Man-Camp Controversy in the Heart of the Bakken -- Williston, North Dakota, USA

Link here (regional links break early and break often). 

An operator of a man camp that was issued a cease-and-desist order appeared Thursday evening before the Williams County Planning and Zoning Commission.

Officials from Center, Texas-based company Ameri-Tech Industries were on hand with legal representation.

A cease-and-desist order against the company was approved Monday for its 116-bed man camp along U.S. Highway 2, behind the Grand View Hotel.

The operator was found to be using the man camp for industrial use.

The commission agreed to let him keep the man camp open pending a final recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The writer of the article deserves plaudits for a very, very well-written article. I am impressed with the commission's deliberations, coming to, what sounds like, a just decision.

Growing pains.

Eight (8) New Permits, Oasis With Three Great Wells, 32 More Wells on the "Plugged or Producing List" -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, September 16, 2011 --

Operators: Newfield (2), Whiting, Fidelity, Hess, OXY USA, CLR, and True Oil

Fields: Sanish, Cherry Creek, Dutch Henry Butte, Banks, Sand Creek, Dimond, and Red Wing Creek

True is putting in another well in Red Wing Creek.  Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm.

Whiting has a nice well in Golden Valley County

• 18451, 845, Whiting, Dry Creek 11-13TFH, Bakken

Other nice wells that reported from the DRL list:

• 17661, 1,592, Oasis, Ruud 5493 42-23H, Mountrail, Bakken; two-mile horizontal drilled in 19 days
• 19235, 1,023, Oasis, Dixon 5602 44-34H, Williams, Bakken; two-mile horizontal drilled in 18 days
• 19307, 1,033, Oasis, Devon 5601 12-17H, Williams, Bakken
• 19666, 1,028, MRO, Elk Creek USA 33-12H, Dunn, Bakken

And another well reporting from Renville County:

• 20249, 17, Murex, Heather Lynne 1, Renville County, Madison (not a Bakken)

In addition, 32 wells reported as "producing or plugged." This may be the longest list of wells in this category that I've ever seen, or certainly have seen in a very long time. This is quite an activity report.

North Dakota: America's Most Successful State -- Carpe Diem

Link here.

It should be noted that there are many states in the US that have more energy resources and more natural resources than North Dakota.
 

Nationwide: Zero Net New Jobs in August -- For the Second Straight Month

Link here.

Nationwide, the economy added no new net jobs in August, and the unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent for the second straight month.

Key Word Is "Unique" -- Talk About a Mess -- Pennsylvania -- Marcellus

In the category of "it ain't over, until it's over, " this is one for the books:

The superior court in Pennsylvania has ruled that methane gas may belong to owners of the coal rather than those who own mineral rights to Marcellus natural gas.

Under Pennsylvania’s nearly unique position that coalbed methane is owned by the owner of the coal, could cause some companies to defer drilling on parcels that rely on any application of the Dunham ruling.

This will help natural gas price stability. Makes the Utica look even better.

Job Watch -- September 16, 2011

On September 6, 2011, I linked the story that Illinois will soon lay off thousands of state workers. Today, ten days later, I see there is a headline story that the unemployment rate in Illinois has "risen sharply" (in another report, the phrase "shot up" was used). Regardless what modifier is used, the unemployment rate in Illinois is up another half-percentage point.

Illinois' unemployment rate shot up almost half a percentage point in August to 9.9 percent. It was a fourth straight month of diminishing job prospects that state officials blame on weak consumer confidence and the struggles of the national economy.
Even the state's manufacturing sector, which had been a bright spot even as other types of employers shed jobs the past few months, cut employment in August.

Illinois' unemployment rate surged up from 9.5 percent in July but has been increasing since it was at 8.7 percent in May, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The national jobless rate held steady in August at 9.1 percent.

The biggest job losses in August were the 2,800 jobs cut by government employers and the decrease in manufacturing employment by 1,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, California's unemployment rate edged up to 12.1 percent from 12 percent, which I doubt is either statistically significant or reproducible.

