EPA and Fracking Update -- Frack and Trade -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates
March 13, 2012: Faulty wells, not fracking, causing problems -- WSJ. 


September 13, 2012: basics of fracking -- RBN Energy.


February 17, 2012: no evidence of groundwater contamination from fracking -- University of Texas. 

February 16, 2012: the 10 legal issues facing oil and gas industry in 2012 -- mostly involving fracking.

February 3, 2012: how to spell it.

February 1, 2012: fracking fluids must be posted on the net, Texas Railroad Commission.

January 30, 2012: Fracking 101. A great review of fracking. Unfortunately, like "global warming," facts and science no longer manner. It's all about how you vote, and how loud you can yell ... and to whom Obama listens last.

January 22, 2012: Fracking concerns overblown. Overblown? Actually, no merit whatsoever.
Two concerns: water table contamination and earthquakes.  Unless fracking chemicals defy gravity and seep upwards from two miles below the surface to water tables 500 feet below the surface..... earthquakes are the inconsequential tremors that can be picked up by highly sensitive instruments, similar to those caused by coal mining, and dissipate before they get to the surface. Unfortunately, the issue is no longer in the science arena, but in the political arena. It all depends to whom Obama listens to last, and who gives him the most money. Period. Dot.

January 9, 2012: Colorado adopts rules for release of fracking component information; praised by industry and faux-environmentalists. 

January 7, 2012: Fidel Castro opines on fracking. He agrees with the EPA: fracking is very, very dangerous. 

He said he had only recently heard about the shale gas phenomenon, which has created a drilling boom in some parts of the United States, and when he asked several acquaintances both inside and outside of Cuba about the topic, "none of them had heard a word about it."

But his opinion is worthy of an article on .... drum roll .... MSNBC.com. A few more expert opinions from Fidel and MSNBC will have another talk show host.  Fidel would be a nice lead-in to Al Sharpton.

November 27, 2011: One of the better press articles on fracking with a bit of history and a bit of science. Lots of information. The biggest takeaway: diesel is no longer used/necessary for fracking except in cold weather. That's why diesel is still a big issue for North Dakota, and for that matter, all norther tier oil basins.

History of fracking, December, 2010.

Representative Berg doesn't trust the EPA, even after the Hoeven press release.

Senator Hoeven reassures us the EPA is not pursuing to shut down fracking.

Miscellaneous Comments

Received as a comment from a reader, February 6, 2012: Law requires that steel casing extend below all known acquifers and cemented in place. Additionally, an intermediate casing string is run into the curve and cemented in place. Finally, production tubing extends to total depth. I would think it unlikely that any contamination could get through 3 layes of steel and 2 layers of cement. As Lisa Jackson told Congress, there is no evidence that fracing contaminates drinking water.

Original Post  
Link here.  And this article, same subject, Bismarck Tribune.

There is nothing new in this article; it's what we were told some months ago.

Nominated by stakeholders nationwide, the EPA narrowed down the selection to seven cities to be included in the study: five retrospective studies and two prospective studies.

The retrospective case study will focus on areas in which reported drinking water contaminations have occurred due to fracking while the EPA will monitor vital aspects of the process at prospective sites.

The five retrospective case studies are located in the Raton Basin for coalbed methane, and the Bakken, Barnett and Marcellus formations for shale.

Bottom lines:

• EPA will study fracking
• EPA will release trial balloon in 2012; wait for blow-back, and, then
• EPA will release final report in 2014. 

And if one parses the words, the final product in 2014 will be a "report," not new regulations.

I wonder if oil lawyers can successfully argue the difference between "fracking" and "re-fracking" if necessary? Smile.

• Scene: courtroom
• Date: 2015
• EPA lawyer: So, did you frac that well when you had no permit to frack?
• Clinton Oil and Gas Exploration executive: It all depends on what you mean by fracking?
• EPA lawyer: Answer the question, did you frac that well without a permit?
• Clinton O & G Exploration executive: At what point in time are you talking about? 
• EPA lawyer: We're talking about allegations that you fracked a well without a permit.
• Clinton O & G Exploration executive: We did not have fracking relations with that well.
• EPA lawyer: But you don't deny that the well was fracked?
• CO&G: We don't deny the well was fracked. But we did not have fracking relations with that well. Someone else fracked that well in 2011 at which time they had a permit. We recently re-fracked the well, and there is no permit required for re-fracking a well based on the 2014 EPA rules.The 2014 EPA report only talks about fracking.

