Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Oasis Reports A Nice Well In Montana

From the Fairfield SunTimes:

Richland County
Whiting, two wells:
  • Sundheim 44-8-3H; TD, 20,830 feet; 692 bbls
  • Sundheim 31-17-1H, TD, 21,434 feet; 463 bbls
CLR, one well:
  • Constance-Stoney Butte HSU; TD, 20,590 feet; 237 bbls
Roosevelt County
Oasis, one well:
  • Stonewall Federal 2959 43-21H; TD, 20,400 feet; 1,004 bbls

NDIC Will Look To Increase Drilling In Bowman County

One simple rule in the oil patch pretty much eliminated drilling in one county in North Dakota, reports KXNews. But in an attempt to bring back the drilling in Bowman County, the state is "loosening" the rules:
State regulators are finding out that a rule created to make oil sites more environmentally friendly is creating a make or break situation for drilling in certain areas.
In fact, eliminating reserve pits may be influencing some companies to consider drilling in South Dakota instead.
Bowman county used to be the hotspot for oil in North Dakota.
It was the number one producer for years.
In fact it slid from the top spot in July 2008, falling behind Mountrail County, just after the oil industry figured out how to crack the Bakken.
Since then production in Bowman County has decreased.
"Bowman County has pretty much been asleep for a year and a half," says Director of Mineral Resources Lynn Helms.
No rigs are drilling in Bowman County today, but three were there recently.
Helms says he expects that number to pick up.
"That's in response to the industrial commission loosening the rules a little bit on reserve pits," says Helms.
I don't know how the cost of a reserve pit compares to the cost of laying a natural gas pipeline to a remote well, and then constructing a gas processing plant to process the natural gas, but something tells me it's a lot more expensive. And thus: flaring or drilling. This is not rocket science.

By the way, I thought this was an interesting statistic:
South Dakota has had 19 oil wells drilled so far this year with a majority of them in Harding County.
South Dakota produces 1.6 million barrels of oil a year, which is what North Dakota produces in two days.
I noted a lot of those wells on my most recent trip to North Dakota, driving straight through from the Dallas, Texas, area to the Bakken. I started noticing wells in Harding County, South Dakota, just before driving into North Dakota. 

Twin Buttes Oil Field

Twin Buttes oil field is in the northeast corner of Dunn County. It is a long, somewhat rectangular field running east to west (or west to east), sort of 3 x 8 sections in size. It almost has a dumbbell shape with the west "square" the active area and the east "square" almost devoid of any activity.

It is on the south side of Lake Sakakawea.

The "east" square has one well:
  • 17003, 100, KOG, Tall Bear 16-15-16H, Twin Buttes, 20 stages; about 3 million lbs; t12/09; cum 17K 9/13; the spacing is ICO, even after four years; 
In the western square there are about a dozen wells (almost all 1280-acre spacing):
  • 25293, conf, KOG, Charging Eagle 10-14-11-2H3,
  • 25292, conf, KOG, Charging Eagle 10-14-11-2H,
  • 25289, conf, KOG, Charging Eagle 14-14-10-3H3,
  • 25287, conf, KOG, Charging Eagle 14-14-10-2H3,
  • 23953, 2,022, KOG, Charging Eagle 16-21-16-1HA, t8/13; cum 27K 9/13;
  • 23952, 2,010, KOG, Charging Eagle 16-21-16-1H3, Twin Buttes, t8/13; cum 20K 9/13;
  • 23951, conf, KOG, Charging Eagle 16-21-16-1H, a big well; 23K first month;
  • 23950, 2,411, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-21-16-2H3, t7/13; cum 63K 9/13;
  • 23949, 2,298, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-21-16-2H, t7/13; cum 51K 9/13;
  • 23948, 2,454, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-21-16-3HE, t7/13; cum 53K 9/13;
  • 23778, 1,211, WPX, Howling Wolf 28-33HC, sited in Charging Eagle, but a Wolf Bay well;
  • 21069, 553, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-22-15-3H3, t11/11; cum 140K 9/13;
  • 19925, 609, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-22-15-4H, t11/11; cum 170K 9/13;
  • 19506, 1,595, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-14-24-16H, t3/13; cum 117K 9/13;
  • 19505, 2,252, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-14-11-4H, t3/13; cum 179K 9/13;
  • 17764, 769, KOG, Charging Eagle 1-22-23H, t10/09; cum 120K 9/13;
  • 17600, 1,187, KOG, Charging Eagle 1-22-10H, t10/09; cum 182K 9/13;
********************************
23950, 2,411, KOG, Charging Eagle 15-21-16-2H3, t7/13; cum 63K 9/13:

PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN9-2013301541515211163681003709947
BAKKEN8-20132416927171843683513002012930
BAKKEN7-20133029196292793233522282022195
BAKKEN6-2013416496917483162801610

Random Note From Halcon On Decline Rates In The Bakken; Staggering

During the Q&A period of the conference call, a question was asked about the decline rates in the Bakken. The analyst noted that "everyone" in the Bakken is improving production because operators are learning more and more about completion techniques. The analyst asked when Halcon would be sharing their new graphs with updated decline rates. Here was Halcon's answer:
The improvements have been coming so fast and furious, we really can't keep up with it.
We tend to not put out updated type curves until we have significant history on a well. So certainly, some time over the next couple of quarters. But that field [the Fort Berthold area in North Dakota], as you know, has been so drilled in every area that you need type curves in every area. And for our company, we probably have about 6 or 7 type curves.
But then we'd have to start looking at type curves with slickwater fracs and without slickwater fracs, and type curves where you have tight spacing and type curves where you don't have tight spacing.
What I can say is that the initial wave of completion design modifications that we've done from the north end of the field doubled our IPs and our 30-day rates, and down the south end, increased them by 30% to 50%.
That should yield a much higher type curve, but we're just not prepared to put those out there. You can take our old type curves and just assume that the new ones will be higher.
Music to my ears. We've been blogging that since the beginning. 

Earlier in the presentation, this is what Floyd Wilson, the CEO, had to say:
All current wells are dramatically outperforming well drilling completed using previous methods and drilled by previous operators. Most of all -- most all of our 2014 wells will be drilled from pads. Cost reductions should continue.
At Fort Berthold, and this is really important news to us, that Fort Berthold downspacing results have been positive -- early but positive. Three (3) middle Bakken wells drilled on 660-foot spacing came in at nearly 2,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day average per well. And after several weeks, those wells are holding up as expected, with that IP rate as a start.
At another site at Fort Berthold, we set a new company record IP rate of over 3,900 barrel of oil equivalent per day.
At South Fort Berthold, our first slickwater fracs were a significant improvement over nearby wells on a 60-day rate basis. They were nearly 60% better than the nearby wells over the first 60 days.
At North Fort Berthold, our first slickwater-frac-ed well was a 30% improvement over nearby wells.
So this slickwater technique and this concentration of proppant and more complex fracturing, which is our target and others' targets here, seems to be working.
The downspacing issues in the Williston basin could be really important for our company and others. Our total location inventory in the basin could be nearly 1,000 if middle Bakken and Three Forks downspacing testing continues to be fruitful.

Thirteen (13) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA: KOG Has A Huge Well In Twin Buttes

Active rigs: 183

Thirteen (13) new permits --
  • Operators: Hess (4), CLR (4), Oasis (2), Corinthian (2), Sinclair (1)
  • Fields: Foreman Butte (McKenzie), Cottonwood (Mountrail), Camp (CLR), Truax (Williams), Robinson Lake (Mountrail), North Souris (Bottineau)
  • Comments:
Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier today; see sidebar at the right.

Seven permits were renewed, including Statoil's three Knight 36-26 wells; CLR's Sutton wells, and a GMX Resources well in Stark County.

Two permits were canceled:
  • 24295, PNC, Zenergy, Bauste 1-12H, Williams County
  • 24308, PNC, MRO, Douglas Bell USA 24-36H, Dunn
Wells coming off the confidential list Tuesday:
  • 21859, 85 (not a typo), CLR, Skurupey 1-9H, Saddle Butte, t7/13; cum 4K 9/13;
  • 22637, 0, Whiting, BSMU 2410, Big Stick, a Madison well; not sure what to make of this well;
  • 23952, 2,010, KOG, Charging Eagle 16-21-16-1H3, Twin Buttes, t8/13; cum 20K 9/13;
  • 24007, drl, Statoil, Jake 2-11 6H, Last Chance, no production data,
  • 25204, drl, Hess, EN-Trinity-154-93-2833H-6, Robinson Lake, no production data,
  • 25437, 227, Samson Resources, Stingray 1819-2H, Ambrose, t8/13; cum 10K 9/13;
**********************************

