Sunday, August 22, 2010
Status of the Bakken, August, 2010
Over at the sidebar on the right, I've posted a permanent link on the status of the Bakken as reported by a pool of North Dakota journalists. This is an excellent series of articles for newbies, and even seasoned veterans of the oil industry in the Williston Basin should find it very interesting.
Two High-Performance Rigs Coming to the Bakken
Two high-performance rigs coming to the Bakken.
This is more than just a story of two high-performance rigs. It speaks volumes about what some folks think about the potential of the Bakken. Note the phrase about this being early in the current cycle.
I sure wish I could be in the coffee shop when the roughnecks come in after working on this rig to hear the stories. Okay, Appleby's and then the local bar.
In case the link is broken in the future:
This is more than just a story of two high-performance rigs. It speaks volumes about what some folks think about the potential of the Bakken. Note the phrase about this being early in the current cycle.
I sure wish I could be in the coffee shop when the roughnecks come in after working on this rig to hear the stories. Okay, Appleby's and then the local bar.
In case the link is broken in the future:
Last month, Helmerich & Payne (ticker: HP) announced plans to build 16 high-performance rigs, many under multiyear contracts commanding day rates in the mid-$20,000s to service the most promising oil and gas shale basins in the U.S. The latest orders bring the company's total to 19 rigs for this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30.Two of those rigs are heading for the North Dakota Bakken.
New Tax on Oil Royalty Payments
I'm blogging on my iPad from along the incredible Columbia River gorge.
Some time ago I posted a note about the new "3.8 percent tax on dividends" with the recently passed health care bill. Someone asked what that had to do with the Bakken.
It turns out, "quite a bit."
The 3.8 percent tax will affect oil royalty payments beginning in 2013.
It appears that for simple-minded folks like me, this tax will affect most passive income and was inserted, some claim, to preclude taxing "Cadillac" health plans offered by some unions for some members.
One additional comment: passing the original tax was difficult, but raising it a tenth of a percent periodically to cover ever-increasing health care costs will be comparatively easy. So, one can expect to see a rate increase to 4.0 percent a year or so after 2013 and before you know it, we could see significantly higher rates farther down the road.
For more, click here.
By the way, I happened to catch part of a town meeting somewhere in the US last week, and it appears others are starting to notice this new tax. It's going to affect a lot more than oil royalty payments, but that's how it's connected to the Bakken.
Some time ago I posted a note about the new "3.8 percent tax on dividends" with the recently passed health care bill. Someone asked what that had to do with the Bakken.
It turns out, "quite a bit."
The 3.8 percent tax will affect oil royalty payments beginning in 2013.
It appears that for simple-minded folks like me, this tax will affect most passive income and was inserted, some claim, to preclude taxing "Cadillac" health plans offered by some unions for some members.
One additional comment: passing the original tax was difficult, but raising it a tenth of a percent periodically to cover ever-increasing health care costs will be comparatively easy. So, one can expect to see a rate increase to 4.0 percent a year or so after 2013 and before you know it, we could see significantly higher rates farther down the road.
For more, click here.
By the way, I happened to catch part of a town meeting somewhere in the US last week, and it appears others are starting to notice this new tax. It's going to affect a lot more than oil royalty payments, but that's how it's connected to the Bakken.
The Bice Wells: Déjà Vu All Over Again
All of a sudden there's interest in these two wells that were part of the study "proving" that the Bakken formation does not communicate with the Three Forks Sanish.
Dickinson Press Insert: The Bakken Today
Special insert on the oil industry placed in various North Dakota papers, over an 8-day period in August, 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)