Friday, October 31, 2014

Seventeen (17) New Permits -- North Dakota, October 31, 2014

Active rigs:


10/31/201410/31/201310/31/201210/31/201110/31/2010
Active Rigs193180186199152

Seventeen (17) new permits --
  • Operators: BR (5), WPX (5), KOG (3), Enduro (2), XTO, Denbury
    Fields: Johnson Corner (McKenzie), Pershing (McKenzie), Truax (Williams), Newburg (Bottineau), Eagle Nest (McKenzie), Bear Creek (Dunn), Cedar Hills (Bowman)
    Comments:
I was wrong; yesterday I said there were no wells coming off confidential list today; it turns out there were two (but I see why they were not listed):
  • 23846, loc, CLR, Bison 41-23H, Cedar Hills,
  • 24650, PNC, KOG, P Wood 154-98-3-27-16-3H, 
Two (2) producing wells completed:
  • 27747, 812, XTO, Willey 31X-3G, West Capa, t10/14; cum --
  • 27748, 655, XTO, WIlley 31X-3F, West Capa, t10/14; cum --

6 comments:

  1. Why is this surprising? Contracts are locked in at least a few months in advance. Companies don't want to get whipsawed . I suspect there are a lot of oil co finance types crunching the numbers including the big unknown, which is how low will crude
    go and how long it will stay low. Then you have the internal management reviews for the decision makers. Remember, the current plan was approved months ago and no recent quarterly reports even hinted at a slowdown. A change in plans is a big deal to investors. They will ask why mgmt didn't see this coming. Resetting expectations is a big deal and if it comes across as a knee jerk rection to some unforeseen business condition that, in hindsight, looks to have been predictable then investor panic could be the result.

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    Replies
    1. My guess is we will see an incremental slowdown while at the same time stating how profitable bakken is, china demand etc. Then we will hear about how "OPEC" is "out if control and not playing by the rules" (translation , we had thus good thing going and now you (OPEC) want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg). We have an interesting year or two ahead of us as oil investors . Nothing like a nice little family feud to make things interesting :)

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    2. Someone, with regard to the rig count, asked why "is this is surprising?" One of the reasons I find it surprising is that EOG has pretty much quit drilling the Bakken; other drillers have no doubt already slowed down in anticipation of winter; and yet, the rig number holds steady. Prior to the slump in oil prices we saw the number of rigs get down into the 180's and here the rig count is, regardless of the price of oil, still in the 190s. So, yes, I do find it surprising. I also find it surprising because new flaring rules have gone into effect; companies knew about these new rules for the past year, and still the rigs hold steady. I also find it surprising because takeaway capacity is a challenge, production keeps increasing, and the rigs are more effective in 2014 than they were in 2010 and yet the number of rigs hold steady. Regardless of the price of oil, I would have expected the number of rigs to gradually decline over the past year for those reasons, and many others.

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