Burlington Resources Iron Horse Wells -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Updates

January 18, 2025: the Midnight Run wells have been updated.

January 11, 2021: the Midnight Run wells have been updated.

December 6, 2012: the Midnight Run wells have been updated. 

More Midnight Run wells since the original post:

• 31319, 448, BR, Midnight Run 4-8-12MTFH, Union Center, t3/18; cum 272K 11/24; off line 5/24; recently off line; now back on line;  cum 272K 11/24;
• 31318, 133, BR, Midnight Run 3-8-12MBH, Union Center, t3/18; cum 307K 5/24; off line 5/24; remains off line 11/24;
• 31317, 157, BR, Midnight Run 2-8-12MTFH, Union Center, t3/18; cum 432K 11/24;

• 24537, 2,842, BR, Midnight Horse 11-1MBH-ULW, Union Center, t5/13; cum 429K 11/24;

Original Post

One section directly west of Burlington Resources' Midnight Run wells are Burlington Resources' Iron Horse wells:

• 17421, IA/544, BR, Midnight Run 41-1H, Union Center, Bakken, 7/08; t11/08; cum 412K 1/17; 9-stage fracture; cum 432K 11/21; was off line for two years; comes back very nicely; just went off line 9/24; cum 446K 8/24;
• 20323, IA/3,325, BR, Midnight Run 11-1MBH, Union Center, Bakken, t12/11; cum 305K 1/17; cum 375K 11/21; off line for almost two years; now back on line; not much to talk about; just went off line 9/24; cum 383K 8/24;
  
• 20324, 1,963, BR, Midnight Run 21-1TFH, Union Center, Bakken, t12/11; cum 181K 1/17; cum 271K 11/21; intermittent production; not much to talk about; just went off line 9/24; cum 383K 8/24;
• 20325, 2,846, BR, Midnight Run 21-1MBH, Union Center, Bakken, t12/11; cum 271K 1/17; cum 358K 11/21; recently off line; now back on line; cum 394K 11/24;
  
• 20326, IA/2,083, BR, Midnight Run 31-1TFH, Union Center, t11/11; cum 271K 1/17; cum 372K 11/21; irregular production; just went off line 9/24; cum 399K 6/24;
• 20327, 2,443, BR, Midnight Run 41-1TFH, Union Center, t12/11; cum 256K 1/17; cum 360K 11/21; irregular production; cum 405K 11/24;
  
• 22675, 2,640, BR, Midnight Run 11-1TFH, Union Center, t10/12; cum 238K 1/17; cum 300K 11/21; intermittent production profile; cum 315K 11/24;
  

These are all in one section. There is a 3-well pad, a 2-well pad, and two single wells in this section. 

Another One (Soon) To Bite the Dust? A Warning? -- Wind -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken -- For the Bakken, Skip and Scroll

Link to Yahoo!Finance:

The head of the world's biggest wind turbine maker, Vestas said on Sunday that the U.S. wind turbine market is likely to fall by 80 percent next year because of the expected expiry of an important tax credit.

The U.S. production tax credit (PTC) for renewable energy is due to finish at the end of 2012, and, in an election year, it is widely believed that Congress will not pass legislation to renew it before the expiry.

The prospect of a lapse for the PTC is just one of the problems troubling the renewable energy sector amid a global economic slump, which has hit support from governments forced to cut budgets and delayed much investment in energy projects.

There are at least three story lines that could be developed from this.

Go to the link to read about the other problems facing the industry. The lapse of the PTC is "just one of the problems facing the renewable energy sector.

Second, note this phrase: "... which has hit support from governments forced to cut budgets and delayed much investment in energy projects."  The chicken and the egg question, or better, the cause and effect question. Spain, particularly, with its wind and/or solar projects, has been discussed before.  Here. And here.

A third one story: is there any other industry that could "fall by 80 percent next year [simply] because of the expected expiry of an important tax credit"? If an industry is that dependent on a tax credit, just how viable is that industry?

