BLM Approves Hoback Exploratory Gas Well
Hoback Ranches Subdivision sits on top of exploration area
October 30, 2005
The Pinedale BLM Field Office has given approval to Plains Petroleum for an exploratory well in the South Rim/Hoback area of Sublette County, south of Bondurant, Wyoming. The well will be located on the Big Piney Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
On October 4, 2005, the Wyoming BLM Reservoir Management Group approved the designation of the South Rim Unit for Plains Petroleum Exploration and Production Company. The South Rim Unit is an exploratory oil and gas unit encompassing 19,427 acres of federal minerals in Township 36 North, Range 113 West in Sublette County, Wyoming.
By definition an exploratory unit is an "agreement or plan for the development and operation which provides for the recovery of oil and/or gas from the lands made … as a single consolidated entity without regard to separate ownerships and for the allocation of costs and benefits on a basis as defined in the unit plan."
The 19,427 acres of federal minerals either underlie lands in the Bridger-Teton National Forest or private surface (Hoback Ranches subdivision) lands. Currently, there are 18 of the approximate 122 homes in the subdivision that fall under Township 36.
The first proposed well pad will be located on U.S. Forest Service-managed land in SW1/4 Section 8, Township 36 North, Range 113 West which is on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. There have been three Notice of Stakings (NOS) and three Applications for Permit to Drill submitted for the location. A minimum ¼- mile distance is the closest to any private residence that any well can be established.
The Lance Formation will be tested for oil and gas. The Lance is the formation from which both the Jonah Gas Field and the Pinedale Anticline produce gas. All of the mineral leases within this project are combined under a unitization process. Unitization is the combining of oil and gas leases into one unit. This allows all lease holders to benefit from production from any lease. It also benefits the orderly development of the field.
The exploratory project is scheduled to begin as soon as the Applications for Permit to Drill are reviewed and approved. This project will comply with all winter drilling stipulations designed to protect wildlife winter habitat. No drilling will be permitted between Nov. 15th and May 15th annually.
Related Links:
Hoback Gas Well Project Notice of Staking (Pinedale Online, 9/23/05)
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