The Powder River Basin| March 2021
Field Overview
The Powder River Basin, known for its coal deposits, is located in Southeast Montana and Northeast Wyoming. The basin is named so because it is drained by the Powder River. Major cities in the area include Gillete and Sheridan, Wyoming and Miles City, Montana. There is a recent resurgence in oil and gas production as a result of horizontal drilling and hydraullic fracturing. This resurgence is occurring mainly in the Wyoming part of the basin, which is historically known as the source of the basin’s oil.
State Drilling Statistics (End of March)
Total Rigs in Wyoming- 5
Total Rigs in United States- 417
Total U.S. Rigs down 43% YTD
State Permitting Data (End of March)
Permits Submitted – 361
Permits Approved – 27
State Top Producers
Top Oil Producer – EOG Resources
Top Gas Producer – Carbon Creek
Basin Highlights
Samson Resources II, LLC Announces the Closing of the Sale of Its Powder River Basin Assets
Samson Resources II, LLC announced that it has successfully closed the previously announced sale of its Powder River Basin assets to Continental Resources, Inc. Following this closing, the Company has successfully divested substantially all of its upstream assets. Following this closing, the Company has successfully divested substantially all of its upstream assets. The Company’s only remaining upstream oil and gas assets consist of approximately 24,000 net leasehold acres, 23,000 net mineral acres and 40 non-operated wells, all located in East Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, which the Company is currently marketing for sale and anticipates divesting in Q2 2021.
Navigation Powder River Announces Significant Well Result in the Powder River Basin
Navigation Powder River has started to target a new formation in the Powder River Basin known as the “Parkman Formation”. Recently, while drilling a new well, named Jacob Federal 1-42-73-9H, the company announced a record initial production. The Jacob Federal 1-42-73-9H was completed in the Parkman Formation, with a lateral length of 4,563 feet. Peak 24-hour production was 1,805 BOE/D (90% liquids). Peak 30-day cumulative production was 44,623 BOE (88% liquids), for an IP-30 of 1,487 BOE/D (326 BOE/D per 1,000 feet of lateral). The well saw first oil within five hours of initiating flowback.
Flared Gas to Cryptocurrency
Each year, gas flaring permits become harder and harder to get. Wesco Operating Inc. is exploring solutions revolving around cryptocurrency mining. Commercially observed in 2020, cryptocurrency mining converts gas, that would otherwise go unwasted, to electricity. Wesco is making use of EZ Blockchain’s “Smartbox” technology that does just this. Monetizing gas that would have otherwise been wasted is a step forward in energy use as it continues to identify byproducts as feedstocks. In February of 2021, Wesco was flaring 0 mcf per day, and has the capacity to generate 1 MW of electricity from gas that would have been considered useless not more than 2 years ago.
Operators With Most Permits (March)
| Rank | Company | Permits Approved | Permits Submitted |
| 1 | OXY | 16 | 2 |
| 2 | Samson Exploration | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Ultra Resources | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Anschutz Oil | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | True Oil | 1 | 4 |
Top Oil Producers (2021 cum) —————————_—-Top Gas Producers (2021 cum)
| Rank | Company | Rank | Company |
| 1 | EOG Resources | 1 | Carbon Creek |
| 2 | Devon | 2 | EOG Resources |
| 3 | Chesapeake | 3 | Chesapeake |
| 4 | Samson Resources | 4 | Devon |
| 5 | Anschutz Exploration | 5 | Peak Power River |
Top Gas Producers (2021 cum)
Rig Count
Wyoming Oil Production
Wyoming Gas Production
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