Friday Meanderings -- Some Bakken, Some Not; More Great Wells Being Reported

Wells coming off the confidential list today have been posted. BR has two gushers; CLR has a really nice well.  

A reader sent a comment noting a Red River well reported earlier:

• 22750, 455, Whiting, Rieckhoff 44-22, Camel Hump, Red River well, t8/12; cum 36K 10/12; this well is producing 10,000 bbls of oil/month. This is a huge well. The well is in an area where not much drilling is being done, but it is not a wildcat. 

It is in the same section as:

• 19917, 273, Whiting, Maus 23-22, Camel Hump, Red River well; t7/11; cum 62K 10/12;

I mention the "locality" of the well which tends to confirm what I noted yesterday. Both of these wells are still flaring natural gas. Note that the Maus well was tested over a year ago. See comments yesterday about flaring. By the way, the Red River formation will be on the list of top stories for 2012 when I post that list.

I see the EPA has finally done the right thing: calling water a pollutant. Yes, I can't make this stuff up. A reader sent the link. According to the EPA, water can be considered a pollutant. It is interesting to note that the faux environmentalists, however, have not noted that the number one greenhouse gas is water vapor. Water vapor accounts for for 95 to 97% of all green house gases. CO2 accounts for around 3% and a very small amount of that 3% is actually anthropogenic.

RBN Energy: feeding the power burn.

The generation of power from natural gas will be the most important growth sector for the gas industry for the foreseeable future – certainly for producers, but also for the pipelines that provide the transportation service to deliver the gas to power generators.

Handling the infrastructure and service challenges that come with increased power burn is therefore a priority.

This is true for the nation as a whole, but was specifically raised this year by the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) in the heart of coal country - where coal-to-gas switching was most significant during 2012.

But back to some great wells. Magnum Hunter is reporting two great wells in the Eagle Ford, Yahoo! In-Play:

Magnum Hunter announced production results from two new Eagle Ford Shale wells operated by the company. Both wells went on production Dec 22, 2012. The Rhino Hunter #1 located in Lavaca County, TX, is producing ~2,033 barrels of oil per day and 1,113 mcf of natural gas (2,218 boe/d) on a 16/64" choke. The Zebra Hunter #1 is also located in Lavaca County, TX, and is producing ~1,995 barrels of oil per day and 898 mcf of natural gas (2,145 boe/d) on a 16/64" choke.

Notice the 16/64" choke.

Back to the EPA. A reader sent in this link: filling her shoes.  Early on, the writer writes:

Following Lisa Jackson's resignation on Wednesday, her successor will inherit the tricky task of regulating a drilling boom that has revolutionized the energy industry but raised fears over the possible contamination of water supplies.

"Regulating a drilling boom?" Give me a break. This is the most regulated industry (except for banks, perhaps) in this country. This is the industry whose CEOs will be criminally charged if one migratory bird, i.e., a duck, is harmed by their drilling. But the wind industry is a) fast-tracked when it comes to approving wind farms; and, b) given 100% immunity on slicing and dicing eagles, hawks, and whooping cranes. 

And "raised fears over the possible contamination of water supplies." Who is raising these fears? Faux environmentalists. Even the BLM is now on record that "we've" been fracking for more than 60 years in California and there is no evidence that fracking is detrimental. At least one agency has the courage to say so, and they said so in a letter, and they will go to court to defend their position. Good for them. Maybe I will find the link later. Too much to do now.

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Apple / Microsoft

Oh, I almost forgot, the biggest story for me personally, yesterday. I finally got to touch the Surface. Yesterday Miss Daisey and I drove to one of the nicest malls in southern California. The mall has both an Apple store (been there "forever") and a "new" Microsoft store. The two stores are pretty much at opposite ends of the mall. We visited the Apple store first, of course. Miss Daisey had not seen the iPad mini. Then we took the long walk to the Microsoft store and saw the Surface. All I can say, after seeing the Surface, is "wow."

[While writing this piece, I was curious if the Zune was still being sold. I checked Amazon.com. Yes, it appears you can order the Zune. I then checked out the Zune on wiki and found that the Zune had been discontinued in 2011. I missed that. The Zune just quietly died and faded away, I guess. I predict the same for the Surface. Check back in two years. I doubt it will be competitive a year from now, but it will be kept on life support for an additional year, for "pride of ownership" reasons.]

The Microsoft store is a knockoff of the Apple store, but not nearly as high tech. The Apple store uses iPads or iPad minis as "labels" for each product on display. Microsoft used typewritten labels embedded in the display if I recall correctly; I didn't pay attention. It would be difficult to use the Surface the same way Apple used the iPads or iPad minis: the Surface is just too big. It must a be a third longer than the iPad, and twice as long as the mini-iPad. The weight of the Surface is more than notable.

But I digress. Back to the stores. When we walked into the Apple store, it was crowded; shoulder-to-shoulder. We had to wait our turn to even touch an iPad mini, and they had about a dozen on display to "play" with. All ages of customers were using the iPad minis. In striking contrast, the Microsoft store was virtually empty. At the table with six Surfaces, we were the only customers. Later in the day, we walked back past the Apple store. The Apple store was now limiting the number of customers inside the store, and they now started a waiting line for new people wanting to go in. Miss Daisey was blown away: a line forming to limit the number of people in the Apple store. Again, this was after Christmas, there were no specials, there were no new product launches. This was the middle of the week in the middle of the day, and Apple had to hold back customers coming into the store.

This particular Apple store is much smaller than the Boston Boylston Apple store. The mall store was on one floor, and forty, fifty feet wide facing the mall, I suppose (I'm a terrible judge of dimensions). The one on Boylston/Boston is probably half again as wide (store-front) and three floors.  Because of the limited wall space, there was a small selection of Apple accessories.

Is that Apple store selling anything? The "trainer" who talked to us -- who was not a salesman, he pointed out -- mentioned that prior to Christmas the store had sold out every product they had available. I may have misheard, maybe they had sold out every iPad and every iPad mini, but it sounded like he had said, every Apple product they had in the store was sold (Apple does not sell display models).

I was thrilled to have seen the iPad and the Surface almost in a side-by-side comparison. I am officially Apple Fanboy #3 so my comments about the Surface lose objectivity for those who know I am such a fan. I did not mention one thought I had about the Surface to Miss Daisey, but she was very unimpressed. And she is not a techie. Not by a long shot.

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The photograph at Drudge with the three at the White House is priceless: Harry Reid looking to the left, looking away from the President; John Boehner looking left toward the president, almost a beseeching look; and the President, well, looking ... glum.

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