. “The exhibits presented at hearings indicate a final development pattern of 24 wells per section drilled from eight well pads,” Helms said.

Time will tell when oil activity will increase in Bottineau County, but one thing is for certain, oil drilling is going to increase in the county.