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Friday, December 2, 2011

Motel 6 Opens in Williston -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

From the Williston Wire:

Motel 6 in Williston was officially opened today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by the Williston Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. The 69 room Williston motel is the second one built with a new design concept called the "Phoenix design" which features marble counter tops, raised basin sinks, decorative towel cubbies, bold accent colors, soft ambient lighting, 32" flat screen HDTV's, integrated wardrobe and entertainment centers, multimedia panel for plug in devices and an integrated workplace.

If I remember, I will upload a photograph of the Motel 6 which I took on my last day in the Bakken, November 30, 2011.

On-Line Dunn County Auction Currently in Process

Remember: the on-line Dunn County auction is now underway.

Link here.

This auction will go on until December 8, 2011.

Taking Another Look at the Madison

On November 25, 2011, I again raised the question about the significance of the Madison. It appears that elsewhere they are finally getting around to asking the same question.

I think the Madison is one of the huge under-reported stories this year.

Seven Great Wells -- Oasis Has Six of Them -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is interesting: seven very, very nice wells reported IPs today, and six of them were Oasis wells. I don't know if I have ever seen that before. Three peas in a pod: BEXP, Oasis, and KOG.


This is not an investment site. See disclaimer in at the top of the sidebar at the right. If something seems wrong on this blog, it probably is. Fact check with wiki.

Embargo?

Did I just hear the word "embargo" on CNBC?

I was distracted but the CNBC oil analyst said someone (Iran, Kuwait) suggested they might hold back their exports, driving up the price of Brent. I could be way off; I was distracted, but something along that line was said.

And just a few days ago someone asked the question why would Saudi even think of holding back exports / production with oil at $100 when I blogged about that (in relation to Saudi's reaction to the Bakken).

Yup, there was a reason why I quit taking comments.

Indian Hill -- There Are "No" Dry Holes in the Bakken -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Permits

2016 (none as of October 17)

2015 (the list is complete)
30754, 709, SM Energy, Fossum 15-34HR, Indian Hill, t8/15; cum 104K 8/16

2014 (the list is complete)
29957, 423, XTO, Eckert 41X-6H,t9/15; cum 26K 8/16;
29734, 208, XTO, Eckert 41X-6D, t8/15; cum 64K 8/16;
29733, 273, XTO, Eckert 41X-6G, t9/15; cum 30K 8/16;
29732, 28, XTO, Eckert 41X-66, t8/15; cum 41K 8/16;
28405, 980, CLR, Harrisburg 1-34H, t10/14; cum 187K 8/16;
27955, 806, CLR, Scottsdale 2-31H, 4 sections, t6/15; cum 96K 8/16;
27954, 453, CLR, Scottsdale 3-31H1, 4 sections, t6/15; cum 56K 8/16;
27953, 248, CLR, Cincinnati 2-30H1, 4 sections, t6/15; cum 103K 8/16;
27952, 1,152, CLR, Cincinnati 3-30H, 4 sections, t6/15; cum 94K 8/16;



2013
26588, 758, CLR, Honolulu 3-22H3, Three Forks B1, 30 stages; 8.8 millions lbs sand/ceramic; t6/14; cum 72K 8/16;
26586, 664, CLR, Honolulu 2-22H2, Three Forks B2 (TF2), 30 stages; 8.3 million lbs sand/ceramic;  permit said "middle Bakken; geology report says 2nd bench of Three Forks; t7/14; cum 129K 8/16;
26420, 842, CLR, Montpelier 2-14H, 30 stages; 3.8 million lbs sand/ceramic, t7/14; cum 156K 8/16;
26191, 768, CLR, Montpelier 3-14H1, Indian Hill, 30 stages; 3.7 million lbs sand/ceramic, t7/14; cum 123K 8/16;
26190, 788, CLR, Montpelier 4-14H, Indian Hill, t6/14; cum 158K 8/16;

2012
24387, 592, SM Energy, Behan 2-29H, Indian Hill, t5/13; cum 210K 8/16;
23762, 1,246/see below, XTO, Nelsen State 24X-33A, Indian Hill, t2/13; cum 153K 8/16;
23761, 825, XTO, Nelsen State 24X-33F, Indian Hill, t2/13; cum 56K 8/16;

2011
21991, 1,134, Zenergy, Schmitz 4-9H, Indian Hill, t4/12; cum 176K 8/16;
21848, IA/567, CLR, Cincinnati 1-30H, Indian Hill, t2/12; cum 146K 815;
21776, IA/461, CLR, Scottsdale 1-31H, Indian Hill, t4/12; cum 124K 8/15;
21124, 602, CLR, Tallahassee 1-21H, Indian Hill, t11/11; cum 230K 8/16;
20971, 1,087, XTO, Nelsen State 24X-33R, Indian Hill, t9/1; cum 158K 8/16;
20947, 701, CLR, Honolulu 1-22H, Indian Hill, t9/11; cum 179K 8/16;
20592, 595, SM Energy, Schmitz 3-4H, Indian Hill, t10/11; cum 220K 8/16;

