Pipeline Activity in the Oil Patch -- Current Trends -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here to an absolutely excellent article. Simply one of the best articles this week (year?).

In the winter of 2012 a mostly snowless and relatively warm Bakken Shale play in northwest North Dakota was trucking about 70% of its oil supplies in the gathering and processing phase as production continued at an all-time record clip averaging 546,000 bpd in January. New midstream infrastructure construction was limited to intrastate shipments within an under-developed gathering and processing system.

In various ways this scenario is being repeated in many of the shale plays as production of oil, natural gas liquids and gas continues to outpace the development of midstream infrastructure. As a result, many of the exploration and production (E&P) operators are increasingly getting involved in takeaway infrastructure.

“I think there is a trend, although you will probably get different philosophies on the subject,” said David Lundberg, a New York City-based analyst with Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). “It is particularly evident in certain shale plays where the infrastructure is not well built out, such as the Bakken.” 

The data points are endless in this long (4-page) article.