Formentera Dominates New Permits as Seven Approved in DMR Daily Report

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources approved seven new drilling permits in its daily activity report for Thursday, July 9, with Formentera Operations LLC accounting for the vast majority of the new filings, according to the DMR report.

Formentera Operations was granted six permits, all located in Burke County within the Black Slough field. The permits are for the Griffin and Rabbit well pads and include both S5-series and S6-series laterals, the report shows. The specific approved permits are Griffin-08-32-PGN S513HF, Griffin-08-32-PGN S615HF, Griffin-08-32-PGN S517HF, Rabbit-08-3-PGN S610HX, Rabbit-08-33-PGN S512HX, and Rabbit-08-33-PGN S614HX.

The sole other permit approved was for Oasis Petroleum North America LLC. That permit, #43099, is for the Jaffa 5303 14-1 2B well in the Lake Trenton field of Williams County, according to the DMR.

The report indicates continued development focus on the northwestern core of the Bakken formation, with all new permits situated in either Burke or Williams counties. Burke County, home to the prolific Black Slough field, was the clear center of activity.

In separate status changes, three previously issued permits were listed as cancelled. Murfin Drilling Company, Inc. had its permit #41917 for the MH Hecker 1-14H well in Dunn County cancelled. Additionally, Formentera Operations had two older permits cancelled: #27804 for the Shorty 4-5-163-102 well in Divide County and #28644 for the Bervik 2-18-163-102 well, also in Divide County, according to the DMR report.

The cancellation of permits is a routine administrative action and can occur for various operational or planning reasons. The activity underscores Formentera's shifting development focus from Divide County to the active Burke County area.