North Dakota Daily Production: 660,322 Bbls/Day for June, 2012

Updates

Later, 10:55 p.m.: it looks like everyone saw these numbers before I did! Here's CarpeDiem's take on the latest numbers.  An interesting data point at that link:

Over the last year, an average of 5 new oil wells have been put into production each day, and each new well is the equivalent of adding a new $8-10 million business to the state’s economy, see recent CD post for more details.

Later,  10:10 p.m.: just after posting the note below, I see that The Bismarck Tribune has published the information.  The is one data point I did not include in my original post:

North Dakota drillers produced almost 20 million barrels of oil in June. That's up from 11.5 million barrels for the same month a year ago.

Original Post

I'm taking this from the NDIC spreadsheets; the Director's Cut for August is not yet posted.

It is possible I am misreading things, but hopefully I have this correct.

The most recent month data is available: June, 2012.

Previously, in May, 2012, the daily oil production in North Dakota averaged 639,981 bbls.

It appears that a new record has been set. In June, 2012, the average daily production was 660,322 bbls.

If I have the numbers correct, daily production (June over May) increased by 3.17 percent. 

The total monthly production in June (19,809,663) was slightly below May's production (19,939,420) but there was one less day in June, and that made the difference.

In May, there were 6,968 producing wells; in June, there were 7,130 producing wells.

The average number of bbls per well per day has increased slight to 93 bbls on average from each of the 7,130 wells each day.  In May, the average was 92 bbls/well/day. Two years ago, June, 2010, the average was 66 bbls/well/day.

The Director's Cut will have a much better breakout.

Out and About

Back to Slicers and Dicers; Biologists and Boondoggles; I Can't Make This Stuff Up

Updates

December 13, 2012: As you read the story below, consider this news today. An oil company was fined $22,500 for "a dozen" dead migratory birds in Montana, a travesty that occurred back in 2005. Meanwhile, the wind turbines have full immunity from killing eagles, hawks, bats, whooping cranes, etc.  Slicers and dicers have no redeeming value.

Original Post

First, one of the best Dickinson Press/InsideClimate News stories in a long, long time.

Federal regulators may keep biologists watching for whooping cranes near a North Dakota wind farm, even though the birds haven't been seen in the area for two years.

Basin is required to shut down its turbines if a whooping crane was spotted within a mile of the wind farm.

Basin spokesman Daryl Hill says biologists have never seen a whooping crane in the North Dakota area.

The biologists must be doing a bang-up job. North Dakota's law banning elephants from wheat fields has also been a success. 

Don, who sent me the link, suggested that the turbines will only slice and dice the first two or three whooping cranes in any flock by the time:

• the biologists spot them;
• call "911-Stop-Turbine";
• wake "Homer Simpson" at Wind Turbine Control Center (WTCC); and,
• presumably stop the (wrong) turbine before noting the error.

In fact, Department of Homeland Security, in a small federal ruling signed unnoticed by the mainstream media, requires whooping cranes to file a flight plan before taking flight.

For nocturnal flight, the same department will require the whooping cranes attach green/red LEDs to their right/left wings.

Slicers and dicers have a waiver allowing them to kill eagles, whooping cranes, and other migratory birds without penalty.

Note to newbies: other than the quote from the linked article, nothing else in this posting can be guaranteed to be accurate. The note about waivers is accurate. 

CBR: Tesoro To Move More Bakken Oil By Rail

Reminder: results of wells that came off confidential list today are posted here.  XTO reported a nice well.

Reminder: I continue to update earnings reports and investment ideas at Earnings Central, 2Q12. I will continue to update this site for about one month following earnings reports. XOM and CVX are hitting new 52-week highs; CVX, an all-time high. And paying nice dividends to boot.

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Tesoro will move more Bakken crude by train, at Oil and Gas Journal.

Tesoro Corp. plans to move 50,000 b/d of crude oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota to its 120,000-b/cd refinery in Anacortes, WA.

Last year, Tesoro announced plans to transport 30,000 b/d on a dedicated unit train. Earlier this year, Tesoro said it had authorization to bring 50,000 b/d of Bakken crude into its Anacortes rail unloading terminal. 

