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Monday, April 18, 2011

Samson Oil and Gas Provides Operations Update in Stockyard Creek -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Interestingly, there was nothing in the press release that would merit an operations update, at least from my perspective:
  • Earl 1-13H: still under flowback operations; same status since April 13
  • Following completion of those flowback operations, the work over rig will move to Rodney 1-14H
  • Drilling Everett 1-15H will be delayed due to weather conditions, thawing (muddy) roads, and need for repair work on the rig; drilling expected to comment the last week in April

No Love Lost Between Saudi Arabia and US

Aramco (Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company) signed a deal with PetroChina for a joint venture to build a 200,000 bopd refinery in Yunnan Province.
Aramco Overseas Co. BV and PetroChina Co. Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding for joint development of a 200,000-b/d grassroots refinery in Yunnan Province in far southwestern China.
One can only assume the memorandum of understanding includes a clause for Saudi Arabia to supply the crude oil to keep the refinery running at full capacity (or at levels requested by PetroChina).

I'm sure this is just business as usual, but one wonders about the timing, coming so soon after Egyptian president Mubarak was removed from office, and news stories that Saudi Arabia had sent emissaries to Russia and China soon thereafter. 

Some 'Splainin' To Do, Lucy -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The Parshall is a most prolific oil field, but these wells don't fit the mold, at least not compared to the earlier middle Bakken formation wells
  • 19391, 42, EOG, Austin 117-08H, Parshall, Three Forks formation,
  • 19542, 30, EOG, Austin 102-05H, Parshall, Bakken, Three Forks Formation, 13 stage frac
It will be interesting to see the production over the next couple of years for these wells. Hope, at least for me, springs eternal. Smile.

Tesoro Expanding Refinery at Bismarck, North Dakota -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

June 8, 2012: the expansion is almost complete. The refinery should be up and running by the end of June, 2012. 

Original Post
Link here.
Tesoro Corp. will expand crude capacity of its 58,000-b/d refinery at Mandan, ND, to 68,000 b/d to handle oil from the Bakken shale and elsewhere in the Williston basin.
This is a $35 million expansion project.

The press release did not provide any estimated date of completion.  

Note recent post regarding IPO for Tesoro Logistics, LP

Halliburton Reports Huge 1Q11 Profits

Halliburton reports soaring/record 1Q11 profits.
Halliburton reported first-quarter net income of $511 million, compared with $206 million for the same period last year.
A better link here

Flashback:
March 28, 2011: First hint that there may be some problems in the oil patch when 1Q11 earnings are reported. HAL is already reporting that weather-related issues and unrest in the Mideast will affect earnings
Comment: I wonder what their earnings would have been had there not been weather-related issues or unrest in the Mideast. Smile.

Eight (8) New Permits -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Operators: SM, Hunt, Hess (2), Samson Resources, Baytex (2).

Fields: Ft Buford, Sorkness, Hawkeye, Stork, Lark, and four wildcats.

The Hunt wildcat is in McKenzie County, while the two Baytex wildcats are in Divide County, and Samson Resources wildcat is also in Divide County.

Several wells came off the confidential list but nothing remarkable except for another nice BEXP well but it has been reported before.

Number of North Dakota Wells Idled By Harsh Weather Sets Decade-Long Record

Number of idle wells in North Dakota -- due to harsh weather -- reached a decade high.

Link here. Regional links break early and break often.
The number of wells idled by harsh weather in North Dakota's oil patch this year reached the highest level in a decade, stranding countless barrels of crude at well sites where they were unable to be shipped to market, state and industry officials say.

Oil drilling, however, continues at a record pace in the state.
Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said in a statement that there were 822 idle wells in February, up from 760 in January and the highest number since April 2001.
The April Director's Cut is linked here.

In general, February, 2011, statistics for production were better than those in January, 2011, but just barely. No new records were set, except for number of active wells.

US Greenhouse Gases Dip to 15-Year Low

Link here.
Greenhouse gas emissions in the US dropped to their lowest level in 15 years in 2009 as the impact of the financial crisis led to decreases in fuel and electricity consumption, according to newly published figures.
 
In 2009, the US saw its emissions of the six main greenhouses gases drop 6 per cent year-on-year to 6,633m metric tonnes, the lowest total since 1995. Despite that annual fall, emissions rose by more than 7.3 per cent between 1990 and 2009.

Bigger Threat Than Big Oil to Fragile Arctic Coastline: Snow Geese

Link here.
Sometime in the next few days, waves of snow geese will fill the sky across parts of North Dakota and western Minnesota as the birds race north toward their Arctic breeding grounds.

They're impressive to watch, these seemingly endless skeins, but after more than a decade of intensive hunting pressure to trim their numbers, the midcontinent population of snow geese remains too high, and the birds continue to threaten the fragile arctic coastline.
Despite intensive hunting programs to reduce the numbers, the snow geese population remains too high and the arctic coastline continues to worsen, due to lost vegetation.
Liberalized regulations, including a spring "conservation order" in effect since 1999 - officials don't like to call it a hunting season - have slowed the rate of population growth. But they haven't resulted in fewer snow geese.
Who woulda thought?

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