Hit Rate in North Dakota & Montana Bakken Shale still nearly Perfect!

February 3, 2012

Investors must qualfiy themselves to be approached legally by companies offering working interest investments in oil & gas. The typical vehicle to invest by private investors in common use today is the limited liability company or LLC. Most securities attorneys will tell you the general partnerships, or joint venture offerings can be problematic, and have been avoided in the past 10 years or so.

Oil prices enable us to make money in the Bakken Shale, and the ‘big boys’ know it, and can often drill a well evey 35 days on average. There are about 200 drilling rigs working as fast as possible to drain the huge reservoir known as the Bakken Shale.

Leasing acquisiton specialists or land companies are still able to acquire fractional equity ownership at good prices in the Bakken, but the day is rapidly approaching when the acreage will be gone, and the major’s and large independents or early players in the game will have sowed-up the best ground, or the ‘fairway’ as it called in those key North Dakota & Montana counties where production is consistently found in commercial quantitites. Investors need to move now if they want to secure their their chance to make money in the North Dakota, and Montana Bakken Shale formation.

The Three Forks, and Bakken Shale formations are the two prime productive pay zones located in the Bakken fields of North Dakota, and Montana. This is an ‘oil boom’ we all like to participate-in when possible, and as new technology makes it viable, and real. It’s the only one I’ve seen during the past 30 years.

So, far, I know of no ‘dry holes’ by companies implementing the new horizontal drilling technology, and are using the proven ‘staged-fracing’ techniques which have been pioneered, and have been in regular use during the past three years in North Dakota, and Montana. The success rate has been sustainable because the ‘pro’s’ are drilling within the well defined limits of the large Bakken Formation. Some companies are stepping-out to test the boundaries of the Bakken, and Three Forks Shale formation zones, and so far, they are still finding oil when they drill.

Major oil companies, large independents, and public stock companies regularly drill new horizontal wells in the Bakken Shale, and they have budgets, and plans to continue in the foreseeable future. It’s time for the private investor to step-up or lose out altogether to participate in the ‘boom discovery’ and tremendous opportunity to make great returns on your money. Leashold acreage, and very good drilling prospects are still available but it is getting harder to secure them. The professionals don’t fool around and think they can kick tires, they simply fund the deals, and drill them immediately.

Let me know if you want to hear more about this trend, and what the numbers are in the industry for this great area to drill.