Of course, my manic mood may have nothing to do with knowing my worries about the EPA are absolutely unfounded. My great mood could be the result of any number of things:
- now that I've been in Boston for several days, I'm back into a rhythm
- the joy of being with the grandchildren
- getting back into my reading is absolutely invigorating
- enjoying the Harvard Book Store (no connection with Harvard University)
The most tangible evidence of my great mood is that I've turned the comments section back on. To protect my sanity, I will still moderate the comments, but will probably not reply to most of those that get posted.
I continue to enjoy William Least Heat-Moon's Prairie Erth. When his writing is good, it is very, very good; and when it's not so good, well, it's not so good. But overall, it's a book I heartily recommend to everyone who has lived on the prairie. Folks east of the Appalachian Mountains would not understand. I doubt folks on the West Coast read. I know it's hard to stick to my reading program when in California; the weather, the scenery, the people are just to much fun, too distracting.
If nothing else it would be nice if the folks in Dickinson would read Heat-Moon's story of the first engagement of the Civil War. This engagement occurred in Chase County, Kansas, which the Kansans called the Wakarusa War. The fortitude of the women, much slighter in build then than the women today (as were the men), would put some of the current "hearty" Dakotans to shame. Heat-Moon paints a great picture of these slight pioneer women standing up to the pro-slavery ruffians. Whether those pioneers would agree with pro-growth in modern-day North Dakota or not, I don't know. I do know two things: a) they supported states' rights over federal interlopers; and, b) they weren't afraid of bears. I don't think they would have been afraid of oil wells, whether they liked them or not. Fear was not in their vocabulary.
That's probably what invigorated me most. I was already on the cusp of moving into my manic mood, but when reading how fearless these slight Kansas women were made me think of those who are viscerally afraid of moving steel. I had to laugh. First time I laughed this hard in days.
I updated Heart Butte oil field yesterday. Someone pointed out that I forgot to mention some great Enerplus wells. I apologize for that oversight. At the time of the original post, March 2, 2010, either the ERF wells weren't in yet, or they didn't catch my attention. There is just too much activity going on in the Bakken to catch or update everything.
That's one of the reasons I turned "the comments back on," so that folks could remind me easily of things I've missed.
I just checked the NDIC site: I can't be blamed too much for missing the ERF wells in Heart Butte field. ERF has only five wells in that field:
- 17299, 829, ERF, Fredericks 5-11H, HB, Bakken; s7/08; t9/08; 96K cum 10/11; orig op: Peak
- 17634, 465, ERF, Fredericks 6-31H, HB, Bakken; s12/08; t3/09; 67K cum 10/11; orig op: Peak
- 18809, 753, ERF, Baker 20-34H, HB, Bakken; s10/10; t8/11; 60K cum 10/11; orig op: Peak ND
- 18810, 589, ERF, Biron 20-24H, HB, Bakken; s9/10; t9/11; cum 55K 10/11; orig op: Peak ND; 26 stages; 2.6 mil lbs sand
- 19769, 523, ERF, Baker 29-31H, HB, Bakken; s5/11; t8/11; cum 44K 10/11; orig op: Peak ND
Also note the time between spudding wells and completing them over the years. In 2008, they were drilled to depth and fracked almost "overnight." The wells spud in 2010 were not completed until a year later.
But look at the most recent well, spudded 5/11 and completed 8/11: something very, very rare in 2011. I assume it's an anomaly. Also note that all these wells were originally drilled by Peak ND LLC, and then transferred en bloc to Enerplus.
En bloc reminds me of en passant. The grandchildren, ages 5 and 8 are learning chess. The 8-y/o almost beat me last evening. I can say I was not paying attention, but in fact, I was taking her for granted, and before I knew it, one of her knights was decimating my enclave of pawns and one bishop. I finally got my act together, and removed that pesky knight, along with quite a few protecting pawns, with my queen. The 5-y/o knows where the pieces go, and how they move. She has me help her get started, but after awhile she moves on to other projects, letting me finish the game with the older one.
The older one is learning the concept of en passant but it is confusing. I always had trouble understanding the reasoning behind it, but like the rest of chess, it makes excellent sense. I am amazed how well thought-out this game was, based on observations of how foot-soldiers fought, how those on horses fought, and how bishops were close to their king and queen. It makes me think of Shakespeare, especially Hamlet.
Later last evening it dawned on me there must be some free chess games for the iPad and indeed there are. My older granddaughter and I now have something to do on the bus when we ride into Boston later this afternoon for the Christmas Bazaar. She has her heart set on honey from Vermont, which we got for the first time last year. She says that is now a tradition for the two of us, buying honey at the Christmas Bazaar.
Enough for now. Maybe more later.
When you turned off the comments I realize I couldn’t say thank you for your blog. It is informative and educational and had given us a better understanding of the oil industry. (my wife has interests in several oil properties in Montana and North Dakota). I find the Bakken oil field technologically amazing. As an airline pilot I fly over the Williston Basin several times a month, much of our cockpit conversation centers around this “New Prudhoe Bay” and what it means to America and our foreign policy. Many of my fellow crewmembers have spent several of the last ten years in the Middle East as activated reservist. Disengaging from our reliance on Middle East oil will benefit all of us and on our need to keep sending troop to the “Big Sand Box”. Again thanks for this site, keep up the good work, enjoy your grandkids and thank for your military service.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. When the comments were turned off, I was able to be "myself," say things I might not have otherwise said.
ReplyDeleteA huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
Wearing my passion on my sleeves may not be appropriate. Talking about my family or my reading program or my politics may not be appropriate on this type of site.
I would hope that folks who are interested in the Bakken ignore my non-Bakken rants and personal ramblings. I do believe that my understanding of the Bakken is as good as anything available in the public domain.
So, we will see how this all plays out. Like you, I am more interested in the Williston Basin, the Bakken, the oil and gas technology, and the investments are not that big a deal. I wrote long ago that I had not planned to talk about investment in the Bakken when I first started blogging, but it is obvious one cannot talk about the oil and gas industry, or really understand it if one does not follow the investment end.
So, I may ramble more than usual (or less); I don't know yet. But I do know that I express my emotions more than I probably should for such a public site, but it's interesting: that's what seems to make the site a bit more personal, a bit more real.
And, the greatest days/years of my life, professionally, have been flying with the Air Force. Maybe I will do a stand-alone post on that some time.