Director's Cut, January, 2011, Released

Source document here.

Production

• Oct Oil: 343,170 bopd
• Nov Oil: 355,038 bopd (new record)
• Oct Wells: 5,300
• Nov Wells: 5,331 (new record)
• Oct Permits: 232
• Nov Permits: 245 (new record)

Rigs

• Active Rig Count: high of 166, Dec 17 - 19, 2010; new record at that time. (In January, 2011, went to 167)
• There was a quote from the Director in a news article that 168 rigs was the high; that may have been a typo or a misquote, but I will continue to show it as the record, but will continue to track

Comments:

• 75 percent of oil is still being trucked from well site; weather impact likely.
• Takeaway capacity: with railroad shipments, takeaway capacity exceeds production. 
• This is new I think: "Production shipped by rail is growing and crude trucked to Canada is expected to increase when the Enbridge system goes to 100% sweet crude from Minot to  Clearbrook." In previous releases, it was thought that crude trucked to Canada might decrease with increasing rail and pipeline capacity.
• Natural gas production is rising and flaring remains well above normal, and thus interest in additional natural gas gathering and processing plants ($2.5 billion in expansions have been announced and/or approved by the state).

Personal Comment (blog author)

That Enbridge decision is a new wrinkle as far as I know. This is huge for those receiving royalties from mineral rights. Prior to this, sweet oil from North Dakota was being shipped with / mixed with heavy sands oil from Canada.

For more on Clearbrook pipeline, click here.

The Enbridge system gathers crude oil from production areas in eastern Montana and western North Dakota and transports that oil to Clearbrook, Minn., where the system interconnects with the Minnesota Pipeline and the Enbridge Partners Lakehead System. From the Lakehead System, shippers can access most of the major crude oil refinery markets along the Great Lakes and in the Midwest.