The Williston Basin’s Bakken play has surpassed almost everyone’s expectations in the past few years. The oil resources being produced from the unconventional reservoir have brought good fortune to companies, stockholders and landowners, and provincial and state coffers on both sides of the U.S./Canada border have benefited mightily as well.

Now, a new crossborder play to the west is piquing interest. The Alberta Basin branch of the Bakken burst into the industry’s consciousness in early 2010, when rumors flew about a fine discovery in northern Montana’s Glacier County.

During the recent salvo of second-quarter results in late July and early August, investors heard updates on activities on the U.S. side of this emerging play. No big new wells were announced, but companies are pushing forward with evaluation programs.

Houston-based Rosetta Resources Inc., operator of the #31-16H Tribal Gunsight test that ignited the widespread interest in the Alberta Bakken, plans an eight-well vertical program this year. It will spud the first well shortly.

The 2010 program is building on three wells Rosetta completed last year, spaced broadly across its 291,000-net-acre position. This past spring, Rosetta moved a workover rig into the field to perform tests on two 2009 vertical wells, said John Clayton, vice president, during the company’s earnings call.

“So far we have perforated and fractured the deeper Nisku in one of the vertical wells, and perforated and fractured the Nisku, the Three Forks and Bakken intervals in the second well,” said Clayton. The uphole Lodgepole (Banff) will be completed later in both wells.

Rosetta is nicely encouraged by its work to date. “One of the most critical findings from this testing is whether or not we can control the stimulation to achieve vertical height growth,” he said. “We do indeed have height growth and we should be able to connect more than one of these potential reservoirs from a single wellbore.”

Although the Alberta Bakken is still in the exploratory stage, Rosetta is pleased to have it in its portfolio, said Clayton. “If successful, this play offers our company tremendous value creation and multiyear production and reserve growth.”

Houston independent Newfield Exploration Co. is another major force in the exploratory area. It holds 230,000 net acres and is at work on a multiple-well program. “We’re preparing to start our third well now and plan to drill as many as eight wells before year-end,” said Lee Boothby, chairman, president and chief executive, in Newfield’s second-quarter call. “We will test both vertical and horizontal wells in multiple formations.”

Newfield is partnered with Stone Energy Corp. on a portion of the play, and Stone added more color to the current drilling efforts during its own discussion: “We have three, low-cost horizontal exploratory wells authorized in the Alberta Bakken for 2010,” said David Welch, president and chief executive. Lafayette, Louisiana-based Stone owns a 35% working interest in the Newfield-operated projects. “Two of these wells have had the vertical portion drilled and the vertical portion of the third is drilling at present,” Welch noted. “The horizontal portions will be drilled subsequent to well-log and core analysis of the vertical portions.”

Quicksilver Resources Inc. also holds lands prospective for the Bakken, primarily in Grady and Toole counties. Its position of more than 130,000 net acres is held by oil production from shallow Cut Bank sands. The Fort Worth-based operator plans to drill in 2011, said Glenn Darden, president and chief executive. It is looking at both horizontal and vertical testing.

Finally, Canadian junior Primary Petroleum Corp. holds substantial acreage to the south of the Newfield and Rosetta blocks. In mid-July, Primary released a presentation that detailed its 110,000-net-acre position in southeastern Glacier, Pondera and northern Teton counties.

Primary originally took its leases for Madison and Sunburst objectives, and it drilled four wells for those targets in 2008, said Mike Marrandino, president and director. Now that the Bakken play has surfaced, it has turned its attentions to evaluating that formation. It is also looking at partnering opportunities.