2010
20118, 934, XTO, Dedrick 24X-32, Indian Hill, t7/11; cum 150K 816;
20066, dry/see below, Nelsen State 24X-33, Indian Hill,
19324, 674, SM Energy, Fossum 15-35H, Indian Hill, t11/10; cum 152K 8/16;
19001, 618, Zenergy, Stpeanek 8-5H, Indian Hill, t12/10; cum 181K 12/14; 
18949, 1,524, XTO, Joseph 11-1H, Indian Hill, t10/10; cum 155K 8/16;
18916, 1,999, Oasis, Missouri Federal 5302 44-35H, Indian Hill, t8/10; cum 252K 8/16;

Original Post

One of the reasons I quit taking comments was due to the high number of comments from folks who just did not "get it." At some point, it became tedious for me to wade through all those comments. I decided that it was not worth my time; my time could be better spent doing other things than wading through inane comments, generally from folks who stumbled upon my site accidentally, no doubt, and some who would never understand the Bakken. Some folks, like Debbie Downer, will never get it.

A recurring theme on "milliondollarway" is that there are "no" dry holes in the Bakken. (A lot of folks did not understand the reason for the quotes around 'no.')

A few weeks ago someone called me on that: she noticed there actually was a dry hole in the Bakken. She chided me for continually blogging there were no dry holes in the Bakken when, in fact, there are.

I checked the well file: it was permit/file #20066. This is what I wrote :
  • 20066, DRY, XTO, Nelson State 24X-33, Indian Hill, Bakken; go the link; this well was plagued from the beginning; 
During drilling, it was hit by the worse blizzard in decades; I have a lot of respect for the roughnecks and the truckers who worked through horrendous weather trying to save this well, and I have even more respect for XTO who finally said it was not worth it (I'm sure the roughnecks had wished that decision came sooner, but knowing roughnecks, some of them probably wanted to prove they could do it); they shut down the well, and said they would come back.

And they did come back. And they came back with a vengeance. A great well. My hat is off to all folks. Good job.
  • 20971, 1,087, XTO, Nelsen State 24X-33R , Indian Hill, Bakken, 24 stages; 2.8 sand, [update: unfortunately this well is not playing out so well; being choked back? only 2,000 bbls/month in its fourth month; t9/11; cum 167K 1/17;
There are "no" dry holes in the Bakken (I'm not saying they are not all great wells; some may not even be financially viable, but ...)

Again, this is not an investment site. See the disclaimer at the top of the sidebar at the right. Make no decisions based on what you read at this blog. If something looks wrong, it probably is. Check fact with the ultra-reliable wiki site.

On another note: Indian Hill is in the Bull's Eye of the Bakken, and this is where the Bakken activity is headed this summer.

Indian Hill is the name of an oil field in the Bakken. It is also a geographical location: a large, "sprawling" butte south of the river, from where you have a great view of Williston. As noted earlier, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Cudd, Hexom, Cal-Frac, Stateline, and 55 of their closest friends are phenomenally well-positioned for this activity, just five or six miles south.

It will be interesting if there is talk of a new, widened bridge across the wide Missouri south of the four-mile corner. [Update, October 3, 2014: a new four-lane bridge across the Missouri is planned in the 2015 - 2016 time frame.]


************************
Some old legacy wells on Indian Hill. Some of these wells are 30 years old. These are all still producing, all vertical wells; mostly Madison; note the nice Duperow well:
  • 10088, 173/TA; SM Energy/Gulf,Eckert 2-6, Madison, s8/83; t9/83; cum 208K, 1/12;
  • 10335, 157/915; Citation/Cotton, Edna Devitt 1-29, Duperow and Stonewall, s9/83; cum 327K 1/20; and 191K 1/17;
  • 10645, 341/IA, Denbury/Superior, Greengard 1, Madison; s1/84; cum 212K 1/16; almost petering out;
  • 10855, 120/IA; Scout Energy/Denbury/Superior, Fossum 14 1, Madison; s7/84; cum 462K 1/20;
  • 11140, 503, Citation/Cotton, Edna Devitt 2-23, Madison; s9/84; cum 272K 1/20;; back on line for 6 days in 8/16;
  • 11261, 112, Citation/Cotton, Nelsen 2-32, Madison; s11/84; cum 225K 1/20;
  • 11345, IA/243, SM Energy/Superior, Fredrickson 33-33 1; Madison; s1/85; cum 149K 6/14;
  • 11475, PA/194, XTO/Columbia, Elk 28-3; Madison; cum 212K 4/18;
  • 11575, 94/PA, SM Energy/Texaco, State of North Dakota F 2; Madison; cum 148K 12/12
  • 12910, 239, XTO/Columbia,Elk 28-4, Duperow, s7/90; cum 479K 1/20;

Beautiful, Balmy, Boston Day -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

That's not a typo up there. After about three months in the Bakken, I'm back in Boston with my granddaughters.