For those who missed it the first time, this might be a good time to read the WSJ editorial of June 6, 2012: Europe's Green Energy Suicide.

Reader Seeks Update on Chesapeake's Decker, Grenze and Kostenko Wells -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

A reader sent this in as a comment. Because some folks may not read the comments, I will post it here. I assume others are interested:

Was in ND to see family. Went by Decker, Grenze, and Kostenko.

Nomack 312 is being repaired to move north, not sure what's going on at Decker. It looks like everything is in place but wellhead still closed off. Talked to neighbor on Kostenko, sounds like cracked casing.

They could not frack earlier this year because of it. Not sure what would happen next if anything. If anybody has input it would appreciated.

Folks can search this site for other postings on Decker, Grenze, and Kostenko.

Update on Hess #17117, Big Butte, Nine (9) Observation Wells; Update on Burlington Resources Midnight Run Wells -- The Williston, North Dakota, USA

Link here for the Hess wells.

Not a whole lot of new information, but two more wells completed and produced in the same section as #17117.

Link here for the update of Burlington Resources Midnight Run wells; there is now a seventh well in one section.

"The New Energy Reality" in the US -- The New York Times

CarpeDiem link to Daniel Yergin's piece in the New York Times on "the new energy reality" in the United States.

North Dakota #2 In High School Graduation Rate

Link to Dickinson Press.

Data points:

• New Jersey: 87.4%
• North Dakota: 85.9%
• Wisconsin: 83.8%
• Minnesota: 82.6%
• Pennsylvania: 80.5%
• Iowa: 80.5% 

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A Note for the Granddaughters 

The other night we walked to the local grocery store to pick up something for an impromptu-picnic.

Ben and Jerry's ice cream was on special so they each got to pick their favorite.

The younger one chose "Cherry Garcia" since she recognized "Garcia" as the maternal family name. The older one said the younger one did not like cherries and would not like this selection.

Sure enough, later that evening when eating ice cream, the younger one said she did not care for Cherry Garcia because she didn't like cherries.

The older one, always being helpful, pointed out that it was always important to read the ingredients carefully.

In this case, one hardly had to read the ingredients carefully. The name of the ice cream would have been a huge tip-off.

["Anonymous" had requested a stand-alone story about the granddaughters.  As noted at the time, the stand-alone post would "self-destruct" in 24 hours. Just before self-destruction, it was rescued and re-posted here, along with the two original comments. I'm sure "anonymous" will be happy.]

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Addendum

Tonight while going through some end-of-year paperwork, we came across our older (8-year-old) granddaughter's  "science lab book" which we had not seen during the year. We read her notes to the first experiment that they did earlier in the year. I am not sure what the experiment was all about but it had something to with "dropping water on pennies."

However, her spelling was apparently not checked at the time. She spelled "pennies" with one "n" and only the first "e." Or maybe it was an anatomy lesson. Who knows? (Rhetorical question.)

Miss North Dakota Scholarship Pageant -- Williston, North Dakota

I'm having trouble getting my hands around this story; link to Williston Herald.

The pageant’s 20 contestants from all over the state of North Dakota took the stage for the preliminary rounds Thursday. Those preliminaries will carry into Friday night, where candidates will finish the round with the evening wear competition, onstage interview, talent competition, and swimsuit competition.

I would assume each contestant had a following of at least 200 handlers, home-town press, and fans. Assuming that 14 contestants came from outside the Williston area, someone had to come up with almost 3,000 rooms, though, I assume a lot would have doubled up. But still, in the middle of the oil patch where lodging crisis is said to be severe.

My hat is off to those who could pull this off and arrange for all this lodging, meals, transportation, etc.

I'm sure not a few roughnecks were more than impressed to hear Williston would be hosting the pageant.

Regional Stories from Williston Wireline -- FEMA Trailers to Oil Patch; 2,000 More Railcars to the Bakken; Montana Native To Head COP

FEMA trailers from last year's Minot flooding will be moved to the oil patch, Minot Daily News.

