The Wayzetta Wells in Parshall Oil Field Have Been Updated

For what it's worth, the Wayzetta wells in Parshall oil field have been updated (IPs and cumulative production).

The Midnight Run Wells -- An Update -- Seven Wells in One Section -- Charlson Field, 1-152-96

It really is impossible to keep up with all that is going on. Charlson oil field was one of the first oil fields of which I posted a stand-alone update; since then dozens of fields have been highlighted and are linked at the sidebar at the right.

Recently I have blogged about the incredible number of wells that are being placed in each section in the "better" Bakken, and have also recently posted notes about BR's Llano well. A reader wrote me about two wells in Charlson field that had just been drilled to total depth and are now in the process of being completed/fracked.

It turns out these two new wells are less than a mile north of the much-talked about Midnight Run wells. We probably won't hear about the production of the newest wells for awhile, but I have updated the production of the Midnight Run wells at the Midnight Run post.

Look at that 9-stage frack back in 2008, #17421:

• 17421, 544, BR, Midnight Run 41-1H, Union Center, Bakken, 7/08; t11/08; cum 268K 4/12; 9-stage fracture; still producing 12,000 bbls/month; on a pump;

North Dakota's Winter Wheat Crop Will Be Quite Nice -- You Betcha -- For Sure

The by-line at the story at the link to The Bismarck Tribune was Mott, North Dakota.

Mason said the winter wheat he'd been into at Regent was showing the best yield he'd seen anywhere. Reports around the area were 50 to upper 50 bushels an acre on winter wheat, not a bumper, but a strong average, for sure.

If it looks like there is an unusual amount of winter wheat out there this year, it's because there is.

According to the USDA Statistics Service, about 700,000 acres were planted to winter wheat this year, close to twice as many as last year.

Kirschemann, like a lot of producers, seeded winter wheat last August in acres that were too wet to plant last spring. Never in North Dakota's recorded crop history were more acres too wet to seed than in 2011.

North Dakotans remain truly blessed. 

For an earlier posting regarding this year's crop, click here.

And back in December, 2010, it was reported that North Dakota was #1 in wheat.

Quite the stories.

Week 29: July 15, 2012 -- July 21, 2012

Industrial revolution in North Dakota 
North Dakota rigs maps: new

Williston #1 in sales tax receipts; doubles Bismark; beats Fargo by wide margin
ISCO: a new oil service company to Williston
New development, northeast side of Williston, 10-acre mixed residential, commercial

The BR Llano 6,800-bbIP well; it was not a typo (at least not yet)
Helis continues to report some great wells
More fracking crews in Williams County led to increased production
Fracking slowdown in the Bakken?
Except in the Brooklyn oil field, no evidence of oil companies choking back significantly; production days in the Bakken
North Dakota oil production by county: Divide County overtakes Bowman

The manufacturing/mining stage begins: WPX with 14 wells in one section

Brent-WTI-Bakken spread - random update

Short comment regarding Divide County activity

Filloon's series on completion designs continues

Denbury: less stages, more water (just the opposite of Whiting)
OXY: getting better?
Hess: changes their completion design
Oasis: 36 stages; better IPs

New fracking sand partnership: sand and rail

Old story: flaring increased between 2007 and 2011 - well, duh

Granite Peak founder, developer, dead at 88
MDU, ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

For investors only: SLB and BHI beat by wide margin

Obama's permitorium, and more to come

Week 28: July 8, 2010 -- July 14, 2012

This post is a week late, I apologize. Later, I will get to the most recent week of top stories.

Wisconsin -- arguably the most liberal state in the union -- opts out of ObamaCare

North Dakota sets new oil production record in May: almost 640,000 bopd

Voyager Oil and Gas to acquire Emerald Oil; will operate under Emerald Oil name

Williston to Denver on United: 3 daily flights

Sanford Health to invest $200 million in western North Dakota 

Update on Dickinson's $30 million waste water project

Oil tax money: in Williams County, it's now 90% to the state; 10% to the county; what's wrong with that picture? And I thought the Feds were bad.

