From Bloomberg Via The Oil Drum: US Oil Production Unprecedented, Unpredicted

Link here to Bloomberg.com.

Seven years after President George W. Bush declared “America is addicted to oil, much of which is imported from unstable parts of the world,” the country has so much crude that it was able to join Europe in choking off exports from Iran without pushing U.S.

benchmark prices over $100 a barrel. And refining capacity helped make the U.S. the world’s largest fuel supplier. Even in Venezuela, where Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)’s assets were seized, more and more cars run on gasoline made in America.

“The U.S. has a huge lead in the 21st century in maintaining its superpower status,” said Ed Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. in New York. “There was absolutely no way to anticipate the level of growth in the oil supply.” 

The photo of Kern River oil field suggests to me what 320-acre spacing might have resulted in in the Bakken. Eco-Pads, larger multi-well pads, and large spacing units may have prevented this. Time will tell. 

By the way, for some beautiful North Dakota scenery, I re-posted the Bear Den video.

Peak Oil? What Peak Oil?

Link here to Rigzone.com.

Scientists have found an oil field which contains 200 times more hydrocarbons than there is water on the whole of the Earth.

Time to wave peak oil goodbye forever … but before you do I should probably inform you of the tiny hiccup in any plan to develop this oil field.

It is around 1,300 light years away.

The scientists work at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and using the 30m-telescope of the Institute for Radio Astronomy they discovered a vast cloud of hydrocarbons within the Horse Head Nebula galaxy in the Orion constellation.

In other news, Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Ed Markey, and Vice President Joe Biden will be the senior members on a new committee to regulate inter-stellar oil exploration. The committee will be headed by former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ms McKinney has already suggested the nebula be renamed the "Dinosaur Head Nebula" to raise awareness of the role dinosaurs have played in oil formation. BP Engineering will be the energy consultant. [No link; this is probably just a rumor. I wouldn't think Joe Biden could find time to be on this committee.]

Time For A New Poll

Time for a new poll.

The results of the current poll. The question:

Even at the risk of breaking up family farms in North Dakota, should Ms Heitkamp vote for raising the estate tax?

The results:

• Yes: 16%
• No:  84%

*****************************

Now, for the new poll. It's a lot of clicks to put up these polls, so I really don't like doing them. That's why I don't put new ones up very often (and I can't think of any good polls anyway). This next poll/question should only be up 48 hours due to the nature of the question, but I'm sure it will be up for days (weeks?).

I am traveling and I was completely unaware of the huge record-setting cold weather in Russia this week. Was I the only one caught unaware or were others also unaware of how cold it was, that it was unusual even for Russia in December, or did you all know?

So the question: Did you know about the record-setting winter storm in Russia December 19 prior to seeing it here?

Wells Approved for Re-Entry, Re-Fracking; "Delayed" Initial Fracking -- December 19, 2012

See also: this thread over at the discussion group. 

Disclaimer: I do not understand permitting process for re-entry, re-frack, delayed fracks, etc. I am using using page to start to sort this stuff out.

If I remember, I will add "re-complete" wells at this post. Wells that are re-fracked will be followed elsewhere; see tag at bottom of blog.

******************************** 

First Fracked Horizontal Well In The Bakken

• 8201, 87, CRL, Robert Heuer 1-17R, a re-entry in a Madison -- DRY -- hole; Sadler field, 319,444 lbs of 20/40 sand; short lateral; t3/04; cum 123K 7/16;  source:
  
  
  
  http://www.willistonnd.com/usrimages/hammmonument.pdf

******************************** 
Reported; not listed earlier

March 28, 2014, reported: 

• 11485, PA, XTO, Wegley 20-1, originally a Red River well completed in 1986; cum 173K bbls through June, 2013; recompleted March, 2013, into the Madison, with an IP of 13; 
  

**********************************

Two interesting KOG re-entry wells:

• See below: 18987, 223, Whiting/KOG, Two Shields Butte 14-21-16-2HS, t4/11; cum 541K 7/16;
• See below: 21513, 23, Whiting/KOG, Smokey 3-6-7-14HS, Bully, t2/12; cum 141K 7/16;

**********************

16686, 379, MRO, Shobe 24-20H, Reunion Bay, t2/08; cum 302K 7/16; permitted for re-entry; 

28071, 1,628, Petro-Hunt, Sorenson 152-96-24C-13-2HR, Union Center, t10/14; cum 238K 7/16;

21947, 161, Thunderbird Resources LP/GMX Resources, Fairfield State 21-16-1H, St Demetrius, originally completed with 37 stages; 1.2 million lbs; Three Forks;; first IP, 9/12 = 161; second IP, 1/14 = 576; cum 63K 7/16;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	3-2014	15	2880	2009	10210	2302	2125	177
BAKKEN	2-2014	12	2460	2661	8745	2256	2153	103
BAKKEN	1-2014	24	6904	6557	32509	5361	2355	3006
BAKKEN	12-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	8-2013	0	0	132	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2012	10	88	228	294	2	0	2
BAKKEN	11-2012	29	780	910	4397	883	633	250
BAKKEN	10-2012	27	833	680	5516	612	580	32
BAKKEN	9-2012	21	1111	897	7650	474	284	190
BAKKEN	8-2012	19	92	0	1115	46	0	46

17602, 215, CLR, Charlie Bob Creek 1-25H/Charlie Bob Creek 1-25RH, Ranch Coulee, t12/08; a re-entry well; cum 96K 7/16; production jumps 10-fold; link;

BAKKEN	3-2013	31	4451	4493	2775	4537	4537	0
BAKKEN	2-2013	28	5377	5440	3185	4792	4792	0
BAKKEN	1-2013	11	3469	3118	2521	2779	2779	0
BAKKEN	12-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2012	6	45	367	92	29	29	0
BAKKEN	10-2012	31	310	225	437	122	122	0
BAKKEN	9-2012	21	250	225	337	111	111	0

**************************

26927, 1,323, BR, Crater Lake 11-14MBH-R, Hawkeye, t12/14; cum 105K 7/16;
26928, 1,363, BR, Craterlands 11-14TFH-R, producing, t3/14; cum 143K 7/16;

*********************************

Interesting Case Studies

• 21513, 23, Whiting/KOG, Smokey 3-6-7-14HS, Bully, t2/12; cum 141K 7/16. This well was originally spud in late 2011 and completed/tested in February, 2012. For whatever reason (bad frack?) it never produced much oil -- almost dry. Then in early 2013, KOG requested permission to drill a sidetrack which they did. I assume they cemented off the old lateral well bore (but don't know for sure). The new sidetrack was fracked and is a nice well. Interestingly, the "new" IP is not provided. The well's original name was "Smokey 3-6-7-14H." The name of the new well (same permit/file number) is "Smokey 3-6-7-14HS." Obviously the "S" stands for sidetrack. This is a graphic of the well:
  
  
  
  
  18987, 223, Whiting/KOG, Two Shields Butte 14-21-16-2HS, t4/11; cum 541K 7/16. This seems to be very similar to KOG's #21513 above. This well was originally spud in late 2010 and tested in early 2011 (April, 2011). It also didn't produce much, for whatever reason (appears not to have been fracked). KOG even put a pump on this well in September, 2011. A little over a year later, in December, 2012, KOG requested to re-enter this well and drill a sidetrack. It appears they drilled the sidetrack in February, 2013, and reported 30 days of production as of March, 2013: 39,986 bbls over 30 days (obviously a successful re-entry). In this particular case, the IP for the sidetrack was provided: 2,061. Like the well above, this well's name was changed from Two Shields Butte 14-21-16-2H to Two Shields Butte 14-21-162HS to signify a re-entry/sidetrack.
  