If that's the 2015 scenario, there's going to be a lot of fracking between now and when the EPA reports in 2014.

By the way, back to the second linked article above:

This is the risk:

The new EPA study will look at the entire water lifecycle of hydraulic fracturing in shale deposits, beginning with the industry's withdrawal of huge volumes of water from rivers and streams and ending with the treatment and disposal of the tainted wastewater that comes back out of the wells after fracking. Researchers will also study well design and the impact of surface spills of fracking fluids on groundwater.

There is no way that all those trucks on the road don't affect the environment; fracking itself will be fine, but they've moved the goalposts, lowered the bar. It will be very, very easy to say that fracking industry has impact on the environment. Of course, it does. So does whooping crane killers.

They need the two to four years to complete the study, not to halt fracking, but how best to maximize "frack and trade." --- transferring oil wealth to ObamaCare and other govt programs.

Bakken Boom Fuels Rail Boom -- Carpe Diem

Link here.

Production at the Bakken Shale in North Dakota could double over the next five years. But until new pipelines are built to handle the surge, companies are increasingly relying on rail to get the oil to market.

It has also fueled a big truck boom. The Western Star truck factory will be adding a second shift starting in January, 2012. Workers are already working mandatory overtime. The company recently hired more workers in two rounds of hiring. 

Four (4) New Permits -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, November 3, 2011 --

Operators: BEXP (2), OXY USA, Newfield

Fields: Russian Creek, Last Chance, Briar Creek

BEXP has permits for a 2-well pad.

Otherwise pretty unremarkable. 

Pad Being Prepared; Road in Place; But No Evidence of a Permit -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I don't follow preparations for individual wells at all, so I can only conjecture what is going on.

A gentleman writes to tell me that he has been told that Whiting has indicated that they are preparing the pad, have a road in place, and will spud November 8 (in about five days). The well will be in section 8-T153N-R93W, the Sanish field. The lease has been signed. He was also told that the well will be in "full production" by January.

If I lived in the area, I would go out and check, but I don't, so I can't.

But neither the ESER map nor the NDIC GIS map server shows any permitted location in that section. If this is all accurate, it suggests that Whiting is moving ahead with plans assuming a permit will be issued. Both the ESER map and the GIS map server can be a few weeks behind, so it's possible the permit has been issued but is not yet reflected on either map.

The Whiting nomenclature is easy. The last number, the one preceding the "H" (if it's a horizontal) designates the section that the well will sit in. I've gone through my database and don't see any such section "8" for a new Whiting well that matches this description.

So, I'm stumped. If all the data is correct, all I can say is that Whiting is preparing to spud with the expectation that they will have a permit in hand in the next week or so.

If they do spud in early November, I find it unlikely that they will be in full production by January based on fracking backlogs, but it is possible that Whiting has designated this well to be fracked immediately.

Bottom line: many unknowns.

As Many As Four Dolomite Benches in the Three Forks May Have Oil Potential -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here. And reported earlier here.

As many as four dolomite benches in the Three Forks formation that underlies the Bakken in the Williston basin may have oil potential, said Continental Resources Inc., Enid, Okla.

Continental in 2011 cut six cores of the entire vertical thickness of the Three Forks formation, which is 180-270 ft thick under its acreage, over a distance of 115 miles north to south. The cores revealed that the formation has up to four separate benches of dolomite that contain oil.

Continental initially targeted the first bench of Three Forks, about 20 ft below the Lower Bakken shale, in mid-2008 (OGJ Online, July 10, 2008).

In October Continental’s Charlotte 2-22H well in McKenzie County, ND, made 1,140 b/d of oil equivalent on its first 24-hr test as the company’s first horizontal test of a deeper Three Forks bench. The well’s lateral taps the second bench 50 ft below a typical first-bench lateral.

These are not very thick benches, or layers. Amazing how skilled these folks are to push a drill bit in such a narrow band almost two miles down and two miles of horizontal: if six cores in formation 270 feet thick, the average bench is 45 feet.  That's incorrect; there are only four benches, and there is separation between them; see first comment below.

Activity Moving to McKenzie County -- Another Reason, If You Needed More Reasons -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

For Les, a dyed-in-the-wool oilman, who probably still has oil in his veins and a golf club in his hands -- who will appreciate this bit of trivia -- 

There were two interesting announcements coming within 24 hours of each other that have a bit in common.

