More Global Warming Hits Alaska -- Temperature of -79 Almost Breaks Record -- Themometer Breaks Instead -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Bakken

Link here.

Jim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment.

Something tells me the caribou are huddled along the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline -- in fact, it may be the oil industry that saves these beautiful animals. The irony of it all.

Food Shortage in Williston, Obama Administration Has Created 22 Million Jobs, And Other Urban Legends

I may have to incorporate an "urban legend" page into my blog.

Along with the 57 states in the US.

Link here.Video of the president saying he had created 22 million jobs.  I believe that's how many folks are out of work.

Thank goodness for the Drudge Report.

Hardy Bakken Field -- Just for the Archives

Link here and here.

The Hardy Bakken Field in Southeastern Saskatchewan was discovered in 2008 by individuals involved in the original Bakken discoveries in Montana and North Dakota. The Hardy area falls along a well documented oil migration pathway that extends from the heart of the Williston Basin in North Dakota out to the old Bakken producing Roncott field (just Northeast of Hardy). Passport has participated in the second Bakken horizontal well in the Hardy field which is considered a successful well (initial rates of ~164 barrels of oil per day) and proves the area's potential.

A successful well with initial rates of 160 bbls/day. Hmmm. Think what the wells in North Dakota with initial rates of 1,000 bopd mean.

By the way, at the link, there is a nice schematic of the Williston Basin Bakken.

Awesome: Headline Alone Tells Me The Whole Story -- Off-Shore Oil Rigs To Benefit from Wind Energy

Link here to Rigzone. 

Somehow there is some irony here, but I cannot articulate it.

Since the late 1960s, the North Sea has been a major source of energy in the form of hydrocarbons for several countries, chiefly the United Kingdom and Norway.

But while some concern has been raised in recent years about how long North Sea oil can continue to support the Northern European oil and gas industry it has created, a whole new energy sector is taking off in the region where much of the experience and know-how that has been developed in the offshore oil sector is proving useful.

After the UK government announced plans in 2008 to open up the seas around Britain to enable the development of up to 33 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2020, energy utilities have shown a great deal of interest in the sector. And they have invested heavily: firstly, in order to secure offshore wind development licenses awarded by the UK's Crown Estate; and, secondly, in the equipment and components required to construct offshore wind farms.

Meanwhile, other countries connected to the North Sea are getting in on the act. Denmark – actually a pioneer of the sector, having been involved in developing offshore wind farms since the 1990s – recently, in 2009, built a wind farm at Horns Rev (in the eastern North Sea) that was briefly the biggest offshore wind farm in the world. Not far away, further south, Germany is developing offshore wind schemes off its North Sea coast.

On top of everything else, the oil companies can offset their profits, taxes, whatever, with those "cap-and-trade" costs. The rich get richer. Playing by Al Gore's rules. 

At the link, the photos are worth a thousand words, or more.

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

A very random thought. The faux-environmentalists (TFE) are concerned about the rising ocean due to global warming and the disappearance of islands (hasn't happened; in fact, more islands than ever rose this past decade). TFE are worried that coastal cities like New York City will be inundated. Well, duh. The Low Countries (Netherlands, for example) dealt with this problem centuries ago; trying to keep the ocean water back from their land below sea level. And they did it with windmills and dikes. It doesn't take an Orson Welles to imagine windmills pumping water back out out to ocean as well as creating electricity. Just a random thought. Comments probably won't get posted.

CCS Gets Permission To Build Waste Treatment Complex Near White Earth -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

The top of the scenic White Earth valley near Tioga will become an industrial zone for treating oil field waste - some of it slightly radioactive.  CCS development manager Scott Herbst said he expects the White Earth facility will generate from three to 10 truckloads of radioactive waste weekly, the same as a similar treatment facility it owns near Alexander. The waste comes from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the earth that are concentrated in the oil production and treatment process. It's a small amount of the total volume and is hauled to an approved disposal site in Colorado, he said.  The state Industrial Commission approved the facility in an order issued this week, requiring a $200,000 reclamation bond.

