Petrobank Energy and Resources Limited announced on Dec. 17 that they plan to be one of the most active drillers in the Bakken formation in southeast Saskatchewan.

The plan for 2008 is to drill in 135 (100 per cent working interest) Bakken locations. In addition to these wells, the company expects to participate in a further 38 (17 net) Bakken wells with partners in 2008.

In 2007, Petrobank constructed their first Bakken central processing facility at Innes, which is tied into the Enbridge oil pipeline system and the TransGas gathering system. In 2008, they plan to supplement this facility with two additional satellite locations that will allow Petrobank to capture the liquids-rich natural gas associated with their Bakken light oil production.

Petrobank management believes that the key to unlocking the potential in the Bakken play has been the application of new horizontal fracturing and completion technologies.

Horizontal wells allow maximum exposure to the reservoir, and the new completion techniques allow fracturing to be contained primarily within the Bakken siltstone along the full extent of the wellbore, to maximize oil production and minimize water production, leading to substantially improved recovery rates.

Typical Petrobank wells are expected to come on production at rates between 150 to 250 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and after six months they are expected to be producing approximately 80 bopd each.

On Nov. 22, Petrobank and Peerless Energy Inc. announced that they had entered into an arrangement agreement whereby Petrobank will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Peerless.

This acquisition contributes 18 sections of undeveloped land and 1,900 bopd from the Bakken play, which also complements Petrobank's position in the area and will improve their ability to conserve the liquids-rich natural gas associated with the oil recovery.

The majority of Petrobank's Bakken land base is expected to yield four horizontal wells per section. Including the land base acquired with Peerless, they expect to have 155,000 net acres of Bakken undeveloped land and estimate their drilling inventory at over 600 (540 net) locations.