  
  

******************************

25215, PA/33, Armstrong Operating, Scherr 1-18; Duperow 6/13; Deadwood 4/13; Dawson Bay 3/13; Madison, AR, 1/14; Duperow with minimal amount of oil; now drilling the Madison; Madison didn't amount to anything (last produced 3/14)

25731, 2,291, Whiting, Edie 41-13HR, Timber Creek, t10/13; cum 163K 7/16;

A Statoil re-entry well? Based on its name, this appears to be a re-entry well:

• 26971, 1,016 (reported June 5, 2014), Statoil, Ross-Alger 6-7 7TFH-R, Alger, Lot 4 31-156-92 Footages: 351 FSL 655 FWL; t5/14; cum -- No, it is not a re-entry well; in this case, the "R" stands for "revised." The original permit information was revised; t5/14; cum 76K 7/16;

A similarly named well:

• 26656, dry, Statoil, Ross-Alger 6-7 7TFH, Alger, Lot 4 31-156-92 Footages: 351 FSL 625 FWL

**************************

1361, 177, Hess, Hawkeye-Madison Unit G-613 HR, Hawkeye oil field; t7/59; cum 617K 7/16; in 1956 this was drilled as a vertical well (the uppermost porosity of the South Hastings member of the Mississippian Mission Canyon formation). A lateral leg was drilled in December, 1999, in a southeast direction, same formation. A second lateral leg was drilled in 2000 in a northwest direction. The original vertical well produced 426,704 bbls through May, 1999. The well last produced any oil in January, 2013, and is shown as inactive. Cumulative oil as of 9/13 was 608,266 bbls. It is shown as a Madison well. No evidence of fracking, which of course makes sense; was IA; when I checked 5/14; it was A again.

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
MADISON	3-2014	31	442	371	13777	401	78	323
MADISON	2-2014	25	378	235	7721	597	0	597
MADISON	1-2014	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MADISON	12-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MADISON	11-2013	0	0	7	0	0	0	0
MADISON	10-2013	6	31	26	1338	63	63	0
MADISON	9-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MADISON	8-2013	0	0	16	0	0	0	0
MADISON	7-2013	0	0	45	0	0	0	0
MADISON	6-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

1295, PA/288, Hess, short lateral, Hawkeye-Madison Unit E-613HR, s12/56; t1/57; cum 240,003 3/14; this was a vertical that was re-entered and was a very short lateral; was A; when I checked 5/14, it was IA; last produced 6/12; 

**************************

26297, 2,272, Whiting, Schilke 14-33RH, Pleasant Hill, t11/13; cum 121K 7/16;
26296, 1,415, Whiting, Schilke 14-33-2RH, Pleasant Hill, t11/13; cum 85K 7/16;
21483, 2,503, Whiting, Marsh 21-16TFH-R, Dutch Henry Butte,  t11/11; cum 218K 7/16;

***************************

25338, PA/AR, Whiting, Jandt 14-1-2, Delhi oil field, a Red River well; spacing: W2; no production data, re-entered Interlake, AR, 10/13; no production data from that well;

11913 - stand-alone post

25753, 1,093, Statoil, Margaret 5-8 3TFH-R, Spring Creek, t6/14; cum 93K 7/16;

16071, IA, Armstrong Operating, Hanisch 26-1, Moraine, this was a Duperow well producing since 3/06; recompleted as a Winnipegosis, 11/13; the Winnipegosis was dry (4/06); the Interlake was dry (4/06); the Duperow is PNA (10/13); cum 93K 3/14; (Duperow); last produced 8/15;

25994, 1,016, Newfield, Barracuda 150-100-11-2-3HR, Sandrocks, t10/13; cum 123K 7/16;

27522, 4,207, Whiting, Flatland Federal 11-4TFHU, Twin Valley, t10/14; cum 369K 7/16;

27521, 5,002, Whiting, Flatland Federal 11-4HR, Twin Valley, t10/14; cum 388K 7/16;

