Samson Resources To Sell Bakken Interests? In Flux: News?

I may have missed this one, but elsewhere they are starting to talk about it.

Here's the link announcing the sale.

PN Bakken has this story which may be related.  With so many companies involved in this story, it's a bit difficult for me to sort out when going through this quickly. If I get more time, and I remember, I will look at this again. I've posted the Baytex/Magnum Hunter story earlier.

Helis With Two Great Wells -- Daily Activity Report -- July 16, 2012

Daily activity report, July 16 2012 --

Twenty-one (21) new permits -- a record for past two years?

• Operators: WPX (14), BEXP (2), Hess (2), Hunt (2), Crescent Point Energy
• Fields: Moccasin Creek (Dunn), Wheelock (Williams), Van Hook (Mountrail), Alexander (McKenzie), West Ambrose (Divide)

Twelve of the WPX permits will be in section 36-148N-93W, Moccasin Creek.   Two wells were previously permitted in this section, so there are now 14 wells permitted in this one section. It appears there will be four pads of 3 wells each (12 wells) and the previously permitted two singlets. It looks like, based on location, 7 will run north; 7 will run south.

And less than a mile to the east, in Heart Butte oil field, section 31-148-92, there are seven wells all closely spaced with each other, also all WPX wells. And in that same section (31-148-92), QEP has four wells nearing completion. So, that section with 11 wells sited within the section but going to different spacing units.

It should be noted that these wells are in the reservation; those inside BLM-managed land are expecting to hear the outcome of Federal fracking regulations later this year (after September, 2012). 

Hunt Oil has permits for two wildcats, both in Divide County. 

Wells coming off the confidential list:

• 20590, no data, Zavanna, Skogen 17-20 1H, McKenzie
• 21263, 325, OXY USA, Wittinger 2-17-5H-143-95, Murphy Creek, t1/12; cum 34K 5/12; 21 stages; "sand frac" but no details seen;
• 21524, 732, CLR, Hartman 2-28H, Chimney Butte, t5/12; cum 17K 5/12; 35 stages, "sand frac" with ceramics;
• 21228, 673, CLR, Nadia 2-30H, Jim Creek, t3/12; cum 24 K 5/12; 30 stages with ceramics;
• 21408, 700, Slawson, Athena 2-36H, Alger, t4/12; cum 33K 5/12; sand frac; I did not see ceramics listed;
• 21757, drl, ERF, Impala 148-04-03b-10-1H, McGregory Buttes, s1/12; completion data not seen yet;
• 22032, drl, Hess, AV-Flugge-162-94-1918H-1, s1/12; completion data not seen yet;
• 22198, 857, Newfield, Moberg Federal 149-95-29-32-3H, Bear Den, t5/12; cum 11K 5/12; 32 stages; "sand frac," additional details not seen; "sand frac" does not preclude use of ceramics;
• 21437, 2,256, Helis, Lawlar 16-8/5H, Grail, t4/12; cum 35K 5/12; completion data not seen
• 21521, 1,521, Helis, Dailey 4-12/13H, Spotted Horn, t3/12; cum 74K 5/12; "sand frac" but included ceramics;
• 21706, 2,002, Denbury Onshore, Lundin 11-13SEH, Siverston, t4/12; cum 31K 5/12; "sand frac" though I didn't find details, except 26 stages;
• 22008, 120, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Burgess 14-23-158-100W, wildcat, t5/12; cum 1,391 bbls; sand and ceramics;
• 22168, 358, Slawson, Athena 5-36TFH, Alger, t4/12; cum 11K 5/12; 15 stages; no ceramics mentioned;

Producing wells that are now completed: none.

Operator transfer:
18 wells from Summit Resources to Legacy Reserves.
8 wells from Panther Creek Resources to Legacy Reserves. Elsewhere others noted the same thing.
1 well from Denbury Onshore to CLR:

• 22987, DNR, Doe 34-23NH, Dunn

America's 100-Year Natural Gas Supply

Great article from The Economist, via CarpeDiem.

Victorville, CA -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Bakken

From the LA Times, last week, July 8, 2012.

This has been hanging around my desktop for the past week. With all the other news, it sort of got lost among the Stockton, Mammoth Lakes, and San Bernardino bankruptcies.

Victorville struggled, but apparently is balancing its budget without filing for bankruptcy protection. Good for them.

The city agency, according to the Times, shelled out $76 million for a 500-megawatt power plant that was never built. The city paid one individual $375,000 for his home on that plot of land; the home was worth $38,000 at the time but the city needed the plot of desert land for the power plant. In addition to the overall debacle, it appears the city may have used illegal measures to avoid financial ruin. The guy who got almost $400,000 for this $40K house – he moved to Oregon as soon as he got his money. The city presented a balanced budget this year and says they won’t go bankrupt like Stockton. Unemployment: 14%. The city blames their problems on the collapse of the stock market. 

