Cobra Oil & Gas has offered an updated property overview on its Starbuck Prospects Bakken formation, located within the Williston Basin in Valley County, Montana. The leases included in the option comprise 82,000 acres within multiple zone shallow gas trends (Judith River and Eagle) and multiple zone deeper oil trends (primarily Mission Canyon, Lodgepole and Bakken).

The state of North Dakota set a state oil-production record in 2008, despite the oil prices collapsing during the second half of the year. Cobra's Starbuck Prospects are within this same formation in Montana with natural gas potential upwards of 260 BCF.

Technology has been a catalyst in making the Bakken so prolific. Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is the new technology which allows wildcatters to drill down to the oil or gas and kick out their well thousands of feet to the left or the right. Fracturing of the rock is then necessary to release the oil, which combined turned out to be a revolutionary idea. Montana's Elm Coulee Field within the Bakken Formation, where Cobra's Starbuck Prospects lie, was turned into a recent production success using these methods. As of 2006 there were 350+ producing wells in the field with ultimate production totaling around 270 million barrels of oil.

The Bakken as a whole has gone largely unnoticed partially due to prior lack of technology. Max Pozzoni, President of Cobra Oil & Gas stated, "These recent developments epitomize our thoughts on the Starbuck Prospects and the Bakken in general. The progressing interest in this play is going to keep growing upon the realization of the successes, technological advances, and overall potential."

Tags: Cobra Oil & Gas