27631, 90, Denbury Onshore, CHSU 41-35SHR 15, Cedar Hills, a Red River B well, t6/14; cum 4/15; no production since 4/15;

26850, 1.861, QEP, Otis 4-28-33BHR (was Otis 29-32-28-33LL), Grail, t7/14; cum 316k 7/16;

22223, AR-->AB, Williston Exploration/CHK, Hutzenbiler 9-137-99 A 1H, wildcat, re-entering to test the Tyler, after CHK PNC's the Three Forks horizontal well; Tyler, AR, 2/14;

27209, dry, Petro-Hunt, USA 153-95-4B-9-2HR, -- I think this "R" stands for a "revised" permit -- not a re-entry well.

Nine (9) New Permits -- The Williston Basin

Bakken Operations

Active rigs: 187 (steady)

Nine (9) new permits --

• Operators: Oasis (4), Hess (2), Murex, BR, GMXR
• Fields: Hawkeye (McKenzie), St Demetrius (Billings), Camp (McKenzie)
• Comments: Murex has a permit for a wildcat in Fortuna oil field;

Wells coming off the confidential list today were reported earlier; see sidebar at the right.

One well approved for re-entry:

• 21947, 161 --> conf, GMX Resources, Fairfield State 21-16-1H, St Demetrius, originally completed with 37 stages; 1.2 million lbs; Three Forks;

North Dakota State Taxable Sales and Purchases Up Over 20% 3Q12 Y/Y

Link to The Bismarck Tribune. 

North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases were up $1.2 billion in the third quarter.
Sales tax collections in the state for July, August and September were $6.735 billion this year, a 22.4 percent increase over last year.

Thirteen of 15 industries reported sales tax growth during the third quarter. The retail sector, which reflects consumer confidence, reported a gain of 13.1 percent compared to third quarter last year. Wholesale trade, which reflects spending by businesses, was up 30.7 percent.

The utilities sector had the largest percentage increase of 55.7 percent. Construction grew by 46.1 percent and financial, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing grew 35.5 percent.

See first comment: I thought the same thing. Anyway, here's the PDF link that will show a more complete list of cities, counties.

For Investors Only: SandRidge Selling Permian Assets for $2.6 Billion

Link here to Reuters.

U.S. oil and gas company SandRidge Energy Inc, which is facing calls from two top investors to replace its board and chief executive, struck a deal to sell its Permian Basin properties in west Texas to privately held oil and gas company Sheridan Production Partners for $2.6 billion.

Last month, SandRidge had said it was exploring the sale of these assets, an announcement that proved to be unpopular with some shareholders, who felt the company should keep the valuable oil producing acreage.

But investors seemed to have since warmed to the deal, sending the company's shares up more than 7 percent to $7.00 in after market trading.

From Yahoo! In-Play:

SandRidge Energy agrees to sell Permian assets for $2.6 bln in cash: Co announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Permian Basin properties to Sheridan Production Partners II, a privately held Houston-based oil and gas company, for $2.6 bln in cash. SD announced on Nov 8 that it was exploring the sale of the assets.

Tom Ward, SandRidge's Chairman and CEO, commented, "This is a great outcome for our shareholders. The sale of the Permian assets at this time has allowed us to capitalize on current strong valuations for mature, conventional Permian assets and generate a very strong return on our investment there."

Noting that the Permian Basin assets were a key part of SandRidge's planned strategic transition from a natural gas producer to an oil rich E&P co, Ward added, "With these proceeds we will have a cash balance of almost $3 billion and liquidity of over $3.5 billion, which we intend to use to reduce debt and strengthen the balance sheet. This will also allow us to fund development of our acreage position as well as future opportunities in the highly scalable, high return Mississippian Play."  

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site; do not make investment decisions based on what you read here. By the time you read the news here, it's already been published elsewhere. Just saying.

Global Warming Hits Russia With a Vengeance

Updates

December 22, 2012: update here. 

Original Post

Link here to rt.com.

