Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Many Oil Firms Plan No North Dakota Layoffs -- Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Headline: GM reports much higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit; raises dividend; possibly a larger dividend later this year; excluding special items, the largest U.S. automaker earned $1.19 per share, compared with the analysts’ average estimate of 83 cents; net income rose to $1.1 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $900 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. North American profit margins for the full year were 6.5 percent.

MPC beats; see below.

Staples buys Office Depot for $6 billion.

I talked about this yesterday or the day before. The Market Realist is asking whether Europe is the "new Japan"?
Yesterday, yields on German 10-year bonds fell as low as 0.305%, while Japanese 10-year yields rose as high as 0.358%.
If your mouth is gaping wide in amazement right now, relax your jaws a bit until after you read the following point: The yield on the 10-year Swiss bond just reached -0.322%!
It almost sounds like we are making this up as we go along, but sadly the data is all true.
The ECB’s new 1.1 trillion euro quantitative easing plan and recent deflationary readings have propelled many regional European yields to negative levels.
Consumer prices have fallen 0.6% in Europe this year according to Eurostat, signalling that inflation will be well below the government’s 2.0% target for the foreseeable future. Is this a good thing? It could be positive for EU asset prices, as we saw with the U.S. five year quantitative easing experiment, but the European version of QE could be even worse for individual borrowers and the middle class than ours.
In fact, Swedbank (Sweden) just commented that “negative rates could trigger lending contraction” in response to bets that Sweden’s central bank will lower its repo rate below 0%.
So, QE would actually decrease lending in a negative rate environment? U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner complained for years about the lack of U.S. bank lending holding back the recovery during QE, but that was only a lending slowdown with 0% rates. What if outstanding loans in Europe actually fell materially in a negative rate environment?
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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:


2/4/201502/04/201402/04/201302/04/201202/04/2011
Active Rigs142190184202165

Many oil firms plan no North Dakota layoffs -- Reuters is reporting:
WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) - Halliburton, Statoil ASA, Hess Corp and other North Dakota energy companies have decided, for now, not to lay off staff in the No. 2 U.S. oil producing state, hoping to be prepared for any prolonged rebound in crude prices.
Many oil producers and their contractors are trying to strike a balance between cutting costs and maintaining workforce reserves after a more-than 50 percent drop in oil prices since last June.
Remember, HAL, SLB, Sanjel, BHI, and many other firms are looking at 750 wells that need to be fracked; the number could grow if fracking is slowed due to winter weather and spring road restrictions. 
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Bakken boom slows -- Rigzone is reporting:
The drop in crude oil prices in recent months has likely gone uncelebrated in the North Dakota town of Williston, or in the state as a whole, as exploration and production companies reduce or halt their drilling activity in the Bakken, that vast shale formation underlying North Dakota and neighboring Montana.
But how much has the state’s drilling activity been affected, and how long is the slowdown likely to last? The abrupt arrival of sub-$50 oil prices has been a shock to the oil industry, and the subsequent decline in drilling activity in the Bakken could, if continued, prove painful for a state that had until recently been riding high as an oil producing state and an economic powerhouse.
Between 2006 and 2013, North Dakota went from being the ninth-largest oil producing state to the second, behind only Texas, according to Bakken.com, an online shale publication centering on activity in North Dakota. It was not always that way.
Early in the new millennium, the state was steadily losing population and brainpower as new college graduates struck out for more alluring opportunities elsewhere. North Dakota’s future looked increasingly dim, if not dismal. 
More at the link; this article will likely be archived for subscribers only by the source.