23952, see above, KOG, Charging Eagle 16-21-16-1H3, Twin Buttes:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
9-2013186510
8-201310980

Interesting Case Study -- Bakken 101 -- EOG's Bear Den Wells In The Spotted Horn Oil Field

Updates

May 11, 2019: production data has been updated; the map of the area looks to be unchanged;

December 9, 2018: wells in this area --
  • 23064, 459, EOG, Bear Den 108-1708H, Spotted Horn, 4 sections, t6/13; cum 462K 3/19; cum 533K 10/22;
  • 23066, two-section spacing; 1280-acre spacing; 261, EOG, Bear Den 102-1708H, Three Forks, 51 stages; 10.3 million lbs sand; t6/13; cum 470K 3/19; cum 553K 10/22;
  • 23065, two-section spacing; 1280-acre spacing; 282, EOG, Bear Den 20-1708H, middle Bakken, 48 stages; 9.8 million lbs sand; t6/13; cum 473K 3/19; cum 555K 10/22;
  • 19170, single section; 640-acre spacing; 1,882, EOG, Bear Den 07-17H, middle Bakken; 15 stages; 2 million lbs; t1/11; cum 276K 3/19; cum 297K 10/22;

  • 23063, 1,418, EOG, Bear Den 100-2017H, Spotted Horn, 4 sections, t813; cum 548K 3/19; cum 639K 10/22;
  • 19157, 1,476, EOG, Bear Den 04-20H, Spotted Horn, one-section spacing; t3/13; cum 315K 3/19; cum 352K 10/22;
  • 23062, 455, EOG, Bear Den 101-2019H, Spotted Horn, 4 sections, t813; cum 407K 3/19; cum 480K 10/22;
  • 23061, 1,206, EOG, Bear Den 23-2019H, Spotted Horn, 4 sections, t813; cum 376K 3/19; cum 447K 10/22;

July 12, 2018: production data updated below. Graphic updated:


March 2, 2017: see production profile update of #19170 at this post

May 18, 2014: Be sure to read the original post first about this older Bakken well being re-entered and re-completed. Compare total production now with that back in September 2013. Today:
  • 19157, 1,476, EOG, Bear Den 04-20H, Spotted Horn, one-section spacing; t3/13; cum 315K 3/19; look at the huge jump in production after a re-completion:
BAKKEN3-20142244634553137038623146614
BAKKEN2-201428874785562869978061043556
BAKKEN1-201423464740100
BAKKEN12-201322582558402161702858641059
BAKKEN11-201322852985783724915238555194
BAKKEN10-2013261645816612592615749101045522
BAKKEN9-20131714218136886501823
BAKKEN8-20130000000

Original Post 
 
This morning I posted a random note about wells that are re-entered and wells that are being re-completed.

Kent added another one:
  • 19157, 1,476, EOG, Bear Den 04-20H, Spotted Horn, one-section spacing; t3/13; cum 302K 5/18 (will be updated above);
Look the production during the period noted below, #19157:

BAKKEN9-20131513971135726501300
BAKKEN8-20130000000
BAKKEN7-20130000000
BAKKEN6-20130000000
BAKKEN5-20130000000
BAKKEN4-20130000000
BAKKEN3-20130000000
BAKKEN2-20130000000
BAKKEN1-20131214802184340118101121
BAKKEN12-2012223185297055029996142279
BAKKEN11-20123026592543486237002220
BAKKEN10-201230213321971721837561631

Before talking about this well, here are screen shots of the NDIC GIS map of the area where this well is drilled, progressively zooming in:

The first screen shot: the general area, Spotted Horn oil field. Note: the "purple" is the 2560-acre spacing unit (4-section, L-shaped spacing unit):


Now, the second screen shot, zooming in to look at the wells that have been drilled (note the short laterals and the long laterals):


Finally, the third shot, including the well that is still in confidential status (#23064):


