Another Milestone on the Road to a Natural Gas National Interstate System

Updates

December 23, 2012: The Colorado-to-Wyoming CNG corridor continues to expand. When I see these stories I am "thrilled" to see private enterprise doing this, but if the faux environmentalists and the current administration were serious about CO2, about addiction to oil, about Saudi imports, there would be a "Manhattan-like" program "to CNG" the nation.


October 17, 2012: Wyoming continues to push plans for CNG corridor.

A state legislative committee pledged support for two bills Tuesday which, if passed, could go a long way toward making Wyoming a leader in alternative fuels.

Meeting in Casper, the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee first passed a measure that would slowly transition up to half of the state’s vehicle fleet to run on compressed natural gas by 2017. The second measure amends a state loan program to include compressed natural gas-related incentives.

October 11, 2012: "CNG in a box."

GE launched its “CNG In A Box” system this week, to expand fueling options for vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, the company has announced.

GE touts the all-in-one refueling system, developed in partnership with Chesapeake Energy affiliate Peake Fuel Solutions, as a plug-and-play solution that makes it quick and easy for retailers to expand their fuel selection.

At least 250 CNG In A Box systems will be distributed beginning this fall, the companies said.  CNG In A Box comes in an 8-foot-by-20-foot container, according to GE. The system compresses natural gas, delivered via pipeline, onsite and dispenses the fuel using a pump similar to that used at a traditional gasoline station.  

October 7, 2012: investment opportunities in natural gas as a transportation fuel; natural gas corridor; SeekingAlpha.com article.

May 15, 2011: Encana extends CNG corridor. This is from Rock Springs, WY, to Salt Lake City, UT.

Original Post

A great link sent in by "anon 1." This could compete for "top story" of the week. This story has so much on so many levels.

Shell and TravelCenters of America announced that starting in 2013, they plan to sell liquefied natural gas to on-highway customers through the existing network of full-service TA and Petro fueling centers. (LNG is viewed as a more suitable alternative fuel for long-haul operations because it has more range than compressed natural gas, or CNG.)

There's a  lot more at the link. Note the number of jobs that this initiative will generate. Politicians are having trouble coming up with ideas for jobs, but the private sector seems to be doing just fine.

See also this post on an update on the "natural gas national interstate system."

Later, Mike provided this link, asking whether GE's micro-LNG plants might not make sense for these refueling stations?

Random Comment on Fracking / Ceramics

An individual with a history of fracking a few wells in his lifetime sent in the following comment. It is posted over at "Frack Sand Central" this blog.  The link will take you to the comments; scroll up to see the original post and the other comments.

Knowing that some folks may not read the comments, I have re-posted it here:

The roundness gives conductivity in the frac, not the ability for the sand to 'flow' more easily, and to greater lengths.

Most Bakken wells in Canada use only 80 to 150 tonnes per well.

Bakken wells in North Dakota and south of that can use up to 1000 tonnes/well. Just depends on the depth, and the permeability of the source rock, etc.

I've studied thousands of well completions, and horizontal wells typically use anywhere from 100 to 5,000 tonnes/well, with the average well using around 1,000 tonnes or less. Just depends on the play and the depth, etc. Ceramic sands are typically used where regular sands start to crush because of the overburden pressures.

Seven (7) New Permits -- OXY Reports Another Well -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, June 11, 2012 --

• Operators: BEXP (4), G3 Operating, Zavanna, Triangle
• Fields: Poe (McKenzie), Strandahl (Williams), Buffalo Wallow (McKenzie), East Fork (Williams)

Triangle's new permit is in Buffalo Wallow. Buffalo Wallow oil field is a smallish, long/narrow field just to the east of Red Wing Creek in central McKenzie County. Triangle has picked up some nice acreage in the Bakken. I'm impressed.

The permits for the four BEXP wells will be on one pad in the Poe field.  The Poe field is in the bull's eye of the Bakken, slightly to the west perhaps, in northeastern McKenzie County. These wells will be only 30 feet from each other; extremely close siting; I usually see 50 feet between wells. That walking rig won't have to walk far -- literally a hop, skip, and jump for the three wells after the completing the first. The Poe field is part of KOG's Koala prospect.