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RBN Energy: Bakken CBR after the "crash." This article will likely be archived for subscribers only.
The combination of crashing crude prices and freight costs for long distance transport to refinery markets is tightening pressure on Bakken crude producer break-even economics. There is plenty of more expensive rail transportation capacity and not enough cheaper pipeline capacity to carry all production to market. For the moment producers appear to be sticking to favored markets on the East and West Coasts that can only be reached by rail. New pipeline capacity is two years away. Today we review the big shifts in North Dakota crude transport options.
At the end of December we provided an update on crumbling crude netbacks (crude selling price minus transport costs back to the wellhead) for North Dakota Bakken producers, following the price crash in the second half of 2014 (see Boom Clap The Sound of My Netback).
Since then U.S. benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices have fallen below $50/Bbl – meaning the situation for crude producers has gotten worse. With North Dakota located in the middle of nowhere, much of the crude has to travel long distance to coastal markets where most refineries are located. In the absence of adequate pipeline capacity producers have used more expensive rail transport to get Bakken crude to refineries on the East and West Coast. That made sense back in 2012 when pipelines were highly congested and crude prices at coastal locations were at a premium.
Today cheaper pipelines should be the preferred option but rail is still the dominant method of transport to market. If production stays at current levels or increases, there isn’t enough capacity available anyway to ship all North Dakota production by pipeline. As a result, some barrels will still be shipped using more expensive rail options – further pressuring producer returns. Relief - in the shape of new pipelines - is still two years away - if those pipelines ever get built. Meantime more crude continues to be transported by rail than pipeline in-spite of the higher cost and resulting lower producer netbacks.
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Again, just a reminder, The Coyote Blog is one of the best blogs out there. Go to the link and simply scroll through all the posts. I think you will find the blog quite enjoyable.

MDU Earnings Transcript -- February 3, 2015; Update On Half-Billion-Dollar Project North Of Williston, North Dakota

Link here at Seeking Alpha for MDU earnings transcript.

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Update on half-billion-dollar commercial-residential development project north of Williston in The Dickinson Press. Original post back in May, 2014.
Terry Olin is one of two principals with Stropiq Inc., which has filed a site plan with Williams County, placing what will be a $500 million bet that the the Bakken will boom and bloom for decades to come.
Williston Crossing is a 219-acre mixed-use real estate project on the north edge of town, just 4 miles from the preferred site for a new and larger airport to service Williston. Running just south of the development is a proposed future truck bypass, and to its east an overlapping sections of U.S. Highways 2 and 85.

Zeits: A Dead Cat Bounce? Drudge Report And Product Placement -- February 3, 2015

This is really quite funny. At an earlier post I have a photo of our granddaughter telling me the rising price of oil is a "dead cat bounce." Literally moments after posting that photo, Don sends me the link to a new article by Richard Zeits over at Seeking Alpha in which he (Zeits) asks the same question: whether we've reached an inflection point or whether this is a dead cat bounce? At the link:
The correction in the price of oil has entered its sixth month. I count the correction's duration from early September of last year, the moment when key waterborne crude price benchmarks dropped below the lower end of the stability band that had existed since approximately late 2010. The economic pain signal to producers became particularly acute after the price collapse following OPEC's November 27 decision to keep production unchanged.
The time period since OPEC's announcement is probably insufficient to produce a supply response that would be already visible in industry statistics. However, given the magnitude of the price decline, the response mechanism has been set in motion and at least some correction to the previous trajectory of supply growth is now inevitable, in my opinion. Moreover, as I have argued in my previous notes, once the supply response to the price signal sets in, it would likely last for some time and would not be quickly reversible.
Therefore, the extreme price signal - and I view the sub-$50 price of oil as extreme, given the industry's cost structure - at some point will no longer be necessary, even if the market remains oversupplied on the backward-looking metrics.
The article is excellent. It is very, very long. The article will be archived for subscribers only in the near future. 

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Product Placement

Pundits often mention Matt Drudge's uncanny ability to link articles to frame an agenda.

Seldom mentioned is Drudge's uncanny ability to sublimely place links to frame his agenda.

Here's an example for newbies.

Below is a story of an aging superstar with wrinkles, cataracts, and a penchant for salad.

And above that link for that superstar is a link to the world's oldest active presumed presidential nominee.


Down To 142 Rigs; EOG, Whiting With Some Great Wells; Seven (7) New Permits -- February 3, 2015

Active rigs:


2/3/201502/03/201402/03/201302/03/201202/03/2011
Active Rigs142188187202167

Seven (7) new permits --
  • Operators: Whiting (2), WPX (2), Hess, XTO, Noah
  • Fields: Van Hook (Mountrail), Bell (Stark), Truax (Williams), Pleasant Hill (McKenzie), North Haas (Bottineau), Lindahl (Williams)
  • Comments: the second Noah permit in North Dakota
Wells coming off the confidential list today have been posted; see sidebar at the right.

