Monday, June 8, 2015

Wells coming off the confidential list have been updated. I got started late because I took the granddaughters to "computer camp." That's a whole 'nother story, which I will tell later.

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"Energy Cookie"

Today's EIA energy cookie:

In an effort to better present crude oil storage capacity and use across the United States, EIA has prepared new tables as part of the semiannual Working and Net Available Shell Storage Capacity Report. The new series show crude oil stocks held at refineries crude oil in tanks and underground storage in each Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD). Previously, this information was only available at the national level. --- EIA

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"Bakken Information"

A long, long time ago I linked the "Bakken Information" site but a "long, long time ago," the site was down. It appears to be back up -- and probably has been back up for a "long, long time." I just have not checked it in a long time. It's a good resource.  Although this is not the "home page," click on this link first, and then at the top you can click on the other tabs, including up-to-date rigs in North Dakota.

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The Bakken: Another Word For "Resilient"

For the archives only. I think a lot of this is way too early to tell. The dust is yet to settle. From Seeking Alpha today, a contributor writes:

The U.S. shale oil and gas producers have turned out to be far more resilient to cheap commodity prices than anyone expected. Amid the downturn, the exploration and production companies have focused on reducing costs and improving efficiency. This has led to a 15% to 30% decline in break-even costs while producers now expect to pump up to 30% more oil from a single well than before.

As a result, despite the significant drop in oil prices since last year, the industry hasn't witnessed a string of bankruptcies. Rather, companies like Whiting Petroleum and EOG Resources have been mulling over ramping up the drilling activity once oil prices stabilize in the $65 a barrel window while Pioneer Natural Resources is already putting additional rigs to work and is eyeing a full rebound, in terms of number of horizontal rigs, by the first quarter of next year.

If it was OPEC's plan to force the exit of major shale oil producer, then that clearly hasn't worked. It wasn't surprising, therefore, when on Friday, the oil cartel said that it would continue producing 30 million barrels of oil a day. By doing so, OPEC has dashed out any hopes regarding a quick rebound in oil prices. Although oil might not climb back to $100 a barrel in the foreseeable future, on a positive note, OPEC has also decided that it is not going to exacerbate the supply glut by raising its ceiling. Perhaps the group is comfortable with the ongoing slow recovery and has no intention of pushing the prices back to under $50 a barrel.