I was surprised they did not blame the former president. 

Not News; It Was In The Works, But Another One Bites The Dust

MSNBC dissolves, freeing MS to from its own online news service, and for NBC to continue down its own road.

Podcast Comparing North Dakota Bakken to Norway's Off-Shore Drilling

I haven't had a chance to listen to this, but from a trusted reader's assessment of the article, sounds like it is worth listening. The link takes you to the webpage. Right now the podcast is at the top but I assume that will change rather quickly and you may have to search for the story.

For Investors Only: KOG at SeekingAlpha

Link here to SeekingAlpha. See my disclaimer.  This is not an investment site; make no investment decisions based on anything you read at this site. I will not be trading any shares of KOG (or any Bakken-centric company, for that matter) in the next several days.

Nice Article at SeekingAlpha on Oil Supply

Link here to SeekingAlpha.com.

A big "thank you" to Don for supplying half a dozen links today while I was out biking and away form wi-fi.

For Investors Only: Update on Newfield

First, the July corporate presentation.  No significant changes; for snapshot of companies operating in the Bakken, click here.

And, second, for some great Sunday night reading, although it's getting a bit late on the East Coast: Newfield may be one of Bakken's top producers, update from Mike Filloon. Mike provides some interesting 30-second soundbites for what is working in the Bakken:

The 2012 results have been interesting. All of the wells have been good, but Newfield is doing more short laterals and getting very good results. The three wells completed with 23 or 24 stages are short laterals, while those completed with 30 or more stages are long. Newfield continues to be one of the Bakken leaders with the drill bit. It would seem costs will continue to be in the $10.5 to $11.5 million range, but hopefully the decrease in natural gas drilling in the United States will continue to free up the schedules of companies doing completions. If these costs can pull back some it would help significantly. Right now I believe the best completions are being done with an average choke (36/64), 35,000 barrels of water, and 2,000,000 pounds of proppant per mile. Some of these figures may be off some as I have focused on better areas in the Bakken and design may differ significantly in an area like western Williams County.

Last Post For Awhile -- While I've Been Gone -- Almost Nothing About The Bakken

Updates

Later, 10:45 a.m.: I now have wi-fi in the coronary care unit (CCU). Just joking. I made the trip without any problems. But the trip back is going to be a real challenge; once I got up the big hill at the south end San Pedro, it was mostly downhill the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the way the things work out, going back is a huge long up hill before I get a break. Oh, well.

I am kind of surprised the Federal government has not shut down this very, very, very dangerous road, certainly much riskier than other things that are regulated out of existence, such as the "Big Gulp." A portion of the highway along the Pacific Coast at the southern end of the Palos Verdes peninsula.

Original Post

While I've been gone (referring to fact I was off the net for about 36 hours due to lack of wi-fi while traveling): 

From InsideClimate News/Dickinson Press:

The prosperity of North Dakota’s oil industry and frustration over federal energy regulations highlighted a field hearing here Saturday of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. [Ok.]

From the president's speech on Friday, July 13, 2012:

"If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet." [Some things I still cannot make up. With regard to the internet: thank you, Al Gore.]

From the French:

French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday Peugeot must renegotiate a plan to lay off 8,000 workers to lessen its social impact and accused the carmaker of lying over its intentions and making serious strategic errors. However, he admitted he could not halt Peugeot's plant to stop production at the Aulnay assembly plant near Paris in 2014. [I don't know why not.]

From the Germans:

More money for the C-PFIIGS: this time, $120 billion bailout package for the Spaniards. I guess they were able to live the good life for about 500 years after finding all that gold, silver, and fountain of youth in the New World. Well, two out of three ain't bad. 

I would like to post more but due to lack of an automobile (my efforts to cut down my personal carbon footprint), I need to start biking the 15 miles or so to meet my wife at a Starbucks along the coast where she is walking with a friend. If you never see another post from me, I have a) had a heart attack on one of many San Pedro "heartbreak hills; b) been hit by another vehicle; c) or, fallen into the ocean due to an earthquake caused by the previous president.