My blogging about the Bakken will continue, but it won't be throughout the day. I will probably be blogging early in the morning, later in the evening.

I turned on television this a.m. and to get to CNBC had to surf through a dozen other channels. I stopped for less than three minutes on MSNBC, my least favorite station and one I refuse to watch. The host -- blocking on his name now -- actually said this: "Folks thought Obama would come to this town (Washington, DC) and change things. But Obama was NOT UP TO THE TASK."

Wow, first it was CM on Screwball who turned on Obama, now it's the MSNBC morning host -- oh, yes, that's right Sourbreath. I always said that these folks would turn on Obama; I just did not know when. I'm sure CM at Screwball is looking at his ratings and realizes he needs to switch horses.

Sourbreath, of course, is a lot like me: we were hoping that that Obama could do big things. Well, he did BIG things. Is the US $17 trillion in debt. Except for the debacle called ObamaCare I can't think of one thing his administration has accomplished.

If I still comments, folks would tell me he has accomplished quite a bit: he shut down the Gulf for two years (and counting); he shut down the Keystone XL; he fast-tracked golden eagle and whooping crane killers; he changed the name of General Motors to Government Motors. He came close to shutting down thousands of Boeing jobs in South Carolina, but cooler heads prevailed (my hunch is the White House called the NLRB and told the board to back off; the president doesn't need yet another job-killing headline).

But enough of that; you get the point

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

The fracking backlog is not getting better in North Dakota. There were glimmers of hope earlier this week when several wells were fracked "on time," but that appears to have been an anomaly. Yesterday three wells came off the confidential list -- more about that in a moment -- and not one of them was completed/fracked. If I recall, earlier this week, even wells coming off DRL status are not reporting an IP -- that I do not understand.

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

That "confidential list." The NDIC still posts a confidential list, but on the daily activity report, the NDIC no longer refers to the "confidential list." The NDIC reports wells being "released from 'tight hole' status." I don't know when, how,  or why that change occurred. I noted some months ago that wells once having come off the confidential list could be placed back on "confidential" status. And, of course, before wells were spud, they were allowed to be placed on "tight status," another term for confidential status. My hunch is that NDIC just decided to start referring to everything as "tight" as opposed to "confidential," except for the confidential list.

Permit issuing by the NDIC is not slowing down. Rule of thumb: average of four new permits each day during the past year (4 x 365 = 1,500 permits for the year). On Monday, there was usually a few more, which made sense, but this week, on two days, middle of the week, there were double-digit number of permits issued. On Wednesday, fifteen, and then yesterday, twelve permits.

A lot of this is somewhat "artificial," or simply a change in the way of doing business. The change: multiple well pads. In the "old" days -- one year ago -- it was only the bigger players that put multiple wells on one pad, notably CLR. But now we are seeing "everyone" putting multiple wells on one pad. Most are 2-well pads, some are three. CLR "invented" the EcoPad, a 4-well pad, and now has permits for a 6-well pad (earlier this week). Yesterday, Abraxas was issued permits for a 2-well pad; if this is not their first such multiple well pad, it's one of their earlier ones. Petro-Hunt has a 3-well pad.

I'll post those permits later; they were released yesterday when I was somewhere over fly-over country, perhaps Kansas. There's a reason I specifically mentioned Kansas. If you go to the link, and I wouldn't -- it has nothing to do with the Bakken -- but if you do go to the link, scroll down and read a bit about William Least Heat-Moon's Prairie Erth, a study of a single county in Kansas. The more I read, the better it gets; maybe some snippets later on.

So, now to explore the Bakken over the net.

Good luck to all.

Oh, despite being away from the Bakken, I'm not losing my edge. Earlier this week I asked "where was Corzine"; I hadn't/haven't seen him for weeks. He is AWOL after his start-up "madoff" with several billion dollars. He used to be on the morning talk shows, CNBC and MSNBC, or was it just MSNBC? almost every week. Yesterday, the Drudge Report has a link asking the same questions: where's Corzine. Wow, someone is reading my blog. Ya gotta love it.