Data Points for Hess for 2011 -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The Minot Daily News provided an update of Hess Corp plans for 2011 and impact on North Dakota, and Minot. I don't think there is anything new here for those following Hess closely but for others, it's nice to see it in one spot.

The data points come from the finance manager for Hess Corp in North  Dakota:

• One-third of Hess' entire corporate budget will be spent in the state of North Dakota
• Hess Corp CAPEX for North Dakota for 2011 is $1.8 billion
• Tioga Gas Plant will be expanded; will be doubled in size and completed in 2012
• A new large rail terminal at Tioga will be completed by the end of the year
• An oil stabilization facility, now being built, will allow oil to be conditioned before going on the rail
• Hess will drill 180 wells this year; half targeting the Bakken, half the Three Forks formation
• Hess currently controls 730,000 net acres, second to Continental Resources (in North Dakota)
• Hess currently operates 248 Bakken wells and participates in 226 non-operated wells
• Hess' Minot's regional headquarters will soon move into the IRET Corporate Plaza
• The company currently has 90 employees in Minot; the new headquarters has room for 200 -- you do the math

And that's just one of many oil companies in North Dakota, albeit one of the bigger ones.

The most incredible data point for me:

• One-third of Hess' entire corporate budget will be spent in the state of North Dakota. That's pretty incredible.

The most important data point for the state:

• The continued emphasis on expanding natural gas gathering and processing in North Dakota; this may be the most important thing Hess could do for the state.

The most important data point for investors (comes from other sources):

• Among natural gas focused companies, Hess is moving faster than any other oil and gas E&P company to convert from natural gas focused to oil focused.