There are a number of data points regarding the area in purple:
  • when checking the Bakken spacing on the NDIC GIS map server, only "2560-acre" shows up
  • in other words, when checking the area in purple for Bakken spacing, neither 1280-acre nor 640-acre spacing shows up
Now look at the spacing of these four wells according to the NDIC data base:
  • 23066, two-section spacing; 1280-acre spacing; 261, EOG, Bear Den 102-1708H, Three Forks, 51 stages; 10.3 million lbs sand; t6/13; cum 445K 5/18;
  • 23065, two-section spacing; 1280-acre spacing; 282, EOG, Bear Den 20-1708H, middle Bakken, 48 stages; 9.8 million lbs sand; t6/13; cum 453K 5/18;
  • 19170, single section; 640-acre spacing; 1,882, EOG, Bear Den 07-17H, middle Bakken; 15 stages; 2 million lbs; t1/11; cum 269K 5/18;
Likewise, Bear Den 04-20H is single-section spacing (640-acre spacing):
  • 19157, single section; 640-acre spacing; 1,476, EOG, Bear Den 04-20H, middle Bakken; 15 stages; 2 million lbs, t3/11; cum 157K 9/13; production of #19157 (also shown above):
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN9-20131513971135726501300
BAKKEN8-20130000000
BAKKEN7-20130000000
BAKKEN6-20130000000
BAKKEN5-20130000000
BAKKEN4-20130000000
BAKKEN3-20130000000
BAKKEN2-20130000000
BAKKEN1-20131214802184340118101121

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

Look at the production of some of the other wells in the spacing unit in purple above:

Look at #23065:

PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN9-201326284782871115432474791287834475
BAKKEN8-20132840175406372112344016532138560
BAKKEN7-201349122743375201800
BAKKEN6-2013410949722108060799

Look at #23064:

PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN12-2013171080211397399716616103406216
BAKKEN11-201327301552944413873441301640327597
BAKKEN10-2013181543216363741623907272721097
BAKKEN9-201326268092711215302447121212632462
BAKKEN8-20132840344399202835550314608444094
BAKKEN7-20131466038824807100
BAKKEN6-201391323208810033670338
BAKKEN5-201329120801800


Look at #19170:

PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN9-20132595319617778716022432411575
BAKKEN8-20132413662132021166543675163737
BAKKEN7-2013004550000
BAKKEN6-201322409336386744206501958
BAKKEN5-20130000000
BAKKEN4-20130000000
BAKKEN3-20130000000
BAKKEN2-20130000000
BAKKEN1-20130000000
BAKKEN12-20120000000
BAKKEN11-20120000000
BAKKEN10-20120000000
BAKKEN9-20120000000
BAKKEN8-20120000000
BAKKEN7-201233911231755020488
BAKKEN6-20122933503191755446404321
BAKKEN5-20123138264769784484004685

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

There are additional wells planned for this 2560-acre spacing unit.

By the way, did you all notice where the Spotted Horn oil field was located? Yup, right next to the incredible Clarks Creek and Antelope fields where EOG is also reporting some incredible wells. It looks like we're back to just getting started in the Bakken. 

Doomsday: Chicago

At some point, the chickens will come home to roost. Smile.

A reader sent me the link to this story. The reader said the article is "way off topic" but it is good reporting and fits in with my "series" on "doomsday for US cities."

So, without further ado, a nice exclusive investigative story from The Chicago Tribune on how the city of Chicago manages its expenses.
Between 2000 and 2012, Chicago spent $9.8 billion in general obligation bond proceeds with few restrictions and virtually no oversight. In a first-ever accounting, the Tribune found that nearly half of the money went to paper over Chicago’s growing budget problems. The city spent millions in bond funds on short-lived equipment such as Palm Pilot software, spare vehicle parts and items you might find on a weekend shopping list: trash bins, flowers, even bags for dog waste. That’s equivalent to taking out a 30-year mortgage to buy a car and making your children — or grandchildren — pay it off, with interest.

