Bully Field

Permits

2015

• 30656, PNC, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 21-5HU
• 30655, PNC, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 21-5-3H,
• 30597, IA/824, Sinclair, Ersa Federal 4-4TFH, Bully, t11/19; cum 86K 3/20; remains off line 12/20;
• 30596, IA/611, Sinclair, Ersa Federal 3-4H, Bully, t11/19; cum 67K 3/20; remains off line 12/20;
• 30463, 1,377, Whiting, Stenehjem 41-3HU, Bully, t4/15; um 135K 12/20;

2014 (list is complete)

• 30321, 1,267, Whiting, Sondrol 11-3-3H, Bully, t5/15; cum 144K 12/20;
• 30313, 1,214, Whiting, Stenehjem 41-3-3H, Bully, t4/15; cum 131K 12/20;
• 30181, PNC, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 41-5-4H,
• 30180, PNC, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 41-5-3H,

2013

• None

2012

• 24681, 1,032, Oasis, Helmer 5604 13-13H, t6/13; cum 94K 12/20;
• 24428, 830, Oasis, Torgerson RR 5604 31-27H, t7/13; cum 181K 12/20;
• 22913, PNC, Triangle Petroleum, Sveet 156-104-3-2-1H,
• 22751, 905, Oasis, Jenna 5604 13-1H, t11/12; Bull Butte, t11/12; cum 131K 12/20;
  
• 22725, PNC, Oasis, Modi 5603 43-10B,
• 22724, PNC, Oasis, Rind 5603 43-10B,

Updates

 

Original Post

It's hard to believe there are still fairly large areas in "the Bakken" that are still fairly devoid of Bakken boom activity.

In today's daily activity report, Whiting was granted two permits for Bully oil field, an oil field that has been pretty quiet to date, and an oil field that is practically smack dab in the middle of the Bakken, about 9 miles directly south of Watford City.

It is relatively rectangular in shape, just short of 40 sections (but there is a large area just south of this field not yet designated as a field, so it's possible Bully could grow larger); about 10 x 3 sections in shape, with the additional acreage to the southeast. Eight and a half (8.5) miles south of Watford City, US Highway 85 jogs slightly to the southeast; that's exactly where one enters the Bully oil field. As I write this, there is a rig to the east and one or two wells to the west that are being completed, on either side of the highway just as turns slightly to the southeast. It's also about this point, perhaps a few more miles to the south, one enters the Little Missouri National Grassland.

These are the wells/permits to date:

• 24863, 1,305, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 41-5H, t8/13; cum 59K 12/14;
• 24862, 1,374, Whiting, Gregory Wright Federal 41-5-2H, t8/13; cum 72K 12/14;
• 24275, 951, Whiting, Stenehjem 41-3-2H, t4/13; cum 64K 12/14;
• 24184, 1,726, Whiting, Sondrol 11-3-2H, t4/13; cum 73K 12/14;
• 23151, 597, Slawson, Phazor 1-1-12H, t11/13; cum 65K 12/14;
• 23083, 1,828, Whiting, Stenehjem 41-3H, t4/13; cum 66K 12/14;
• 23082, 438, Whiting, Sondrol 11-3TFH, t4/13; cum 19K 12/14;
• 23081, 1,293, Whiting, Sondrol 11-3H, t4/13; cum 57K 12/14;
• 22948, 886, True Oil, True Federal 21-16 16-21H, t11/13; cum 46K 12/14;
• 22320, PNC, Whiting, Stenehjem 21-3H,
• 22104, 541, CLR, Morison 1-14H, t7/12; cum 84K 12/14;
• 21580, 1,063, Sinclair, Ersa Federal 1-4H, t8/12; cum 103K 12/14;
• 21513, conf, Whiting/KOG, Smokey 3-6-7-14HS, minimal production; fracked with 2 stages; now back on confidential list; t2/12; cum 102K 12/14;
• 21473, 334, CLR, Linberg 1-24H, t1/12; cum 97K 12/14;
• 21234, 507, Slawson, Barnstormer Federal 1-3-10H, t1/12; cum 107K 12/14;
• 21082, 295, Hunt, Stock3 1-4-9H 1, t1/12; cum 61K 12/14;
• 20841, 2,005, BR, Taylro 31-1H, t12/11; cum 70K 12/14;
• 20829, 3,440, BR, Joel 21-2H, t1/12; cum 107K 12/14;
• 19410, 1,249, KOG, Borseth 15-22 1H, t3/11; cum 98K 12/14;
• 12984, 101/PA, Conoco, Bully Federal "A" 4, t1/91; cum 366 bbls 12/91
• 11220, 45/PA, Conoco, Bully Federal (ND) 1, a Red River well, t4/85; cum 2,829 bbls 9/92;
• 11125, 74/184/PA, Naumann Oil, State Rogness 1, Duperow/Red River, t6/97 and t11/84; cum less than 7,000 bbls total

