Is the Bakken Stalled or Is This the Calm Before the Storm?

With 107 rigs in North Dakota, and the incredible line-up of cases on the monthly North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) dockets one would think that we would be seeing a lot more wells either coming off confidential status or reporting their initial production numbers.

Reporting of new wells in April has been slow so far.

I'm beginning to think the "long pole in the tent," fracking, is delaying completion of scores of wells. Recently it was reported that a well with interest by one of our readers was number 23 in line to get fracked. I think that delays completion of that particular well by several weeks, if not months.

Back in 2008, I recall daily activity reports with ten (10) to twenty (20) new wells being reported periodically, usually about once a month. Now such reports are few and far between.

Today was another good example. One one well was reported as being complete (Sagebrush, #18235, Earl Chrest Jr, 128 bopd); several others were taken off the confidential list and being reported as plugged or producing (almost always producing if in the Bakken).  But only one being reported as completed.

On the positive side this was a huge day for new permits being granted: eleven (11) new permits were granted, including two pair of multiple-well pads for Encore in Dunn County (9-148-96) and a pair of Slawson snake eyes in 19-152-91, Van Hook, Mountrail County.