"Businesses are very reluctant to hire people," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo. "The last thing they want to do is hire people and then fire them again a few months later." [Comment: why would they fire them a few months later? Does the economist know something we don't know? Do economists predict a new recession?]
California has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, after Nevada, where 13.4% of the people in the labor force are out of work.

And even the rate in Texas edged up from 8.4 percent to 8.5 percent, again, probably not statistically significant and probably not reproducible.

Wells Coming Off the Confidential List Over the Next Few Days

Looking ahead. These are the wells coming off the confidential list for the next few days. You don't have to bookmark these; I have a link at the top of the sidebar at the right. I doubt I will remember to keep this current, but it will be updated periodically. If I forget, I don't mind reminders.

Sorry for all the caps, but it's a "cut and paste" from NDIC website and I don't want to take the time to change it.


19894 HELIS OIL & GAS COMPANY, L.L.C. GABBERT 4-2/11H 10/6/2011

20099 SLAWSON EXPLORATION COMPANY, INC. CANNONBALL FEDERAL 2-27-34H 10/6/2011

20491 CONTINENTAL RESOURCES, INC. CHARLESTON 1-22H 10/6/2011

18981 BRIGHAM OIL & GAS, L.P. HOLM 9-4 1-H 10/7/2011

19544 DENBURY ONSHORE, LLC GILBERTSON 34-26NEH 10/7/2011

19872 CONTINENTAL RESOURCES, INC. MPHU 43-9H 10/7/2011

20487 QEP ENERGY COMPANY MHA 1-04-03H-149-91 10/7/2011

20539 HESS CORPORATION EN-PERSON OBSERVATION- 2-32 10/8/2011

19449 WHITING OIL AND GAS CORPORATION STATE 12-32H 10/10/2011

20324 BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS COMPANY LP MIDNIGHT RUN 21-1TFH 10/10/2011

20488 QEP ENERGY COMPANY MHA 3-04-03H-149-91 10/10/2011

20267 SLAWSON EXPLORATION COMPANY, INC. MUSKRAT FEDERAL 2-28-33H 10/11/2011

20529 MARATHON OIL COMPANY RANDI USA 41-17H 10/11/2011

20536 CONTINENTAL RESOURCES, INC. CHEYENNE 1-4H 10/11/2011

20599 HESS CORPORATION EN-PERSON OBSERVATION- 2-43 10/11/2011

18691 NEWFIELD PRODUCTION COMPANY WISNESS FEDERAL 152-96-4-2H 10/12/2011

19058 BRIGHAM OIL & GAS, L.P. BURES 20-29 1H 10/12/2011

20398 GADECO, LLC GOLDEN 25-36H 10/12/2011

20490 QEP ENERGY COMPANY MHA 1-32-29H-150-91 10/12/2011

20013 BRIGHAM OIL & GAS, L.P. LUCY HANSON 15-22 1-H 10/13/2011

20489 QEP ENERGY COMPANY MHA 3-32-29-150-91 10/13/2011

19320 WHITING OIL AND GAS CORPORATION BREHM 21-4H 10/14/2011

19827 KODIAK OIL & GAS (USA) INC. SKUNK CREEK 2-24-25-16H 10/14/2011

20453 HESS CORPORATION WALLACE 7-1H 10/14/2011

20612 CONTINENTAL RESOURCES, INC. HAMLET 3-2H 10/14/2011

19431 OXY USA INC. VELENCHENKO 1-4-9H-143-97 10/15/2011

19731 BRIGHAM OIL & GAS, L.P. IRGENS 27-34 1-H 10/15/2011

20566 CONTINENTAL RESOURCES, INC. MONTPELIER 1-14H 10/15/2011

19427 OASIS PETROLEUM NORTH AMERICA LLC MONTAGUE 5501 13-3H 10/16/2011

20017 NEWFIELD PRODUCTION COMPANY HOFFMANN 150-98-18-19-1H 10/16/2011

20292 HESS CORPORATION JOHNSON 15-22H 10/16/2011

20516 KODIAK OIL & GAS (USA) INC. SMOKEY 15-22-15-2H 10/16/2011

Proppant Watch -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Over on the sidebar at the right, not too far down, is my "Top Ten List."

