🛢️ GROVE 5892 31-33 4B

Oasis Petroleum North America, LLC (subsidiary of Chord Energy) · Mountrail County, ND · File #42647 · Generated 2026-02-13 12:33

API: 3306105640
Target Formation: Middle Bakken
Permit Explained: Partially

📋 Permit Cycle Assessment

The permit approval is partially explained by contemporaneous documentation. The setback stipulation is justified by the wet shoe casing design and intentional over-displacement strategy documented in technical well design submissions. Anti-collision analysis with Level 3 warnings and the waiver for adjacent operator notification establish geometric and regulatory conditions that directly condition approval. However, the permit file does not contain an explicit permitting decision document (e.g., permit notice of issuance with approval date or reasoned order) that would establish the temporal anchor for the permit approval. The approval date is identified as July 25, 2026 (dirt work date on the permit form), but no contemporaneous approval order, permit decision letter, or conditional approval document is present in the file. The technical justifications and regulatory waivers are pre-permit or parallel-path submissions that establish feasibility and compliance, but they do not directly explain the decision to approve this specific permit on this specific date.

🔍 Permit Cycle Signals (5)

Setback stipulation requiring all portions of wellbore not isolated by cement to maintain 500' setback from north/south boundaries and 150' setback from east/west boundaries within 2560-acre spacing unit (Sections 33, 34, 35, 36; T158N R92W)

Direct

📄 Permit Form, Stipulations section; NDIC Field Order Info
📅 Unknown (Missing confidence)

Setback is conditioned on production liner cemented in lateral with wet shoe capability—a non-routine design justification tied to wellbore geometry approval

Wet shoe configuration with intentional over-displacement by 7 barrels, creating ~400' uncemented annulus at toe, documented in 'Details of Standard Wet Shoe Grove 5892313348' technical memorandum

Supporting

📄 Well design technical document; wet shoe configuration diagram and discussion
📅 Unknown (Missing confidence)

Wet shoe design directly enables setback exemption and toe-initiation perforation strategy; constitutes technical justification for permit approval condition

Anti-collision assessment completed; multiple offset wells evaluated per ISCWSA methodology; closest approach conflicts identified at Level 3 warning (DUNLIN 5892 31-33 4B, GROVE 11-36H, WARREN FEDERAL 5892 42-23H) with separation factors < 1.0 documented

Supporting

📄 Anticollision Report; Summary table and Separation Factor Plot
📅 2025-12-08 (Exact confidence)

Level 3 warnings indicate critical geometric constraints; anti-collision findings directly condition drilling operations and wellbore path acceptance

Waiver request for adjacent operator notification (Order No. 31848) submitted on basis that Oasis Petroleum North America, LLC operates the adjacent spacing unit, eliminating third-party notification requirement

Direct

📄 Letter dated December 17, 2025 from Chord Energy; RE: Grove Federal 5892 31-33 wells
📅 2025-12-17 (Exact confidence)

Waiver directly conditions permit approval; demonstrates regulatory pathway resolution prior to drilling authorization

Federal mineral notification issued; wellbore projected to traverse adjacent spacing units (5120-acre unit in T157N R92W); BLM coordination required for GROVE 5892 31-33 #6BX per spacing configuration

Supporting

📄 Email dated 2026-01-14 from Nathaniel Erbele, NDIC; Federal Minerals notification
📅 2026-01-14 (Exact confidence)

Federal permit coordination represents external regulatory condition; temporal relationship to permit approval indicates contemporaneous regulatory pathway management

📖 Historical Context (6)

Cottonwood-Bakken Pool definition (50 feet above Bakken top to above Birdbear Formation) established by NDIC Field Order; defines resource entitlement and production limits for this well
📄 Permit Stipulations; NDIC Field Order Info—Cottonwood-Bakken Pool definition · 📅 Unknown
Pool definition is structural constraint on well completion and production phases; persists throughout well life and affects future workover/abandonment decisions

Closed mud system with no cuttings pit required by Permit Review Policy; cuttings disposal to licensed facilities (Chimney Butte Environmental, Petrocomp, Dishon Disposal, Prairie Disposal, Ideal Oilfield Disposal, Secure Energy Services, Tervita Corporation) mandatory
📄 Permit Stipulations; Permit Review Policy; Licensed Facilities for Solid Drill Cuttings Disposal list · 📅 Unknown
Operational constraint persists through drilling and completion phases; non-compliance creates permit violation risk and environmental liability

Indirect heater setback exemption (Case No. 28949, Order No. 31500) permits indirect heater within 60 feet of wellhead and 21 feet of oil tank; facility design uses indirect heater in lieu of heated treater
📄 Facility Statement in permit file; case and order reference · 📅 Unknown
Facility design waiver is permanent; affects future surface facility modifications and abandonment protocol

Diesel-based stimulation fluid prohibition: compounds with CAS registry numbers 68334-30-5, 68476-34-6, 68476-30-2, 68476-31-3, 8008-20-6 prohibited in hydraulic stimulation
📄 Permit file; Diesel Based Stimulation Fluids/Compounds section · 📅 Unknown
Chemical constraint on completion design; restricts treatment options for frac design and potential refrac operations throughout well life

Construction materials sourcing: all materials from existing resources within designed road and pad; scoria may be acquired from private source; dikes and base material must be impermeable for emergency containment
📄 New Well Pad Construction Statement · 📅 Unknown
Construction requirement establishes baseline for future site reclamation liability; impermeable containment standard persists as environmental obligation

Filter sock and waste disposal protocol: leak-proof, covered containers required on-site from spud through completion/flowback; filters must be disposed at authorized facility per NDAC 43-02-03-19.2
📄 Letter dated May 30, 2025 from ND DMR Assistant Director re: Filter Socks and Other Filter Media · 📅 2025-05-30
Regulatory obligation persists through well lifecycle; non-compliance creates administrative violation and waste disposal liability

🔧 Operator Pattern

Operator controls multiple wells within same pad and spacing unit cluster; coordinates adjacent wells within same facility design; maintains internal anti-collision protocols
Well file identifies five additional wells on GROVE FEDERAL 5892 PAD (GROVE FEDERAL 5892 31-33 #2B, #3B; GROVE 5892 31-33 #5B, #6BX; DUNLIN wells 2B-6BX). Waiver request demonstrates operator control of adjacent spacing unit. Anti-collision report shows DUNLIN 5892 31-33 4B is same-pad offset well with 2.266 separation factor—closest intra-pad approach.

Confidence: Medium
File contains substantial technical and operational documentation (well design, anti-collision analysis, facility specifications, construction plans, environmental protocols) that supports permit feasibility. However, the file lacks explicit permit approval decision document (notice of issuance, approval order, or conditioning letter) that would anchor the permit approval date and explicitly state regulatory rationale. The permit form itself states approval date as July 25, 2026 (dirt work date), but does not explain the decision. Waiver and federal notification documents post-date the permit approval date, creating temporal ambiguity about whether they condition approval or execute post-approval requirements. Anti-collision and well design documents are pre-approval support materials. The absence of a discrete permit decision document and the temporal mismatch between approval date and supporting submittals limit confidence in permit-cycle reconstruction.