Battery Life for the New iPad -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Bakken

Updates

March 27, 2012: here's more from Apple, regarding Apple IOS devices and batteries:

So, here’s how things work: Apple does in fact display the iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) as 100 percent charged just before a device reaches a completely charged state. At that point, it will continue charging to 100 percent, then discharge a bit and charge back up to 100 percent, repeating that process until the device is unplugged.

Doing so allows devices to maintain an optimum charge, Apple VP Michael Tchao told AllThingsD today.

“That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like,” Tchao said. “It’s a great feature that’s always been in iOS.”

Original Post

I think I am reading this correctly. Under some conditions, one can get 25 hours of battery life out of the new iPad.

A few other tidbits related to the device's battery are gaining some exposure, information which may help users plan how they use their iPads. First, a report from AnandTech addressing battery life has been gaining renewed interest for its revelation that users running a Verizon iPad in personal hotspot mode can see as much as 25 hours of battery life to provide connectivity for their other devices. That number has also been confirmed by The Verge.

The advertised duration for a fully charged iPad is ten hours.

Again, I could be reading this incorrectly, but that's what I'm reading. That might explain why it takes longer to charge up the new iPad also.

Marathon Update from CEO

Link here to Rigzone. 

"Our growth trajectory is benefiting from Marathon Oil's two largest U.S. oil shale assets - the North Dakota Bakken and South Texas Eagle Ford, which are delivering strong results. We currently have 25 rigs and five hydraulic fracturing crews dedicated to these two plays," Cazalot said.

Since December, the Company has continued to ramp up production in the Bakken with eight rigs currently drilling. From its December exit rate of 24,000 net boed, Marathon Oil now expects a 2012 annual average of 27,500 net boed and 38,000 net boed by 2016, a 15 percent increase from the Company's previous 33,000 net boed projection. The Company's production from the Bakken is approximately 95 percent crude oil.

"We continue to raise our expectations for Bakken production growth. Our recent wells are generating 24-hour peak initial production rates in the range of 1,200 to 1,400 barrels per day (bpd). We've also moved to 30-stage fracture jobs," Cazalot said.

An observation: it seems every time a CEO of a major operator in the Bakken provides a 30-second soundbite about the Bakken, it's this: "the Bakken is bigger than we anticipated."

My takeaways from this short article:

• the Bakken is bigger than anyone has anticipated
• Harold Hamm is right  

At my last update, I noted MRO had 6 rigs and planned to ramp up to 7 rigs by 2Q12. In fact, they are already (1Q12) at 8 rigs. Folks who think things are slowing down in the Bakken may want to reconsider. I'm beginning to think I'm underestimating the Williston Basin. Note that we haven't even started seeing any activity in the other payzones and minimal activity to date in Three Forks.

I just updated ALL the Slawson wells in the Bakken and noted that even with a company that's been in the Bakken since the beginning of this boom, we have very, very few wells that are older than two years old. And Bakken wells will produce for 30 years, maybe longer. It's gonna be a wild ride.

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A Note to Our Granddaughters

While updating the Bakken in the evening, I often have reruns of various police shows on in the background. Tonight it's Criminal Minds. This episode tonight features several Leonard Cohen songs. Many years ago my brother introduced me to Leonard Cohen. My brother was demonstrating the clarity of Bose speakers and felt that Leonard Cohen's "Ten New Songs" were particularly useful. He lent me his CD and from that moment I was hooked. Until then, believe it or not, I had not heard of Leonard Cohen.

One of my favorites is "Dance Me To The End of Love" and that was featured on the Criminal Minds episode this evening.

I find it amazing how this wonderful poet just keeps on going and going. Incredible.


Dance Me To The End of Love, Leonard Cohen


Sisters of Mercy, Leonard Cohen

Chesapeake Update -- Good News For North Dakota For What Was NOT Said

Link here:

• CHK looking to announce a joint venture in the Mississippi Lime in Oklahoma; 2 million acres
• CHK may sell all its assets in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico

Nothing was mentioned in this short press release regarding North Dakota

An Inconvenient Truth -- Another Global Warming Story We Won't See On The Nightly News

Global warming occurred during "the Medieval Age."

Current theories of the causes and impact of global warming have been thrown into question by a new study which shows that during medieval times the whole of the planet heated up.

It then cooled down naturally and there was even a 'mini ice age.'

A team of scientists ... has found that contrary to the 'consensus,' the 'Medieval Warm Period' approximately 500 to 1,000 years ago wasn't confined just to Europe.

In fact, it extended all the way down to Antarctica -- which means that the Earth has already experienced global warming without the aid of human CO2 emissions.

Unless it was due to all those coal-powered Viking ships which we've talked about before.

Sixteen (16) New Permits -- 7-Well Pad - Heart Butte Field -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, March 26, 2012 --

Operators: WPX (7), BEXP (3), Marathon (2), Whiting (2), Zenergy, Oasis

Fields: Cottonwood, Alger, Sanish, Heart Butte, Assiniboine, Bailey

All seven WPX wells appear to be on one pad in Heart Butte.

