Hawkeye Oil Field -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Permits

2014
29409, conf, Hess,
28763, conf, Hess,
28762, conf, Hess,
28761, conf, Hess,
28760, conf, Hess,
28487, conf, Hess,
28486, conf, Hess,
28485, conf, Hess,
28484, conf, Hess,
28483, conf, Hess,
28142, conf, Hess,
28141, conf, Hess,
28140, conf, Hess,
27815, conf, Hess,
27801, conf, Hess,
27800, conf, Hess,
27799, conf, Hess,
27693, 1,048, Hess, HA-Swenson-152-95-1819H-6, t6/14; cum 52K 9/14;
27580, 1,440, BR, Sequoia 41-4TFH, t9/14; cum --
27579, 1,920, BR, Sequoia 31-4MBH, t9/14; cum --
27578, drl, BR,
27472, drl, Hess,


2013 (list is complete)
27025, 835, Hess, HA-Nelson A-LW-152-95-3427H-1, 4 sections, t9/14; cum --
27024, 1,074, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-3, t8/14; cum 1K 8/14;
27023, 1,307, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-4, t9/14; cum 10K 8/14;
27022, 1,279, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-5, t9/14; cum 1K 8/14;
27021, 1,107, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-6, t8/14; cum 26K 8/14;
26983, drl, Hess,
26982, drl, Hess,
26981, drl, Hess,
26980, drl, Hess,
26928, drl, BR,
26927, drl, BR,
26840, drl, Hess,
26787, PNC, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-4PNC,
26786, PNC, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-5PNC,
26785, PNC, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-6,
26664, 1,186, Hess, HA-Link-152-95-3526H-5, t6/14; cum 68K 8/14;
26663, 1,487, Hess, HA-Link-152-95-3526H-4, t6/14; cum 89K 8/14;
26662, 872, Hess, HA-Link-152-95-3526H-3, t6/14; cum 52K 8/14;
26600, 1,764, BR, Sequoia 24-9TFH, t8/14; cum 14K 8/14;
26599, 2,565, BR, Sequoia 14-9MBH, t8/14; cum 14K 8/14;
26598, 1,923, BR, Sequoia 14-9TFH, t8/14; cum 14K 8/14;
26380, 1,371, Hess, HA-Chapin-LE-152-95-3229H-1, 4 sections, t5/14; cum 95K 8/14;
26170, 2,520, BR, Crater Lake 41-14MBH, t4/14; cum 63K 8/14;
26169, 2,616, BR, Crater Lake 41-14TFH, t3/14; cum 59K 8/14;
26168, 2,520, BR, Crater Lake 31-14MB, t3/13; cum 64K 8/14;
26167, 2,044, BR, Crater Lake 21-14MBH, t3/14; cum 105K 8/14;
26144, PNC, BR,
26143, PNC, BR,
26013, 997, Hess, HA-Chapin 152-95-3229H-3, t4/14; cum 73K 8/14;
26012, 1,320, Hess, HA-Chapin 152-95-3239H-4, t5/14; cum 91K 8/14;
26011, 1,165, Hess, HA -Chapin 152-95-3229H-5, t5/14; cum 67K 8/14;
25867, PNC, Hess,
25866, drl, Hess,
25865, drl, Hess,
25161, 1,570, BR, Badland 11-15TFH, 30 stages; 3. 4 million lbs sand/ceramic, t8/13; cum 97K 8/14;
25146, 764, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0508H-6, t1/14; cum 85K 8/14;
25145, 1,053, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0508H-5, t12/13; cum 138K 8/14;
25144, 892, Hess,  HA-Mogen-152-95-0508H-4, t12/13; cum 99K 8/14;
24898, PNC, BR, 
24726, 1,250, Hess, HA-Nelson 152-95-3328H-3, t9/13; cum 106K 8/14;
24725, 1,400, Hess, HA-Nelson 152-95-3328H-2, t9/13; cum 137K 8/14; 

2012

24641, 680, Hess, HA-Nelson 152-95-3328H-5, t9/13; cum 67K 8/14;
24640, 1,381, Hess, HA-Nelson 152-95-3328H-4, t9/13; cum 134K 8/14;
24629, 2,949, BR, Badlands 31-15TFH, t8/13; cum 58K 8/14;
24628, 2,971, BR, Badlands 21-15MBH, t8/13; cum 63K 8/14;
24627, 2,982, BR, Badlands 21-15TFH, t9/13; cum 94K 8/14;
24626, 2,924, BR, Badlands 41-15MBH, Hawkeye, t8/13; cum 107K 8/14;
24625, 2,854, BR, Badlands 41-15TFH, t81/3; cum 115K 8/14;
24624, 2,919, BR, Badlands 31-15MBH, t8/13; cum 106K 8/14;
23822, 697, Hess,  HA-State 152-95-1621H-2, t5/13; cum 114K 8/14;

