Truck traffic is to cease at noon today on all county and township roads in Williams County, as lowered weight restrictions go into effect.There is simply too much mud.
The new road weight limit is set at 25,000 pounds.
A driver can be given a $100 citation for driving on a road in an overweight vehicle. North Dakota Century Code Chapter 39-12-17 outlines what the fines are per 1,000 pounds over the weight limit a vehicle is found to be.
It was passed unanimously by the Williams County Commission during a special meeting Wednesday morning.
"The best we can do is stand by so we can repair them," Commission Chairman Dan Kalil said. Farm equipment, city, county and state vehicles will be the only exceptions to these new weight restrictions.
Divide County north of Williams County passed similar order earlier. I am not aware that Mountrail or Dunn counties have passed similar restrictions.
Bruce, some of our wells are shut in due to the salt water tanks being full and they can't get trucks in to haul it away.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteMy headline might have been a bit of hyperbole.
In the big scheme of things, just a small speed bump, or pot hole, I suppose.
Between the harsh winters, flooding, lack of transportation and shortage of frac crews, the Bakken has suffered more than any large shale play I can think of.
ReplyDeleteIf you exclude the moratorium and then the permitorium in the Gulf of Mexico.
ReplyDeleteIf you exclude the drilling ban on North Slope of Alaska (I've lost track of that one).
If you exclude the war in Libya which has pretty much shut that country down.
If you exclude the new British taxes on North Sea oil, which has resulted in oil companies leaving that area off Scotland.
But yes, compared to the Niobrara in Colorado/Wyoming and the Eagle Ford in Texas, the North Dakota Bakken has had its share of problems this year.
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the weight of:
Truck with nothing?
Truck carrying a full load of Oil?
Truck carrying a full load of frack water?
Just wondering if these trucks will be affected (assume so) and if the pumping will stop until the tanks are emptied once the restrictions are lifted.
Also, any estimate on when the restrictions could be lifted? Depends on many factors I'm sure but maybe a month or two??
From Wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteTank trucks are described by their size or volume capacity. Large trucks typically have capacities ranging from 5,500 to 9,000 US gallons (21,000 to 34,000 L; 4,600 to 7,500 imp gal).
A gallon of oil weighs 6 - 8 pounds depending on density.
5,000 gallons x 8 pounds --> 40,000 pounds.
That, of course, does not include the weight of the tractor-trailer (tank) empty.
A weight restriction of 25,000 pounds eliminates all oil-related trucks for all intents and purposes, except for pick-up trucks, general purpose trucks, etc.
I think I will take a drive out to some Williams County roads and see if I see any trucks on the road.
Something tells me Harold Hamm won't let this go on very long.
By the way, a lot of wells are located right along paved state highways, and oil roads go to those wells. My hunch is there is plenty of work to be done with/without county roads for a couple of days; project managers will just re-prioritize.
Someone sent me this unedited comment:
a semi weights approx 25000-30,000 lbs.. because the max allowable on a traditional load on freeway in a semi is 80,000lbs, of this approx 48,000 is net cargo load..
So I wonder how many farmers will be able to quailfy with this weight restriction.. much less put grain in the trailer to plant in the field.. they can not exempt the farmers only...
Something tells me the courts won't allow farm vehicles to be exempted; the law has weight restrictions, not type of vehicle restrictions (don't take that out of context).
Will be interesting to watch play out.
Hey Bruce this is incredible there are land slides all over. Missouri flooding. Motels sinking in Dickinson. Radio towers colapsing. New restrictions on road trafic. One thing that stands out to me is the corporate reports upcoming. I don't feel any of the companies will meet production goals especialy the companies hevily weighted in the Bakken. This winter/spring will go down as the unbeleivable effort with no reward. Damn global warming.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct.
ReplyDelete1Q11: the blizzards.
2Q11: the flooding, water, and mud.
2H11: phenomenal production, earnings, corporate reports.
Having said that, I just drove 160 miles south to Bowman yesterday (US 85 from Williston) and back and things looked pretty good (except for the farmers -- too wet to get into their fields). But the oil trucks were on the road; the main roads were good in this part of the state. Yes, one of two lanes going uphill at North Unit on Highway 85 was closed, but that was it. New well pads were being built everywhere.
2Q11 may be horrendous, but oil companies have experienced much worse than this: Nigeria, Ecuador, Iraq, Libya. It's all relative.
I was quite surprised by WHX report for 1Q11 which I just posted an hour or so ago.
But then I'm always looking through oil-colored glasses; and my oil tanks are always half-full (not half-empty); and when I was a kid, under all those piles of manure, there had to be a pony.