Thirteen (13) wells released from "tight hole" status, including:

• 20509, 1,151, Slawson, Kahuna 1-7-6H, McKenzie
• 21191, 1,094, CLR, Berlain 1-30H, McKenzie
• 21204, 1,071, CLR, Kate 2-19H, Dunn

Of the thirteen wells, five were not completed/fracked, including this one, interestingly enough,

• 21125, DRL, BEXP, Kalil 25-36 2H (previously reported, however, on this blog)

Two wells on DRL status reported an IP, but not particularly remarkable.

An EOG well in Burke County was temporarily abandoned:

• 20728, TA, EOG, Vanville 17-1213H, Burke County

Comment: to the best of my knowledge, if the seven WPX wells are indeed on the same pad, this is the first time I have seen permits for a 7-well pad in North Dakota.

Based on recent NDIC hearing dockets, we should be seeing many more. Multi-well pads will reduce the number of new roads required for pads, among other cost savings.

I have updated the Heart Butte field; see link above. Note section 31, T150N-R91W with QEP's two five-well pads, with a rig on site.

• 21551, conf, QEP, MHA 3-31-25H-150-92,
• 21552, conf, QEP, MHA 2-31-25H-150-92
• 21553, conf, QEP, MHA 4-31-25H-150-92
• 21554, conf, QEP, MHA 1-31-30H-150-91
• 21556, conf, QEP, MHA 3-31-30H-150-91
• 21557, conf, QEP, MHA 1-31-36H-150-92
• 21558, conf, QEP, MHA 3-31-36H-150-92
• 21559, conf, QEP, MHA 5-31-25H-150-92
• 21560, conf, QEP, MHA 7-31-25H-150-92
• 21561, conf, QEP, MHA 1-31-25H-150-92

Also, note the great wells that XTO is reporting in this field.

Update on the Nine (9) Wells Along the Hess Long Lateral #17117

See this link first.

Back on July 7, 2011, I wrote:

I see that there are now nine (9) wells alongside the Hess long lateral #17117. I first talked about six monitoring wells along this long lateral back on March 18, 2011.

The original six wells all had "observation" in their names. The newest three wells no longer have "observation" in their names and are located immediately around the original well site of Hess #17117: EN-Person-156-94-1102H-1.  Based on their names, these three new wells will not be monitoring #17117 but will be production wells. Note that the most recent permit (#20772) is the odd-man out of these four wells. #20772 is not a "Person" well but an "Enger" well and it will be going south, where the other three are going north.

• 17117, 345, Hess, EN-Person-156-94-1102H-1, Big Butte, Bakken, s7/08; t9/08; pump; cum 80K 1/12;  TAKEN OFF LINE APRIL, 2011 -- NO PRODUCTION SINCE MID-APRIL -- FOR OBVIOUS REASONS

So, what's new:

• 20500, DRL, EN-Person Observation 11-33, east side of the lateral - THREE FORKS, VERTICAL
• 20315, DRL, EN-Person Observation 11-22, west side of the lateral - DUPEROW, VERTICAL
• 20442, DRL, EN-Person Observation 2-24, west side of the lateral - THREE FORKS, DIRECTIONAL
• 20361, DRL, EN-Person Observation 11-31, west side of the lateral - THREE FORKS, DIRECTIONAL
• 20539, DRL, EN-Person Observation 2-32, east side of the lateral - THREE FORKS, VERTICAL
• 20599, DRL, EN-Person Observation 2-43, east side of the lateral - THREE FORKS, VERTICAL
• 20669, 601, EN-Person-156-94-1102H-2, at the wellhead, east side -- BAKKEN; s7/11; t1/12; F; cum 14K 1/12
• 20670, 635, EN-Person-156-94-11-2H-3, at the wellhead, west side -- BAKKEN, s5/11; t1/12; F; cum 15K 1/12
• 20772, 1,181, EN-Enger-156-94-1423H-1at the wellhead, south side -- BAKKEN, s7/11; t12/11; pump; cum 43K 1/12

So, lots of data to consider, and more to go through if one is interested.

By the way, what made me think of updating this data today. I downloaded NOG's acreage map and this area of activity literally popped out at me.

Airports in the Oil Patch Are Booming -- Carpe Diem

Link here.

The article also mentions Stinson Municipal airport. This airport has a fascinating history.