Russia is enduring its harshest winter in over 70 years, with temperatures plunging as low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees F, if I did the math correctly). Dozens of people have already died, and almost 150 have been hospitalized.

­The country has not witnessed such a long cold spell since 1938, meteorologists said, with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees lower than the seasonal norm all over Russia.
Across the country, 45 people have died due to the cold, and 266 have been taken to hospitals. In total, 542 people were injured due to the freezing temperatures, RIA Novosti reported.

The Moscow region saw temperatures of -17 to -18 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, and the record cold temperatures are expected to linger for at least three more days. Thermometers in Siberia touched -50 degrees Celsius, which is also abnormal for December.

The photos remind us why the global warming conference was held in Doha-ha-ha this year instead of Moscow. In fact, have the global warming conferences ever been held in Russia in the winter?

Russia was the 127th country to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Second thoughts?

By the way, Wisconsin is going to get walloped with a bit of global warming tomorrow -- "potentially life-threatening" is the forecast.  The "ghost of Agore." I can't take credit for that.

The Greeks, who don't have a lot of spare cash to pay for heating fuel/natural gas this year, have to be concerned how cold this winter might be.

Meanwhile this little bit of trivia from a financial message board (no link); sent to me by a reader:

The Arctic cap of cold air slides down into Russia, and we in North America have a nice mild winter. If it slides into North America, we get cold and the Russians get tee-shirt weather. Happens every year. 

As far as fossil fuels use, in particular oil consumption - the world has used 1.1 trillion barrels of oil in the past 140 years. That works out to be about 42 or 43 cubic miles of oil. If all that oil from 140 years ago to today were spread over the entire surface of the Earth, it would be a film of oil thinner than 4 sheets of copier paper, roughly 0.014 inches thick. Rather an insignificant amount. Now if you think that amount of oil has added that much CO2 to the 60,000 feet of air above it over the past 140 years to cause "climate change", there is no help for you.

I am not alone on this issue. The tide seems to be turning. Folks are now starting to ask the right questions.

Economic Development in the Bakken -- Data Links -- Question Re: Springbrook Development?

Economic development links: A reader sent this information with a lot of links. I have not had time to look at them yet, but they look interesting and promising:

This link shows the necessary infrastructure improvements growth among certain Bakken towns.

• http://visionwestnd.com/infrastructureAssessments.asp

Places like Crosby, Alexander, New Town, Belfield, Beach, Parshall all have plans to grow infrastructure to support more than 3,000 people each.

Towns like Ray, Tioga, Killdeer, Stanley weren't included but be significantly larger than 3,000.

On another note: Does anyone know the current plan for the Springbrook development, northeast of Williston?

Earlier this ummer, there was lot of resistance.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/town-won-t-roll-over-for-arizona-developer/article_33988d0c-ee28-11e1-8611-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.willistonherald.com/news/developing-controversy-springbrook-residents-express-concern-over-new-subdivision/article_664bf7b4-b0bd-11e1-a585-001a4bcf887a.html

Here's the development page: http://starpnd.com/Projects.html

Wells Reporting Today, Thursday

Active rigs: 187 (steady, no change from yesterday)

Wells coming off confidential list today (Thursday)

• 19976, 1,047,  Petro-Hunt, Fort Berthold 148-94-29B-32-1H; Eagle Nest; t9/12; cum 35K 10/12;
• 21416, drl, CLR, Larson 2-21H, Sauk,
• 22430, 258, WPX, Paul Peter Coffee 35HC, short lateral; Moccasin Creek, t11/12; cum --;
• 22616, 748, CLR, Landblom 4-35H, Stoneview, t10/12; cum 18K 10/12;
• 22952, 469, Hess, GO-Dahl A 156-97-2536H-2, Dollar Joe, t9/12; cum 18K 10/12;
• 23006, drl, BEXP, Gunderson 15-22 6H, Banks,

Oil Spikes -- Up $1.62

No link. This is dynamic. The number will change over time. But I am "surprised."

