Tuesday: Update On Samson Oil & Gas North Stockyard Project, The Bakken

Active rigs: 183

RBN Energy: an update on methanol and Valero's new initiative.

It seems like everybody and his uncle are planning new methanol production capacity in the U.S. The economics certainly are compelling.

Low natural gas prices are attracting methanol projects like a magnet, especially to the Gulf Coast; domestic and foreign demand for methanol is rising; and methanol prices are as high as they’ve been in five years.

But companies are always looking for an angle, a competitive edge, a chance to make their project the most cost-efficient—and profitable—of all. Today, in “Cheap Trick: ‘I Want You to Want Me(thanol)’”--we consider Valero Energy’s methanol initiative and its cheap trick: a plan to add 1.6 million to 1.8 million tons per annum (MMtpa) of methanol capacity for an investment of only about $700 million. That’s around half what it would normally cost.

Valero’s ace-in-the-hole? Its planned methanol plant at the company’s St. Charles refinery in Norco, Louisiana, will be fed with syngas - something every methanol plant needs - by the same process that provides hydrogen to its hydrocracker – saving the company from developing the feedstock from scratch.

Jobs in North Dakota, Bakken.com is reporting: no slowing demand for workers.

With “now hiring” signs posted throughout the Bakken, even the agency charged with filling job openings struggles to keep a full staff.

Cindy Sanford, manager of the Williston branch of Job Service North Dakota, is often looking to fill vacancies in her own office while also helping companies find workers.

Sanford began managing the branch on Nov. 1, 2011, a day that is remembered well by anyone who answered phones in Williston that day. An episode of NBC’s “30 Rock” about the jobs available in the boomtown aired the night before, prompting calls from around the country.

“It was just fanatically crazy,” Sanford said.

Although the pace is no longer as intense as it was that day, the number of people who arrive at Job Service every month has stayed fairly consistent, Sanford said. In September, 2,030 job seekers sought assistance at the Williston office, which also serves Watford City, Crosby and the surrounding communities.

“I don’t really see it slowing down a lot,” Sanford said.

Those who take the train or bus to Williston often make Job Service their first stop, sometimes with suitcases or bags in hand.

“The economy elsewhere is suffering,” Sanford said. “This is kind of their last hope.”

I might come back to this story later.

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Samson Oil & Gas

Update On The Company's North Stockyard Project

An update on North Stockyard Project, Williams County, ND -- from Yahoo!In-Play

Coopers 2-15-14HBK (SSN WI 27.7%) 
As previously reported, the Coopers well was drilled and cased to a total depth of 17,685 feet. The well will be fracture stimulated in approximately a month's time in conjunction with the Tooheys and Little Creatures wells.

Tooheys 4-15-14HBK (SSN WI 27.7%) 
Tooheys was drilled to a total depth of 18,435 feet and the production liner was run and set at a depth of 18,405 feet. Frontier Rig 24 was released on Wednesday, Oct 9th at 12:00 a.m. The rig was then skidded to Little Creatures 1-15-14HBK. Fracture stimulation operations on the Coopers 2-15-14HBK and Tooheys 4-15-14HBK wells will not start until the Little Creatures 1-15-14HBK well has been drilled to total depth.

Little Creatures 1-15-14HBK (SSN WI 27.7%)
The Little Creatures well was spudded on Oct 11th. The 9 5/8 inch surface casing was set and cemented at 2,190 feet. The rig is currently preparing to drill the 8 ? inch intermediate section. Little Creatures 1-15-14HBK is estimated to be drilled to a vertical depth of approximately 11,120 feet into the Middle Bakken and the lateral portion of the well bore will be drilled to a measured depth of approximately 19,668 feet.

Billabong 2-13-14HBK (SSN WI 24.86%) 
Key Energy Services Rig 370 is continuing workover operations on the Billabong 2-13-14HBK well. To date, the rig has successfully recovered approximately 20% of the drill pipe that was cemented in the hole. Operations will continue to remove the drill pipe using the wash-over assembly method.

Sail and Anchor 1-13-14HBK (SSN WI 25.03%) 
The Sail and Anchor well came on production September 16th following the initial post frac flowback. The well continues to flow naturally on a 24/64" choke averaging 537 bopd. The well has produced 9,700 barrels of oil over the first 17 days.

The Wall Street Journal

 "Senate leaders in striking distance of a deal." And then on to Dallas the House.

It looks like the Afghan history books will someday be writing how the Taliban defeated both the Russians and the Americans. Of course, only the Afghan boys will be reading books then.

Schools are grappling with glitches in computer tablets. That's the headline. The headline writers left off one important word: "program." There is nothing wrong with the tables; the problem is with the implementation of the program:

The Los Angeles Unified School District temporarily took back thousands of tablets from students at three high schools and required the devices to remain on-campus in all 30 schools where the effort had been rolled out. School board officials called a special meeting for Oct. 29 to assess the $50 million first phase of the program ahead of votes to fund the second and third phases.  

Los Angeles school board member Bennett Kayser said the district's initiative was "hastily planned" and several "red flags" were overlooked, such as the potential expense of lost or stolen devices and questions about the completeness of the installed curriculum software. Plus, he added, "There is no silver bullet or Superman here; technology is a tool, not an end unto itself."

State health exchanges have gained some traction, signing up 38,00 for new health care plans, with more then 100,000 new applications.

In the second section, there is a story on why the world's cheapest car, India's Tata Motors, flopped.

 Germany has thrown into turmoil a European plan to tighten carbon-dioxide limits on car emissions, as it seeks to renegotiate the plan to give its luxury auto makers more time to meet the tougher rules.

So, there it is: kind of light in news today, and no mention of Syria. Again.

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Note For The Granddaughters

The best story of the day in today's WSJ: a story on model railroading. This story was about ail enthusiasts who prefer to ride their 1/8th size steam locomotives—complete with coal-fired boilers and the requisite huffing and puffing. My story is about HO model railroading and Märklin. I collected Märklin locomotives and rolling stock when we were stationed in Germany over seven years. I probably have over 100 locomotives, most of which I have not seen, stored away for some future day.