23821, 1,034, Hess, HA-State 152-95-16221H-3; t5/13; cum 120K 8/14;

23820, 50 (no typo), Hess, HA-State 152-95-1621H-4, t7/13; cum 63K 8/14;

23072, 1,089, Hess, HA-Dahl 152-95-0706H-3, t12/12; cum 216K 8/14; F

23071, 1,224, Hess, HA-Mogen 152-95-0805H-3, t12/12; cum 282K 8/14; F

23010, 798, Hess, HA-Grimestad-152-95-3031H-3, t11/12; cum 119K 8/14;

22982, 868, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-2, t9/12; cum 119K 8/14;

22972, drl, Hess, HA-Swenson Observation -19-2; status date: 6/12;

22801, 983, Hess, HA-Link-152-95-3526H-2, t9/12; cum 168K 8/14;

22635, 1,114, Hess, HA-Swenson-152-95-1819H-5, t5/13; cum 121K 8/14;

22420, PNC, Hess, HA-Swenson Observation-18-4, status date 2/14;

22419, 586, Hess, BW-Sorenson 149-99-1324H-1, Bakken, t12/12; cum 89K 8/14;

22418, 724, Hess, BW-Spring Creek 149-99-1201H-1, Bakken, t12/12; cum 123K 8/14;

22417, drl, Hess, HA-Swenson Observation- 18-3, Birdbear, status date 5/12; no plans to produce;

22416, drl, Hess, HA-Swenson Observation- 19-2, Birdbear, status date 5/12; no plans to produce;

22415, drl, Hess, HA-Swenson Observation- 18-1, Birdbear, "a stratigraphic test well with no intention of production"; status date 5/12;

22367, loc, Hess, Bakken, status date 3/12;

22366, 1,336, Hess, HA-Swenson 152-95-1819H-3, t5/13; cum 122K 8/14;

2011

21122, 428, Hess, HA-Chapin-152-95-3229H-2, t5/12; cum 99K 8/14;

20755, 381, Hess, HA-Dahl-152-95-0706H-2, t3/12; cum 225K 8/14;

20739, 826, Hess, HA-Thompson-152-95-1720H-2, t5/12; cum 135K 8/14;

20738, 1,496, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0805H-2, t12/11; cum 469K 8/14; F; 38 stages; 3.8 million lbs; sand/ceramic;

Updates

May 21, 2012: update of 10 wells in one spacing unit in the Hawkeye. 

February 8, 2012:

• 20738, 1,496, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0805H-2, Hawkeye, Bakken; s7/11; t12/11; F; cum 469K 8/14; producing 44K in its first full month of production; 38 stages; 3.7 million lbs including 3.5 million pounds ceramics (Econoprop); Three Forks; 
• 16694, AB/348, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0805H-1, Hawkeye, Bakken, s9/07/t 12/07; F; cum 143K 8/14;
• These two wells right next to each other, their laterals paralleling and running north; at one point they actually "cross" each other, but they are in different formations.

Original Post 

The Hawkeye oil field is a very old field, and a small field, about 26 sections. It is just west of the northwest corner of the reservation. It is south of the very good Charlson field, south of the river, and south of the Beaver Ldoge oil field where oil was first discovered in North Dakota. If I am reading the map correctly it is either right on or just west the Nesson anticline.

From the NDIC November hearing docket agenda:

Case No. 16110: Application of Hess Corp. for an order amending the applicable orders for the Hawkeye-Bakken Pool to allow up to six horizontal wells and up to eight vertical wells to be drilled in a 1280-acre spacing unit described as Sections 18 and 19, T.152N.,  R.95W., McKenzie County, ND, and such other relief as is appropriate.

So, why would Hess want to drill up to six (6) horizontal (Bakken) wells and up to eight (8) vertical (Madison?) wells in this area?

