More Pennsylvanian Leo sandstone oil exploration is about to take place in the Black Hills uplift area of South Dakota and adjacent part of the Powder River basin in Wyoming.
Western Production Co., Rapid City, S.D., has acquired Oryx Energy Co.'s properties in Fall River County, including a 60% working interest in a recent Leo oil discovery completed by Balcron Oil Co., Billings, Mont.
Western assigned some of the acreage to Balcron and retained about 9,000 net acres and 100 line miles of seismic data acquired from Oryx.
The recent discovery, Balcron's 21-5 Nautilus-Federal, in 5-10s-2e, pumped 125 b/d of 29.4 gravity oil from First Leo perforations at 3,008-20 ft (OGJ, Oct. 1, p. 102).
It is thought to represent South Dakota's initial production from First Leo.
Petroleum Information Corp., Denver, reports that Western will assume operations from Balcron at proposed offsets in 5-10s-2e and 32-9s-2e and stake two more offsets.
Balcron has been granted 40 acre spacing for the unnamed field, 26 miles southwest of Hot Springs, S.D., and 4 miles southwest of Edgemont field.
About 7 miles northeast of Edgemont field, Ceja Corp., Tulsa, received a location exception to drill a wildcat in 21-8s-3e, Fall River County.
Balcron, meanwhile, staked 32-8 Oat Creek-Federal, in 8-35n-60w, Niobrara County, Wyo., in the Powder River basin.
That well is a projected 4,100 ft Leo wildcat 13 miles southwest of the company's unnamed Leo discovery in South Dakota.
Elsewhere in Niobrara County, Powder River Petroleum Corp., Casper, staked Leo wildcats to about 6,800 ft.
The locations, all in 12-36n-64w, are within a mile of Buck Creek field, a Leo/Cretaceous Dakota field to the south, and Swede Draw field, a Leo accumulation to the north.
The two well Swede Draw field, operated by Powder River Petroleum, produced an average of 651 b/d of oil from Leo at 6,800-6,900 ft during June 1990.
The field's cumulative production is more than 300,000 bbl of oil in 5 years since discovery, PI reports.
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