Well now those greedy, market-destabilizing, market-manipulating speculators have changed course, and they're now driving gasoline futures prices down, see chart [at link].Interesting.
"U.S. gasoline-futures prices have dropped 16 cents a gallon over the past eight trading days, as more U.S. crude becomes available for refining into gasoline and fears about a shortage of refining capacity fade.
Highlighting recent drilling results in our Sanish field was the completion of the Stubstad 14-6TFX. This cross-unit well flowed 2,249 BOE per day from the Three Forks formation on April 4, 2012. The Stubstad well, which was drilled on the southwest side of the field, recorded the highest initial production rate for a Whiting-operated Three Forks well in Sanish field.For newbies: for me, WLL has the most interesting strategy in the Williston Basin. With regard to the North Dakota Bakken, it has its northern ops centered around the Sanish oil field, its cash cow, and the Hidden Bench/Tarpon prospects near the bull's eye of the Bakken; and, it has its southern ops centered around Belfield where some of the highest leases ever have been recorded in the Bakken. In addition, Whiting has a Montana prospect (Missouri Breaks, in its infancy) and Big Island in southwestern North Dakota with multiple payzones, other than the Bakken/Three Forks, are being tested.
Sionix Corporation (OTCBB: SINX) ("Sionix" or the "Company"), a designer of patented water treatment systems, announced today that it has shipped its Mobile Water Treatment System (MWTS) to a staging area in North Dakota under the Water Treatment Agreement with McFall Incorporated announced on March 5, 2012. Designed to treat up to 9,600 barrels per day of contaminated drilling fluids at a drilling site, this MWTS will be deployed to a specific drilling rig and commence treatment operations in early May 2012. When treatment operations commence, further announcements will be made.This is very interesting. Just the other day someone asked me what the next "big thing" would be in the Bakken for investors. I said "waste management."
Co-author Professor David Vaughan (BAS) says,"This eruption occurred close to Pine Island Glacier on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The flow of this glacier towards the coast has speeded up in recent decades and it may be possible that heat from the volcano has caused some of that acceleration. However, it cannot explain the more widespread thinning of West Antarctic glaciers that together are contributing nearly 0.2mm per year to sea-level rise. This wider change most probably has its origin in warming ocean waters."That was a "cut and paste" -- no typos, unless the original article is in question.
"...the more widespread thinning of West Antarctic glaciers that together are contributing nearly 0.2mm per year to sea-level rise."I have been visiting beaches along the New England coast for the past three years. There is no way that a 0.2 mm rise in the sea level on an annual basis is predictable or reproducible. And, just for sake of argument, after 100 years, that would be 20 mm? That would be 2 centimeters? Hello.....am I missing something? One inch = 2.54 centimeters, so we're talking about less than an inch rise in sea level over the course of 100 years assuming every assumption, every prediction for the next 100 years is accurate. Let's say the ocean does rise one inch over the next 100 years; the Dutch handled the sea just fine, and that was in an earlier era.
Halcon Resources Corp said it would buy GeoResources Inc for about $973 million in a cash-and-stock deal, as CEO Floyd Wilson builds up the fledgling company's asset base as a prelude to an eventual sale.This is most interesting:
GeoResources stockholders will receive $20 in cash and 1.932 Halcon shares, or $37.97, for each share they own.
Wilson has made no secret that he plans to build a portfolio of liquids-rich assets before putting Halcon on the block a few years down the line.If this is "THE" Petrohawk of which I am familiar, this is most interesting. Did I read somewhere Petrohawk "discovered" the Eagle Ford. I can't remember; seems I read something along that line; will sort it out later.
Halcon, which trades under Petrohawk's ticker "HK", said it will divest some natural-gas weighted assets to raise additional cash to focus on core growth areas.
I've not looked at the presentation yet. Don sent it to me; recommends looking at slides 8 - 10, 19 and 26. Noted that only 30% of GEOI production comes from the Bakken. Again, as Don says, these buyouts help put a value on these small energy companies.
