Coal to Gas That Doesn't Require Fracking

Just in time: coal-to-gas technique that doesn't require fracking!

In case the link is broken, are two paragraphs from the Bismarck Tribune.com article:

The technique can be used on deep-underground coal seams that are shielded from groundwater. The process works by injecting oxygen and steam into a seam, sparking a chemical reaction that converts the coal into a gas that is collected through a boring injected into another part of the coal vein. The synthetic gas - "syngas" - that is produced can be used in electrical generation or processed into synthetic fuels and natural gas feedstocks.

"It's not a new technology, but it's one that is new to a lot of people," said Mike Fowler, who works on climate technology for the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group in Boston. The process has been around for decades, but has not been used in North America until recently.

 Also, coal-drying plant near South Heart passes first test: cleaner, more efficient coal.

Montana's Largest Utility: To Diversify --- More Natural Gas

Montana's largest utility, NorthWestern Energy, says its best option is to buy / build a gas-fired power plant.

Top Stories: Weeks 23 - 27 -- June 9 -- July 12, 2010

• Whiting Presentation, July 11, 2010
• Clerks Unhappy With $96,000 Per Year, July 10, 2010
• Investing and Reminiscing, July 9, 2010
• NDIC Dockets for July, July 9, 2010
• Newsweek Story on the Heartland, July 9, 2010
• BusinessWeek Story on the Oil Patch, July 6, 2010
• 134 Active Rigs in North Dakota, July 5, 2010
• Alice in Wonderland, June 29, 2010
• Gasland To Be On HBO, June 28, 2010
• Off-Topic: ATT and Apple, June 28, 2010
• Analyst's View of the Bakken, June 28, 2010
• BEXP Setting New Records  With Number of Frac Stages, June 28, 2010
• Peak Oil "Theory" and BP Spill Revisited, June 23, 2010
• Motley Fools and Investing in the Bakken, June 20, 2010
• Chinese Intense Oil Assets Acquisition, June 19, 2010
• Newsweek: World Sees Obama As Incompetent, June 18, 2010 
• Oasis Had a Great Day, June 18, 2010
• Headline Writers and Distortion, June 18, 2010
• Obama and the BP Oil Spill/Windmill Speech, June 18, 2010
• Idle Ramblings on IPOs, June 18, 2010
• Price of Oil, Commentary, June 14, 2010
• 6-Month Moratorium on Gulf Deep Sea Drilling, June 13, 2010
• Another Look at the Bakken as a Source Rock, June 9, 2010
• USGS: MB = TFS, June 8, 2010

Highlights of the July, 2010, Whiting Presentation, Part 2

These are the results of the wells that Whiting has drilled so far in 2010, and the year is only half over. These are 24-hour flow backs and the decline rates are horrific, but as a reminder, the Behr well completed in June, 2008, had a flow back rate of 3,245 and two years later, June, 2010, had produced a total of 578,000 barrrels of oil. At $50/bbl that is $29 million.

So here goes.
Four (4) of these wells were permitted in 2010; WLL still has 42 permits that were granted in 2010.
22 of these wells were permitted in 2001; WLL still has 13 permits that were granted in 2009 to drill.
8 of these wells were permitted in 2008; WLL still has 12 permits that were granted in 2008 to drill.

18762, KR State 11-16TFH, 1,298
18724, Foreman 11-4TFH, 1,447
18507, Lahti 24-22H, 2,058
18531, Hansen 12-20H, 4,144
18639, Iverson 21-14H, 2,551
18536, Olson 11-14TFH, 1,640
17872, Littlefield 12-34H, 3,445
18475, Fladeland 21-12H, 2,690
18347, Fladeland 44-9H, 2,301
18530, Jorgenson 12-27H, 2,893
18481, Niemitalo 12-35H, 2,860
17917, Olson Federal 42-8H, 1,912
17935, Curren 11-14H, 3,311
18462, TTT Ranch 12-25H, 2,513
18339, Rohde 43-1H, 2,949
18003, Holmberg 44-24H, 2,558
18559, Platt 43-28H, 2,251
18342, Meiers 11-17H, 2,393
17776, Annala 12-33H, 2,730
18329, Smith 12-7H, 2,736
17908, Leo 12-29H, 3,474
18401, TTT Ranch 21-26H, 2,987
17907, Patten 44-3H, 2,294
17912, Sorenson 11-3H, 2,770
18318, Fladeland 11-10H, 1,929
18176, TTT Ranch 43-4H, 1,853
18268, Anderson 11-7TFH, 1,262
18244, Ness 44-21H, 3,278
18278, Rigel Stte 12-16H, 3,205
18298, Kannianen 44-33H, 3,767
18277, Iverson 11-14H, 1,906

When I type long lists like this, I often make typographical errors. I generally don't spend much time proofing these lists. The original source is either linked or easily found.