Tesoro To Increase Diesel Production -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Bismarck Tribune link here.

Data points:

• Increase by 5,000 bbls per day
• To 22,000 bbls per day
• $35 million
• End of 2013 on-line
• Permits for expansion issued

Dickinson Residents Gasping at Growth -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The Dickinson Press link here.

Those attending the Dickinson State University Energy and Oil Community Impact Panel and Forum on Tuesday gasped at the shocking statistics and information presented.

Residents gathered at the Dickinson State University Beck Auditorium to listen to officials analyze and answer questions about an oil boom in western North Dakota. The event was monitored by the DSU student-run League of Political Scientists. Panel members said some residents see the growth negatively.

Shocking.

Ten (10) New Permits -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, December 7, 2011 --

Operators: BEXP (3), Petro-Hunt (2), Baytex (2), Marathon, Samson Resources, and Oasis.

Fields: Reunion Bay, Cottonwood, Ambrose, Whiteaker, Blooming Prairie, Alexander, Camp, and East Tioga.

Good, Bad, or Indifferent -- Obama Continues to Reveal He Is Consistently Inconsisent

Politics overruling science. -- PBS Newshour.

Plan B halted by the administration, link here.

"Because of her disagreement with FDA’s determination, the Secretary has directed me to issue a complete response letter, which means that the supplement for nonprescription use in females under the age of 17 is not approved," Hamburg said.

Susan Wood, who resigned from the FDA in protest after political officials overruled the FDA on Plan B during the Bush administration, slammed Sebelius’ last-minute intervention.

The only explanation is political pressure, she said.

“I don’t know where it comes from but it is not the FDA,” Wood said. “It is way too reminiscent … this is appalling.”

Wood said she was left "speechless" by the decision and said it has no scientific basis.

Well, duh. Science? In this administration? LOL.

What surprises me is that a decision was made which was not the case with the Keystone XL. I'm surprised the administration didn't simply ask for another blue-ribbon commission to study the risks and benefits of Plan B and report back after the 2012 election.

Water For Fracking -- An Issue for Texas, Not The Bakken -- The Bakken, North Dakota

Link here.

Mr. Brownlow, who has a Ph.D. in geochemistry, says it takes 407 million gallons to irrigate 640 acres and grow about $200,000 worth of corn on the arid land. The same amount of water, he says, could be used to frack enough wells to generate $2.5 billion worth of oil. "No water, no frack, no wealth," says Mr. Brownlow, who has leased his cattle ranch for oil exploration.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has revived prospects for oil-and-gas production in the U.S. and provided a welcome jolt to many local economies. Less than three years after its discovery, the Eagle Ford oil field here already accounts for 6% of South Texas's economic output and supports 12,000 full-time jobs, according to a study by the University of Texas at San Antonio earlier this year, which was funded by an industry-backed group.

But fracking also is forcing communities to grapple with how to balance the economic benefits with potential costs. To date, criticism of fracking has focused mainly on concerns that the chemicals energy companies are mixing with the water could contaminate underground aquifers. Oil industry officials regard that issue as manageable. The biggest challenge to future development, they say, is simply getting access to sufficient water.

Regardless of what anyone says, water is not an issue in the Bakken.

China Turning to US for Expertise in Oil Exploration and Production

Link here.

As Chinese energy demand continues to grow, the Asian giant has begun to turn to the U.S. as a means to ease its tight fuel markets, according to the Houston Business Journal.

A recent study from Rice University investigates the disparity between innovation within the oil and gas exploration industries in the U.S. and China. Both countries boast substantial deposits of shale gas and oil, but China has faced major difficulties with the technical aspects necessary to tap into these reserves.

The only difference: China won't ban fracking.

Why The Chinese Like The Kyoto Protocol

China, as a developing nation, is exempt.

That's all I need to know about the protocol to know the whole thing is a sham.

China is the number one emitter having surpassed the United States some years ago.

The New York Times link here.

In the United States, emissions dropped by a remarkable 7 percent in the recession year of 2009, but rose by just over 4 percent last year ...

The United States was surpassed by China several years ago, where emissions grew by 10.4 percent in 2010 with that country injecting 2.2 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere...

The whole anthropogenic global warming issue has been shown to be a hoax, and the Kyoto Protocol simply nothing more than a scam, as long as China is exempt and as long as China is considered a developing nation.

Two (2) New Permits -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, December 6, 2011 --

Operators: Chesapeake, EOG

Fields: Clear Water.

Chesapeake has a wildcat in Stark County.

Only one well came off the confidential list, a Continental Resources well:

• 20676, 567, CLR, Norfolk 1-1H, McKenzie County

Both Oasis and Whiting requested several wells for tight status. Everyone, of course, is active in the Bakken, but it's my humble opinion that Oasis and Whiting are most exciting.

This is not an investment site; see disclaimer.

Why Russia Says Fracking Is Dangerous

Earlier story linked here.

We get the follow-up here.

A shale gas revolution in the U.S. poses new challenges to the development of Russia's giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, an executive at Norwegian energy major Statoil said Tuesday, just weeks ahead of a deadline to make a final investment decision.

The Shtokman project, which is 51%-owned by Russian state gas firm Gazprom, with Statoil and France's Total as minority shareholders, has been delayed on several occasions due to high costs and uncertainty on global energy markets.

"We are seeing a challenging gas market in Europe, the main reason being the shale gas revolution in the U.S. This has had a tremendous effect on the gas and LNG industry globally," said Jan Helge Skogen, head of Statoil in Russia.

"Shtokman was from the beginning required heavy and very large investment. This has become even more challenging over the recent year," he said.

More evidence that the center of energy gravity is coming back to the Americas.

This will be short-lived. The new EPA rules will effectively shut down the US domestic oil and gas industry in 2012. Among 500 pages of new rules and regulations that will eventually be published by the EPA, the "diesel rule" is currently grabbing all the attention. The industry saw this coming and had developed alternatives to diesel.

The EPA realized that and will now re-define diesel to be any carbon-hydrogen compound used for fracking. Of course the state of North Dakota will not accept that, lawsuits will be filed by faux-environmentalists, and a judge somewhere will issue an injunction to stop fracking.

Checkmate.