The Bakken Wells Are Good, But Not That Good! -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I see someone arrived at this site after googling: "How much will a 20% owner make on a 10,000 barrel a day well."

That isn't gonna happen.


The good Bakken wells produce 100,000 bbls in two to three years. The very good Bakken wells produce 100,000 bbls in one to two years. The outstanding Bakken wells hit 100,000 bbls in the first year. The wells are expected to produce for 30 years.

The average Bakken well is expected to produce 400,000 to 900,000 bbls over the lifetime of the well. Harold Hamm, CLR/CEO, recently opined that the average Bakken well will produce 603,000 bbls of oil over its 30-year lifetime. I can see 600,000 or 500,000, but I have no idea how he came up with 603,000 bbls.

How Influential Is Jim Cramer? -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I've been trying to get to the Continental Resources website all night -- I wanted to check out the 14 new wells that Continental Resources reported. I can't get to the site. It's being overwhelmed with folks looking at CLR, I suppose.

The "milliondollarway" site is about the busiest I have ever seen it; about twice the volume for a weekday evening.

Jim Cramer mentioned my site but most folks missed it because it was after they cut away to the "Steve Jobs resignation" story.  Just joking. I doubt Jim Cramer plugged this blog.

New MDU Presentation -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Slide 23 is one of the more interesting slides: Fidelity compares its wells with offset wells, and Fidelity does much, much better. Very interesting.

MDU Fidelity Has Its Own Bowl -- Bismarck, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

MDU Resources Group Inc. plans to donate $2 million toward a proposed $8 million renovation of Bismarck's Community Bowl, which will include suites, new locker rooms, a new track and new concession stands.

MDU Resources has a 10-year naming agreement with the Bowl Authority, with the right to extend the deal for an additional $1 million in 2022. The facility will be known as MDU Resources Community Bowl upon completion of the renovations.

How Good Are These Bakken Wells? -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This story is all about the fight over mineral rights. What fascinated me, however, is how good these Bakken wells are.

This well was drilled in 2009. Royalties alone are now exceeding $2 million and growing. This well was not in the "best" Bakken. Imagine what the wells in the Sanish and the Parshall are doing.

This Is Quite Incredible: Thirteen (13) New Permits Today -- 13 Yesterday; 18 The Day Before -- Bakken, North Dakota, US

This is clearly the most active I have seen the oil patch since starting the blog. On Monday there were eighteen (18) new permits -- the most I had seen in one day since starting the blog a couple years ago; then yesterday thirteen (13) more new permits, and now today, another 13. This is quite incredible.

Today's daily activity report, August 24, 2011 --

Operators:  KOG (4), Slawson (3), Oasis (2), WLL, Legacy, Newfield, and OXY USA.

Fields: Camp, Antelope, Pembroke, Tobacco Garden, Willmen, and three wildcats.

It looks like Slawson has a 3-well pad; KOG has a 4-well pad.

Whiting, Oasis, and Legacy all have wildcats.

Eight wells were released from confidential status: it looks like 7 of the 8 were completed -- best completion ratio I've seen in some time. And some great wells, such as this one:

• 20383, 2,514, KOG, Koala 3-2-11-13H, Poe, Bakken

Remember, new wells reporting are posted here. 

CNBC Video From The Bakken -- CNBC SPECIAL -- North Dakota, USA

Update

I will use this post to update and add new CNBC video links regarding the Bakken. Here's one with Harold Hamm, CLR/CEO, and the "face of the Bakken," http://www.cnbc.com/id/44671299.

Original Post

Because of the anticipated interest in the Bakken after today's extensive coverage coming from North Dakota, I will post all CNBC-related information here, as well as include some links that first-time visitors might be interested in.

CNBC video here.

Another CNBC video clip here.

And another here. 

Article: Unemployed go to North Dakota.

Net Bakken acreage by producer.

Mike Filloon's four-part series on the Bakken: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Apparently Jim Cramer flew into the Killdeer site by helicopter.

Seeking Alpha: Jim Cramer and the Bakken; several interviews; this one with Harold Hamm, CLR/CEO:

CEO Harold Hamm discussed Continental's (CLR) role in the Bakken and the extent and impact of the find. The fact that there was ample oil in the region was well-known, but it took a special kind of horizontal drilling to access the resources; "We broke the code," Hamm said. He verified estimates that there are 24 billion barrels of oil potentially in the Bakken, and 85% of the drilling still needs to be done. The company is working on infrastructure to transport the oil, and until the pipeline system has been completed, rail has been the method of choice. Hamm is not worried about fluctuations in oil prices, because the company hedges $2 billion a year worth of oil. "We have so much drilling to do here," Hamm said.

Mike Filloon discussing Jim Cramer and the Bakken trip:

Jim Cramer of "Mad Money" has done a very good job of helping the average investor take control of their investments. I do not generally watch his show, but yesterday he was in Killdeer, North Dakota. It is likely the population is larger than its last census of 751 people, as the oil companies are moving workers in from all over the United States to work the Bakken shale. If you don't know where it is, you are not alone. The top U.S. oil companies know where it is at, and that's what matters.

Mr. Harold Hamm, the CEO of Continental (CLR) had several things to say about the progression of the Williston Basin. He stated estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of 600 MBoe is expected from each Bakken well. This is important as it was a recent upgrade from the previous estimate of 518 MBoe. Mr. Hamm also stated that Eco-Pads will be used by almost all Bakken producers going forward. In a nutshell, it allows for more than one well to be drilled from one location. This significantly decreases down time, as the rig does not have to be moved from location to location. Mr. Hamm also stated that "only 15% of the Williston Basin has been drilled" and claims "24 billion barrels can be recovered in the play."

How busy was the Bakken when Jim Cramer visited?

United Airlines Pilots To Use iPads -- Obviously Not a Bakken Story

Updates

From MacRumors:

Over the past several months, we've made several mentions of commercial airlines testing the iPad as a replacement for flight bags used by pilots. The testing programs have been looking to replace bulky and heavy flight bags full of navigational charts and other materials with iPads in order to reduce the weight of pilots' bags and save fuel on flights. 

Give me a break! To "save fuel on flights." As much as I love Apple, Inc., I know that can't possibly be accurate.

I can't make this stuff up.

Original Post

As regular readers know, the only thing that I enjoy as much as the Bakken is Apple, Inc. I especially enjoy the iPad.

United Airlines is replacing hardcopies of navigation aids with an iPad for each pilot.

Link here.

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and chart books its pilots have long used with 11,000 iPads carrying the same data. 

The 1.5 pound iPad will take the place of about 38 pounds of paper instructions, data and charts pilots have long used to help guide them, parent company United Continental Holdings said.

The popular tablet computer will carry the Mobile FliteDeck software app from Jeppesen, a Boeing subsidiary which provides navigation tools for air, sea and land.

Besides less weight, the iPad is more environmentally friendly. 

One of the nice things about non-government entities, they are more agile in their decision-making process. I say this because during my years with the military it was obvious that Apple, Inc., had better tools than Microsoft, but yet, the "powers that be" were unable to migrate to Apple. The folks in the graphics departments at all the major headquarters were using Apple products, but the rest of the military were still using "PCs." We weren't allowed to switch from Blackberries to iPhones due to "security concerns." Those security concerns apparently have gone by the wayside, and military members are now allowed to use iPhones.

But I doubt the military is switching to iPads any time soon.