Sep. 18--Deep whirring sounds and Christmas-tree like lights of an oil derrick are no longer a fixture on south Dickinson's horizon as Armstrong Operating Inc., has hit a jackpot and oil rights owners may soon see a huge cash flow coming their way.

"The Laurine Engel #1 appears to be a very strong well," said Mike Armstrong, Armstrong Operating Inc. chairman and CEO, in a press release. "Ironically, it's the most significant discovery in my 35 years in the oil and gas business and I can see it from my house."

Harold Hamm, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Resources, a working interest owner, said in a press release that the newly discovered well is the "first significant Lodgepole discovery in the Dickinson area since the late 1990s."

"Initial wells targeting the Lodgepole formation were drilled in 1993 and since that time, 41 producing wells have yielded 55 million barrels of oil ..." Hamm said.

Continental Resources, an oil and gas exploration and production company based out of Enid, Okla., has a 33-percent working interest in the project.

"It's pretty exciting," said Brian Engel, vice president of public affairs at Continental Resources.

Tom Jordan, representing Jordan Oil & Gas Co., out of Healdsburg, Calif., is the third partner in the project. A number for Jordan could not be located.

Mick Homiston, district engineer for Petro-Hunt, LLC, out of Killdeer, who is not involved in the project, said in his opinion, the well's production is substantial.

Drilled to a total depth of 9,754 feet, the Laurine Engel #1 is producing 463 barrels of oil per day.

"There are many, many, many wells in North Dakota that make less than 25 barrels a day, so it's a really good well," Homiston said. "Any company would be very happy with a well that makes more than 300 barrels of oil a day."

Homiston said vertical wells, like the Laurine Engel #1, are easier to drill and carry less risk and expense than a horizontal well.

"I would say that's the best new non-lateral well in North Dakota," Homiston said.

Landowner and oil right owner Catherine Gruman said she and her husband, Robert Gruman, will be receiving money for the find, but does not know an exact date or amount.

For a few weeks prior to striking the oil, the oil derrick was a part of the scenery at the Heart River Golf Course and Pro Shop Manager Jeremy Davis said reactions to the change in scenery were mixed.

"I didn't hear many complaints about it," Davis said. "It didn't cause any problems for most people on the course."

However, during this year's American Petroleum Institute's golf tournament in August, it was a different story.

"Obviously they are all oil and petroleum guys and they loved it, they absolutely loved it," Davis said.

Five phone calls to the North Dakota Industrial Commission, Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division, along with an e-mail to Director Lynn Helms, went unreturned.

Several phone calls to Armstrong Operating Inc., also went unreturned.

Armstrong is operating the oil well.

-----

To see more of The Dickinson Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thedickinsonpress.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Dickinson Press, N.D.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.