 Fifteen wells released from "tight hole" status:

• 19370, 17, Whiting, BSMU 2905, a Madison (not a Bakken)
• 19642, 42, OXY USA, Darlene Dvorak 1-27-34H-143-95, Murphy Creek, a Bakken well, Dunn; I don't know how OXY keeps doing it --
• 19858, 1,349, CLR, Jamestown 1-17H, Banks oil field, t3/12; cum 35K 4/12;
• 21194, 775, EOG, Wayzetta 157-2835H, Parshall,
• 21291, 782, Whiting, Froehlich 41-9TFH, Stark, Bell, t12/11; cum 39K 4/12;
• 21307, DRL, KOG, Koala 15-31-30-3H3,
• 21311, 490, CLR, Hampton 1-2H, Upland,
• 21369, 1,737, MRO, Wakelum 41-3H, Reunion Creek, t4/12; cum 24K 4/12;
• 21376, 900, XTO, Willey 31X-3, West Capa,
• 21662, DRL, BEXP, Bennett 35-26 1H,
• 21695, 32, Flatirons Resources, Lunde 32-33, a Madison (not a Bakken)
• 21731, DRL, Hess, CA-Stangeland-155-95-2128H-2,
• 21822, DRL, KOG, Thomas 154-98-15-33-28-2H,
• 21899, 1,592, XTO, Colette 21X-18, Dollar Joe, t3/12; cum 25K 4/12;
• 21992, DRL, KOG, Koala 15-31-30-2H, 

Permit canceled:

• 19059, PNC, SM Energy, Koeser 16-10H, 

Note: OXY USA does have a very nice well in this area. The following OXY well is two miles to the west [added after comment below: this well, 18395, was drilled by Anschutz before it sold to OXY. With that in mind, the comparison is even more poignant.]

• 18395, 2,207, OXY USA, Kathleen Stroh, 1-20-17H-143-95, Murphy Creek, t6/10; cum 158K 4/12;

MillionDollarWay Going MainStream?

It appears the Bakken Beacon has picked up the "MillionDollarWay" as one of its main sources of information about the Bakken along with such luminaries as The Bismarck Tribune. Apparently the site does not post stories from The Dickinson Press -- at least none were seen today. Also of note: site is sponsored by Rush Limbaugh. [My error; see comment below.]

If you go to that site you can see most of my daily postings and not have to read any of my political rants. [Update: I guess I'm wrong on that: I see my "Monday Morning Ramblings" are linked.]

Unfortunately, my "notes for my granddaughters" will still be embedded in the stand-alone posts.

If you google "million dollar bakken" you can see immediately how this should affect exposure of the best Bakken blog on the net.

I'm hoping InsideClimate News picks up my postings soon.

Fracking Adds Prosperity to Ohio -- Bloomberg via Carpe Diem

Link here.

“Thank God for the oil and gas business,” said Tim Putnam, president of Putnam Properties Inc., a commercial real estate company based in Canton, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. “It’s created a lot of optimism among people who live here.”

Barack Obama's former Chief of Staff says 2012 presidential election will come down to five states:

Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire with Ohio being the most important.  Now do you understand why President Obama has made so many trips to the Buckeye State?

 Actually, Rahm never mentioned the five states in that CNN interview as far as I can tell, but pundits are coming up with seven toss-up states (the five listed above, plus Virginia and Florida).

It is to be noted that many pundits do not consider Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania as toss-up states.

The most important question, though, is this: is it a) toss-up; or, b) tossup?

A Couple of Random Bakken Investment Links

This is not an investment site; there are no recommendations to buy, sell, or hold shares in the market. The links are to stories that help tell the Bakken story.

Is KOG the perfect stock? -- Motley Fool. This note was interesting:

But several factors have held Kodiak's earnings back. Depreciation costs from acquisitions hurt net income in the most recent quarter. Also, like Continental Resources, Kodiak had a lot of unrealized losses from hedging strategies. Given the recent drop in oil prices, those hedges could turn into additional gains for Kodiak and Continental during the current quarter.

Several other companies operating in the Bakken were also mentioned. 

Five commodity stocks moving on news. -- SeekingAlpha.com. Of note, KOG and SandRidge were mentioned.

Triangle Petroleum Posts 1Q13 Results and Operational Updates; Note Fracking Datapoints; Note BEXP-Like IP

Link here.

A couple observations:

• it looks like the company is taking a mid-range approach to number of stages; some companies have moved to 36 stages; TPL used 31 stages in these four wells
• it looks like the company is going to compare "all-ceramic frack" with a 75/25 sand/ceramic mix

Four gross operated wells in McKenzie County, all completed in May; two currently producing; two undergoing flowback testing

• 21452, 3,023 max; 1,429 - 7-day; Dwyer 150-101-21-16-1H, Pronghorn oil field; 31 frac stages; 25% ceramic
• 21632, 3,230 max; 2,265 - 7-day; Larson 149-100-9-4-1H, Ellsworth oil field; 31 frac stages; 100% ceramic

This "Pronghorn oil field" is not anywhere near Whiting's Pronghorn prospect.