US LPG Exports Increasing -- Random Update

Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. energy drilling boom is revolutionizing the niche market for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bringing down global prices and challenging established exporters in the Middle East.
The changes are the latest sign of the global impact of a drilling renaissance in the United States that has already hit oil and natural gas. And like oil and gas, it is U.S. producers of LPG who are set to gain most while established exporters may struggle with new competition in a suddenly altered landscape.
Unconventional oil and gas drilling, including shale gas extraction from fracking, is controversial because it requires large amounts of water and chemicals to be pumped at high pressure into the earth, and some countries such as France and Bulgaria have banned the technology.
In the United States, however, shale oil and gas has resulted in a sharp increase in production, turning the country from a large energy importer into an oil and gas exporter. In the LPG market, which is mostly known for use of butane and propane in household devices but increasingly also in transport, analysts say that North America will vie with the Middle East as the world's top LPG supply region this year and in 2014 at average daily production rates of around two million barrels per day (b/d).

Forbes Provides Nice Update Regarding Personal/Private Electric Grid

Link here.
Two energy-related trends are converging and are potentially contradicting the goal of generating increasing levels of green power.
Some utilities are expanding their transmission networks to accommodate more wind and solar power, but certain commercial and residential users are trying to break free from their local utilities by producing their own electricity. Those distributed systems, or on-site systems, would reduce the number of customers tied to the central network. Fewer participants could then erode the ability to pay for upgrades to carry green power over long distances.
The northeastern U.S. and Texas, generally, stand in contrast to California. Northeast Utilities, for example, is adding a lot of transmission throughout its New England territories so that its grid can transport more wind electrons that are replacing some retiring power plants. It will spend $4 billion on expansions and upgrades, the utility said in a conference call.

For Investors Only: DNR, OKE, SD, SRE All Report Earnings Today; SD Has Great Report; Samson Oil & Gas Provides Operational Update In The Bakken; Transcripts And More

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or what you think you may have read here.

These three companies were among many that traded at new highs today: WFT (Weatherford), MSFT (Microsoft), and FSLR (First Solar).

Seven companies announced increased dividends/distributions today.

Conference calls:
Earnings:
  • DNR: net income, 28 cents; adjusted net income, 45 cents; share price rising
  • OKE: beats by 5 cents; see below
  • SD: beats by 5 cents; see below
  • SRE: "solid" -- see below
  • TRP: beats by 10 cents; misses on revenue (think Keystone)
More on OKE:
ONEOK beats by $0.05; narrows FY13 net income guidance: Reports  3Q13 adj. earnings of $0.35 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.30. 
More on SD:
SandRidge Energy beats by $0.05, beats on revs: Reports 3Q13 earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.02; revenues fell 7.4% year/year to $493.6 mln vs the $481.71 mln consensus. 
More on DNR:
CEO: Rocky Mountain operations reached a significant milestone in the third quarter with our first Rocky Mountain tertiary oil production sales. We anticipate the planned expansion of our carbon dioxide flood at Bell Creek Field to drive tertiary oil production growth from that field for many years to come. 
More on SRE:
SRE reported third-quarter 2013 earnings of $296 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, up from $268 million, or $1.09 per diluted share in the third quarter 2012.
Sempra Energy's third-quarter 2012 earnings included a charge of $60 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, related to a write-down on Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's minority stake in the Rockies Express Pipeline.  On an adjusted basis, third-quarter 2012 earnings were $328 million, or $1.33 per diluted share.
For the first nine months of 2013, Sempra Energy's earnings were $719 million, or $2.89 per diluted share, compared with $566 million, or $2.31 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2012.
Over at Yahoo!In-Play:
Samson Oil & Gas provides operations update on its North Dakota Project: Co provides the following update: North Stockyard Project, Williams County, North Dakota

Little Creature 1-15-14H (SSN WI 27.7%):

As previously reported the 7 inch casing string was set and cemented at 11,855 feet, and the lateral portion of Little Creature 1-15-14H well has now been drilled to the planned total depth of 19,430 feet. The lateral portion was drilled wholly within the target zone in the middle Bakken Formation. Currently the well is being prepared to run the production liner.

Blackdog 3-13-14H (SSN WI 25.03%)
Following the setting of the production liner in the Little Creature well, the Frontier 24 rig will move back to the Tofte 1 pad and begin drilling operations on Blackdog 3-13-14H. This well will be a middle Bakken lateral and is expected to follow the previously planned Swan trajectory that is the infill location between the Rodney 1-14H well (SSN WI 27.18%) and the Sail and Anchor 1-13-14HBK well (SSN WI 25.03%).