Floyd C. Wilson, Halcon Resources chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said the acquisition “will create a resource powerhouse with exposure to some of the most prolific unconventional liquids plays in the United States.”
The transaction will increase Halcon’s estimated proved reserves by more than 150% to 52.8 million boe, 69% of which is liquids, and boost its average net production by over 170% to 11,070 boe/d based on fourth quarter 2011 production rates.
Previously, Wilson was chief executive of Petrohawk Energy, which sold to BHP Billiton Ltd. for $12 billion last year.
Halcon Resources, a Tulsa independent, formerly was known as RAM Energy Resources.
In a very small footnote, footnote 1 to "Other Financial and Operating Results": pre-tax cash settlement losses of $14.2 million on its crude oil hedges and gains of $0.4 million on its natural gas hedges during the first quarter of 2012. The company has about 117 million shares outstanding: $13.8 million/117 million shares --> 12 cents/share.
Remember: 83 cents net income/share and/or $1.03 adjusted net income/share
Disputing the perception that Americans are deeply divided over energy policy, Salazar said outside of Washington, people generally agree on what needs to be done: reduce US reliance on foreign oil; expand offshore oil and gas activity, but do it safely and in the right places; broaden the national energy portfolio with more solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels; and improve motor vehicle fuel economy.Note that natural gas, which couldn't possibly be cheaper, was not even mentioned in in that paragraph. What is not said speaks volumes.
The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.
Under the rules, children under 18 could no longer work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
Last week, tucked into the headlines was a story describing how the Environmental Protection Agency decided to give oil and gas companies until 2015 to fully comply with so-called "green completions" for their hydraulic fracturing operations. In the near term, this move removes the risk for companies engaged in "fracking" of having the EPA slow their high growth via the rapid implementation of new rules.Kirk Spano argues that two things will follow from the EPA announcement:
a) the announcement itself will encourage investors to invest in the Bakken; it removes (albeit temporarily) the EPA's sword of Damocles hanging by a single thread over companies like CLR and Oasis; and,For investors, Kirk mentions the following companies:
b) if EPA is true to its word, it makes it easier for Bakken companies to meet their production goals
MDU Resources announces 'significant' well test results in Paradox Basin; Cane Creek Unit No. 26-2H well was tested at a stabilized rate of 647 barrels of oil per day and 561 mcf of natural gas per day: Co announced that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Fidelity Exploration & Production Company has completed a successful exploration test on its 75,000 net acres in the Paradox Basin.The most interesting thing about this story are the cumulative production numbers for neighboring wells. I was running through similar numbers/wells in the Williston Basin going back to the 1950's and there were so many Madison wells with huge cumulative production numbers, I simply gave up posting them. I posted a few at the "Monster Wells" page.
Following two weeks of production, the Cane Creek Unit No. 26-2H well[, Paradox Basin, Utah,] was tested at a stabilized rate of 647 barrels of oil per day and 561 mcf of natural gas per day through a 7/64 inch choke with a flowing pressure exceeding 3400 psi.
The well is flowing from a short unstimulated horizontal section. The well production rate is being significantly restricted to manage production operations, gather performance data and minimize natural gas flaring. Fidelity drilled the Cane Creek No. 26-2H well to a total depth of 8,685 feet, including a 1,945-foot lateral that was cased and subsequently perforated over a 116 foot interval at the end of the lateral.
While it is too early to establish reserve potential for the well, a well drilled five miles to the southeast during the 1960s has produced over 1 million barrels of oil and a well seven miles northwest drilled in the 1990s has produced over 600,000 barrels of oil.
Initial production rates from the 26-2H well are "very encouraging; however, further data is required to give a reasonable estimate of ultimate recovery." In addition, Fidelity has drilled its second horizontal Cane Creek well, the Cane Creek Unit No. 18-1H, to a total depth of 9,272 feet, including a 1,154-foot lateral. This well will be completed across a 900 foot horizontal interval and should be put on production during May. Fidelity plans to drill additional Paradox wells in 2012 to further advance the appraisal process and commence the development phase.