Runaway, Del Shannon

Four (4) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs: 190 (nice)

Four (4) new permits --

• Operators: Whiting (2), Hess, MRO
  Fields: Timber Creek (McKenzie), Bully (McKenzie), Bailey (Dunn), Robinson Creek (Mountrail)
• Comments: None

There was only one well that came off the confidential list today; it was posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

One producing well that was completed:

• 22136, 2,776, BEXP, Syverson 1-12 1H,  Stony Creek, t12/12; cum --

With the second Syverson well now being reported, Stony Creek oil field has now been updated. This is an incredibly good field. Newbies should go to the link and just scroll down, note the high IPs, and some of these wells close to 100K bbls in first six months, certainly in the first year. The field is just a few miles northeast of Williston.

Fly me to the moon:
Fly Me To The Moon, Doris Day

Heidi Skeptical About the "Assault on Weapons" Ban -- Nothing About the Bakken --

Link here to Bloomberg. 

The five Democratic senators from traditionally pro-gun states who have recently expressed skepticism about the bill are Max Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine, who is caucusing with Democrats, also said he opposes a ban. 

Interestingly enough, the measures in the proposed ban -- at least the ones I am familiar with -- seem pretty "tame."

I have no dog in this fight either. I'm only commenting on it because I enjoy politics (when it doesn't send me into a depression), and this seems to be about the best political theater we will have until Congress has to raise the debt ceiling again.

The bigger point to be made: a reminder that North Dakota has the same number of senators as California. Or New York. 

I was curious: I wondered how Harry Reid would vote on this? I can't recall hearing his thoughts on the president's proposal. But if you read far enough into the linked article, you will find this:

Further dimming prospects for the assault weapon ban, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, both Democrats, voted against extending a previous ban in 2004. Neither has made any public statements since Newtown indicating that they will change their positions.

I was correct: I hadn't heard anything from Harry on this issue.

Go ahead, make my day. Dirty Harry

XOM Back On Top!

Market cap:

• XOM: about $417 billion
• AAPL: about $412 billion

From Yahoo!Finance.

Wisconson Association Wants Halt To Wind Farms

A "thank you" to a reader for sending this in. Link to The LaCrosse Tribune.

The Wisconsin Towns Association voted Monday to adopt a resolution calling on the state of Wisconsin and the Public Service Commission to enact a moratorium on the construction of industrial wind turbines "until further studies are done, solutions are found and the state's wind siting rule is modified."

The towns association cited a Dec. 28 report to the PSC by four consulting firms that found noise from the Shirley Wind Farm in Denmark, may be affecting some neighboring farms. The report recommended more testing and research.

The report is part of testimony in connection with an application to build the 41-turbine Highland wind farm in St. Croix County, in northwest Wisconsin. The PSC is expected to take up the proposal by the end of February, PSC spokesman Matt Pagel said.

It's not politically correct to say that wind farms have no redeeming features, but no one has been able to convince me otherwise.

Top North Dakota Oil Producers Going Back to 1951 -- 60 Years Of Production

Link to Minot Daily News.

• Hess: 327,465,899 bbls
• Whiting: 173,796,212
• Denbury: 140,381,459
• CLR: 130,205,244
• Petro-Hunt: 123,800,580
• BR: 113,970,838
• Amerada Hess: 112,393,684
• EOG: 76,871,597
• SM Energy: 75,180,729
• Enduro Operating: 57,738,630
• Sequel Energy: 45,051,477
• Citation: 33,792,002
• XTO: 30,837,723
• MRO: 30,409,533
• Texaco: 29,172,952
• Slawson: 25,953,934
• Murex: 25,860,050
• BEXP: 23,269,391
• Encore: 22,377,313
• Williston Hunter ND: 19,375,707

Again, note: this goes back to 1951 when oil was first discovered in North Dakota, and that's why the top 20 does not include some well-known Bakken names, for example: KOG, Oasis.