It should be noted that CLR also uses the 7-day actual production model for IP (at least that was said more than a year ago; that could have changed).

Well Completion Details

• Larson 149-100-9-4-1H
  
  • 31 stages using plug and perforate method; 100% ceramic
    
  • 9 day actual completion time v. 7 day planned completion time
    
• Dwyer 150-101-21-16-1H
  
  • 31 stages using plug and perforate method; 25% ceramic / 75% 20/40 white sand
    
  • 7 day actual completion time v. 7 day planned completion time
    
• Gullickson Trust 150-101-36-25-1H (WI%: 35.7%)
  
  • 31 stages using plug and perforate method; 25% ceramic / 75% 20/40 white sand
    
  • 3.5 days actual completion time v. 7 day planned completion time
    
    • Time savings result of zipper frac (pad drilling). Estimated $350k savings
      
• Gullickson Trust 150-101-36-25-3H (WI%: 38.8%)
  
  • 31 stages using plug and perforate method; 100% ceramic
    
  • 3.5 days actual completion time v. 7 day planned completion time
    
    • Time savings result of zipper frac (pad drilling). Estimated $350k savings

Monday Morning Ramblings -- For the Bakken, Skip and Scroll

Updates

June 21, 2012: Yes, I would say the Saudis overshot, misjudged. Oil down to $80 (WTI), may go below $80.

Original Post

Daily ramblings are updated throughout the day.

1. It looks like OPEC overshot the mark when it announced that it would increase production some months ago.

Abdul Kareem Luaibi, who also serves as oil minister of Iraq, said maintaining the price at $100-$120 a barrel was "reasonable and acceptable", ...
Supply from OPEC is running nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) above a self-imposed production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day set ... in December.

"It's very clear there is a tremendous surplus that has led to this severe decline in prices in a very short time span," Luaibi told reporters. "This will not serve anyone."

Oil is now trading at about $100 a barrel after falling back from a four-year high of $128 in March.

Saudis like $100 oil. Iraq likes $120 oil. 

2. "Fast and Furious" e-mails did not refer to "Fast and Furious," -- Attny General. Will House hold Holder in contempt?

3. Carpe Diem has been carping on this for as long as I can remember. Finally others are saying the same thing. High college costs can be blamed on ... to Bush? The link takes you to the WSJ.

4. This may be the most interesting note of the day:

Long-term unemployed is a crisis or an emergency according to the New York Times. The story at the link describes a national tragedy. Ideology has resulted in worse recession recovery in history. The president is either beholden to a) socialist beliefs; b) beholden to those around him and has no beliefs of his own; c) truly thinks renewable energy will produce more jobs than the oil and gas industry; and/or d) is in over his head. The article at the link is very, very telling: it's a fairly long article and almost everyone and every government agency is mentioned except two: president, and Obama.

Yes, do a word search at the article at the link. First, "president," and then, "Obama." Neither word/name was in the article when I viewed it, but it could be updated as folks point that out. Let's see if "Republicans" is in the story....word search...word search...yup, "Republicans" near the bottom. But "Democrats" is mentioned even later. In print publishing, if the story is too long to fit the column, editors cut paragraphs starting at the bottom.

I find it strange that the President was not given more credit for all he has done to stem the tide of long-termed unemployed, nor given credit to bringing unemployment down to 8.2%. My hunch is that he was given credit, but it was at the end of the story and got cut because the story was too long.

5. In the news today it was said about US Secretary of Commerce:

As secretary, Bryson has played a role as a member of the president's economic team and has worked to promote job creation. He has also advised on energy issues, particularly in the clean energy sector.

Bryson is the former head of Edison International, the holding company that owns Southern California Edison. 

He helped oversee Edison's transformation into a leading wind and solar company and launched a plan to turn 65 million square feet of unused commercial rooftops into solar power stations with enough electricity for more than 160,000 homes.

The LA Times provided an update on how committed SCE has been to the renewable energy arena. 

Thank goodness for the Al Gore's internet.

6. Wow, shares in coal companies are plunging again today, per CNBC at 4:05 p.m.. The president has accomplished one of his goals, to kill the US coal industry.

North Dakota's Referendum to Eliminate Property Taxes -- WSJ

Updates

June 12, 2012: the story is now being carried by the New York Times. Linked at the top of the third column at Drudge Report.

Original Post

Page 3 is the second most important news page in the Wall Street Journal.  In today's edition, the page has two stories, one that takes up about three quarters of the page (on college costs) and the other is on North Dakota's referendum to eliminate property taxes.

The story can be seen on-link at this link.