Wells coming off the confidential list Wednesday:
  • 27043, 439, EOG, Parshall 45-1004H, Parshall, t8/14; cum 100K 12/14;
  • 27207, 538, EOG, Parshall 50-1114H, Parshall, t8/14; cum 84K 12/14;
  • 27260, 1,743, Whiting, Dolyniuk 11-25PH, Zenith, t8/14; cum 59K 12/14;
  • 27292, 844, EOG, Parshall 62-15H, Parshall, t8/14; cum 60K 12/14;
  • 28736, drl, CLR, Durham 6-2H1, North Tobacco Garden, no production data,
  • 28907, IA, CLR, Margaurite 2-15H1, Sanish, no production data,
  • 28942, drl, XTO, Allen 21X-17F, Dollar Joe, no production data, 
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27043, see above, EOG, Parshall 45-1004H, Parshall:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
12-2014106493049
11-201460041423
10-2014273881134
9-2014410880
8-2014145380

27207, see above, EOG, Parshall 50-1114H, Parshall:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
12-2014125832524
11-2014131814640
10-2014235797701
9-2014255332121
8-201482370

27260, see above, Whiting, Dolyniuk 11-25PH, Zenith:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
12-20141338312894
11-2014706767
10-2014107699609
9-20141488513826
8-2014192122824

27292, see above, EOG, Parshall 62-15H, Parshall:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
12-201481751781
11-20143053928
10-2014130005595
9-2014227162997
8-2014121040

Illinois -- America's Greece -- The Eonomist -- February 3, 2015

Updates

May 8, 2015: Illinois Supreme Court strikes down 2013 law to help solve the pension problem. Back to square one. And $111 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. 
 
Original Post
The Economist is reporting:
Illinois is like Greece in one obvious way: it overpromised and underdelivered on pensions and has little appetite for dealing with the problem.
This large Midwestern state, with a population of 13m (Greece has 11million, though a far smaller GDP than Illinois), has the most underfunded retirement system of any state and the largest pension burden relative to state revenue.
It also has the highest number of public-pension funds close to insolvency, such as the one looking after Chicago’s police and firemen. Illinois has piled up a whopping $111 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, in addition to $56 billion in debt for health benefits for pensioners.
The state devotes one in four of its tax dollars to pensions, which is more than it spends on primary and secondary education.
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Reading About The Slump in Oil Prices In The Wall Street Journal With Granddaughter

 "No, can't you see?! It's coming back up!"
 "It's a dead cat bounce."

3/4 Of Bakken Wells To DRL Status; Apple Will Build "Global Communications Command Center" In Arizona, Not California; Renewable Energy -- February 3, 2015

Wells coming off confidential list have been posted; 3/4 go to DRL status. 

I'm re-posting this from an earlier post. This is a huge story on at least two levels:

Apple will build "global communications command center" in Arizona, not California. Macrumors is reporting:
Apple plans to take over the Mesa, Arizona factory where GT Advanced was formerly producing sapphire boules, transforming the facility into a massive $2 billion data center, reports CNBC. The data center will reportedly act as a "command center" for Apple's global data network.  
According to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, the center will house 150 full-time Apple employees and its construction at the 1.3 million square foot facility will create 300 to 500 additional jobs.
I assume Apple would have preferred California. Little by little, Apple is moving east.
In a statement, Apple called the investment one of the largest it had ever made and pledged that the facility would run on 100 percent renewable energy like the company's other data centers.
Renewable energy makes sense for this type of operation. More important than renewable energy is an uninterruptible power supply not connected to the national grid. Apple is simply brilliant. It was interesting that no one commenting on this story noted that.

Europe Won't Pursue Shale Energy In My Investing Lifetime -- February 3, 2015

Reuters at Rigzone is reporting:
U.S. energy major Chevron's decision to stop exploring for shale gas in Poland has highlighted the sector's uncertain future and role in strengthening energy security in Europe.
A shale gas boom in the United States over the past few years has reduced its energy dependence, but Europe is in the early stages of development and no commercial drilling has yet started. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated Europe could hold trillions of cubic metres of recoverable shale gas but it is still uncertain where reserves are located, how large they are and whether they are commercially viable.
In fact, revisions to estimates of technically recoverable resources, disappointing outcomes and growing opposition to shale gas have reduced the hype about development prospects in Europe.
The surge in U.S. shale oil and gas production has also caused a large build in global supplies at a time of low demand, contributing to a sharp fall in crude oil prices since June last year.
"I don't know any serious person who thinks Europe is going to have a shale gas revolution in 15 years at least. It's just not going to happen, there are too many barriers to it."
I track the European energy story here (the big picture, only).

