Neptune's Kay Arnson Well --> Kraken's Kay Arnson Well -- Strandahl -- #21316 As Of October, 2025

This is incredibly unimportant but if you are tracking your wells, note the change of operator for the Kay Arnson USA well northeast of Williston. 

The changeover (with regard to royalty payments) came August / September, 2025, if I recall correctly. So you won't see it on your Neptune statement any more; it's on your Kraken statement.  

The well:

• 21361, 860, Kraken/Neptune/Bowline, Kay Arnson USA 34-35H, t5/12; cum 164K 2/26; sited, SWSE Section 35-157-103, 

• 1280-acre spacing; sections 26 and 35; it's quite a ways northwest of Williston; about twelve miles south and four miles west of Blacktail Dam. This is the only well in this drilling unit. Some day there will be more. 

 

Chord Energy -- XTO Assets -- Acquisition Closed Last October, 2025 -- Posted April 4, 2026

See details at this blog. 

As far as I know, readers did not receive a 1099 for 2025 from Chord Energy which is now responsible for royalties and 1099s for XTO assets Chord purchased from Exxon in calendar year 2025, which closed October 31, 2025. 

Oasis, Whiting, and Enerplus continue to pay royalties under their own names (Oasis, Whiting, and Enerplus) and those three companies will provide EOY 1099s.

Again, this is not true for XTO assets acquired by Chord in 2025. Royalty owners of those assets should expect to see checks directly from Chord starting in 2026. In their original note to royalty owners concerning this acquisition it was stated that royalties owners might see a 1099 from Chord in 2025. To the best of my knowledge, that did not happen. 

A New Family Of Wells For The Reader -- The Oasis Rella Wells In Ft Buford -- March 29, 2026

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The wells: it looks like the reader has a new family of wells, the Oasis Rella wells in Ft Buford. These are incredibly long laterals -- four miles long. Remember, the standard Bakken well is two miles long; we've seen a few three-mile horizontals but I can't recall any four-mile laterals. 

These wells are in Ft Buford, in township 153N and range 103W.

They are sited in section at the north section line and extend through four sections to end at the south line of section 31. The reader has royalties in section 31-153-103.

• 42344, drl, Oasis, Rella W 5303 13-18 2B, Ft. Buford, spud, 11/18/2025; t--; cum --;
• 42345, drl, Oasis, Rella W 5303 13-18 3B, Ft. Buford, spud, 11/19/2025; t--; cum --;
• 42346, drl, Oasis, Rella W 5303 13-18 4BX, Ft. Buford, spud, 11/20/2025; t--; cum --;

The deed: 

The Oasis permits approved September 25, 2025. They have all been drilled to depth and are waiting to be fracked, from the daily activity report:

The Oasis permits: 

From the daily activity report: 

The permits: 

The maps:

This is a very, very busy slide. I may come back to it and explain it. Until I do, you're on your own.
 

The second map: simply documenting the wells have been drilled, waiting to be fracked:

The third map: the three-well Rella pad sited in section 18-153-103 in Ft Buford. 
 

Three New Oasis Nelsen State Federal Wells -- March 29, 2026

The reader already has royalties from three older Oasis Nelsen State Federal wells. 

Now, the reader appears to have three more Oasis Petroleum Nelsen State Federal wells. They are currently being drilled according to the map below. 

I inadvertently labeled some Nelsen State wells and some Nelsen Federal wells. Part of the confusion: the original names were slightly different than the current names.  The names below are correct: 

• 42410, loc, Oasis, Nelsen State Federal 5202 13-13 2B, Indian Hill, 
• 42412, loc, Oasis, Nelsen State Federal 5202 13-13 4B, Indian Hill, 
• 42413, loc, Oasis, Nelsen State.  5202 13-13 5B, Indian Hill, 

These are three-mile long laterals -- very long laterals.

These are all four-section (2560-acre) spacing, thus royalties will be less than the standard Bakken wells spaced for two sections (1280-acre). 

These are going to be some very good wells. The area produces some nice wells. In addition, they will drain oil from four sections (not just two) and they are long horizontals, three miles long. But again, because they are spaced at 2560 acres rather than 1280 acres, the royalties will be half what it might otherwise be. So these three wells are probably more like two new wells, rather than three, if that makes sense.

Indian Hill.

Deed:

 Permits: 

 

 Maps:

 

 

 

 

Little Knife Oil Field -- Section 3-145-97 -- February 23, 2026

Four wells on a 2560-acre unit.

This is a case, not permits. It will be quite some time for this to start reporting production.  

Based on information from a reader some time ago, it appears the reader may be interested in the following.

From the March, 2026, NDIC hearing dockets, section 3 - 145-97:

A deed held by the reader: section 3-145-97.

Tax Year 2025: 1099's For Oasis, Whiting, And Enerplus -- February 14, 2026

Chord Energy: Oasis and Whiting merged to form Chord Energy and in turn Chord Energy bought Enerplus. 

Readers are telling me they have not necessarily received 1099s from each of these three companies.

AI prompt: Subject: 2026 IRS 1099. Enerplus, Oasis, and Whiting are now part of Chord Energy. Will Chord Energy send out a single 1099 for those three companies or will three separate 1099s be sent out?

Reply:  

A Reader Asked Why She Received A Division Order For A Well For Which She Was Already Receiving Royalties -- February 9, 2026

Done quickly: there may be typographical and content errors. 

ON THAT PAD, there are two sister wells with identical names except for one number (they have identical production histories; I assume they have identical drilling date histories); the reader should be getting royalties for both wells, and may, in fact, receive division orders for only one of the wells:

• 40567, BR, Burned Edge 1A-ULW
• 40566, BR, Burned Edge 2A-ULW

Note: the file number for the "2A" well was issued before the "1A" well. 

 The well:

The reader said the diivision order was dated 1-6-26.

Pertinent dates for this well:

• March 6, 2024: application for the well
• shortly thereafter requested 90-day delay in drilling
• spud: August 30, 2024
• TD reached (well reached total depth): September 2, 2024
• completed (fracked): April 23, 2025

I don't see anything that would explain the delay in receiving the division. I think this happens frequently; it is simply the paperwork catching up with the work going on in the field.

Burlington Resources typically waits a long time between drilling a well to depth and then completing (fracking) the well and maybe that's part of the reason. 

I don't see any change in ownership of the site between the time of the application and the date the well started producing and paying royalties. 

My advice: I would simply sign the division order and return it to BR with a cover letter noting the dates.