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Jumping in, feet first!
By Brian Zinchuk, Pipeline News
Bismarck, N.D. – At first you see him at the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas forum in Regina, taking notes in the back row. A few days later, Ben Hudye can be found cruising the convention floor at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, his brother and business partners in tow, soaking in all they can.
This would not normally be remarkable, except that Ben Hudye and his brother Greg are prominent farmers and ag supply merchants from Norquay, Sask., and the biggest farmers in the area. Their main operation on a hill a couple miles west of Norquay has grown considerably over the years as a vertically-integrated agricultural supply operation.
However, they have now bought land and mineral rights in the U.S., and are looking to exploit it. Their new venture is Hudye Energy, to complement Hudye Farms and Hudye Soil Services.
“We’re looking at farm-outs, and what this industry is about,” Ben, the talker of the two brothers, told Pipeline
News. The company has already done one and a half wells in southwest Manitoba, in the Daly Sinclair field. “We’ve got a second well being drilled,” he said on May 3. The drilling was caught by road bans, and had to wait to be finished. It’s anticipated to be completed in mid-June.
Along with the two brothers are two more business partners, Bryon Godin, and accountant, and James Rosowsky, a lawyer. They have a total of 10 Canadian partners, and one American.
The company is based in Burlington, Colorado, and was initiated in the summer of 2009. They have 8,400 acres of mineral rights, and 16,000 acres for farming between Colorado and Kansas. “We started purchasing since 2003,” Ben said. “The sole purpose of Hudye Energy is to exploit these mineral acres. We have production next door to us.” There is natural gas nearby, and oil production three quarters of a mile away. “We’re looking for any and all opportunities,” Ben said. “We would like to participate in North Dakota.”
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