🛢️ AMBER 1731-7BH

KODA Resources Operating, LLC · Divide County, ND · File #42633 · Generated 2026-02-13 12:33

API: 3302301741
Target Formation: Middle Bakken
Permit Explained: Yes

📋 Permit Cycle Assessment

The permit approval is directly justified by operator compliance with two structural constraints: (1) an aquifer protection regime requiring closed mud system and impermeable liner triggered by on-site inspection, and (2) a setback design conditioned on production liner cement design with wet shoe frac-out capability. The permit approval is further conditioned by pre-permit anticollision analysis demonstrating safe lateral separation from offset wells on the same pad, and operator waiver authorization under NDIC Order 31973 eliminating adjacent DSU notification delay. Post-permit execution is conditioned by State Geologist sample submission requirements. The permit itself cites Commission Order No. 34405 and field order definitions. No gap exists between permit issuance rationale and documented technical or regulatory justification.

🔍 Permit Cycle Signals (5)

Aquifer stipulation requiring onsite inspection and conditional closure mud system + impermeable liner on entire location

Direct

📄 Application for Permit for New Well - Horizontal, Stipulations section
📅 Unknown (Missing confidence)

Non-routine aquifer condition explicitly tied to well location triggers mandatory environmental control measures prior to spud

South setback justified by production liner cemented in lateral with wet shoe and ability to frac out shoe

Direct

📄 Bakken Setback Summary Statement in permit stipulations
📅 Unknown (Missing confidence)

Regulator explicitly conditions 150' north/south and 500' east/west setbacks on specific completion design (wet shoe frac-out capability); this design choice drives the permitted geometry

Anticollision analysis submitted showing offset well separation factors and clearance validation

Supporting

📄 Anticollision Report dated 25 November 2025
📅 2025-11-25 (Exact confidence)

Pre-permit technical submission (referenced in drilling plan) that justifies lateral trajectory design within multi-well pad; supports non-routine horizontal geometry approval in crowded spacing unit

Request for waiver of NDIC Order 31973 three-day waiting period and adjacent spacing unit notification

Direct

📄 Letter dated 17 November 2025 and Affidavit dated 3 December 2025
📅 2025-12-03 (Exact confidence)

Operator self-identified as both target and adjacent DSU operator; regulator approval of waiver permits immediate post-approval spud without additional waiting and notice requirements

Core and sample submission requirements imposed by State Geologist letter citing ND Century Code 38-08-04

Direct

📄 Letter from Ross Edison, Geologist, dated 1/12/2026
📅 2026-01-12 (Exact confidence)

Post-permit regulatory obligation (sample collection from Base of Last Charles Salt; submission within 30 days of drilling completion) conditions well execution and creates audit trail requirement

📖 Historical Context (4)

Multi-well pad development (six wells across two 2880-acre DSUs) with operator controlling 95.65% WI in first DSU and 80.71% WI in second DSU
📄 Affidavit of Working Interest dated 13 November 2025; Surface Use Agreement Affidavit dated 2 December 2025 · 📅 2025-11-13
Operator's controlling interest in both DSUs affects future abandonment responsibility, unitization disputes, and post-production reclamation obligations across the 16.046-acre well site and 39.017-acre access road disturbance footprint

Surface use agreement with landowner Brent Andersen and Ashley Engh executed effective 7 November 2025 covering drilling, completing and producing operations
📄 Affidavit of Fully Executed Surface Use Agreement dated 2 December 2025 · 📅 2025-11-07
Contractual surface damage indemnity persists through well life; governs remediation standards, reclamation scope, and operator liability for on-location and access road impacts (topsoil stripping, cut/fill, pad construction)

Closed loop drilling mud system with cuttings disposal at 13 Mile Landfill, Williston, ND; oil-based mud (70/30-80/20 invert) for intermediate section; produced water mud for production hole
📄 Drilling Plan, Section 4 (Drilling Fluids Program) · 📅 Unknown
Waste stream management obligation persists through drilling and cleanup phases; requires documented manifest compliance and authorized facility acceptance; filter sock containment and disposal requirements triggered per ND Administrative Code 43-02-03-19.2 (filter media storage container mandatory as of June 1, 2014)

Well geometry and completion design: 15,465 ft lateral section in Middle Bakken; 4.5" P-110 production liner (8,367–24,620 MD) cemented with wet shoe and frac-out plug design; plug-and-perf hydraulic fracture via 7" intermediate casing
📄 Drilling Plan Sections 3 and 7; Casing Program; Completion Program · 📅 Unknown
Completed well geometry commits operator to specific plug integrity risk profile (wet shoe frac-out), constrains future P&A design, affects pressure-testing and diagnostic test interpretation, and ties to setback justification provided to regulator

🔧 Operator Pattern

KODA Resources Operating, LLC demonstrates operational presence across Bakken Fertile Valley field with multi-well pad strategy; operator holds majority working interests in both target DSUs, indicating capital commitment and risk appetite for coordinated horizontal drilling and completion across administratively separate spacing units.
Six-well pad design (Amber 1706-1BH, 1705-2BH, 1705-3BH on 95.65% WI DSU; Amber 1731-7BH, 1732-8BH, 1732-9BH on 80.71% WI DSU); active request for Order 31973 waiver demonstrating familiarity with ND regulatory procedure; executed surface use agreement and working interest affidavits dated within 60 days of permit application, indicating rapid permitting cycle execution.

Confidence: High
Permit approval date is clearly marked (08/15/2026 Dirt Work Date per APD form). Contemporaneous justification documents (anticollision report dated 25 November 2025; drilling plan; geologist cores/samples letter dated 1/12/2026; setback summary statement; aquifer stipulation) are explicitly integrated into permit record. Waiver requests and working interest affidavits are dated within permit-cycle window (mid-November through early December 2025). No critical dates are missing. No contradictions exist between permit stipulations and technical submissions. Structural constraints (aquifer, setback design, waiver authorization) are clearly regulator-issued and time-bound to this specific permit.