Cooling Down the Fears of Climate Change -- Wall Street Journal --- Opinion -- December 19, 2012 -- Absolutely Nothing About the Bakken

This is for my personal archives. This is not meant for my readers. If you came here looking for the Bakken, scroll up, down, or sideways. If you found this site by googling or surfing, you should probably just hit the backspace button and move on. There are much better sites for discussions on global warming. 

Normally my posts or comments about global warming are not posted as stand-alone posts; they are posted and/or linked as part of other stories, other posts. But this particular half-page essay in the Wall Street Journal puts things in perspective, and fits my worldview of the issue.

I referred to it earlier, and posted a link to another excellent essay on global warming, "signed" by 16 scientists.

From the first linked article:

In short: We can now estimate, based on observations, how sensitive the temperature is to carbon dioxide. We do not need to rely heavily on unproven models. Comparing the trend in global temperature over the past 100-150 years with the change in "radiative forcing" (heating or cooling power) from carbon dioxide, aerosols and other sources, minus ocean heat uptake, can now give a good estimate of climate sensitivity.

The conclusion—taking the best observational estimates of the change in decadal-average global temperature between 1871-80 and 2002-11, and of the corresponding changes in forcing and ocean heat uptake—is this: A doubling of CO2 will lead to a warming of 1.6°-1.7°C (2.9°-3.1°F). 

Yes, 2 degrees over the past 150 years.

And then this: 

A cumulative change of less than 2°C by the end of this century will do no net harm. It will actually do net good—that much the IPCC scientists have already agreed upon in the last IPCC report. Rainfall will increase slightly, growing seasons will lengthen, Greenland's ice cap will melt only very slowly, and so on.

Some of the best recent observationally based research also points to climate sensitivity being about 1.6°C for a doubling of CO2. An impressive study published this year by Magne Aldrin of the Norwegian Computing Center and colleagues gives a most-likely estimate of 1.6°C. Michael Ring and Michael Schlesinger of the University of Illinois, using the most trustworthy temperature record, also estimate 1.6°C.

But again, I'm disappointed. Neither article told us what the "correct" or "ideal" temperature for the earth is/was.  Neither article told us who set/sets the thermostat. An intelligent designer? And now man is messing with the thermostat? And neither article mentioned that the #1 greenhouse gas was water vapor, comprising about 95 - 97% of greenhouse gases. CO2 comprises less than 3% and most of that is not -- repeat, not -- anthropogenic.

But they are starting to approach the question a bit differently. Could global warming actually be beneficial? Global warming proponents mentioned from the beginning there would be more precipitation. Growing seasons will be longer.  A northwest passage might allow less expensive ocean transport from Europe to Asia.

Bakken Upgrade, More, May Rally Hess -- Seeking Alpha -- For Investors Only

Another story for investors regarding Hess at SeekingAlpha.com.

Again, the disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read at this site.

For Investors Only -- ONEOK Partners -- SeekingAlpha

I posted this "for investors only" because that's the audience the article targets. However, there is quite a bit on the Bakken and the Bakken Crude Oil Express Pipeline.

In what had to be shocking to all but industry insiders, Oneok Partners announced a few weeks back that it would not proceed with the Bakken Crude Express pipeline that would send crude from the Bakken to the oil hub in Cushing, OK. The pipeline was scheduled to begin construction in early 2014 and be completed by mid-2015.

Considering producers had long complained about the lack of takeaway capacity in North Dakota hurting pricing, it was very shocking that the pipeline didn't attract enough commitments.

Ironically, on the way to finalizing contracts, the rails have taken over in North Dakota as the most attractive alternative. Rail lines such as BNSF now have enough capacity to handle the daily production and the ability to ship the product to the coasts where it is needed more. Instead of shipping directly into a disadvantaged hub where oil would again become congested, a large percentage can now be sent to Phillips 66 refineries on the East Coast, thereby skipping the middleman.