Naturally occurring radiation. Hmmm. Concentrated. I'm impressed with the state. If this were Minnesota or California or BLM, the decision would be tabled, slow-rolled, decided, appealed, killed, re-visited, and finally passed -- maybe, ten years from now.

The county commissioners complain that there's too much waste, not enough infrastructure. This is a start.

The link is to the Dickinson Press.

And, of course, the article ends with the usual:

Some White Earth residents are concerned about truck traffic, road damage and declining property values. The Industrial Commission says that many of those concerns are outside of its jurisdiction.

My hunch: no one passing through the White Earth area will be even slightly aware of it. The population of White Earth is 80.

Incidentally, Arnold Morse Samuelson was born and raised in White Earth, North Dakota, which I blogged about a few days ago.

Commissioning New Pipeline -- Getting Oil Trucks Off the Highway -- Four Bears Pipeline System -- Bridger Pipeline, LLC

The Four Bears Pipeline begins just west of New Town and runs 77 miles south through McKenzie, Dunn and Billings counties to existing infrastructure near Belfield.   It delivers 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Butte Pipeline at Baker, Mont., and another 25,000 barrels per day to the Bakken Oil Express Rail Terminal at Dickinson.

One can only imagine how many oil trucks will be taken off the road now that this pipeline is on-line. Eighty thousand (80,000) bbls/day to Baker, MT, and another 25,000 bbls to Dickinson. I'm impressed. One little ol' pipeline.

(Yes, it's a regional link and will be broken soon.)

The rest of the story is, like most stories, in the Bakken, incredible:

Bridger Pipeline began work on the Four Bears Pipeline in the fall of 2010 and worked through one of the worst winters in North Dakota’s history to finish in late spring 2011. [I wonder how often the subject of "global warming" came up among the workers?] Three different regional contractors constructed the line through tracks that crossed the land of nearly 100 landowners and tenants.

Four Bears Pipeline began running crude oil in June of last year and became fully operational in September. It receives loads at terminals in Keene and Killdeer, along with other gathering systems along the line. Before this line was up and running, a truck making deliveries to Belfield could have a round trip of up to 232 miles per load.

That distance was cut to as little as 30 miles per load with the introduction of the Four Bears Pipeline.

One of thousands of success stories in the Williston Basin. Meanwhile, "occupiers" are camped out in various urban centers around the US, protesting something or other.

Whiting USA Trust II -- IPO -- 16 Million Trust Units -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Trust I: WHX

Trust II: WHZ

Why not WHY?

Link here to Reuters.

Whiting USA Trust II said in regulatory filing that it expects to sell up to 15.9 million trust units in its initial public offering.

The trust, which intends to list its units on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "WHZ," did not reveal their expected price.

An earlier Whiting Trust is on the NYSE under the symbol "WHX."

Be advised of disclaimer for this blog; see sidebar at the right. The disclaimer can be found multiple places, including at the welcome site.

Oasis Has a Great Well -- Oasis Hitting On All Cylinders -- McKenzie County -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Seven wells coming off confidential list today; five completed, including this one:

• 19639, 2,414, Oasis, Cook 5300 42-12H, Willow Creek, Bakken, 

By the way, a talking head on CNBC mentioned Oasis as one of his top four picks just moments ago.

Actually that's wrong about "seven wells coming off confidential list." I've had trouble all day with a good wi-fi connection and finally have one (a good wi-fi connection). Lots of catching up to do.

In fact, there were seventeen (17) wells that were released from "tight hole" status as the NDIC now refers to it. Seventeen (17). Right up there with the best days in the Bakken.

If I count correctly, twelve (12) were completed/fracked, including these (I will repeat the Oasis Cook well again just to show you good these wells are):

• 19639, 2,414, Oasis, Cook 5300 42-12H, Willow Creek, Bakken, Williams
• 19159, 912, OXY USA, Reuben Schneider 1-27-34H-143-96, Bakken
• 19441, 2,196, Whiting, Dry Creek 44-20TFH, Bakken, Billings County
• 19639, 2,414, Oasis, Davis 5300 42-12H, Bakken, Williams
• 19932, 815, Oasis, Bay Creek Federal 4703 11-5H, Bakken, McKenzie
• 19960, 1,666, XTO, Kaye 43X-4, Bakken, Dunn 
• 20731, 1,598, Zenergy, Hagen 31-30H, Bakken, McKenzie

There may be typos, typing fast to catch up, after such a miserable day trying to blog.