First, the very interesting announcement from CLR that their initial test of a deeper sub-formation of the Three Forks formation was highly successful:

The Company successfully completed the Charlotte 2-22H (91% WI) in McKenzie County, North Dakota, in October 2011, with the well producing 1,140 gross Boepd in its initial one-day test period. This is the Company’s first horizontal test of a deeper bench in the Three Forks formation.

“We’re very pleased with such a solid well in our first test of the lower benches of the Three Forks,” said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Second, this announcement from NOG and WLL: a record IP in the Bakken:

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (AMEX: NOG) today announced its participation in the Tarpon Federal 21-4H Bakken well in McKenzie County, North Dakota.  The Tarpon Federal 21-4H is a Whiting Petroleum operated well and had a 24-hour initial production (IP) rate of 7,009 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), setting a new Williston Basin record for a Bakken well.  The Tarpon Federal produced 4,815 barrels of oil and 13,163 Mcf of natural gas on October 17, 2011 after being fracture stimulated with 30 stages.

So, what do they have in common? Location, location, location.

A month or so ago, had you climbed to the top of the rig drilling CLR's Charlotte, you could have seen the Whiting Tarpon well/rig off to the northeast: the two wells are in the heart of the Bakken, the bull's eye in McKenzie County, and only about 12 miles apart.

So, in a very, very small area, we have CLR suggesting that there is yet another payzone in the Bakken pool, a second/deeper bench in the Three Forks, and you have WLL reporting a record IP in the middle Bakken, practically in each other's back yard.

It's hard to say who won bragging rights in the last 24 yours: CLR or WLL?

Bakken Mineral Rights For Sale -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

The link is probably dynamic and may or may not be broken by the time you try it. This is an eBay offer to buy a tiny bit of acreage in the Bakken. See first comment: equates to about $22,000/acre by his reckoning based on information provided. If illegal, I hope states attorney stomps on it. This would be an incredible administrative nightmare to sort out mineral rights down the line if someone was listed as deed-holder for two square feet -- feet -- of mineral rights.

This was sent to me by a friend. It is obviously NOT being endorsed by me. Caveat emptor. Buyer beware. Being posted purely "tongue-in-cheek." Again, no endorsement from me; simply posting something Wayne sent me.

Denbury Reports Great Earnings -- Wow! -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Denbury Resources Inc. today announced its third quarter 2011 financial and operating results. The Company recognized net income during the third quarter of 2011 of $275.7 million, or $0.69 per basic common share ($0.68 per diluted common share), as compared to net income of $29.1 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted common share, in the third quarter of 2010.

Consensus estimate was calling for profit of 29 cents a share, a rise from 13 cents per share a year ago. 

During the third quarter of 2011, the Company’s oil and natural gas production averaged 66,830 barrels of oil equivalent per day (“BOE/d”), a 6% increase compared to continuing production of 63,194 BOE/d during the third quarter of 2010, which excludes 14,536 BOE/d of production from non-strategic Encore properties and Encore Energy Partners LP (“ENP”) properties, all of which were sold during the fourth quarter of 2010. This 6% increase is attributable to higher production from the Company’s Bakken and tertiary properties, partially offset by natural declines in production from other non-tertiary properties.

Northern Oil and Gas/Whiting -- Tarpon Federal 21-4H -- Record IP -- 7,009 BOE -- 4,815 BO -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Remember the bull's eye I spoke of earlier this week (I will try to find the link) with regard to the Bakken and east central McKenzie County? The Tarpon Federal 21-4H is in Twin Valley oil field in the far northeast corner of McKenzie County, near that bull's eye. The area is fairly inactive with regard to any wells but there are currently two rigs in this small field. It is about 20 miles NNE of Watford City. Go east of Watford about three miles and turn north on 1806; go straight north for about 15 miles, and just one mile before the road curves to the east, the well will be four miles east of that point.

• 20589, 4,815, Whiting, Tarpon Federal 21-4H, Twin Valley, Bakken

The cost of this record well: $6.35 million. I keep thinking of Newfield's cost for wells. This was a Whiting-operated well. 