By the way, the linked article above links to another SeekingAlpha.com article: Buffett's railroad beats ONEOK's pipeline. 

Energy Links For Wednesday -- North Dakota #3 in Business Climate -- Only Utah, ND in Top 20 In All Six Vital Categories -- Well Ahead of Texas -- California Not Mentioned

Link here to The Dickinson Press. 

The Forbes ranking measured six categories for businesses, including costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Utah finished first on the list and was trailed by Virginia. North Dakota moved up one spot from its 2011 ranking.

North Dakota finished second only to another energy-leading state — Texas — in the area of economic climate.

“North Dakota is a great place to do business right now,” said Dickinson Chamber of Commerce executive director Cooper Whitman. “I know this sounds crazy, but I continue to say it — western North Dakota is home to the most dynamic business climate in the world right now.”

Rounding out the top 10 on the overall Forbes list are North Carolina at No. 4, followed by Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Iowa. Besides top-ranked Utah, North Dakota was the only other state to finish in the top 20 in all six vital categories.

Utah, Virgina, North Dakota, North Carolina, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Iowa.

I was surprised to see North Dakota that far above Texas. Especially in light of some comments from a reader recently comparing oil taxes in North Dakota to Texas.

Wow! Thank Goodness Airport Defibrillators Work As Advertised ----

... after coming to, being brought back from a near-death experience in the Atlanta airport, I was on the gurney trying to figure out what was going on. Fortunately, defibrillators work as advertised. They don't shock if one is not having a heart attack.

It turns out, after I came to, and the paramedics checked what I was last looking at, it all became clear. I must have fainted and fallen off my chair in the waiting area.

My computer screen was still on this page: a Minnesota city "approves" a fracking sand operation.

A proposed rail shipping hub for sand used by the oil and natural gas industries took a major step forward when the Wabasha City Council rejected a request to commission a study on the environmental risks that the sand and hundreds of trucks a day would bring to the picturesque Mississippi River town.

Calgary, Alberta-based Superior Sand Systems Inc. plans to build a storage and loading facility along the Canadian Pacific tracks, from which silica sand mined in Wisconsin would be shipped to North Dakota and Texas for use in the oil and gas extraction process called hydraulic fracturing.

The facility could take in 200 to 300 truckloads of sand a day and run seven days a week. The company hopes to begin operating as early as Thursday.

Wow, I'm still feeling faint. A dream? April First?

Some very, very brave city council members.

Note to the Granddaughters

Only part of the above post is "true." The link to the story and the quote are "true." Don't worry. I did not faint and I did not need medical help.

Non-Bakken News -- Politics --

This is probably the biggest non-Bakken business story of the last ten minutes: The US government will sell 200 million shares of GM at $27. This  means the government would have to sell its remaining shares at an average price of $69.72 to break even.

The Obama administration said Wednesday it will sell 200 million shares — or 40 percent of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. — back to the automaker and announced plans to completely exit the Detroit automaker by March 2014.

The Detroit automaker said it will purchase 200 million shares of GM stock held by Treasury for $5.5 billion — or $27.50 per share — nearly $2 above the stock's closing price on Tuesday. GM shares jumped sharply on the news and were up 6.7 percent to $27.10, or $1.59.

The U.S. Treasury — after more than a year of refusing to say when it might start selling its remaining stake in GM — said it willannounce a written plan in January to shed its remaining 300 million shares over the next 12 to 15 months — likely in a series of small stock sales.

The Treasury's move is intended to minimize the impact of the stock sale on the share price.

The exit plan may prove to be a boost to GM's lagging stock price and to some car buyers, who have avoided GM because of the "Government Motors" label.

Yup. I assume 47% of the US population does not care. Americans are content/satisfied.

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Wow, tell me it's not true. Sam Donaldson arrested for DUI.

Wells Coming Off the Confidential List Today Have Been Posted

Click here for wells coming off the confidential list today; some nice wells, particularly the Whiting Pronghorn wells.