In its second-quarter financial results, Tesoro said it expects to load the first unit train with Bakken crude oil destined for Anacortes sometime during August, and the Anacortes rail unloading terminal is on schedule to be completed in September.

In addition:

Last year, Tesoro executed a long-term agreement with Rangeland Energy LLC for access to Rangeland's crude loading terminal and pipeline facility in Williams County, ND. It will have a direct connection to Tesoro Logistics' High Plains crude oil gathering system.

Also, unrelated to CBR:

At the Mandan, ND, refinery, Tesoro in June completed a $35 million expansion, boosting crude capacity to 68,000 b/d from 58,000 b/d.

The CBR locations in North Dakota are listed at this site (also linked at the sidebar at the right).

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See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. CVX and XOM are both trading at 52-week highs, and I believe, an all-time high for CVX. Imagine where we would be if the economy were doing well.

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Shawn alerted me to fact that Hess was now in the Monterey shale, California. Here's a nice link, note the reference to the Bakken, again:

Hess Corp., a $17 billion oil company with offices on six continents, recently set up shop in Bakersfield and already it's buying up property in California.

New York-based Hess doesn't have any operations on the West Coast, but its extensive work in North Dakota's Bakken formation could give the company valuable experience with which to tap the Monterey Shale, a potentially massive reservoir under development here and in other parts of Central California.

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In case you missed Jay, Michelle, and Gabby (I did; I don't watch television any more): Michelle chastises one of the fittest Americans and gold medalist for "splurging" on an Egg McMuffin. I can only imagine what Michelle eats at all those state dinners. Is foie gras still legal in DC? Thank goodness for Drudge and the internet. [Splurging suggests this youngster does not eat Egg McMuffins as a rule, but even one is bad for you, I suppose, if one is to believe Michelle. Nanny state comes to mind.]

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Something Is Going Down, Folks
 

Social Security Administration stocking up on ammo. Data points:

First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing maximum damage by tearing apart internal organs.

National Weather Service stocking up on ammo.  Data points:

• 16,000 rounds of hollow-point bullets --> Ellsworth, ME; and, New Bedord, MA
• 6,000 rounds of same --> Wall, NJ; St Petersubrg, FL (wow, if only Hunter S Thompson were alive)
• 750 million rounds of various ammo; 
• US Army also busy buying similar equipment
• all in preparation for possible civil unrest in and around DNC, RNC conventions

You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowin'.

Obama: More Than One Way To Kill Fracking

Link here.

This is incredible. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to sort this out.

The Obama administration continues its war on fossil fuels, leaving virtually no stone unturned in looking for ways to slow fossil fuel production. C.J. Ciaramela reports on still more stalling shenanigans in an article at the Washington Free Beacon:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) in June re-interpreted a 50-year-old rule limiting the amount of time trucks delivering water and sand to drilling sites can stay on-site.

The rule interpretation, which was put into effect immediately, and without either review or industry input, seems to target fracking:

The new interpretation of the rule would remove a “waiting time exemption” for trucks at drilling-sites, making any time they spend on-site count toward their 11-hour work limit. Because oil and gas drilling sites are often located in remote areas, sometimes without paved roads, and because of the unpredictable nature of the work, it is often necessary for trucks to stay on-site for more than 11 hours.

Williston Development: Another $100 Million -- Oppidan Investment Company

From the Williston Herald:

As the housing crunch continues across the Williston area, one mostly commercial investment company said they saw the need for something different – residential housing.
Oppidan Investment Company is pumping more than $100 million into North Dakota’s Bakken region – including for two new apartment buildings in the area directly across from the airport, about a block off of the highway. The first of the two 36-unit apartment buildings is slated for completion in October, while the other will open early in 2013.

Note the list of active projects in western North Dakota at this link. 

Farm Aid

Link here.

President Barack Obama will announce on Monday that the Department of Agriculture intends to buy up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help support farmers suffering from the drought, a White House official said.

The food purchases will go toward "food nutrition assistance" programs, like food banks.

During a visit to Iowa, a political swing state that the Democrat hopes to win in the Nov. 6 election, Obama will press Congress to pass a farm bill with short-term relief measures for the ranchers and farmers hurt by the drought.

I have no pork in this fight.