Meanwhile, Shell will start dismantling one of Britain's oldest and biggest oil platforms.
Oil company Shell intends to start a 10-year process to dismantle and remove one of Britain's oldest and biggest oil platforms, Brent Delta.
Britain's North Sea basin is one of the most mature oil and gas production areas in the world and many of its oldest fields are approaching the end of their operational life.
Decommissioning about 500 offshore installations and 10,000 kilometres of pipelines is expected to cost 10.4 billion pounds ($15.7 billion) by 2022.
Shell has submitted plans to the government to start the decommissioning process of its old Brent platforms, starting with the removal of the above-water topside at Brent Delta. Brent Delta stopped producing oil in November 2011 and after several years of assessing alternative uses for the platform Shell decided decommissioning was the best way forward. The remainder of the Brent field, whose platforms Alpha and Bravo stopped producing oil last November, is expected to be decomissioned in a second phase.

Random Update On Busy Area In North Fork Oil Field; Despite Drop In Oil Prices, Bakken Economy Numbers Still Huge -- February 3, 2015



Updates

July 27, 2016: update today shows that all wells either remain on confidential list of have become DUCs. The conf wells that have moved to DUC status since last update:
  • 30280 - 30282 (3 wells)
  • 25199 - 25202 (4 wells)
I don't see any production numbers from any of these wells (except for the 2009 well (#17291). If the wells on confidential status are producing, folks may be getting royal checks for those wells. I would not know.


Original Post
Random look at busy area in the Bakken, North Fork oil field 

NOTE: Do not update this page. The Merton / Jerome wells are now tracked at this post.
 
In the graphic below (it looks like the "Jerome" wells run south; the "Merton" wells run north):

The first well:
  • 17291, 756, BR, Jerome 1-15H, t2/09; cum 312K 3/20;
A 3-well pad on confidential list:
  • 30485, 500, Jerome 14-10MBH, North Fork, t4/19; cum 280K 3/20;
  • 30486, 178, Merton 14-10MBH, North Fork, t4/19; cum 305K 3/20;
  • 30487, 77 (no typo), Merton 14-10TFH ULW (suggests a 2560-acre spaced well), t3/19; cum 326K 3/20;
A 3-well pad on confidential list
  • 30280, 3,327, BR, Merton 21-15TFH, North Fork, t9/16; cum 491K 3/20;
  • 30281, 3,487, BR, Merton 21-15MBH, North Fork, t9/16; cum 382K 3/20;
  • 30282, 2,806, BR, Jerome 21-15MBH, North Fork, t9/16; cum 294K 3/20;
A 4-well pad on confidential list
  • 25199, 2,928, Merton 21-15MBH 2NH, North Fork, t8/16; cum 541K 3/20;
  • 25200, 1,776, Jerome 21-15MBH 2SH, North Fork, t8/16; cum 491K 3/20;
  • 25201, 3,360, Merton 21-15TFH 3NH, North Fork, t8/16; cum 461K 3/20;
  • 25202, 1,536, Jerome 21-15TFH 3SH, North Fork, t9/16; cum 357K 3/20;
A 4-well pad on confidential list
  • 30221, 566, Merton 41-15MBH, North Fork, t9/18; cum 354K 3/20;
  • 30222, 470, Jerome 41-15MBH, North Fork, t9/18; cum 292K 3/20;
  • 30223, 378, Jerome 41-15TFH, North Fork, t9/18; cum 275K 3/20;
  • 30547, 348, BR, Merton 41-15TFH ULW, Croff, t10/18; cum 363K 3/20;
There were four BR permits in the graphic that were canceled.





The Dickinson Press is reporting:
In previous budget projections, the North Dakota State Water Commission -- the state agency that pays for water projects throughout the state -- was expected to receive an estimated $930 million to put toward water infrastructure.
But with the drop in international oil prices triggering revisions to the state budget, that number could now be down to an estimated $500 million.

The loss in revenue could cause the Southwest Water Authority to reassess its proposed $100 million budget for the 2015-16 biennium.
Prior to the surge in oil development in North Dakota, the Water Commission's budget averaged around $20 million to $30 million.