• 17070, sections 18/19, 783, Hess, HA-Swenson-152-05-1819H-1, s9/08; t11/08; cum 217K 8/14;
• 16873, sections 17/20, 222, Hess, HA-Thompson-152-95-1720H-1, s12/07; t4/08; cum 233K 8/14;
• 18201, sections 16/21, 862, Hess, HA-State-152-95-1621H-1, s4/10; t7/10; cum 335K 8/14;
• 16825, sections 7/6, 307, Hess, HA-Dahl-152-95-0706H-1, s10/07; t1/08; cum 239K 8/14;
• 16694, sections 8/5, 348, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95 0805H-1, s9/07; t12/07; cum 143K 8/14;
• 1421, PAB,  cumulative 161,344 bbls, Madison
• 1218, PAB, cumulative 129,602 bbls, Madison
• 1312, PAB, Amerada Hess, Haweye-Madison Unit F-616, s 11/56/t 12/56; cumulative 416,393 bbls, Madison
• 1562, PAB, cumulative 75,736, bbls Madison
• 4013, PA/215, Hess, Hawkeye-Madison Unit B-616, s12/65; t2/66; cum 413K 9/08 a Madison well
• 1419, PA/338, Hess, Hawkeye-Madison Unit I-617, s5/57; t6/57; cum 166K 12/88, a Madison well
• 1295, IA/288, Hess, short lateral, Hawkeye-Madison Unit E-613HR, s12/56; t1/57; cum 240K 6/12; this was a vertical that was re-entered and was a very short lateral 
• 1246, IA/161, Hess, Hawkeye-Madison Unit G-603HR, Madison, Hawkeye, s9/56; re7/05; t10/56; cum 469K 11/13; spudded 1956 (producing for 56 years); for an in-depth look at this well, click here
• 1596, PA/303, Hess, Hawkeye-Madison Unit F-618 HR, s11/57; t12/57; PNA; cum 788K bbls; last produced in 2009; produced for 52 years. 

For newbies:

• Look how soon after these wells were spud, they were completed -- the good ol' days
• At 100,000 bbls, the recent Bakken wells have paid for themselves at the wellhead; they will now go on producing for 30 years; average EUR estimated to be 603,000 bbls
• The Madison wells paid for themselves long ago
• Look how long it takes a Madison well to hit 100,000 bbls; that's why the Bakken is so incredible
• Some of the Madison wells are reaching the EUR of a Bakken well
• Look how long some of these wells produce; some of the Madison wells have been producing since 1956 -- 56 years

If You Can't See the Flame, Is It Still Flaring -- If A Tree Falls in the Forest and There's No One To Hear It, Does It Make Any Noise?

Link here.

Steffes Corp. of Dickinson recently manufactured a product for the smokeless flaring of gases in oil drilling operations. Officials are testing it and have applied for an income tax exemption tied to the
product.

“When you’re drilling for oil, not just oil comes out of the earth, but natural gas comes up as well,” said Todd Mayer, Steffes engineering manager. “Over a wide range of gas flow rates, we’re able to burn the gasses smokeless.”

Okay.

Back of the Envelope Calculations While Sitting At the Williston Economart -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Based on EURs of 500,000 bbls, $50/bbl for the next 30 years; and, two wells on each section, an acre in the good Bakken will generate $78,125 at the wellhead.

2 x 500,000 x 50 =  $50,000,000
$50,000,000 / 640 --> $78,125

Some data points and/or factoids:

• Others opine that the average EUR for the Bakken will be 603,000 bbls
• Raise your hand if you think the price of oil will average $50/bbl over the next 30 years
• The norm is now four wells on each section, not two as conservatively estimated above, and there are suggestions that in the very good Bakken, it will higher; see the November dockets; this has been going on now for the past six months or so
• Most opine that cost of wells in the Bakken are paid back in 1.5 to 3.0 years (open to discussion)
• There are "no" dry wells in the Bakken
• Some Bakken wells are "monster" wells; others are not economical
• These numbers are for the Bakken formation only; there are several other formations that have been and will be targeted, to include the Three Forks, Tyler, Madison, Red River, and Lodgepole

Statoil bought BEXP for $8,000/acre according to their presentation.

For those interested, the "historyteachers" have an entire portfolio of history lessons. This is just one example:



Pompeii, The History Teachers

Highlights of the NDIC November Hearing Dockets -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I eagerly await the monthly agenda for the NDIC hearing dockets -- for me, it's like opening Christmas presents.

The November dockets are no different. Here are some highlights:

First, this is the most intriguing, and I've done a stand-alone post on this one already:

• 16198, BEXP, request to produce the Kalil 25-36 2H well as a horizontal Bakken in the Bull Butte-Bakken but with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole Formation

How many wells are we going to see in the Bakken?

• 16199, Dakota-3, to create a 3840-acre unit in Van Hook or Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, 22 wells, McLean
• 16110, Hess, up to 6 horizontal wells and eight vertical wells in one 1280-acre spacing unit in Hawkeye-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16232, Dakota-3, 2 wells on a 320-acre unit, Eagle Nest-Bakken, Dunn
• 16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16244, Enerplus, 4 wells on a 640-acre unit, Antelope-Sanish, McKenzie

How many wells are operators asking for in single cases?