Filloon's series on design completions:

MRO: 30 stages is now the norm 
EOG: bucking the trend with short laterals
XOM: completion designs in the Bakken
Whiting: increased stages; no increase in proppant or water
BEXP: IPs markedly improved year-over-year

The pesky concern about EPA regulating fracking continues
Duke University: still can't prove fracking is bad...but will keep trying

Updating OXY experience in the Bakken

Permitorium in the Gulf to Be Lifted -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Bakken -- Or, Unfortunately, the US

Over the years I've posted several stories about how Mexico lost its groove with regard to developing its oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. It was not the dwindling reserves but the government policies restricting development. Stories are easy to find through google. (Speaking of google, has anyone read that Google now is petitioning a judge to declare some Apple patents so "essential" to the world that Apple needs to release them to anyone who wants them? But I digress.)

Well, it turns out that Mexico has seen the light and doesn't want to participate with the US in another "lost decade." Mexico has now philosophically lifted the permitorium in the Gulf but regulatory problems still exist:

Mexico is seeking to reverse seven years of crude output declines, including the lowest daily average since 1990 last year, after output from its Cantarell field, the world’s third- largest deposit when it was discovered in 1976, slid more than 75 percent since 2006. Pemex missed its goal of increasing output for the past two years.

The company’s international plans are focused on finding partners for deepwater projects in the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico and for shale in the U.S., Suarez Coppel, 53, said. Mexican regulatory delays prevented one possible deal for deepwater exploration in the U.S., he said, without elaborating.

So, at least Mexico is trying to remove its permitorium in the Gulf of Mexico. 

At ISA: Bakken Tight-Oil Output Could Surpass Iraq Oil Production

Great weekend reading regarding coal from Independent Stock Analysis.  I don't know how JJ_Butler@ISA does it, but, wow, I've never seen so many great links to so many articles on coal and oil.  And natural gas. It will be interesting to see if we look back on 2011 to 2021 as the "lost decade" or the decade of energy transformation.

Coal
The subject that caught my interest was air conditioning: huge demand for coal going forward with China just starting to get the passion for air conditioning. As noted at one of the links, solar and wind cannot possibly provide the electricity that would be needed. The math (geographic area of the earth/capital costs) just does not work out. I blogged about that more than two years ago. 

ISA has three parts on coal today:

• Part I: valuation
• Part II: natural gas pricing affects coal
• Part III: world fundamentals

Oil
Most interesting today at ISA are the energy links regarding oil, particularly the teasers about Bakken oil production surpassing the 2nd and 3rd largest producers in OPEC. Unfortunately, it appears to get to the source of the most intriguing article one requires a paid subscription, but based on the headline, and the teaser, it looks like "Bakken tight-oil production" could surpass Iraqi production in 2020 if oil prices stay above $70. Some caution, however, without seeing the entire article, I'm not sure if they are talking about North Dakota Bakken alone surpassing Iraqi production, or all "Bakken-like" unconventional oil produced by the US.

I haven't read this article in its entirety, but the teaser is intriguing, and it appears the article's them is this: without a network of natural gas filling stations, the switch to natural gas is a long ways off:

Natural gas vehicles in your garage are not coming anytime soon.  The $2.3 million government grant is a farce.  Business Week

I don't know if the article talks about the initiatives private companies have taken with natural gas fueling corridors for trucks in the western United States.

Anyway, lots of good stuff to read.

Great North Dakota Story -- Not The Bakken -- Dickinson Company Completing Work on Largest Nevada DOT Project

Link here to the Dickinson Press:

Fisher Industries of Dickinson is near completion of the Interstate 580 extension, the largest project ever awarded by the Nevada Department of Transportation.

A ribbon cutting for the road is expected sometime next month for the $393 million, eight-mile extension of I-580, which includes nine bridges and the largest concrete arch bridge in the country, said Scott Magruder, spokesman for the Nevada DOT.

That seems like a pretty big deal -- a North Dakota company that got the contract for the largest project ever awarded by Nevada Department of Transportation.