Frac operations Tofte 2 pad

Following the completion of running the production liner on Little Creature, the Tofte 2 pad will be turned over to fracture stimulation operations associated with the three wells on that pad. This will include Coopers (SSN WI 27.7%), Tooheys (SSN WI 27.7%), and Little Creature (SSN WI 27.7%). Operations are currently expected to commence on November 18th and to be completed by early December.

Bluff #1-11 (SSN WI 66%)
Construction of the access road to the Bluff #1-11 well site has commenced. A concrete slab has been constructed across an existing pipeline to allow for access to the drill site. After the concrete has cured, the balance of the road and drill pad will be built. Drilling operations are expected to commence towards the end of November.

Tuesday -- The Genie Cannot Be Put Back Into The Bottle

Active rigs: 181

The Wall Street Journal

Blackberry has abandoned its plan to sell itself. And that was the top story, front page of the WSJ. That tells me that all is right with the world, if that's the lead story.

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

This, of course, was predictable. I was blogging about this from the beginning. If folks understand how insurance works, they understand that ObamaCare will implode unless the program is significantly changed. At this point, about the only thing I see working is for the government to become the single payer, as in National Health Insurance, modeled on Great Britain's great success story. The genie cannot be placed back in the bottle.

Here's the WSJ story: the young are avoiding signing up for health care plans
Insurers say the early buyers of health coverage on the nation's troubled new websites are older than expected so far, raising early concerns about the economics of the insurance marketplaces. [The experience in Wisconsin: the median age has risen from 41 to 51. Not trivial.]
If the trend continues, an older, more expensive set of customers could drive up prices for everyone, the insurers say, by forcing them to spread their costs around. "We need a broad range of people to make this work, and we're not seeing that right now," said Heather Thiltgen of Medical Mutual of Ohio, the state's largest insurer by individual customers. "We're seeing the population skewing older."
And this, of course:
The law bars insurers from charging sicker customers higher rates, and limits the amount they can charge older people compared with younger ones. It offers new subsidies to help cover premiums available to many lower-income applicants. Insurers are relying on a steady stream of younger, healthier enrollees to offset medical bills of older, sicker customers.
One of the "fun" things about ObamaCare is exactly what Nancy Pelosi said: we really won't know what is in the bill until it is passed and goes into effect. I knew that the law barred insurers from charging sicker customers higher rates, but I did not know there was actually a "delta limiter" on charges based on age, sort of like restrictor plates on NASCAR stock cars. LOL. 

A companion article which we could see as early as tomorrow is this: the healthy are avoiding signing up for health care plans.

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

By the way, again for the date-time stamp bragging rights: not signing up for ObamaCare will be the largest act of social disobedience ever seen in this country. Even my wife, a strong supporter of Mr Obama some years ago, says she would not sign up for ObamaCare. She says this is not an "act of civil disobedience," it's just common sense (not to sign up). She, apparently, does not understand ObamaCare is the law of the land and not signing up for it is an act of civil disobedience. Okay, I've made my point. Let's see if anyone picks up on this a year from now.

By the way, the largest act of civil disobedience in this country is driving over the speed limit on the federal interstate highway system. Probably in second place is failure to pay taxes on profits made from selling illicit drugs. 

 ************************

There were no stories on Syria in the front page of the on-line edition of the WSJ.

 ************************

Wow, this is interesting. I was not aware of this story: Weatherford International CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner is trying to save the company, and making an unusually forthright mea culpa. So far, the results of his reinvention have been mixed.
On Monday, the company reported relatively flat third-quarter revenue of $3.82 billion as earnings fell 69% to $22 million, or three cents a share, from $70 million, or nine cents a share, a year earlier. The company also said it hired a chief financial officer.
But investors are still smarting from the company's earlier missteps, which slashed the company's stock-market valuation by $7 billion in less than two years, to $12.6 billion.
Bill Herbert, an analyst at investment bank Simmons & Co., said Weatherford is emerging from "the crisis management bunker."
"I don't think there's any question as to their survivability now," he said. "Last year they had cancer. Now the cancer's gone into remission."
Cobbled together from more than 100 acquisitions over two decades, Weatherford became a smaller rival to oil-field services behemoths such as Schlumberger Ltd.  and Halliburton Co., with an expertise in wringing more fossil fuels from aging fields.
Weatherford has a huge footprint in the Bakken. Huge. 