• 15861, cont'd, Newfield, 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit, Epping-Bakken, 5 units, 35 wells, Williams
• 16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
• 16199, Dakota-3, to create a 3840-acre unit in Van Hook or Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, 22 wells, McLean
• 16194, CLR, create 18 1280-acre units with seven wells on each, 126 wells, Williams
• 15916, cont'd, North Plains, add two 1280-acre units with 7 wells each, Truax-Bakken, 14 wells; Williams/McKenzie
• 16131, MRO, 7 wells on three 1280-acre units, Lake Ilo-Bakken, 21 wells, Dunn
• 16118, WLL, 4 wells on 3 1280-acre spacing units, Ellsworth-Bakken, McKenzie (12 wells)
• 16119, WLL, 4 wells to be drilled on nine 1280-acre spacing units, McKenzie, (36 wells)
• 16120, WLL, 4 wells on two 1280-acre spacing units (8 wells), McKenzie

The standard is now 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit. In the better Bakken, we are seeing 4 wells in 640-acre spacing, or 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit. 

The activity is moving to McKenzie County.

Another Game Changer in the Bakken? -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Call me inappropriately and irrationally exuberant but Gary #1 and Gary #2 will both know what I'm talking about.

I have to remain cryptic on this because it's not been publicly released but I want to put this out there for bragging rights, and I do that through time/stamping these posts.

It will all make sense early next year.

Two dots to connect:

• an Oasis 3-well pad northwest of Williston; and,
• this on the November NDIC hearing dockets:  Case No. 16198: Application of Brigham Oil & Gas, for an order authorizing the drilling, completing and producing of the Kalil 25-36 #2H well (Well File No. 21125) as a horizontal well located in Section 25, T.156N., R.103W., in the Bull Butte-Bakken Pool, Williams County, ND, with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole Formation

My enthusiasm gets ahead of me and this may turn out to be not that big a deal, but if this pans out, we may have another game changer.

Random Video of Pair of Wells Northwest of Williston -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Sunday drive.

NDIC Hearing Dockets -- November 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011
16265, Ballantyne, unitize Tolley-Madison Unit Area, Renville County
16266, Ballantyne, unitize Tolley-Madison Unit Area, Renville County
16267, Dakota-3, amend Order No. 17749, establish a 1280-acre unit for the Bearstail 32-39H, McKenzie
16190, cont'd, Chesapeake, create a 1280-acre unit, Golden Valley County

Supplement to Thursday, November 17, 2011
14062, cont'd, CLR, temporary spacing for Norway 1-58H, McKenzie
14543, cont'd, CLR, to develop Haag 1X-21H, Billings
15492, cont'd, CLR, temporary spacing for Hayes 1-6H, Williams
15949, cont'd, CLR, extend Juno, Upland, and/or Wildrose-Bakken to create 7 1280-spacing units, 1 well each, Divide County
15224, cont'd, CLR, revoke a Hess permit for 2WX 7-1H, McKenzie
15999, cont'd, ERF, SWD, McKenzie
15512, cont'd, OXY USA, 6 wells on three 1280-acre units, Crooked Creek-Bakken, Dunn County

Supplement to Wednesday, November 16, 2011
14231, cont'd, SM, revoke a CLR permit for drilling Koeser 1-11H, McKenzie; SM wants it
15654, cont'd, Hess, establish two 1280-acre units, Williams County, 1 well each, target: Lodgepole
15575, cont'd, XTO, revoke a CLR permit for Carbon 1-30H, McKenzie County
15892, cont'd, Hess, revoking a BEXP permit for Maston 34-27 1H, McKenzie/Williams
15968, cont'd, BEXP, revoking a Zenergy permit for Mrachek 27-34H, McKenzie


