Montana Oil Lease Sale Could Mark Bakken Expansion

A Texas company has bought federal oil and gas leases on almost 75,000 acres in northeastern Montana's McCone County in a move that could portend a significant westward expansion of the Bakken oil patch.

 

 

 

 

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Texas company has bought federal oil and gas leases on almost 75,000 acres in northeastern Montana's McCone County in a move that could portend a significant westward expansion of the Bakken oil patch.

The purchase of the leases by Donco, Inc. for $13.5 million was announced Wednesday by the Bureau of Land Management.

BLM spokesman Kristen Lenhardt says it marks 1 of the largest federal lease acquisitions by a single company in Montana in recent years.

Sam Tallis, president of Donco subsidiary Shale Exploration, says the company aims to amass leases on roughly 200,000 acres in McCone and neighboring Garfield counties. Tallis says drilling could begin next year.

Tom Richmond with the Montana Board of Oil and Gas says the area has seen only limited drilling to date.

 

Associated Press

   

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