Daily Activity Report, October 5, 2010, Bakken, North Dakota, USA -- A Nice KOG Well

It's 5:30 p.m. central standard time. The daily activity report is posted not earlier than 4:30 cst every normal business day. Generally it is posted between 4:45 and 5:00 p.m. Seldom does it get posted as late as 5:05 p.m. It's already 5:30 and no daily activity report, but as soon as it's posted, I will let you all know.

While waiting, you can take a look at a photograph taken today of the Bison Pipeline being buried. 

It's now 5:40 p.m. My hunch. The daily activity report was inadvertently loaded on the wrong site. This is very unusual.

6:14 p.m. Finally the daily activity report is posted.

Lo and behold, something seldom seen: a dry hole!

#16416, Baldwin Exploration, Adness 34-32, SWNE 34-157N-91W, TD=2,192 feet, targeting the Dakota formation. I know nothing about the Dakota formation. According to the NDIC site, no oil has ever come out of the Dakota formation in North Dakota (unless it's such a small amount, NDIC elected not to record it). According to the wikipedia entry about the Niobara, it is stated that the flora and fauna of the Niobara was similar to the Dakota formation. See first comment below for additional background.

Eleven (11) new permits: a) MRO with a 2-well multi-well pad in Lost Bridge; b) XTO with a 2-well multi-well pad in Mondak; c) Petro-Hunt, SM, Murex, Tracker, Murex (2), and Newfield (2).

Producing wells completed: KOG, Moccasin Creek 13-34-28-1H, 1,713; BR, Yellowstone 31-1H, 977; CLR, Arthur 2-12H, 718.

Well That Didn't Last Long: New Active Rig Record

Yesterday I posted that the number of active rigs was back up to the previous high: 146. I suggested that this number would be surpassed by the end of the year.

Wow, was I wrong.

Today: a new record. 148 active rigs in North Dakota.

What's not to love.

(I'm substitute teaching today so I won't be able to post more until I get home this evening. But this was too good to pass up.)

Update, eight hours after original post. See comment below. I believe it. The numbers can change that fast. So, for me, based on note below, the new record is 149 active rigs for a short period of time, October 5, 2010.

How Strong is the Oil Boom in Western North Dakota?

This is a great op-ed piece in the Grand Forks Herald today.

How strong is the boom? From the article:

• Electricity needs in some areas are so enormous that officials even are talking about bringing in a modular nuclear reactor to generate power, one person said.
• The drilling rigs' thirst for water is such that officials also are talking about running a pipe from Devils Lake to the drill platforms.
• "We're in the business of doubling the size of every town in the western region," said another spokesperson.

The water issue is political, not otherwise. From another source:

“The amounts of water at issue are minuscule,” the delegation said in the letter to Darcy. “High-end estimates are that full development of the state’s oil fields would require 1,800 new wells drilled per year, at a total of 4 million gallons of water each.” This totals about 60 acre-feet of water per day, compared to the approximately 40,000 acre-feet of Missouri River water that passes through Bismarck-Mandan each day. More realistic estimates indicate that the wells would require closer to 30 acre-feet per day.

The river flows; it is not a static pool.