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

16100: Commission to consider rescinding drilling unit established wholly or partially within the Theodore Roosevelt National Park - North Unit.
16101: SM Energy, temporary spacing for Legaard 4-25H, Divide
16102: SM, flaring in Colgan-Bakken, Divide
16103, SM, flaring in West Ambrose-Bakken, Divide
16104, Hess, add two sections, one 1280-acre spacing unit to Baukol Noonan-Bakken, Divide
16105, Hess, add two sections, one 1280-acre spacing unit to Black Slough-Bakken, Burke
16106, Hess, 1 1280-acre unit, 1 well, Burke
16107: Hess, add two sections, one 1280-acre unit to Leaf Mountain-Bakken, or Foothills-Bakken, Burke
16108, Hess, designate two sections as one 1280-acre unit, White Earth-Bakken, Mountrail
16109, Hess, add two sections, one 1280-acre unit, Alkali Creek-Bakken or Elm Tree-Bakken, Mountrail/McKenizie
16110, Hess, up to 6 horizontal wells and eight vertical wells in one 1280-acre spacing unit in Hawkeye-Bakken, McKenzie
16111, Hess, extend Moran 15-1H, McKenzie
15370, cont'd, Hess, 1 well per 640-acre spacing, Zone 1 of the Alger-Bakken, Mountrail
14935, cont'd, Hess, revoke the CLR Foster 1-28H permit, Williams/McKenzie
16112, BR, establish one 1280-acre unit in Westberg, McKenzie
15896, cont'd, BR, add two 1280-acre units; 2 wells each; McKenzie
16113, BR, extend Hay Draw-Bakken by 9 sections; 1280-acre spacing, McKenzie
16114, BR, 4 wells in 1280-acre units in Big Gulch-Bakken
16115, BR, to revoke the Zenergy Mrachek 27-34H well, McKenzie
16116, WLL, 4 wells on two 1280-spacing units, Timber Creek-Bakken, McKenzie
16117, WLL, 4 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Arnegard-Bakken, McKenzie
16118, WLL, 4 wells on 3 1280-acre spacing units, Ellsworth-Bakken, McKenzie (12 wells)
16119, WLL, 4 wells to be drilled on nine 1280-acre spacing units, McKenzie, (36 wells)
16120, WLL, 4 wells on two 1280-acre spacing units (8 wells), McKenzie
16121, WLL, 2 wells on each spacing unit in Zone II, Dutch Henry Butte-Bakken, Stark
16122, WLL, 4 wells on each spacing unit, Park-Bakken, Billings
16123, WLL, 4 wells on each unit, Gaylord-Bakken, Billings/Stark
16124, WLL, 4 wells on each unit, Bell-Bakken, Stark
16125, XTO, to revoke a CLR Tompkins 1-35H permit, McKenzie
16126, KOG, 2 wells on a 1280-acre unit, MonDak-Bakken, McKenzie
16127, KOG, to create three 1280-acre units; 2 wells each; 6 wells, Hay Draw-Bakken, McKenzie
16128, KOG, create four 1280-acre units; 2 wells each; 8 wells; McKenzie County
16129, Sequel, establish 160-acre spacing in Rider-Madison, Golden Valley
16130, MRO, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Chimney Butte-Bakken, Dunn
16131, MRO, 7 wells on three 1280-acre units, Lake Ilo-Bakken, 21 wells, Dunn
16132, MRO, 7 wells on each spacing unit within Zone II, Killdeer-Bakken, Dunn
16133, MRO, maximum production in the Reunion Bay-Bakken, Mountrail/McKenzie
16134, MRO, maximum production in the Van Hook-Bakken, McLean/Mountrail
16135, MRO, maximum production in the Moccasin Creek-Bakken, Dunn
16136, MRO, maximum production in the Lost Bridge-Bakken, Dunn
16137, MRO, maximum production in the Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, Dunn/McLean
16138, MRL, maximum production in the Four Bears-Bakken, McKenzie/Mountrail
16139, MRO, maximum production int he Lone Butte-Bakken, McKenzie/Dunn
16140, MRO, 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit in Bailey-Bakken, Dunn
16141, Oasis, flaring
16142, Oasis, flaring
16143, Oasis, flaring
16144, Oasis, flaring
16145, Zenergy, to be operator of the Forest 26-35H, McKenzie
15916, cont'd, North Plains, add two 1280-acre units with 7 wells each, Truax-Bakken, 14 wells; Williams/McKenzie
15690, cont'd, CLR, to revoke a BEXP Barney 32-29 permit, McKenzie
14541, cont'd, Oil for America, temporary spacing for Zastoupil 22-1, Stark
16146, Buckhorn, SWD, Williams
16147, Moxie Disposal, SWD, Mountrail
16148, Moxie Disposal, SWD, Williams
16149, KOG, SWD, Pembroke
16150, KOG, SWD, Pembroke
16151, Petro-Hunt, SWD, McKenzie
16152 - 16175, Hess, pooling
16176, MRO, pooling
16177 - 16180, BR, pooling

