Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Monday Morning Energy Links; Development of the Bakken Is Seen As Accidental By Some

The IPs for wells coming off the confidential list over the weekend have been posted here.

With all the news of new ONEOK natural gas processing plants in the Bakken, one might be interested in learning about "frack spreads" as they apply to processing natural gas. In this discussion, this has nothing to do with hydraulic tracking to complete a Bakken well. RBN Energy explains.

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Chrysler says its US sales rose 14 percent last month as the Ram pickup truck had its best August in five years. 
Meanwhile, Volt production will be halted sometime later this year so that production can catch up with demand. To the best of my knowledge, the federal government is not offering any incentives for folks to purchase Chrysler products.

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Some irony in this story. Ohio may just be the most important swing state this election. And it is the "tracking boom" in Ohio that is giving a boost to Obama.
"We're moving to energy independence by accident," said Philip Verleger, who directed the US Treasury office of energy policy under President Jimmy Carter and is now an industry consultant.  
"Energy policy had nothing to do with it." 
The boom in oil and natural gas is setting up an election-year irony: a green-energy president who is getting a boost form fossil fuels. [Never mind his EPA will regulate tracking in his second term.] 
Oil and natural gas is on the rise largely because of hydraulic factoring, which has given drillers access to reserves in shale rock formations once too costly to produce. The so-called tracking injects millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals thousands of feet below the surface to free fossil fuels trapped there, a process that Obama's environmentalist allies say increases air and water pollution.
Hmmm. "We're moving to energy independence not by accident" is right up there with "you didn't build it."

I wouldn't call what is happening in the Bakken an "accident."

If "we" get to energy independence it will be in spite of efforts by the current administration.

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When you read this article, an article about a huge oil spill that may contaminate Albuquerque's drinking water, see if you can see what federal agency is not even mentioned:
As environmental disaster sites go, it doesn't look like much. A scattering of rushing wellhead covers and a machine noisily sucking hydrocarbon vapors from the earth scarcely hint at what has grown into a $50 million headache. 
But nearly 500 feet beneath this spot, a plume of aviation gas and jet propellant that leaked undetected for decades from an Air Force fuel depot has sunk into the aquifer, drifting toward wells that help supply Albuquerque's drinking water.
A "word search" of the article does not return "EPA."

Having said that, I assume the EPA is all over this one. Let's hope so for Albuquerque's sake.

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The president grades himself on the economy: incomplete. Very, very scary considering where he wants to take the country. An entire term to turn things around: a trillion-dollar stimulus and we still have 12% unemployment in some states; 8% overall; gasoline nearing $5.00/gallon on East and West Coasts; and, those are just the headlines.

6 comments:

  1. This may be the Bakken deal of the year.

    http://heckmanncorp.com/

    " Power Fuels operates a fleet of nearly 500 water trucks and 19 disposal wells in the
    Bakken Shale area, as well as a large water-related rental fleet of equipment."

    anon 1

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    1. Thank you. That's more along the line where I see M&A activity in the Bakken, in the oil services sector.

      I am in the minority but I just don't see a deal among the larger operators any time soon.

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  2. Oh my, And I lived in Albuquerque from 2001 to 2004. Water has always been issue there. Not enough of it. Moved from area that had plenty of water. To area of desert. I'm sure the people are all over it!

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    1. Reminds me of Sam Kinison. Now that we need him, he is gone. RIP.

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  3. How about a short clip from this article in the Jamestown Sun:

    Clean up costs a snag to develop old Nekoma missile site
    The Cavalier County Job Development Authority still intends to acquire the abandoned Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex at Nekoma, N.D., even though negotiations with the federal government have stalled.

    The Cavalier County Job Development Authority still intends to acquire the abandoned Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex at Nekoma, N.D., even though negotiations with the federal government have stalled.

    The job development authority has been developing plans for the property since 2006, with hopes to develop the area into a multi-purpose facility featuring:

    But federal and local agencies have not been able to come to terms on price or on financial responsibility for the required environmental cleanup of the facility.

    The federal General Services Administration, which owns the facility, has insisted the buyer pay to clean up an estimated 420,000 gallons of groundwater that has seeped into underground missile silos and become contaminated.

    The cleanup cost has been estimated at between $4 million to $6 million.

    “The main issue is environmental,” Carol Goodman, executive director of the Cavalier job development authority, said.

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    Replies
    1. The link to the Jamestown Sun story:

      http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/168476/

      The link will break soon; may eventually require a subscription.

      Delete