Saturday, January 14, 2012

Week 2: January 8, 2012 -- January 14, 2012

ND production hits 500,000 bopd 

Building permits, dollar value, Williston, triples previous year: $360 million for 2011

A Madison well with 1 million bbls cumulative

Four more motels in Williston going up

Luxury suites coming to downtown Williston?

Williston's Herman Oil sold to a Texas company

Huge backlog in railcars

Minot starting to see tangible effects of the boom

ONEOK's Garden Creek natural gas processing plant up and running; two more to go

Another refinery in the Bakken?

The Skunk Creek wells will be huge for KOG

The Stroh wells, an update

KEG: a "new" oil services company to watch

Headline story in USA Today:  fracking sand; unfortunately with typical negativity

12 comments:

  1. No surpise, but it appears the Obama Administration is about to formally kill Keystone. Can you imagine how much more Middle Eastern oil we would have consumed, if this cast of characters had had their way on the original Alaska pipeline?

    The Baaken stimulus is more than just energy security, it's a farmer buying another John Deere, it's contributing to real estate stabilization in places like Arizona, it's a hope for people willing to go where the work is, and more. All Saudi sweet does is put our dollars in the hands of individuals who want to butcher American citizens - just ask the Bin Laden family.

    Helluva great website Bruce - education and real hope through stories of energy security and jobs that require Americans to make stuff.

    CW2/Boise

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    1. I accidentally hit "reject" button when trying to post the above comment, but the comment has been re-posted. I apologize to CW2/Boise for my "fat finger."

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  2. Hey Bruce,

    I really appreciate all you do on this site. I was born in Williston and lived in Aarnegard, Watford City, Hanks and farms in between as a child. It's good to get back into touch with the area through the Bakken process. My mother left me and my siblings a bit of mineral rights (not a bunch) south of the Hanks area and we're waiting for the drilling to head that way. I'm headed for retirement this year and a few dollars will help that along. My wife and I had fun singing the theme from the Beverly Hillbillys for a while but we're wary of getting too excited.

    It's great to see the poor side of the state getting a bump for a change! I lived in Grand forks and Fargo for a bit too (Universities) and remember the difference in wealth between what I grew up in and what I saw there.

    Keep up the good work,
    Spencer

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  3. Bruce, question...how can i draw a map of the particular areas where my family has mineral rights? I would like to show the Township, etc, etc, but also the field as well. I have just learned how to find the geographical information, but I don't know what field it's in for reference purposes. Can you help me?

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    1. Hi, Spencer.

      Thank you for your kind words.

      If you know section and township you can find location on the NDIC GIS map server.

      Go to NDIC home page:
      https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/

      When you get to that site, there is a sidebar on the left. Click on "GIS Map Server." It will open in a new window and may take a minute to load depending on speed of your internet connection. Wait until it is loaded.

      When the North Dakota map shows up with all the green oil rigs, go to the sidebar on the left, and at the very bottom is "Find Section." Click on that button, "Find Section." Either use the drop down menu or type in the township, range, and section, and then click on "Zoom to Section."

      When you get to your section, you can put the cursor on "Zoom Out" on the sidebar on the left, and you will zoom out, making it easier to see which field you are in.

      Let me now if you have problems with these instructions.

      The GSI map server is a bit difficult to learn to use, but it's easier than most states and once you figure it out, it provides tons of information.

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  4. Hello Bruce. First, thanks for your web site. I have learned a lot from you. I am 1 of 11 heirs that own the minerial rights for section 24-140-100 in Billings County ND, the Park-Bakken. The well is in section 13-140-100 named PRONGHORN FEDERAL 21-13TFH drills south horizontal into our section 24. Also, the section west of 13 is 14, and the section east is 18. 18 has the HECKER 21-18TFH. Section 14 and 18 have both been mentioned in your website in the past for the wells, and section 14 featured on the front pages of Whiting Oil and Gas 2011 3rd qtr report, Pronghorn Federal 21-14TFH. PRONGHORN FEDERAL 21-13TFH is on the confidential list, and only started producing around 12/17/11. I am fluent with the ND Oil and Gas website, the maps, and the monthly production chart. As you can imagine, we await when the 21-13 starts hitting the monthly charts with anticipation. My bro was told that the wells in that Park and Bell area are producing on average 1,500 bbls per day. Does that sound right to you?? When I look at the latest ND production chart https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/mpr/2011_11.pdf, for Park and Bell, I see 15,000 to 20,000 bbls per 30 days. 20,000/30 days is 666 bbls per day. If you can, look at the chart, is my math right? Am I reading the chart correct? Thats a big difference between 1500 per day and 666 per day. Thanks for your time, and take care. Jeremy

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    1. You are correct: closer to 700/day.

      I am surprised when I see production of 30,000 bbls per month, so 1,500 x 30 days --> 45,000 bbls -- I don't know if I've ever seen that.

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    2. It's possibly your brother is referring to the initial production numbers for these wells. IPs of 1,500 certainly are possible on a fairly regular basis.

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    3. Thanks for such a fast response! We also own, about 2 miles to the west, section 22. I am hoping they drill in the section north, which would be 15, south into our 22. I have noticed that most sections in the area seem to have 2 wells in each, so far. I try to keep up looking at permits, and hope they drill another 1 or 2 wells in section 13 and 15. I would imagine it will depend on their spacing, and if it feasible to put more up in this Park-Bakken area. It seems to me they want to put up more in this area. What have you heard about this area, if anything? Am I correct, this is part of the Three Forks Bakken? Thank you.

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    4. It would take awhile to look all this up and find the various links, but if this were a coffee-shop discussion, where "facts" were a bit loose, these would be my comments:

      1. First thing I always do is check out the location of the field. In this case, Park Field is in the southwest (think: Three Forks and Tyler); and it is near Bell and Zenith oil fields (think: huge bonuses paid, upwards of $10,000/acre -- some of the highest in the Bakken -- that speaks volumes).

      2. In the best Bakken, they will easily get to 8 wells per spacing unit (Whiting is already approaching that in the Sanish): 4 wells in 640-acre spacing units; and 8 wells in 1280-acre spacing units; possibly more in some fields.

      3. It will take awhile, but my hunch is that in the best of the southwest Bakken, we will see a couple of Three Forks wells, one or two Tyler wells, and perhaps every so often a Lodgepole.

      4. It all depends on where the price of oil trends.

      5. But as to "hearing anything": I do not have any inside information or contacts with anyone for this kind of information on a regular basis, or as a general rule. Anything I post comes from information in the general domain.

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  5. Thank you so much for your reply! I grew up out there, and our farm is still there. My bro runs it. My grandparants purchased the land and farm around 1940, and never sold the mineral rights. I miss them, (passed away years ago), and am grateful they left the rights to us. Take care, Bruce.

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    1. Good luck. Your grandparents were very fortunate not to have sold their mineral rights; I'm sure they got lots of pressure over the years to do so.

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