This needs to be cleaned up, but for now:

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. Announces its Participation in the Tarpon Federal 21-4H Bakken Well Located in McKenzie County, North Dakota with Initial 24-Hour Production of 7,009 Barrels of Oil Equivalent

WAYZATA, MN – November 3, 2011 – Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (AMEX: NOG) today announced its participation in the Tarpon Federal 21-4H Bakken well in McKenzie County, North Dakota.  The Tarpon Federal 21-4H is a Whiting Petroleum operated well and had a 24-hour initial production (IP) rate of 7,009 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), setting a new Williston Basin record for a Bakken well.  The Tarpon Federal produced 4,815 barrels of oil and 13,163 Mcf of natural gas on October 17, 2011 after being fracture stimulated with 30 stages. It is expected that the completed well cost will approximate $6.35 million.  Northern Oil has approximately 17.4% working interest and a 14% net revenue interest in the Tarpon Federal.

Michael Reger, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We wish to congratulate Whiting on this discovery.  We continue to be impressed by the innovation of our operating partners in this premier resource play and we remain focused on our strategy of acquiring high quality, non-operated acreage and turning it efficiently to production and cash flow.”

Charley alerted me to this; huge "thank you."

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

From my FAQs page:

8. What is the record IP to date in the Williston Basin?

Again, the initial production of any well, self-reported by the producer, is becoming less meaningful over time. Having said that, it looks like the record IP for a Bakken well is now 5,200, a Newfield well (July, 2011): 18691, 5,200, NFX, Wisness Federal 152-96-4-2H, Westberg, Bakken.

Two earlier wells: a Whiting well which had an IP of 4,761 boepd: file #17612, 4,761 boepd IP, Whiting, Maki 11-27H, Mountrail County, Sanish field.  This is still current as of February 20, 2010. Since then, BEXP claims to have set a record with the Sorenson 29-32 1-H, #18654, with a 24-hour flowback of 5,133 bopd. However, the NDIC reported an IP of 2,944. BEXP also reported the Jack Cvancara 19-18 #1H in the Ross project area with a 24-hour flowback of 5,035.

New record in the Bakken, November 3, 2011. The Tarpon Federal 21-4H is a Whiting Petroleum operated well and had a 24-hour initial production (IP) rate of 7,009 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), setting a new Williston Basin record for a Bakken well. The Tarpon Federal produced 4,815 barrels of oil and 13,163 Mcf of natural gas on October 17, 2011 after being fracture stimulated with 30 stages.

******************** 

Anyway, as I've mentioned many, many times, a huge well can move the needle for a small company. NOG has a significant working interest in this well, 17 percent.

I've said many, many times, that NOG has a very unique and interesting business model.  

New Wells Reporting: Posted -- Just a Reminder, Nothing New -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Wells reporting IPs or going to DRL status yesterday have been posted, on "New Wells Reporting." Based on IP only (and that's just one data point), one could be disappointed with the Whiting well in Zenith oil field in Stark County.

• 19926, 161, WLL, Roller 21-26TFH, Zenith, Stark County

I don't see the frac report yet at the well file. I may have missed it. 

As you may recall, the some of the highest prices per mineral acre have been in Zenith oil field.

The target for this well was the Three Forks. The seam targeted was about 9 feet below the point at which they entered the Three Forks, if I read the file correctly. I would assume they would try to put the horizontal pretty much in the middle of the targeted formation, making the seam about 20 feet thick.

At this point, I am more interested in the Tyler formation. According to the report, they entered the Tyler at 8,151 feet. They entered the Kibbey Lime at 8,552 feet. If it's as simple as subtracting these two numbers (and I don't know if it is), the Tyler was 400 feet thick in this area.

What follows is beyond my base of understanding but over time the data may make sense. The report stated the following:

• Tyler formation: background gases at the top of the Tyler averaged around 17 units, then increased up to 60 - 196 units at the top of the formation. After around 120 feet, background gases decreased back down and averaged around 17 units through the remainder of the Tyler.
• Kibbey Lime: units averaged 22 - 28.
• Charles: background gases averaged 17 - 73.
• Mission Canyon: averaged 28 - 62 units
• Lodgepole: averaged 22 - 67 units
• Middle Bakken:  averaged 190 units
• Three Forks:  averaged around 150 - 250 units, with connection gases reaching as high as 348 units

For a discussion of what this all means, this is one source; this is probably a better source, but lots of reading. (In fact, the latter source, is quite approachable.)