Also, the number of active rigs is up to 187 which is quite surprising, considering all that is going on. I had expected the number of rigs to stay near the intro-boom low of 181.

Traveling For The Next Ten Days Or So; Links; Update -- Re-Completion Wells; RBN Energy; Utica

The blog will suffer.

Some changes while traveling.

1. I will post comments as soon as I can, but I will reply to very few of them. My policy is to reply to all posted comments (with rare exceptions) but while traveling, I just won't have time. So, please keep sending comments. I read them all. But I won't be able to reply to as many.

2. Updates will occur much less frequently. For example, in a few minutes I will be off the net for three hours or so, possibly longer.

3. I hear that the winter storm hitting the mid-section of the US is going to be a pretty good wallop. Don alerted me to that last night, and I posted that. Hopefully, it will stay south of the Bakken.

Bakken Operations

Active rigs: 186 (steady, but well off the intra-boom low of 181).

Per a reader's request, an update for "re-completion wells" has been posted.  I have also tagged it for follow-up in April, 2014. The post for "re-completion wells" is also tagged; the tag can be found at the bottom of the blog where the tags are.

IPs for wells coming off confidential list were not posted at time I was able to access internet this a.m., but preliminary production numbers are now available.  Whiting has a couple of nice Pronghorn prospect wells (at least I think that's where they are located).

Links for today

RBN Energy: the Anadarko.

The Anadarko Basin centered in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle has not yet developed production on the scale of the Bakken, Eagle Ford or Permian plays. Like the Permian Basin the Anadarko is an old field being recycled using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques. Spectacular initial production of over 5Mb/d from wells in the Granite Wash Hogshooter formation this year has excited producers. Today we look at the basin’s development.

BP's Utica regional headquarters moves to Youngstown, Ohio. This was noted earlier, but I'm not sure if I adequately shared the information.

BP announced yesterday they have begun moving into the company’s new “Utica Operations Center,” a 5,000 square foot office space with 38,000 sq ft of warehouse/storage space located in the Youngstown Commerce Park in North Jackson (Mahoning County), Ohio. BP aggressively leased Ohio Utica Shale acreage during 2012—signing up some 100,000 acres of leases this year. Of the Ohio acreage leased by BP, the vast majority (84,000 acres) is in Trumbull County, close to the new office space.

I don't know if it's just me, but there sure seems to be a quantum leap in interest in energy plays in the United States in the past six months in terms of "headline" news and stories. The Utica, particularly, seems to be getting a lot of attention.

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The story is easy to find everywhere on the web; it certainly appears it was not the President, but rather Hillary that missed that 3:00 a.m. call coming out of Libya.

The leaders of an independent panel that blamed systematic State Department management and leadership failures for gross security lapses in the deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya will explain their findings to Congress on Wednesday.

I think this was grossly unfair to Hillary. She never had her day in "court" to explain her side of the story.  She certainly has loyal minions: her security chief (for the State Department) took the fall; he resigned.

By the way, some folks have mentioned the cut in funding for embassy security around the world (I was completely unaware of that; I certainly would have posted that had I  known). I find it interesting that this was not mentioned in the ABC report on the Benghazi debacle.

Perhaps Hillary mentioned it in her 8-page letter to the board; she was unable to attend in person due to the "flu." Wow, I can't make this stuff up. Remember all the Kremlin apparatchiks suffering from the "flu" during the Cold War ... and then never heard of again? Iran is having a similar problem:

The Iranian State media just announced that another high ranking Revolutionary Guard commander, Ahmad Sodagar, has died of a heart attack.

Sodagar, a major general, had served as the head of security and intelligence of the Guards’ Khatam-al-Anbia Base and was the chief commander of the Guards’ Prophet Mohammad Division. He had served in the Iran-Iraq war and, at the time of his death, was the head of the program “Defaeh Moghadas” or Holy Defense.

This is the fifth Guard commander to die because of a heart attack or stroke in the past month.