But what does that list say to you?

Well, first of all, it says to me that Oasis is the new "big man on campus." Hitting on all cylinders -- look at that -- both Williams County and McKenzie County, the latter that will prove to be THE county of all the Bakken counties before this boom is over. And that's saying a lot when you got competitors like Dunn County and Mountrail County.

And then look at the Whiting Three Forks well in Billings County.  I forget what the record TFS well; if I remember, I will look it up later.

Mike Filloon: IPs and EURs -- Continued

Link here to SeekingAlpha.com, for southwest Mountrail County. 

Note the EURs of 950K, which Filloon says is the highest in the Basin.

I'm waiting to see the one million EUR milestone. Note: these are "average" EURs or what an operator expects a well to produce over the lifetime of production. Again, these are EURs per well, and Whiting will be putting in as many as four wells in a section in the "better Bakken."

Catching Up -- Some Housekeeping -- Chesapeake and Hettinger County, Golden Valley County

This is from an RMOJ story back in July, 2011.

Regarding Chesapeake's foray into Hettinger County, some datapoints (as of the date of the link):

• Chesapeake seeks approval for a 1280-acre horizontal drilling unit in Hettinger county
• the unit will target horizontal Three Forks
• 22 miles SSE of Dickinson, ND
• sections 5/8-135-96
• first horizontal drilling in Hettinger County
• it is also the most southerly exploration of the Three Forks formation in the Williston Basin
• estimated oil-in-place 6 million bbls in these two sections
• primary oil recovery: 6%
• EUR: 400K

This is from an RMOJ story back in July, 2011, also, datapoints:

• Chesapeake adding a third county to their horizontal drilling program in North Dakota (was the first Stark?)
• applied to create two 1,280-acre units about 12 miles SE of Beach, ND
• sections 1/2-139-104 and 6/7-139-103.
• 7 million bbls oil-in-place
• primary recovery: 6% of OOIP

These are the 2012 Chesapeake permits

• 22223, ros, Stark (rig-on-site, April, 2012)
• 22250, LOC, Stark
• 22319, LOC, Hettinger

These are the 2011 Chesapeake permits

• 21135, conf, Stark
• 21139, conf, Stark
• 21143, conf, Stark
• 21885, conf, Stark
• 21976, LOC, Stark
• 21986, LOC, Stark
• 21987, LOC, Stark
• 22003, LOC, Hettinger
• 22004, LOC, Stark
• 22014, LOC, Stark
• 22153, LOC, Stark
• 22160, LOC, Hettinger

Wind Credits -- Super Bowl Game -- To Offset Carbon Footprint

Link here.

A strong North Dakota breeze will blow over the field of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Super Bowl Sunday, in a manner of speaking.

Renewable energy credits from power generated from North Dakota wind farms will be used to offset 15,000 megawatt hours of electricity associated with the NFL extravaganza on Feb. 5.

The credits were provided through Green Mountain Energy Co., based in Austin, Texas, which describes itself as the nation’s longest-serving provider of green power.

The bloc of renewable energy credits were acquired from Minnkota Power Cooperative, based in Grand Forks, from wind farms near Langdon and north of Valley City.

One word: ridiculous. 

Last Reminder: Bakken Product Markets & Takeaway Capacity 2012 -- Conference -- Starts Tomorrow -- Denver, Colorado

Link here.

I know it's last minute but I believe you may be able to get 15% discount by registering on-line: info@canadian-business-conferences.com using registration code MDB15.

Also, note: Reserve Estimations for the Bakken/Canada conference coming up. Link here for information.  March 27 - 28, 2012. Calgary, Alberta, Canada.