Williston Wire

Headlines but no links. It is easy to subscribe to The Williston Wire.

Update on plans to annex 897 acres north of Williston.

The Williston Wire provides the top 20 operators and their cumulative production of oil in North Dakota, going back 60 years. A separate stand-alone post will be shown soon.

Takeaway: spokesman suggests that the combined pipeline and rail takeaway capacity for North Dakota crude oil will reach 1,538,000 bbls per day by the end of this year (2013). By the end of 2016, capacity is projected to reach 2,123,000 bpd.

Hess commits to $2.2 billion in the Bakken. Divided by $12 million/well --> about 185 wells. Hess has 16 rigs on the active rig list; 16 x 12 months --> 192 wells. [Comment: generally, the companies get around to drilling most of the wells they permit in the current boom within a few months. So, how does "185" compare to past years? In 2012, Hess was issued 213 permits in North Dakota. In 2011: 158. In 2010: 143.] [Summary of annual permits at this post.]

New wellness center to open soon in Watford City.

NDIC Approves Hess Request For Drilling In Killdeer Mountains

Link here to The Bismark Tribune.

Hess is proposing drilling up to eight wells on a spacing unit approximately five miles southwest of Medicine Hole, a site considered sacred to Native Americans. The site also is about three miles west of the Killdeer Mountain Battlefield Historic Site.

There will be conditions. 

It looks like the area under question is in the Little Knife/Jim Creek oil field region, possibly near section 1-145-97 or section 36-146-97.

Mike Filloon: Part III -- Bakken Update, 2013

Bakken update, 2013, part III: Mike Filloon, SeekingAlpha.com.

Part I, January 13, 2013
Part II, January 22, 2013

Comment at earlier post.

A couple data points from most recent post:

Kodiak is growing production quickly, and proved itself as a top notch operator. Well costs will have a significant impact in 2013. Proppant costs are down 40%. Water costs have also pulled back to 50 cents/bbl from 75 cents in 2012. Service costs are down and infrastructure is being built.

All of this has contributed to lower well costs. More importantly it has allowed Kodiak to expand its well design. Specifically, it has increased proppant and water. In the deepest parts of the Basin, Kodiak is using 100% ceramic proppant. The increased use of water and proppant produces much better IP rates. It leads to a decreased depletion, and higher EURs. Kodiak's uses the best of everything when drilling and completing wells. This is why its numbers continue to be some of the best in the Bakken. The well results below will show an improvement in Kodiak well design, which is better than in 2012. It is also better than most of its competitors.

And this:

Burlington Resources second well is a great completion. This well used more water than any other in this article. This includes wells with laterals 4000 feet longer. Water amounts are just as important as the type and amount of proppant, but it is the mix that optimizes recoveries. Some companies utilize HiWay fracs, which use less water and proppant. There has been some success, but in general the more water and proppant the better the EURs. Conoco has done a nice job with its well design over the past year. Well refinement should continue to lead to better returns. Denbury continues to lag other operators in the basin, but its specialty is EOR.

Friday Morning Links -- Apple Selling Ten iOS Devices (Phones, Tablets) Every Second

Union Center oil field has been updated.

Abuse of power: the president's "recess" appointments are/were illegal.  

Wow, wow, wow! The Democratic Senate does not have enough Democratic votes to pass the president's "assault on weapons" ban.

WTI/Bakken spread: $3.25 at Clearbrook, MN -- no change for several days.

Earnings: HAL surpassed expectations, and shares are surging pre-market

RBN Energy: return to sender -- natural gas pipelines in northeast US reversing flow; sending natural gas back to Canada; no longer needed in the US.

Active rigs: 188

It looks like another nice day for the market (I hope President Obama has not scheduled speeches on the economy); several companies I follow will hit new highs; others will trend higher, flirting with all-time highs. Good luck to all.

WSJ Links

Section M (Mansion): didn't read

Section D (Arena): 

To mark the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, novelists, moviemakers and scholars are releasing a flood of new homages to cash in on the bottomless appetite for all things Austen. I went through a Jane Austen phase some years ago.

Sports page: a must read -- The Truth About Te'o's Truth. And it ends with one of my favorite tag lines -- "you cannot make this up."