Historical data points (see link) regarding Stinson Municipal Airport on south side of San Antonio, or rather the founder of the airport:

• Katherine Stinson, born 12 years before Wright brothers made historic first flight
• wanted to become a piano teacher; needed money to study in Europe
• took up stunt flying to earn money
• learned to fly in four hours
• learned stunt flying under Max Lillie of Chicago
• fourth American woman to earn a pilot's license (1912)
• ;gave up plans to teach music; barnstormed across the country
• mother and Katherine found Stinson Aviation Company in Hot Springs, Arkansas, 1913
• move to San Antonio, 1913
• US Army allowed her to turn Ft Sam Houston parade grounds into flying field
• established Stinson School of Flying
• first woman and fourth pilot in US to perform the particularly dangerous loop-the-loop; in a plane she built herself
• first person (of either sex) to fly an airplane at night
• 1915: first person to skywrite at night: spelled out "CAL" over Los Angeles
• 1916: Amelia Earhart graduated from her flying school
• first woman to fly in the Orient; "Air Queen" fan clubs throughout Asia
• China leaders were granted a private exhibition
• 1917: set long-distance record of 610 miles, flying alone from San Diego to San Francisco
• first woman pilot to be commissioned as a US Post Office mail pilot
• broke her own flying record while carrying airmail: 783-mile flight from Chicago to near NYC
• applied to fly for US Army in WWI; rejected because she was a woman
• volunteered as an ambulance driver instead for WWI; contracted tuberculosis during the war
• sought tuberculosis cure in Santa Fe, New Mexico, upon return; required less active live
• designed apartments in Santa Fe; influenced by Pueblo Indians and Spanish missions
• one of "my heroes"

Cocktail Chatter For This Evening -- China and Automobiles

China: at 2.5 million cars/month -> 30 million cars annualized rate

US annualized rate: 15 million

 
From the Motley Fool -- a very superficial article, but nice fodder for tonight's cocktail party:

China produced just 1.56 million automobiles in 1998, and by 2012, deliveries of passenger automobiles has reached 2.37 million per month. Experts are now revising 2015 forecasts of China's crude-oil consumption to 13.6 million barrels per day, a level that is triple where the country was in 1998.

China isn't the only growing source of demand, either. India's oil consumption grew 40% from 2001 to 2009, and other emerging markets around the world are more than making up for any reduction in demand from the United States. As I said, it's really not us -- it's everyone else.

From less than 2 million vehicles in 1998 -- the entire year, China is now delivering close to three times that number every month. I remember a talking head on CNBC last week referring to China as a country with "abject poverty." There may be a lot more poverty in China than we can imagine, but to trivialize China as another Bangladesh (of the past) is harming a lot of investors.

By the way, that US automobile annualized rate at the top was a WAG. But I just checked. See for yourself at Reuters.

Enbridge, Enterprise, and Anadarko Move Ahead with Texas Express NGL Pipeline

Link here.

Enterprise Products Partners LP, Enbridge Energy Partners LP, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will move ahead with their Texas Express NGL pipeline, having executed long-term contracts for 232,000 b/d of its capacity. Starting near Skellytown in Carson County, Tex., the 20-in. OD TEP mainline will extend about 580 miles to Enterprise’s NGL fractionation and storage complex at Mont Belvieu, Tex., also providing access to other third-party facilities in the area.

Production from the Rockies, Permian basin, and Midcontinent will be delivered into TEP through Enterprise’s existing Mid-America Pipeline System, running north through Oklahoma into Conway, Kan., and south into the Permian basin. Enterprise described the project as a bolt-on expansion, enhancing the value its midstream assets.

Meanwhile, the Keystone XL dithers.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

This past weekend we visited Newburyport and Plum Island north of Boston. Wow, what a surprise. A long time ago I had seen Plum Island on the map and was curious. While having breakfast at our favorite Gloucester cafe, the Morning Glory, overlooking the harbor, I realized it was just a half-hour or so up the road to Plum Island.

I was curious. It turns out there is a great Massachusetts Audubon site there, as well as Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It turns out the excitement this past weekend: the snowy owls migrating north to the Arctic.  The Audubon folks said there were five or six snowy owls in the area.

We took a drive down Plum Island. Wow, what a gem, another well-kept secret. The national refuge is open every day and entry fee is $5/car. A day on the beach in the Boston area runs one about $20. I don't mind dogs at all, in fact, I enjoy seeing them enjoy themselves on beaches, but my wife definitely likes a dog-free beach, and the Parker River refuge forbids dogs. One cannot even bring a dog into the refuge even if it's "kept in the car."

The highlight of the trip: we saw a huge snowy owl sitting on a small rise under some trees overlooking the marsh. He probably sat there for hours; we were there for about a half-hour observing him/her, along with a dozen other birders. Cars came and went, and the owl just stayed there, looking at us looking at him/her. I suggested the owl should put out a pail to collect donations; he/she could have made a fortune.

From a recent Boston Globe bird sighting report:

Early spring migrants were again reported with increasing frequency from many areas.

• Newburyport: Reports from the Parker River Refuge on Plum Island last week documented 90 northern pintails, four redheads, two glossy ibis, a merlin, two peregrine falcons, two snowy owls, and a short-eared owl.
• Newbury: At the William Forward Wildlife Management Area, two sandhill cranes were present for most of the week.

We asked how long the snowy owls would stay in the area: at least through mid-April, and possibly through early May, although May is getting a bit late, and with the warm winter we've had, they will probably leave a bit earlier than usual. I assume they are texting their friends in Barrow to see whether it's time to start moving north.

Oh, one last thing: best restaurant/cafe in the area: Loretta's in Newburyport.

Back To 207 -- Ties Record For Active Rigs

I have a miserably slow wi-fi connection, so not much blogging until later.