I have added "Proppant Watch" to that section, in an attempt to learn more about that community. I"m trying to get two things figured out:

• The favored ceramic proppants in the Bakken and sites of their production
• And I forget the second thing; maybe those were the two things. Smile.

This has nothing to do with my personal investments. I do not invest in any companies providing proppants, and have no plans to do so, but several readers have asked about proppants. I assume conference calls and annual reports from a couple of the big players would provide much of that information, but with globalization of the industry, it can be hard to sort out what is going on in one area, such as the Bakken.

Oh, yeah, the second thing:

• Whether the proppants coming up from Texas are still predominantly trucked in or whether it is pretty much all by rail now?

Link to Administration's Proposed Jobs Bill and Its Effect on the Oil and Gas Industry -- Hunch: We Already Know, Even Without Reading the Proposed Bill

Elsewhere there is a comment about the adminitration's proposed jobs bill and its effect on the oil and gas industry.

You may want to go to the link now. It is my understanding that political ranting and raving is not permitted at that discussion group, and there is a policy at that site not to link to other such sites. [Update: that thread was removed within hours; at 9:34 a.m. CDT, that thread is no longer there.]

My hunch is that whether or not that posting stays there, it will make for lively reading until it is pulled. I am most interested in what others have to say about the posting itself. Anyone who has the time to read a presidential paper on jobs creation has too much time on his/her hands.

Like Global Warming, More Job Creation

Update

And this might be part of the administration's problem: we don't do research (Pittsburg Tribune Review, Pennsylvania is a "swing state".)

With job creation grinding to a complete halt, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Aug. 31 was asked this question: "Why do you think there have been so many jobs created in the last decade in Texas?"
She laughed and said, "Come again."

The questioner rephrased his query, adding a citation: "The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimates about half of the jobs created in the U.S. in the last decade have been created in Texas. Why do you think that is?"

Replied Solis, "I haven't done a lot of research in terms of the economic growth in Texas."

It appears that Solis has no interest in looking at how a state with 8 percent of the nation's population has created nearly half of the nation's new jobs over the past 10 years.

That exchange occurred on the final day of a month in which the United States experienced zero net job growth -- the first time that's happened since 1945.

Original Post

It seems every time we get a speech about "more job creation," there's a story on "job de-creation."

Old news (last week):

• Bank of America will cut 30,000 employees.
• US Postal Service will close 3,700 small post offices.

New news (today):

• Cut in defense spending will result in increase in unemployment rate by 1 percent (from 9.1 percent today to 10.1 percent, all things staying equal).
• US Postal Service looking at closing 250 mail processing centers including the ones at Devils Lake, Grand Forks, and (if you can believe this) Minot. Didn't Williston have a processing center many years ago? And that operation moved to Minot? I can't remember.

From the Bismarck Tribune:

The financially troubled Postal Service said Thursday it may close more than 250 mail processing facilities - including the facilities in Devils Lake, Grand Forks and Minot - across the country and plans to reduce service standards for first-class mail in an effort to cut costs.

Postal officials said 252 mail processing facilities across the country will be reviewed over the next three months for possible closing. Currently there are 487 such offices. That's in addition to about 3,700 local post offices also being reviewed for closure. Closing the mail-processing facilities could affect 35,000 workers.

But at least the half-trillion dollar jobs bill for teachers and school renovation will make up the shortfall.

By the way, "reducing service standards for first class mail": current standards -- one to three days depending on distance; new proposted standards, two to three days depending on attitude. Obviously this will have no effect on the average household, and for businesses, the USPS has said they will work with businesses to maintain service standards. I guess they would be referring to junk mail and circulars which need to be in mailboxes by Thursday for coupons good for the weekend.