Section C (Money & Investing): nothing except another article on Apple which I did not read. All I can think -- the pros are playing the retail investor like a fiddle. It's actually quite fascinating to watch.

Section B (Marketplace): rush to natural gas has coal-fired utilities seeing red.

Another article on the Dreamliner, and two men who bet big on it: Jim McNerney (Boeing's chairman and CEO since 2005) and Alan Mulally, now Ford/CEO. Mulally oversaw the plane's conception and early development as head of Boeing's commercial airplanes division before departing to Ford in 2006. An interesting read. But the tea leaves certain suggest a design flaw: batteries prone to catching fire being carried on commercial aircraft. Paraphrasing the government's spokesperson, yesterday,  involved in the grounding of the Dreamliner: "Fire on planes is not something we like to see." Lithium batteries, by their very nature, are more likely to catch fire than "conventional" batteries. See the science behind lithium batteries.

And there it is, on page B2: US sees extended 787 inquiry. I am often accused of (and plead guilty to) hyperbole, but I do believe this is going to be a real fine balancing act for regulators to allow lithium batteries on commercial aircraft. I suppose a fail-safe fire-suppressant (not fire-retardant) system might be a solution.

Also, another article on the iPhone. ATT activated 8.6 million iPhones in the fourth quarter. That is not trivial.

The iPhone ended the year with a blowout quarter in the U.S. market. But underneath the big numbers at the largest U.S. carriers are signs Apple Inc.  faces a rapidly changing marketplace that could erode its dominance.

AT&T Inc.  said Thursday it activated 8.6 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, while selling a total of 10.2 million smartphones. The popularity of the iPhone at the No. 2 carrier echoed a report this week from market leader Verizon Wireless, which said about two-thirds of the 9.8 million smartphones it activated in the fourth quarter were Apple devices.

Those results support recent surveys that show the iPhone remains the country's most popular smartphone. But Apple may have to do more to persuade shoppers to buy its priciest models.

No mention of the Apple ecosystem in the article, at least as far as I read. 

Microsoft playing catch-up: profit falls almost 4% -- Windows 8 gets off to a slow start. And this speaks volumes: "Microsoft didnt' disclose sales figures for Surface, the company's first homegrown computing device released in late October. UBS recently cut its estimate of Surface sales by 1 million units for the quarter ended Dec. 31."

How does a million Surface tablets compare to Apple's iPad?

Sales of the iPad also jumped, from 15.4 million in last year's quarter to 22.9 million in this year's. Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones, up significantly from last year's 37 million.Apple sold a total of 75 million iOS devices during the quarter. That breaks down to about 833,000 per day, or about 10 every second. 

Apple has a blow-out, record quarter; Microsoft's profit falls almost 4 percent. CNBC crawler suggesting that Bill Gates may return to the company. Later, a talking head suggests MSFT could cut prices on the Surface.

Starbucks enjoys sales jolt from its US, China stores. Link may require subscription. Profit umps 13% as company maintains growth where others have stumbled.

Nokia will scrap its dividend for the first time in 20 years.

Samsung rides phone wave; profit soars 76% but faces same worries as rival Apple.

Section A:
Op-ed: the real Obama climate deal -- LNG exports could be tied to a carbon tax. That's fine: the tax will be passed on to the consumer. Investors will do fine.

The Keystone XL objections wither away, but approval still iffy. Looks like the link is blocked without a subscription.

This is quite incredible: Spain's jobless rate hits 26% amid austerity -- no mention of the wind industry that has been scuttled by Spain. Wind was an expensive luxury; no redeeming features. The link appears to be blocked without a subscription.

Other links

It's all about spectrum:

AT&T Inc  said on Friday it has agreed to buy wireless airwaves from Verizon Wireless for $1.9 billion in cash, plus spectrum licenses in five markets, as it looks to expand its wireless network capacity.

AT&T said the licenses it is buying cover a population of 42 million people in 18 U.S. states.

From SeekingAlpha.com: ATT.

Interesting: CTL is now trading up (in the green). It started down (in the red) earlier this morning, but turned green after the ATT announcement: as noted -- it's all about spectrum.

Miscellaneous

I have never watched a full episode of the "new" Hawaii 5-0. I tried watching a couple of episodes but neither measured up to the "old" Hawaii 5-0 that I remember from years ago.  Lately I've been watching reruns of the "old" Hawaii 5-0 and I am still impressed. The "old" is not old.