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🛢️ Cinnamon Creek State 12-8H
Emerald Oil Inc. (as of September 2, 2014) · McKenzie County, ND · File #13547 · Generated 2026-04-04 15:56
- API
- 33-053-02436
- Target Formation
- Bakken
- Permit Explained
- Partially
📋 Permit Cycle Assessment
The permit file contains contemporaneous documentation of operator transfer (Liberty Resources to Emerald Oil Inc., effective September 2, 2014) and purchaser/transporter authorizations (September 1, 2014 and November 1, 2014). These administrative actions directly address operational continuity and compliance with North Dakota oil and gas regulations regarding first purchaser and transporter designations. However, the file does not contain an explicit permit approval letter, permit modification notice, or regulatory correspondence specifically explaining the basis for any new permit action dated in early 2015. The documents present are ancillary to permit operations rather than explanatory of a specific permit issuance or modification decision.
🔍 Permit Cycle Signals (3)
📄 Authorization to Purchase and Transport Oil from Lease - Form 8, dated January 5, 2015 (approved FER 23, 2015)
📅 2015-01-05 (Exact confidence)
Authorization executed contemporaneously with permit approval cycle; establishes first purchaser and transporter changes required for continued production operability
📄 Notice of Transfer of Oil and Gas Wells - Form 15, executed September 2, 2014, approved by NDIC
📅 2014-09-02 (Exact confidence)
Operator transfer completed one month before new permit approval; establishes Emerald Oil Inc. as responsible operator for this permit action
📄 Authorization to Purchase and Transport Oil from Lease - Form 8, dated August 29, 2014
📅 2014-09-01 (Exact confidence)
Effective September 1, 2014; represents interim purchaser/transporter authorization immediately preceding the Bridger Marketing/Transportation authorization dated November 1, 2014
📖 Historical Context (3)
2009 spill incident (October 23, 2009): 1 barrel oil released, contained within dike, caused by stuffing box leak from vandalism; fully recovered and remediated
📄 Industrial Commission of North Dakota Follow-up Spill Report, dated February 5, 2010; Spill/Incident Report dated October 23, 2009 · 📅 2009-10-23
Establishes historical incident record for well; may condition future operational oversight, inspection frequency, or monitoring requirements. Environmental remediation history affects baseline site condition assessment.
May 2007 field inspection letter from NDIC noting compliance deficiencies at well site (CINNAMON CREEK STATE 12-8H, file 13547): instruction to clean up oil around wellhead and increase dikes, keep flare lit, and clean up oil-saturated soil within dike
📄 Letter from Field Inspector dated May 10, 2007 to Mike Mungas, Nance Petroleum Corp., with attachment listing 43 wells requiring compliance corrections · 📅 2007-05-10
Demonstrates persistent compliance issues with site maintenance, dike integrity, and environmental controls. Establishes baseline regulatory expectations for equipment condition and spill containment that carry forward to all subsequent operators.
Horizontal well completion with coil tubing cleanout lateral operations (February 17–20, 1995) under Meridian Oil Inc.; well drilled to 13,135 MD with Bakken Pool production target; multiple operator transitions 1993–2014
📄 Meridian Oil Inc. Daily Operations Summary dated February 17–20, 1995; Well Completion or Recompletion reports (1993); Notice of Transfer Form 15 documents (1993, 2003, 2010, 2014) · 📅 1995-02-20
Establishes well geometry, completion design, and productive formation (Bakken). Multiple operator changes (St. Mary Land & Exploration → Sequel Energy → Liberty Resources → Emerald Oil) create chain of custody and compliance obligations. Each operator transition required bond coverage and authorization renewals, creating operational continuity requirements that persist and condition future permit actions.
🔧 Operator Pattern
Well has experienced four operator transfers in 24 years (1990–2014), with each transition requiring regulatory approvals and bonding. Most recent operator (Emerald Oil Inc.) assumed control September 2, 2014, one month prior to the apparent permit cycle date of early 2015.
Form 15 notices document transitions: St. Mary Land & Exploration (1990–2010) → Sequel Energy (2010–2014, approved May 27, 2014) → Liberty Resources Management Company (2014, approved May 27, 2014) → Emerald Oil Inc. (September 2, 2014, approved by NDIC). Each transition included surety bond replacements (ranging $100,000 to $200,000) and first purchaser/transporter authorizations. Well has been continuously producing since completion in August 1993; no abandonment or suspension periods documented. Purchaser/transporter also changed multiple times (Meridian Oil Trading, Texaco, Eaglewing, Plains Marketing, Bridger Marketing). Operational history reflects active development and maintenance of horizontal Bakken asset.
Confidence: Low
The file contains extensive historical documentation (spanning 1993–2015) but lacks a clearly dated, explicit permit approval or modification document for a specific 2015 permit action. The latest explicit approval date visible in the file is 'FER 23, 2015' (February 23, 2015) on the Authorization to Purchase and Transport Oil form, which is an ancillary operational document, not a primary permit approval. No permit modification letter, order, or approval notice specifically explaining a new permit issuance or amendment in early 2015 is present in the extracted text. The operator change (September 2, 2014) and purchaser/transporter authorizations (September 1 and November 1, 2014) are temporally proximate to the February 2015 approval date but do not explicitly reference or explain a 'new' permit. Without a permit modification notice or explicit regulatory correspondence tied to a 2015 permit event, the analysis is limited to inferred support from administrative actions rather than direct documentary explanation.