Three-bedroom FEMA mobile homes will be made available to area American Indian tribes and other tribes in the Great Plains region when the homes are no longer needed. Currently, the homes are being used by people displaced by last year's Souris River flood and most of the homes are in Minot.

Phillips 66 to buy 2,000 railcars to ship oil out of the Bakken, Reuters.

Oil companies in fast-growing U.S. shale fields such as the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Niobrara and Permian have turned to rail, trucks and barges to haul crude because pipeline development has not kept up.

"We're going to add rail capacity," Garland said. "We're considering buying a couple thousand more railcars so we can get Bakken crude either east and west."

Phillips 66, the newly spun-off downstream arm of ConocoPhillips, has refineries on the East, West and Gulf Coasts, and Garland said the company currently refines about 100,000 barrels per day of shale oil but could handle 500,000 bpd.

The initial goal is to increase delivery of shale crudes to Phillips refineries by 100,000 to 150,000 bpd within two years using railroad unit trains.

Montana Tech grad takes over as chief executive officer, COP, Oil and Gas Chronicle. 

Lance’s father was in the military, and his family moved often through his adolescence. Yet, Montana was always home, and a family farm near Wolf Point served as their base of operations even when dad was stationed at far-flung bases elsewhere.

Eventually Lance’s father was transferred closer to home, Malmstrom Air Force base near Great Falls, and Lance graduated from Great Falls High School. His parents, Montana State graduates who live in Billings, thought Ryan would go to Bozeman to pursue an engineering degree because of his proclivity for math and science. But one visit to the Butte campus and a little research changed their mind.

G2G Captures Bakken Natural Gas

The story that immediately precedes this one (unless some stories in draft get posted later) is the update of the incredible CLR Whitmore 2 well on the Hawkinson-Whitman Eco-Pad. In that post I noted that no natural gas from the well was flared during the first full month of production. I assume it was a natural gas pipeline that was hooked up but it easily could have been a G2G dry-gas-to-liquids converter.

A new Montana start-up is using a trailer-mounted DGTL converter to capture natural gas that would otherwise be flared. The liquid product is then sold for profit.

There are several interesting data points in the linked article:

• North Dakota operators are allowed to flare for up to one year without a waiver (the article doesn't say more, but I believe production is reduced during the first year if excess gas is flared); I don't think operators can flare gas without restrictions for the entire year, but I could be wrong (see this post for more; I think it's more complicated than the writer lets on)
• Montaa allows flaring for two months before waivers are required

I was surprised how few wells, in the big scheme of things, are actually flaring gas in North Dakota. About 1,100 wells are flaring gas; 4,400 are hooked up to a pipeline and not flaring. Considering that 200 wells/month are drilled (maybe more) one would expect at least 250 wells be flaring simply because they are still in the first month of production. I don't know how fast G2G can start capturing natural gas that would otherwise be flared.

The article notes:

Last fall, the New York Times reported that North Dakota was flaring 100 million cubic feet of natural gas each day, enough to heat half a million homes for a day. The flaring releases at least 2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, an amount equivalent to a medium-sized coal-fired power plant, the Times reported.

For those wondering how much CO2 New Yorkers exhale/produce in one year, it is almost exactly one million tons. One person exhales approximately 0.66 pounds of CO2 daily (New York marathon runners would produce slightly more). Using the official population of NYC at about 8 million (in fact, the metropolitan area and all the commuters coming in each day to work would be significantly more) and 365 days/year, and 2,000 lbs/ton, one gets slightly under one million tons each year.

One million tons is in the same Yankee ballpark as wells in North Dakota, especially since I was very, very conservative on estimating the population during the work day.

If one wishes, and I don't, one can probably calculate the amount of methane New Yorkers produce on an annual basis. My hunch is New Yorkers could heat the United Nations buildings if they were willing to capture their personal methane.