Thursday, November 17, 2011

15947, Samson Resources, temporary spacing for Holm State 16-162-98H, Divide
16181, Samson Resources, temporary spacing for Love 11-2 1H, Williams
16182, Zenergy, temporary spacing for Wold 34-27H, McKenzie
16183, Zenergy, to revoke a Petro-Hunt Eidsvoog 157-100-3B-4-1 permit Williams
16184, Crescent Point, temporary spacing for CPEC Lancaster 2-11-162N-102W, Dunn
16185, G3, temporary spacing for Peterson Trust 1-5-8H, Williams
16186, Enerplus, establish two 640-acre units; four wells on each, McKenzie
16187, Enerplus, establish a 1280-acre unit; 4 wells; MCGregory Buttes, Moccasin Creek, or Bailey-Bakken, Dunn
16188, Silver Oak, to produce Rankin 1-35H, Slope
16189, EOG, establish two 2560-acre units; eight 1920-acre units; and, one 1280-acre unit with one well on each of the spacing units described, Van Hook and/or Parshall-Bakken, Mountrail
16190, Chesapeake, create a 1280-acre unit; 1 well; Golden Valley
16191, Chesapeake, create a 1280-acre unit; 1 well; Stark County
16192, Chesapeake, create two 1280-acre units; 1 well each, Stark
16193, Chesapeake, create nine 1280-acre units, 1 well each, Hettinger
16264, Chesapeake, complete Schoch 21-137-97 A 1H, inadvertently drilled with an entry point into the TF, Stark
16194, CLR, create 18 1280-acre units with seven wells on each, 126 wells, Williams
16195, CLR, two horizontals from one hole, Medicine Pole Hills West-Red River; and, Medicine Pole Hills-Red River "B", Bowman County
16196, CLR, a 1280-acre unit; 1 well, Divide
14356, cont'd, CLR, to create a 2560-acre unit; 4 wells on the unit; McKenzie
15491, cont'd, temporary spacing for Montpelier 1-14H
15733, cont'd, temporary spacing for Truman 1-23H, Williams
16197, Triangle USA Petroleum, create a 960-acre unit; 1 well, Williams
15957, cont'd, to create a 640-acre unit, 1 well, Williams
16198, BEXP, request to produce the Kalil 25-36 2H well as a horizontal Bakken in the Bull Butte-Bakken but with a portion of the vertical section of the well open to the Lodgepole Formation
16199, Dakota-3, to create a 3840-acre unit in Van Hook or Deep Water Creek Bay-Bakken, 22 wells, McLean
16200, CCS Midstream, to construct a treating plant, Mountrail County
15754, cont'd, Newfield, to create ten 1280-acre units, one well each, Cartwright-Bakken, Hay Creek, Estes, and/or Yellowstone fields, McKenzie
15755, cont'd, Newfield, to create a 1280-acre unit in Todd or Williston-Bakken in Springbrook field, 7 wells
15496, cont'd, Renegade, temporary spacing for A Trout 6G 3-14, Renville
15736, cont'd, Crescent Energy, temporary spacing for Perry Larson 1-21-16H-158-97, Williams
15747, cont'd, Credo Petroleum, to revoke the Helis Linseth 13-13/12H permit, McKenzie
16201, G3 Operating, legalese regarding Rasmussen 1-25-36H, Strandahl-Bakken, Williams
16202 - 16203, G3 Operating, pooling
16204, Baytex, risk penalty legalese involving Olsing 15-22-162-100H 1CN, West Ambrose-Bakken, Divide
16205, Baytex, risk penalty legalese invovling Colby 23-14-160-99H 1PB, Burg-Bakken, Divide
16206, CLR, 2 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Lindahl-Bakken, Williams
16207 - 16231, CLR, pooling
15781, CLR, SWD conversion, Holecek 1-17, Medicine Pole Hills Field, Bowman
16232, Dakota-3, 2 wells on a 320-acre unit, Eagle Nest-Bakken, Dunn
16233, Dakota-3, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit; and 4 wells on each640-acre unit in 2 sections in Mandaree-Bakken, Dunn
16234, Dakota-3, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit, South Fork-Bakken, Dunn
16235 - 16236, Dakota-3, pooling
16237, Newfield, 7 wells on an overlapping 1280-acre unit, Westberg-Bakken, McKenzie
16238, Newfield, 7 wells on an overlapping 1280-acre unit, Sand Creek-Bakken, McKenzie
16239, Newfield, pooling
15859, cont'd, Newfield, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Williston-Bakken, Williams
15860, cont'd, Newfield, 7 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Stony Creek-Bakken, Williams
15861, cont'd, Newfield, 7 wells on each 1280-acre unit, Epping-Bakken, 5 units, 35 wells, Williams
16240, EOG, 2 wells on an overlapping 1920-acre unit, Alger-Bakken, Mountrail
16241, EOG, 3 wells on a 1280-acre unit, Painted Woods-Bakken, Williams
16242 - 16243, EOG, pooling 
16244, Enerplus, 4 wells on a 640-acre unit, Antelope-Sanish, McKenzie
16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
16245, Bennett, SWD
16246, Denbury Onshore, risk penalty legalese, Wolff 13-24ENH, McKenzie
16247 - 16256, BEXP, pooling
16257, Abraxas, 8 wells on each 1280-acre unit; 3 units, 24 wells, North Fork-Bakken, McKenzie
16258, ProWater, SWD
16259 - 16262, Zenergy, pooling
16263, Legacy Oil, SWD

An Old Norwegian Saying: "It Could Be Worse"

From Planning Magazine -- December 1987, Deborah Epstein Popper and Frank J. Popper:

To begin:

At the center of the United States, between the Rockies and the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest and South, lies the shortgrass expanse of the Great Plains. The region extends over large parts of 10 states and produces cattle, corn, wheat, sheep, cotton, coal, oil, natural gas, and metals. The Plains are endlessly windswept and nearly treeless; the climate is semiarid, with typically less than 20 inches of rain a year.