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

Not citing ObamaCare, Kellogg announced it will cut 7% of its workforce by 2017.

WSJ: "don't be shocked if Tesla beats forecasts."

KOG's Earnings Transcript Over At SeekingAlpha; Chevrolet Volt Sales Drop 32% September, 2013, Over September, 2012

Transcript here.

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

On another note:
Sales of the Chevrolet Volt in September, 2013, experienced a 31.7% decrease, over similar period in 2012 (September, 2012)
Overall, 2013 total sales stand at 18,782, as compared to 19,309 – down more than 500 units or 2.7%.
I maintain the all-EV niche is for the upper middle class or the simply rich with at least two non-EVs who can show a need for an all-EV for daily commutes of less than 50 miles round trip. The simply rich (Bakken millionaires), the mega-rich (Jay Leno), and the hyper-rich (Warren Buffett) will tend toward the Tesla. 

Really Cool: Rig Productivity -- A New Metric

A few weeks ago I noted in a post that there was either a typo or a new metric. It turned out to be a new metric: rig productivity.

I was particularly happy to see this because I had blogged about this two years ago on one or two occasions. I was trying to find the right word. There was a discussion over at the "old" Bakken Shale Discussion Group about "efficiency" of drilling by different operators in the Bakken. I didn't care for the word "efficient." An operator could be really efficient drilling dry wells. LOL.

So, I went with "effectiveness." I noted that the new H&P flex rigs would be much more effective than the standard, conventional rigs previously used in the Williston Basin.

Then a week or so ago, the US EIA actually talked about the very same phenomenon. If the spirit moves me, I will link my original post. But again, I think I was the first person outside the oil and gas industry to note the need for a new metric: rig effectiveness.

So, today, RBN Energy has a long discussion of this very subject. Again, very, very impressive. Anyone seriously interested in the shale revolution in the US, should be reading RBN Energy daily.
Last month the Energy Information Administration (EIA) debuted a new monthly report detailing oil and gas drilling productivity in six of the largest US production basins. Rather than just being an “after the fact” report telling us what happened in the past, the new report provides a forecast of oil and gas production for the current and next month out in each of the six basins. The initial report indicates that oil production will increase by roughly 60 Mb/d in these basins during November with gas production increasing by 0.4 Bcf/d. The report also highlights continued improvement in rig productivity. Today we begin a series interpreting the new drilling rig productivity data.

Random Look At Some Wells That Were Re-Entered Or Re-Fracked

I track re-entry wells here.

I also track re-completion wells.

I definitely miss many re-entry / re-completion wells. And I probably mix some of them up, calling some re-entry when they are really re-ecompletion, and vice versa. I'm not even sure how important the distinction is, if any.

BR has permits for two new re-entry wells in yesterday's daily activity report.

Here are three examples of re-entry wells, with the change in production during the appropriate period.

First:
  • 21513, 23, KOG, Smokey 3-6-7-14HS, t2/12; cum 55K 9/13:
BAKKEN4-2013301141311443153722017119911170
BAKKEN3-20132011362108942083818067104277581
BAKKEN2-20130000000
BAKKEN1-20130000000
BAKKEN12-20120000000
BAKKEN11-201211415830000
BAKKEN10-20120000000
BAKKEN9-201213503000
BAKKEN8-201220265440234137077
BAKKEN7-2012238087000
BAKKEN6-2012114404020

Second:
  • 18987, 223, KOG, Two Shields Butte 14-21-16-2HS, t4/11; cum 211K 9/13:
BAKKEN4-20133029922298701175619524687712557
BAKKEN3-20133039986396363353022340022251
BAKKEN2-20130000000
BAKKEN1-20130000000
BAKKEN12-201211750000
BAKKEN11-2012201478173130111801058
BAKKEN10-2012312354208120176001668
BAKKEN9-201230205023592815960

Third:
  • 17602, 215, CLR, Charlie Bob Creek 1-25TH, Ranch Coulee, t12/08, cum 62K 9/13:
BAKKEN2-201328537754403185479247920
BAKKEN1-201311346931182521277927790
BAKKEN12-20120000000
BAKKEN11-20126453679229290
BAKKEN10-2012313102254371221220
BAKKEN9-2012212502253371111110