Tuesday: Lease Sales Results Posted; Wildcatters Having Trouble Financing Operations In The Bakken

Active rigs: 183

RBN Energy: crude oil and diluent midstream hubs in Edmonton and Hardisty, western Canadian oil sands.

Crude oil and diluent pipelines running through the two largest Canadian marketing and transportation hubs at Hardisty and Edmonton in Alberta have current capacity of 3.9 MMb/d. That will double to 8 MMb/d by 2018 if currently planned projects are completed. Getting the resultant expanding flows of crude and diluent in and out of Alberta via these hubs poses the same challenge that Gulf Coast operators are facing from the flood of crude descending on them from the US and Canada. Today we begin a new series detailing midstream Canadian terminal operations at Hardisty and Edmonton.

November, 2013, lease sales results for North Dakota posted.

From Rigzone, less concern about fracking.

The often controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing appears to be gaining acceptance, according to a new survey released Monday.

The survey, conducted by the Robert Morris University Polling Institute, showed that of the people who had an opinion about fracking one way or the other, 56 percent supported it, while 44 percent were against it.

Support among those whose who supported it remained constant even for fracking within the locality where they lived.

The Wall Street Journal

The sanctions really were working. No wonder John Kerry and President Obama were  so anxious to ease sanctions. Iran's gas company faces collapse. Iran's national gas company said it is facing collapse, the latest sign of deepening economic distress from internatinal sanctions as Tehran seeks urgent relief in talks with world powers. Well, excuse me, it's not like Iran doesn't know what it has to do to have sanctions lifted. Quit whining.

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As oil slumps, wilcatter struggles with shale debt. 

Floyd C. Wilson, chairman and chief executive of Halcón Resources Corp., was a pioneer in finding oil and gas in shale formations.

His previous company, Petrohawk Energy Corp., discovered the prolific Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and became a Wall Street darling before being acquired by BHP Billiton Ltd. BHP.AU -0.13% in 2011. But analysts and investors have become concerned about Halcón's ability to find enough oil and gas to pay for aggressive drilling and production plans. Mr. Wilson and others now must struggle to convince investors they can find finance their expansion from revenues.

Mr. Wilson's troubles underscore a shift among investors and Wall Street analysts. Until recently, Wall Street was willing to back energy companies that promised rapid growth and planned to assemble oil and gas fields to sell, at a premium, to larger companies, which has been Mr. Wilson's forte.