The volume of gas will increase with effective porosity of the formation; see this long post for background.

Anyway, enough of this. Just some more data points to help me understand the reports.

Definitions:

• Porosity is a measure of how much of a rock is open space. This space can be between grains or within cracks or cavities of the rock.
• Permeability is a measure of the ease with which a fluid (water in this case) can move through a porous rock.

From "World of Earth Science," at eNotes:

Porosity is the ratio of the volume of openings (voids) to the total volume of material. Porosity represents the storage capacity of the geologic material. The primary porosity of a sediment or rock consists of the spaces between the grains that make up that material. The more tightly packed the grains are, the lower the porosity. Using a box of marbles as an example, the internal dimensions of the box would represent the volume of the sample. The space surrounding each of the spherical marbles represents the void space. The porosity of the box of marbles would be determined by dividing the total void space by the total volume of the sample and expressed as a percentage.

The primary porosity of unconsolidated sediments is determined by the shape of the grains and the range of grain sizes present. In poorly sorted sediments, those with a larger range of grain sizes, the finer grains tend to fill the spaces between the larger grains, resulting in lower porosity. Primary porosity can range from less than one percent in crystalline rocks like granite to over 55% in some soils. The porosity of some rock is increased through fractures or solution of the material itself. This is known as secondary porosity.

Permeability is a measure of the ease with which fluids will flow though a porous rock, sediment, or soil. Just as with porosity, the packing, shape, and sorting of granular materials control their permeability. Although a rock may be highly porous, if the voids are not interconnected, then fluids within the closed, isolated pores cannot move. The degree to which pores within the material are interconnected is known as effective porosity. Rocks such as pumice and shale can have high porosity, yet can be nearly impermeable due to the poorly interconnected voids. In contrast, well-sorted sandstone closely replicates the example of a box of marbles cited above. The rounded sand grains provide ample, unrestricted void spaces that are free from smaller grains and are very well linked. Consequently, sandstones of this type have both high porosity and high permeability.

Flashback To 2008 -- Coming Full Circle in a Long Day in the Bakken -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

While posting this last post for the night, I'll be listening to this:


Yellow River, Christie

Life is funny. Or perhaps I should say surfing the net has its interesting moments.

Earlier today out of the blue I received a nice note from an individual at Cresent Point Energy, just saying "hi." It was a nice note. Nice enough to remind me to put Crescent Point Energy on the sidebar at the right, under the "Producer" section.

Then I was going through the "Feedjit Live" to see what folks were searching for that brought them to the website.

Someone was searching for "zipper fracs." I googled "zipper fracs," and out of the 1,420 hits, there was one that stood out: "The Long road to the Bakken," Oilweek, July, 2008.

If you've followed the Bakken for the past couple of years, you will enjoy the article.

The funny thing: I don't think the article mentions "zipper fracs." But it is full of "fracs" and I'm sure that's what Google hit on.

What a fascinating article. Brings back great memories: Medora Resources, Inc.; Petrobank, Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd., Innova Exploration; StarPoint Energy-Ward, and .... at the very bottom ...  Crescent Point Energy Trust.

I started off the day with a nice note from Crescent Point Energy, and here it is, almost 1:00 a.m., fifteen hours later, and I stumble across, and speaking of stumbling ...


Stumblin' In, Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman

... but I digress.  As I was saying, I started the day off with a nice note from Crescent Point Energy, and I stumble across a 2008 article that ends with a vignette about Crescent Point. What are the odds?

You have to read the article. Here are some "items" from the story:

Southeast Saskatchewan´s Bakken is in the Williston Basin, which extends south into Montana and North Dakota where there is just as much excitement over Bakken exploitation. Production from the Elm Coulee Bakken in Montana began in 2000 and average 53,000 barrels per day in 2003.

Bakken attention south of the border shifted last year to North Dakota from Montana when EOG Resources (which is front and centre in the emerging Horn River shale gas play in northern British Columbia) reported that a single well it drilled into an oil-rich layer of shale near Parshall, ND, is expected to produce 700,000 barrels of oil.

"We can never look back and say, ‘Why didn´t we see those Bakken fields 30 years ago?´ as we drilled through those formations thousands of times," Potter says. "The reason is simply that the technology wasn´t there." [That's why I'm excited about the Tyler.]