The country is rolling in parts in the north, dead flat in the south. It is lightly populated. A dusty town with a single gas station, store, and house is sometimes 50 unpaved miles from its nearest neighbor, another three-building settlement amid the sagebrush. As we define the region, its eastern border is the 98th meridian. San Antonio and Denver are on the Plains' east and west edges, respectively, but the largest city actually located in the Plains is Lubbock, Texas, population 179,000. Although the Plains occupy one-fifth of the nation's land area, the region's overall population, approximately 5.5 million, is less than that of Georgia or Indiana.

The Great Plains are America's steppes. They have the nation's hottest summers and coldest winters, greatest temperature swings, worst hail and locusts and range fires, fiercest droughts and blizzards, and therefore its shortest growing season. The Plains are the land of the Big Sky and the Dust Bowl, one-room schoolhouses and settler homesteads, straight-line interstates and custom combines, prairie dogs and antelope and buffalo. The oceans-of-grass vistas of the Plains offer enormous horizons, billowy clouds, and somber-serene beauty.

And then, the crisis looms:

The 1980s punctured the illusion of prosperity. Today the pressures on the Plains and their people are as ominous as at any time in American history. The region's farm, ranch, energy, and mineral economies are in deep depression. Many small towns are emptying and aging at an all-time high rate, and some are dying. The 1986 outmigration from West and Panhandle Texas, for instance, helped make the state a net exporter of population for the first time ever.

And then there is the ripple effect:

The local collapses reverberate. When local banks fail or are endangered, the remaining ones lend more conservatively and charge higher interest. When a heavily agricultural county's farmers and ranchers cannot make a living, neither can its car dealers, druggists, restaurants, and clothing stores. Local public services, which have never been exactly generous in the Plains, fall off. Items like schools, roads, law enforcement, and welfare are always relatively expensive to provide and administer in large, lightly populated areas; they are especially expensive because of the traditional Plains pattern of many comparatively small local governments, which cannot take advantage of economies of scale.

And it became the "tragedy of the commons:

But private interests have proved unable to last for long on the Plains. Responding to nationally based market imperatives, they have overgrazed and overplowed the land and overdrawn the water. Responding to the usually increasing federal subsidies, they have overused the natural resources the subsidies provided. They never created a truly stable agriculture or found reliable conservation devices. In some places, private owners supplemented agriculture with inherently unstable energy and mineral development.

And a bleak future:

It is hard to predict the future course of the Plains ordeal. The most likely possibility is a continuation of the gradual impoverishment and depopulation that in many places go back to the 1920s. A few of the more urban areas may pull out of their decline, especially if an energy boom returns. And a few cities -- Lubbock and Cheyenne, for example -- may hold steady as self-contained service providers. But the small towns in the surrounding countryside will empty, wither, and die. The rural Plains will be virtually deserted. A vast, beautiful characteristically American place will go the way of the buffalo that once roamed it in herds of millions.

The Popper solution: Bring Back the Commons

The most intriguing alternative would be to restore large parts of the Plains to their pre-white condition, to make them again the commons the settlers found in the nineteenth century. This approach, which would for the first time in U.S. history treat the Plains as a distinct region and recognize its unsuitability for agriculture, is being proposed with increasing frequency.

We believe that despite history's warnings and environmentalists' proposals, much of the Plains will inexorably suffer near-total desertion over the next generation. It will come slowly to most places, quickly to some; parts of Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas, especially those away from the interstates, strike us as likely candidates for rapid depopulation. The overall desertion will largely run its course. At that point, the only way to keep the Plains from turning into an utter wasteland, an American Empty Quarter, will be for the federal government to step in and buy the land -- in short, to deprivatize it.

Yes, The Buffalo Commons

Creating the Buffalo Commons represents a substantial administrative undertaking. It will require competent land-use planning to identify acquisition areas, devise fair buyout contracts, and determine permitted uses. It will demand compassionate treatment for the Plains' refugees and considerable coordination between huge distant, frequently obtuse federal agencies, smaller state agencies whose attention often goes primarily to the non-Plains parts of their states, and desperate local governments. To accomplish these tasks, the federal government will, for the first time, have to create an agency with a Plains-specific mandate -- a regional agency like the Tennessee Valley Authority or a public-land agency like the Bureau of Land Management, but with much more sweeping powers.

By creating the Buffalo Commons, the federal government will, however belatedly, turn the social costs of space -- the curse of the shortgrass immensity -- to more social benefit than the unsuccessfully privatized Plains have ever offered.

And, so, despite the dust, the traffic, the housing, as our Norwegian ancestors always said, "It could be worse."

