| Date | Oil Runs | MCF Sold |
|---|---|---|
| 10-2012 | 22816 | 1077 |
| 9-2012 | 27856 | 0 |
Nissan Motor Co. said it will offer to replace some poorly performing batteries on its Leaf electric car and improve warranty coverage for the battery systems for its almost 20,000 U.S. owners.
The move comes as the Japanese automaker closes a year marked by disappointing sales and complaints by some U.S. customers about the Leaf's battery capacity.
Nissan will repair or replace lithium-ion batteries that have fallen under a specified capacity as well as expand the warranty on the battery to cover for lost capacity for the first five years or 60,000 miles.Meanwhile, regarding sales:
Nissan is falling well short of its goal of doubling Leaf sales in the company's current fiscal year, which runs through March 2013. Demand in the United States is particularly weak, with sales through November down 4.5 percent, at 8,330 cars.
Leaf is not the only electric vehicle to struggle in the U.S. General Motors' Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car has come up short of expectations, previously forcing the U.S. automaker to idle the plant that makes the car. However, Volt sales are 2 -1/2 those of the Leaf this year.
While working as a city planner in Los Angeles, Donald Kress kept fielding questions about his booming home state.
So when he saw an advertisement for a city planner in Williston, Kress decided to go where the action is.
“This is a very dynamic place if you’re a planner,” said Kress, a 49-year-old Fargo native. “Planning climates like this don’t come up that often.”
Kress worked as a technical director for community and educational theater in Fargo before deciding at age 41 to go to graduate school in California for city planning.
He then worked for six years planning subdivisions for the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, a department of 180 people.
Kress had a stable job there, but development had slowed. He interviewed for the job of principal planner for Williston, a newly created position, and began working May 29.Much, much more at the link.
Additions to gathering and processing capacity are helping with the percentage of gas flared holding at 29%. The historical high was 36% in September 2011.This is quite impressive. The percent of flaring is dropping even as a) the number of wells being drilled is going up; and, b) production of both gas and oil is increasing. One could improve the number if the NDIC increased restrictions on flaring. The NDIC has to thread the needle with regard to oil production vs flaring.
The governor’s proposed $12.8 billion budget for the coming 2013-15 biennium includes $300 million to convert two-lane highways into four-lane ones, starting with U.S. Highway 85 between Watford City and Williston, plus $142 million to help counties and townships repair truck traffic-damaged roads. Under the budget, many new state positions would be added, including more highway patrol troopers, petroleum engineers and inspectors for monitoring drilling and well sites.
In 2012, the term “fracking” overtook “climate change” in Google searches, the word “Bakken” became a hot marketing tool, an LA production company sought oil workers for a planned reality TV show and journalists from both coasts and beyond descended on the area to report on the stories of low unemployment rates and fastest-growing U.S. population here in our midst.
The skyrocketing use of natural gas to produce electricity was projected in the state, even as gas flaring estimates of 30 percent with a loss of $100 million wasted were reported.There was one word not mentioned in that story that I found interesting. At least I did not see the word and a "search" for the word came up negative. Let me check one more time....nope. The word "crime" was not mentioned.