Slawson Exploration has received approval to drill dual laterals targeting the Upper Bakken Shale member across several parts of North Dakota.

The company applied for field amendments allow for the drilling of multi-lateral horizontal wells in parts of McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams counties.

The applications also gain approval for a portion of the vertical section of the wells to open into the Lodgepole formation. The opening will be used to kick off into the second lateral.

Early horizontal development in the Bakken was dominated by multi-laterals in Montana, but technical complexity has led to the use of single laterals across the state line. It will be interesting to see if Slawson determines multi-laterals are the best way to develop Bakken acreage in parts of North Dakota.

Read the full NDIC docket from August at dmr.nd.gov