P.S. I can only assume when this proposal did not work out, the Poppers moved on to fanning the flames of global warming.

Oh, you ask about the Poppers? At the time this was written, Deborah Epstein Popper was a graduate student in geography at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Frank J. Popper chaired the university's urban studies department.

The Economist: Crisis in the Great Plains -- The Dying of the Little Towns

Link here.

TEN years ago, 1,200 people lived in New England, North Dakota. This was a boom town, if a small one. The nearby railway carried some of the world’s best hard red spring wheat to market. But by the early 1990s the railway had stopped coming to town. Decay spread along Main Street: restaurants and petrol stations shut, and so did the Catholic school. Today only one restaurant serves New England’s 600 people. Decrepit store-fronts gape into the street. Down the road, in Mott, the last rural Catholic school in the western half of the state has just closed.

It is not just Mott and New England that feel the slow exodus. All across the Great Plains, small towns are losing their livelihood. Crop disease, drought, floods and blizzards have ravaged North Dakota’s farms. Even worse, as the area’s anxious farmers will tell you, is the seemingly limitless fall in the price of grain and beef. Record world supplies of grain, and a remarkable dearth of crop disasters outside America, have made much of the wheat here worth little more than chaff. In rural towns across North Dakota, says one farmer, “There is a slow acquiescence to fate.”

That was published September 16, 1999.


*******************

From elsehwere a comment I hear often in the Bakken:

If it comes, it's the oil curse. Rural, western counties in North Dakota are unable to keep up with rural highway maintenance due to the increase in heavy, under-taxed road damaging vehicles, local rents skyrocket from $450/ month to $1500/month - long- time tenants are given notice and when they can't pay are tossed out; local businesses are unable to find or keep help because they cannot pay oil field wages.

October 20, 2011

Crisis in the Great Plains: The Dying of the Little Towns -- The Economist

Link here.

TEN years ago, 1,200 people lived in New England, North Dakota. This was a boom town, if a small one. The nearby railway carried some of the world’s best hard red spring wheat to market. But by the early 1990s the railway had stopped coming to town. Decay spread along Main Street: restaurants and petrol stations shut, and so did the Catholic school. Today only one restaurant serves New England’s 600 people. Decrepit store-fronts gape into the street. Down the road, in Mott, the last rural Catholic school in the western half of the state has just closed.


It is not just Mott and New England that feel the slow exodus. All across the Great Plains, small towns are losing their livelihood. Crop disease, drought, floods and blizzards have ravaged North Dakota’s farms. Even worse, as the area’s anxious farmers will tell you, is the seemingly limitless fall in the price of grain and beef. Record world supplies of grain, and a remarkable dearth of crop disasters outside America, have made much of the wheat here worth little more than chaff. In rural towns across North Dakota, says one farmer, “There is a slow acquiescence to fate.”

September 16, 1999


*************

Comment elsewhere regarding the boom:

If it comes, it's the oil curse. Rural, western counties in North Dakota are unable to keep up with rural highway maintenance due to the increase in heavy, under-taxed road damaging vehicles, local rents skyrocket from $450/ month to $1500/month - long- time tenants are given notice and when they can't pay are tossed out; local businesses are unable to find or keep help because they cannot pay oil field wages.

October 20, 2011

Perhaps the Definitive Post on The CRYO Plants West of Williston -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

"Anonymous" sent an incredibly informative comment to my posting regarding the natural gas processing plants going up west of Williston. It was too important to be left as a comment only, so here is the entire comment. I will add my thoughts at the bottom, later.

Linde will not be the owner of these plants: ONEOK Partnerships will be the owner and operator.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oneok-partners-to-invest-up-to-305-million-for-additional-growth-projects-in-the-bakken-shale-114304929.html

Linde does operate its own cryogenic plants for oxygen / nitrogen / argon etc, but, as a side business, also has a chemical engineering design/project group that provides chemical process design/construction business to the natural gas business. Pipeline companies like ONEOK rely on Linde and other E&C companies for those services.

Here's a list of nat gas plants Linde has designed, which are generally smaller type plants, not the huge scale plants seen mostly in Texas and Louisiana: 

http://www.lppusa.com/international/web/le/us/likeleuslbpp30.nsf/repositorybyalias/lpp_naturalgas/$file/Natural%20Gas%20Experience%20List%20Yr-Loc-Des%20Only%2006-2011.pdf

Larger NG plants are not Linde's expertise (more appropriate for Fluor Daniel or some other large-scale chemical process design and construction firm).

Here's a synopsis of U.S. natural gas plants, which show that the new ND plants, while significant to the local economy, have relatively small capacity.

http://205.254.135.24/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/feature_articles/2010/ngpps2009/

My comments to be added later.