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Three Important Links For Global Warming Deniers
Three Really Important Links For Warmists (of those warmists who still "believe" in science)

Turns out: the math was wrong: Australia

Conclusion: Resolving the discrepancies between the methodology adopted by IPCC in AR4 and AR5 is vital. Once those discrepancies are corrected for, it appears that the impact of anthropogenic global warming over the next century, and even as far as equilibrium many millennia hence, may be no more than one-third to one-half of IPCC’s current projections." The link takes you to a PDF.

And then this: if you read this article closely, you will see that warmists do not simply use the temperatures reported/collected; they pick and choose the temperatures they put into the model (for quality control) and then massage the numbers. As an example, if a scientist reports a temperature for a certain location that "seems" to low to be accurate, the UN modelers will declare that temperature and outlier and not include it in the data. They will exclude outliers. They will very likely include "outliers" if the temperatures on the high side, but will exclude "outliers" if the temperatures are on the low side since those temperatures won't fit their theory. 

Apple Building Command Center In Arizona, Not California -- February 3, 2015

Apple will build "global communications command center" in Arizona, not California. Macrumors is reporting:
Apple plans to take over the Mesa, Arizona factory where GT Advanced was formerly producing sapphire boules, transforming the facility into a massive $2 billion data center, reports CNBC. The data center will reportedly act as a "command center" for Apple's global data network.  
According to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, the center will house 150 full-time Apple employees and its construction at the 1.3 million square foot facility will create 300 to 500 additional jobs.
I assume Apple would have preferred California. Little by little, Apple is moving east.
In a statement, Apple called the investment one of the largest it had ever made and pledged that the facility would run on 100 percent renewable energy like the company's other data centers.
Renewable energy makes sense for this type of operation. More important than renewable energy is an uninterruptible power supply not connected to the national grid. Apple is simply brilliant. 

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See disclaimer

Reporting today:
  • Edwards Lifesciences (EW), forecast 95 cents; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $109.2 million; profit of $1 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.06 per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 94 cents per share.
  • Arch Coal (ACI), forecast -$0.38 cents -- a loss of 38 cents; a smaller quarterly loss, but suspended its annual dividend, citing weak coal prices. Peabody Energy Corp, the largest U.S. coal miner, slashed its quarterly dividend last week on expectations that prices of natural gas would stay low in 2015, keeping a lid on demand for coal. Arch Coal's net loss shrank to $240.1 million, or $1.13 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $371.2 million, or $1.75 per share, a year earlier.
    Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $745.2 million.
  • National Oilwell Varco (NOV), forecast $1.60; reported fourth-quarter earnings of $595 million. On a per-share basis, the Houston-based company said it had profit of $1.39. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and amortization costs, were $1.84 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.60 per share.
    The oil and gas industry supplier posted revenue of $5.71 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Analysts expected $5.72 billion, according to Zacks.
  • New York Times (NYT), forecast 24 cents; New York Times Co reported a 9.6 percent drop in quarterly net profit due to costs related to job cuts and increased spending on its digital offerings. The company's net income attributable to shareholders from continuing operations fell to $35 million, or 22 cents per share, in the fourth quarter from $38.7 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.
  • UPS, forecast $1.25, Higher spending to gear up for the crush of holiday-package deliveries pushed fourth-quarter profit down 61 percent at UPS, and the company gave a tepid outlook for 2015 earnings. UPS shares rose in premarket trading Tuesday. United Parcel Service Inc. said Tuesday that it earned $453 million, or 49 cents per share, in the last three months of 2014, compared with $1.17 billion, or $1.25 per share, a year earlier.
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Tuesday -- February 3, 2015; CLR Announces Proved Reserves

Active rigs:


2/3/201502/03/201402/03/201302/03/201202/03/2011
Active Rigs145188187202167

RBN Energy: Update of the Permian and Eagle Ford.
The recent collapse in oil prices has thrown into question the future levels of crude, natural gas and NGL production in, among other places, the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford. That will lead midstream companies to take a fresh look at the two regions’ existing and planned infrastructure to make sure they still are in line with pipeline, processing and other needs. Today, we conclude our series on the two regions’ natural gas processing plants, NGL pipelines and fractionators with a look at where we stand, and what’s ahead.
Drilling activity in both the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford has been driven primarily by the regions’ prolific oil reserves, though associated natural gas and NGL production (and the Eagle Ford’s prolific production of condensate) have certainly augmented the regions’ attractiveness. With oil as the driver, it’s no surprise that the recent free fall in oil prices has prompted Permian and Eagle Ford producers to rethink their 2015 drilling capex. And that, of course, could affect how much oil, gas and NGLs the regions will produce this year and beyond.
Our latest drill-down report, It Don’t Come Easy—Low Crude Prices, Producer Breakevens and Drilling Economics, reveals how much things have changed—and how quickly.
In the fall of 2014, with oil at $90/Bbl and natural gas at $3.75/MMBTU, the internal rate of return (IRR) for the Delaware Basin portion of the Permian was a strong 40%, as was the oil-focused portion of the Eagle Ford; the IRR for the adjoining “wet gas” part of the Eagle Ford was a still-healthy 24%.
Fast-forward to late January, with oil at around $45 and gas at $3, and the IRR for the Permian/Delaware was down to a measly 3%; the IRR for the Eagle Ford/oil area is at breakeven (0%) and in Eagle Ford/wet-gas area the IRR is minus 3%. If, as expected, producers in the Permian and Eagle Ford focus their capex dollars on their highest-yield “sweet spot” wells, the IRR numbers improve significantly. In the Permian, for example, the IRR for a sweet spot well would be 19% with oil at $45, 38% with oil at $60, and 58% with oil at $75—certainly enough to justified continued drilling. The same holds true in the Eagle Ford (though the IRRs are somewhat lower): a 7% IRR for a sweet spot well at $45 oil, 21% at $60 oil and 39% at $75 oil.
Radio Shack: gone? One-half of stores being closed; one-half being sold to Sprint? Radio Shack won't comment.

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CLR Press Release
Link here

Continental Resources Announces Proved Reserves And Production For 2014 Continental Resources
Continental Resources, Inc. has added a news release to its Investor Relations website.

Continental Resources Announces Proved Reserves And Production For 2014.
  • Proved Reserves Total 1.35 Billion Boe at Year-End 2014, a 25% Increase over Year-End 2013
  • Full-Year 2014 Production Totals 63.6 Million Boe, a 28% Increase over 2013
  • Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2014 Earnings Announcement Planned for Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Continental Resources, Inc. today announced proved reserves of 1.35 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) at December 31, 2014 , an increase of 267 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe) or 25% compared with year-end 2013. Year-end 2014 proved reserves were 83% operated by the Company, 36% proved developed producing (PDP), and 64% crude oil. Continental has grown its proved reserves at a compound annual growth rate of 39% per year since year-end 2010.

PDP reserves increased 21% from year-end 2013 to 490 MMBoe at December 31, 2014 . The Company had 2,994 gross (1,565 net) proved undeveloped (PUD) locations at year-end 2014. The Bakken accounted for 82% of PUD locations at year-end. Continental's year-end 2014 proved reserves had a net present value discounted at 10% (PV-10) of $22.8 billion , a 13% increase over PV-10 of $20.2 billion for year-end 2013 proved reserves.

The Bakken accounted for 866 MMBoe of Continental's year-end 2014 proved reserves, with a PV-10 value of $15.2 billion . SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer accounted for 370 MMBoe of 2014 proved reserves, a 72% increase over proved reserves of 215 MMBoe at year-end 2013. The PV-10 value of the Company's SCOOP proved reserves was $5.5 billion at year-end 2014.

Harold G. Hamm , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented," 2014 marks the 7th straight year since our IPO we have consistently delivered significant reserve and production growth. Our core assets in the Bakken of North Dakota and SCOOP Woodford/Springer in Oklahoma continue to provide exceptional results and are a testament to the quality of the base assets and the ability of our teams. Our SCOOP Woodford discovery in 2009 has grown into one of the best new plays in North America along with our discovery announcement in 2014 of the Springer horizontally drilled formation, our Company's highest rate of return oil play. Our asset quality and resource inventory are world-class."

Production Grows 28% Year-Over-Year

Estimated total production for full-year 2014 was 63.6 MMBoe, an increase of 28% compared to full-year 2013. Crude oil accounted for 70% of total production, or 44.5 million barrels, in 2014. Estimated natural gas production for the year was 114.3 billion cubic feet. The Company reached a new net production milestone of 200,000 Boe per day in late December 2014.

Fourth Quarter 2014 and Full-Year 2014 Earnings Announcement and Conference Call

Continental plans to announce fourth quarter 2014 and full-year 2014 earnings on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 , following the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange . The Company plans to host a conference call to discuss earnings results on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, at 12 p.m. ET.