Wildcat Drilling | Video

Rene Thibault | 12/27/2012

The oil boom could be hitting closer to home, with exploratory drilling going on in McHenry County. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources confirmed that Cambridge Production Incorporated, an oil company out of Amarillo Texas, was issued a drilling permit on November 1 and began drilling December 14. The wildcat drilling operation (one that is occurring in an unproven area) was taking samples, checking the area for oil resources at the site east of Voltaire.

But what does this exploratory drilling mean for a quiet place like McHenry County?

“It would be real hard on our infrastructure. It`s hard enough right now, we don`t have the money to keep the roads up that we do have. If you increase your traffic by 30, 40, 50 percent, it`s going to really tie up our resources. And we would look to the state for additional help with that”, said Harry Bergstad, a McHenry County commissioner.

Cambridge Production has finished their drilling at the site after only two weeks of work. Because the oil company was given a confidential permit, information about the oil well is not being released to the public until June.

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