MRO -- 30 Stages Now The Norm

Wow, Mike Filloon has really been on a tear lately, publishing a series of articles on EURs, IPs, fracking stages, and fracking "designs." Today's installment is on Marathon moving to 30 stage fractures.

That Pesky Concern About the EPA and Fracking Keeps Surfacing

One has to wonder how much the coal industry is funding / supporting research on fracking. From a coal article at SeekingAlpha.com:

One possible policy change that might help coal mining is that the environmentalists and the EPA manage to stop hydraulic fracturing of natural gas, which will curb natural gas supply and make dirtier coal a viable option again—a bit ironic, isn't it?

No additional comment, just the link. 

Okay, just one comment: huge opportunity for nimble investors.

For Investors Only: EPD Increases Dividend

Slightly.

Duke University: Still Can't Prove Fracking is Bad ...

... but they will keep trying.

Link here to Rigzone.com story.

From the web:

In some areas, small quantities of oil naturally seep out of the ground. Human beings have long recognized the utility of the seeped oil and have employed it for a variety of purposes. For instance, Native Americans used tar pitch to waterproof their canoes and early Spanish settlers used it to seal their boots. Pioneers in Pennsylvania skimmed seeped kerosene from riverbeds to use as lamp fuel and machinery lubrication.

In response to the rising demand for kerosene in the 1800s, American investors hired Edwin Drake to drill at the source of a natural kerosene seep in 1859. The resulting oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania was 69.5 feet deep and produced 15-20 barrels of oil per day. Originally, kerosene was the end-product and gasoline, the by-product, was discarded. However, as the automotive industry developed to run on gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, a permanent market for gasoline developed and kerosene became a minor product.

This is practically verbatim from a section in Daniel Yergin's 1990 Pulitzer Prize winning The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Power, and Money.

Sanford Health to Invest $200 Million in Western North Dakota; Super Clinic Coming to Dickinson

Superclinic coming to Dickinson: link to DickinsonPress/InsideClimate News.com. Registration (free)/password needed; nothing is ever simple.
See first comment below. My initial post was incorrect. First comment below has better explanation. Thank you for taking time to comment.

Highlights from the Williston Wire: Senior Housing in Williston; Dickinson Needs to Double Housing Units; Oil Patch Effects As Far East As Minneapolis

• One million bopd possible; 800K bopd more likely; federal regulations could impact
• Truck reliever route to open August 1, 2012
• 190 manufactured homes for seniors to be built; just east of the Little Muddy River northeast of Williston on 134th Avenue
• Rev Jay Reinke and Concordia Lutheran Church: long-time providers of housing for those with no other options
• Permanent housing will need to double from 8,000 units to 16,000 units to meet projected Dickinson growth
• Roers Development in Fargo, ND has quadrupled its construction business; oil patch effects seen as far east as Minneapolis, as far southeast as Sioux Falls, SD