Snapshot: Status Of the 2012 Permits -- As Of December 1, 2013

This will be updated on an irregular basis until all permits have been "executed" for 2012: either producing, canceled, or abandoned. Updated December 31, 2012.

But as of December 31, 2012, some random data points for the 2012 permits.  [A tally of the 2011 permits can be found here.]

Permits from January 2, 2012 to December 31, 2012:

Permits: #22171 - #24692
2,521 total oil and gas permits (this does not include salt water disposal well permits)

• 1,781 wells have a reported "IP" -- initial production 
• 368 wells are on confidential status; generally that means the wells have at least been spudded
• 144 permits are shown as PNC -- "permit now canceled"
• 88 wells are on "DRL" status: generally that means the wells have reached total depth, and waiting to be fracked; we will be seeing more and more of this with multi-well pad drilling
• 66 wells are "LOC" -- permitted, but no further action
• 47 permits are shown as producing wells, but still on the confidential list
• 18 wells were reported as "DRY"
• 5 wells are listed as "WI" -- water injected
• 4 wells were TA (2), PA (1), or IA (1) (often IA wells come back on-line) [temporarily abandoned, permanently abandoned, inactive]

(Adds up to 2,521 permits.)

Note: there may be errors in the tabulations (obviously there is at least one). It is based on my database taken from NDIC daily activity reports. In addition, this was done in between helping the granddaughters with Thanksgiving centerpieces. 

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Of the 2,521 permits, 143 permits were canceled by the operator

Of the 2,521 permits, 70 locations still show no activity; permits only.

Not all 2,521 permits were Bakken wells. I suppose about 30 were non-Bakken/Three Forks wells (e.g., Madison, Red River, Spearfish).

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The IPs ranged from a high of 5,417 bbls to a low of 5 bbls (a Madison well).

Of the top 20 "IP" wells: Statoil/BEXP (11); Whiting (4), Oasis (3), Murex (1), BR (1).

IPs:

• Greater than 5,000 bbls: 3 wells
• 4,000 to 4,999 bbls: 14
• 3,000 to 3,999 bbls: 51
• 2,000 to 2,999 bbls: 252
• 1,000 to 1,999 bbls: 422
• 750 to 999 bbls: 237
• 500 to 749 bbls: 306
• 250 to 499 bbls:  274

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So,

• 420 wells are still on confidential status
• 96 wells are still on "DRL" status
• 70 wells are still "LOC"
• 63 permits are currently shown as producing wells, but still on the confidential list

.... adds up to 649 wells yet to report IPs for permits issued in 2012. 

(Obviously, these numbers will change over the weekend but this gives us some idea where things stand.)

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Of the original 2,521 permits, 143 permits were canceled (5.7%).

The 649 wells yet to report IPs represents (25.7%).

So, we are almost to the end of calendar year 2013, and almost a quarter of permitted wells (not including PNC) have yet to report.