Raw Data Regarding Number of Days of Production -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

There has been some discussion regarding "throttling back" of oil wells in terms of number of days of production in past month or so (originating with comments about the Brooklyn oil field). Here is raw data of several wells. I don't see a pattern yet regarding "throttling back" in terms of production days in these three areas. So, it appears, I need to look at some more fields / operators to see if I can find any pattern. To be continued. The short lateral wells that EOG has drilled in the Parshall field jumped out  at me with regard to consistency. Makes me think of the great (and accurate) comments made by Mike Filloon --

EOG wells in the Parshall oil field; number of days of production for April and May, 2012

• 17913, 30, 31,
• 17888, 30, 31,
• 17727, 30, 31,
• 18398, 30, 31,
• 17237, 30, 31,
• 17870, 30, 31,
• 18057, 30, 31,
• 17851, 30, 31,
• 17754, 30, 31,
• 18110, 30, 31,
• 18061, 30, 31,
• 18117, 30, 31,
• 18157, 30, 31,
• 18108, 30, 31,
• 18147, 30, 31, 

Whiting wells in the Sanish oil field; number of days of production for April and May, 2012

• 17912, 14, 31,
• 17072, 22, 31,
• 18477, 24, 31,
• 19972, 30, 31,
• 18109, 30, 30,
• 16902, 30, 31,
• 17326, 30, 31,
• 19874, 30, 31,
• 17137, 30, 31,
• 18658, 30, 31,
• 19860, 30, 31,
• 17552, 26, 31,
• 18724, 23, 31,
• 18882, 29, 31,
• 19320, 30, 31,
• 19555, 29, 31,
• 16905, 14, 31

CLR wells in Cedar Hills oil field, southwest part of the state; Red River wells, April and May, 2012; wells that are still on-line; many wells in this field have not produced in quite some time

• 14519, 30, 30,
• 14070, 31, 31,
• 17365, 30, 28,
• 17460, 30, 31,
• 17747, 30, 31,
• 17837, 28, 31,
• 17482, 30, 31,
• 17520, 30, 31,

Various operators/wells in Camp oil field, production days for April and May, 2012; again, a lot of Madison wells in this field are no longer producing

• 15529, 30, 17 (a Madison well),
• 15856, 18, 18, (a Madison well),
• 19844, 30, 31,
• 19578, 30, 31,
• 19706, 29, 30,
• 18437, 30, 2,
• 20399, 25, 30,
• 15879, 27, 8 (a Madison well),
• 21101, 11, 30,
• 19303, 30, 31,
• 11200, 28, 30, (a Madison well; t1/1985; cum 178K 5/12)
• 18957, 29, 31

To Be Continued:

Production Days in the Bakken

A reader sent the following as a comment, but in case some folks don't see comments, I post it here again, with my less-than-adequate, and poorly articulated reply (English was never my forte). But first, the very excellent comment sent in by a reader:

I just prepared a spreadsheet of every Brooklyn well from IP through latest figures. Until earlier this year, there was never an anomally of this size or across this number of wells in terms of reduced production days. These numbers speak to throttled production, but not causation which is hypothesized about quite well by [other readers].

Depending upon causation, the restart to full monthly production will be diffferent. If it is takeaway capacity, that does not get fixed overnight and any version of Keystone is still far away. If it is futures contracts, then production will be reactive with the price of oil. On the former, EPPING's giant Colt terminal has recently come online and it is within 7 miles of Brooklyn. Thus, suspect that CLR's futures contracts are fully fulfilled and the current spread with WTI encourages them to keep it in the ground. My folks raised cattle, and when it was time for them to go to market - you had to take what the market gave you. Oil in place does appear to be different. It would be interesting to hear if there is evidence of similar throttling in CLR's other Baaken footprint. 

My reply:

I can't comment at all on what is driving the decreased production in Brooklyn field (and I assume elsewhere). That would be a great research project for an MBA student for at some university; not worthy of a PhD thesis, but a short paper nonetheless.

This is what I find interesting: assume there were no reasons for throttling back (no problems with takeaway; no price differentials; no road restrictions; no manpower issues; etc) -- ND continues to set new monthly records for production -- can one imagine what those monthly numbers would be without throttling back? 

I'm an eternal optimist, and when I see Divide County besting Bowman County after all these years, and then ND setting a new production record in May despite throttling back; and we aren't even close to max number of wells per spacing unit, the potential seems to me -- most eternal optimist -- that under optimum circumstances, the oil potential of North Dakota is quite remarkable.

And, oh, by the way, two more CLR-Brooklyn oil field permits this past week.

I'm starting to look at production days in other fields. Will take some time.

North Dakota Oil Production By County

This is an interesting article from the Minot Daily News. It doesn't add much to the knowledge base of regular readers but for archival purposes it's an interesting article. "They" say there are 17 counties producing oil in North Dakota, but from my standpoint, the activity is pretty much centered in four counties. When they talk about a billion dollars or a couple of billion dollars or three billion dollars being invested in 17 oil-producing counties, in fact, the bulk of it goes to a lot few than 17. The four counties at the top: Mountrail, McKenzie, Williams and Dunn. The numbers are 5.6, 4.4, 3.4 and 2.9, million bbls/month respectively for the four counties mentioned.

It was interesting to see this shift:

• 5. Divide: April, 667,729; May, 784,243.
• 6. Bowman: April, 751,276; May, 760,079.

I would not have expected that.