And farther down:

Small is beautiful in the Bakken. It seems to attract entrepreneurs. A case in point is Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd., a junior that went public in May 2007. The company started drilling a month later and as of May 2008, had 16 horizontals (5.65 net), producing a total of 325 barrels per day from four net producers. It plans to drill another 40 Bakken horizontals by year-end.

And how one fracking company got started:

Arguably, the play-opener in the Bakken was a frac stimulation technology developed by Packers Plus Energy Services-the StackFrac system. Initially, the industry doubted horizontal wells could be fracturerd using conventional open-hole packers. Less than three years ago, Packers Plus begged and pleaded with a company active in the Bakken to try the StackFrac system, but "they felt they had it figured out," recalls Packers Plus president, Dan Themig.

Then Petrobank stepped forward and gave Packers Plus a chance. For the next six months, while Petrobank used the system but wasn´t required to publish its production information under Saskatchewan rules, Packers Plus still faced an uphill battle selling its idea. Six months and two weeks later, the phone started ringing.

I remember that story; I've either stumbled across this article before and don't recall, or I've read about Petrobank and Packers Plus elsewhere.

Do you remember when we first started talking about the Bakken? I think the USGS said 2 - 3 percent of original oil in place was recoverable, and then I started seeing reports suggesting as much as 8 percent was being recovered.

During last year´s royalty discussions in Alberta, Crescent Point was one of the first companies to voice its dismay with the Alberta government and said it would focus its efforts Saskatchewan. And it followed through.

"We´ve grown our production in Saskatchewan from about 20,000 barrels per day last year to about 28,000 barrels a day," says Scott Saxberg, Crescent Point´s president and chief executive officer. "A good chunk of that growth is through our Bakken development."

Crescent Point production in the Bakken went from 8,000 to 13,000 barrels per day, making it the largest oil producer in southeast Saskatchewan and the dominant player in the Bakken.

It has more than 360 net sections of undeveloped land and 1,050 net development drilling locations. Only 358 of these locations so far have been booked to reserves, while recovery to date at the Viewfield Bakken resource play is scant 0.3 per cent. As of year-end 2007, independent engineers booked a recovery factor of 3.9 per cent and Crescent Point´s Bakken technical team conservatively estimates that a recovery factor of 15 per cent is achievable on primary recovery.

Eight percent was low.

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

Earlier this evening I was overwhelmed with all the data coming out of the Bakken the past couple of days, and then the WLL and CLR earnings releases today. I was absolutely overwhelmed. I did not know where to begin. I seriously thought of taking a few days off just to reflect.

I guess I still don't know where to begin with all the data. I'm not going to talk much about the earnings reports; I will let others do that. There is just too much. However, I will post some data points that jump out at me, that others will bury in all the numbers.

So after a long day looking at reports from the Bakken, what's the one data point that comes to mind first? EOG moving some of its rigs to Eagle Ford to secure its leases there.

And the most pleasant sound now, at 1:12 a.m. --- the sound of oil trucks moving down the road. It's a great night for a walk past the second busiest intersection in Williston.

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

While proofreading this post, it dawned on me why "EOG moving some of its rigs to Eagle Ford to secure its lease there" was the data point that stuck out the most of all the stuff I read today. That phrase sounds like something out of a US Army manual. I spent a lot of wonderful years with Army folks, and that's how they talked. I guess it's the same in the oil patch. "Boots on the ground" to hold territory. 

Good luck to all. See you in the a.m.

Whiting: Growth, Value, and Speculation in One -- SeekingAlpha -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

To sum it up, Whiting Petroleum offers growth, value, and a speculation kicker all-in-one. The growth is in oil production and earnings. The value is in the acreage the company owns and the fact that its PE of 18.5 is modest considering the revenue, earnings, and production growth the company is delivering. The speculation play is that a Chevron or an Occidental Petroleum swoop in and buy the company for its Bakken/Three Forks acreage and for its engineering expertise.

After the sweet deal StatOil got on Brigham Exploration, and the resulting shareholder discontent, it's a sure bet that Whiting CEO James Volker won't sell out too cheaply. Yet, I'd be very surprised if WLL is still independent by 2015. That said, even if I am wrong about a buyout, the oil production growth rate of Whiting Petroleum and its current modest valuation profile means energy investors could well see some nice gains in WLL's stock for years to come.

Combine the above financial information with this posting on where Whiting's acreage is, and you get quite a story.