Twelve (12) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs: 183

Twelve (12) new permits --

• Operators: EOG (4), Halcon (3), Whiting (2), Emerald (2), Petro-Hunt
• Fields: Juniper (McKenzie), Climax (Williams), Marmon (Williams), Parshall (Mountrail), Charlson (McKenzie), Sanish (Mountrail), Boxcar Butte (McKenzie)
• Comments: an odd assortment of locations

Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Three (3) producing wells were completed:

• 23049, 334, CLR, Chicago 4-26RH, Banks, t5/13; cum 26K 6/13; Three Forks, I believe
• 24042, 730, SM Energy, Didrick 4-27HB, Siverston, t7/13; cum 8K 6/13;
• 25217, 1,949, Whiting, Hansen 21-20H, Sanish, t7/13; cum -- 

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Another incredible song:

That Don't Make It Junk, Leonard Cohen
But this one is downright Dylanesque:

I Tried To Leave You, Leonard Cohen

From wiki: In concert, a prolonged "I Tried to Leave You" was sometimes used to introduce the band. The 14-minute rendition from the 1985 Montreux Jazz Festival even featured extra lines given to the backup singers.

I guess I'm in a Cohen-state-of-mind tonight.

Yes, Ernie, There Is A War On Coal -- Talk To Your Boss

Bloomberg is reporting:

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told reporters earlier this month that "there is no war on coal."

Read it as you like — as a true statement, or as exactly what you'd expect someone to say who's waging a war on coal. Either way, political warfare is preceding literal explosions, as utilities count demolition and redevelopment as options in a future projected to have reduced reliance on coal, the carbon-based fuel most dangerous to the climate.

Coal-fired power plants, particularly in the United States, are struggling to stave off two major offensives, from markets and governments. Abundant, inexpensive natural gas has made coal-burning less efficient. Government regulation — including U.S. limits on mercury pollution and potential rules on carbon dioxide pollution — can increase operating costs. "To me, that's kind of a vise that's gripping the utility industry on two sides," said Richard Martin, editorial director of Navigant Research.

For these reasons, many coal plants will close in the next several years, according to a Navigant Research report published last week. Engineering, demolition and remediation companies stand to win what's expected to be more than $400 million in revenue this year from coal-plant decommissioning in North America, the Eurozone and the U.K. That revenue stream will top out at more than $1.2 billion in 2016, the study projects, before easing back down as the number of old coal-plants declines.

I particularly enjoyed the headline:

'War on Coal' Gains Steam Amid Wars on Terror, Crime, Drugs, Science, Christmas 

It's my impression we are starting to see some "honest" reporting in the liberal press. We had the recent Clinton Foundation story in the NYT as one example, and then the story of the AP reporter asking whether the President's response to the civil war in Egypt was worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. 

Back on the net ...

....  read this story to get a better understanding why employers will move employees to part-time and seasonal under O'BamaCare.

As long as I'm off-topic and getting ready for a long session of blogging on the Bakken, note that Atlanta, Georgia, often known as "Hot-lanta," set a new record yesterday:

Atlanta's high temperature on Thursday was only 73 degrees which is the coolest high temperature on record for August 15.

The previous record was a high of only 77 degrees from 1908.

Again, this was not a "coldest record" in a decade of 100 years, but the coldest August 15th on record, for Atlanta. Just saying.

The Christian Science Monitor also noted the same thing: cold in Atlanta, and wondering why. The jet stream.

Continuing the digression, I often say that under President O'Bama the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' continues to widen. Wal-Mart statistics seem to support this contention. Yahoo!News is reporting:

You're seeing a bit of a split economy where that lower income consumer has been under a lot of pressure but the higher end is doing OK," said Joe Feldman, a senior research director at the Telsey Advisory Group. "You're seeing borrowing is increasing actually for auto loans, for house loans. There is capacity to spend, but it's the high end that's getting that lending to spend. It's really the lower end where you're seeing a lot of pressure." 

Cher said it best:

“I've been been rich, I've been poor. Rich is better. I've been young, I've been old. Young is better.”

Currently, 2,029 Wells On The Confidential List

The highest number of wells on the confidential list that I have seen is 2,117 (I don't recall when that was) since I started blogging four or five years ago (the original blog was deleted, and re-started back in 2009, I believe). I'm losing track of time.

Currently, there are 2,029 wells on the confidential list.

It looks like we will see a record number of wells coming off the confidential list for the month of September, next month when 186 wells will come off the confidential list.

Then, in October, another record: 199.

And, looking a bit farther into the future, it looks like we might see an all-time record for the number of wells coming off the confidential list for any month when 206 wells come off the confidential list in January, 2014. Compare that to 154 in January, 2013 (one year earlier).

Although the number will creep up over time, in a Director's Cut just a few months ago, it was said that only 90 wells/month are needed to come off the confidential list to maintain production (if I am reading the comments correctly).

I update these numbers periodically in the box at the sidebar at the right.

Eleven (11) New Permits Yesterday -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

I forgot to post this last night. Sorry.

Active rigs: 182 (down)

Eleven (11) new permits --

• Operators: True Oil (4), Zavanna (3), Petro-Hunt (2), Murex, American Eagle
• Fields: Springbrook (Williams), Bowline (McKenzie), Charlson (McKenzie), Writing Rock (Divide)
• Comments: American Eagle has a permit for a wildcat in Divide County; it is "fun" to go back and read about Bowline oil field now that True Oil has several new permits for this oil field.

Wells coming off the confidential list are up to date; see sidebar at the right.

One producing well was completed:

• 25180, 1,630, Whiting, Crane Creek 14-16H, Sanish

Oil Spikes To $108; The President Parties On Martha's Vineyard

I track the WTI-Brent spread here.

August 16, 2013: At Bloomberg energy, Brent - $110.04; WTI - $107.75. Spread: $2.29.

Bakken and WTI close to parity. 

Based on comments I see elsewhere, I think some folks have forgotten how good things have gotten for the Bakken. From earlier this year; remember Bakken was selling at a discount to WTI at this time: 

• February 15, 2013:  At Bloomberg energy, Brent - $117; WTI - $95. Spread: $22. 
• February 11, 2013:  At Bloomberg energy, Brent - $118; WTI - $97. Spread: $21. 
• February 6, 2013:  At Bloomberg energy, Brent - $118; WTI - $97. Spread: $21.
• February 5, 2013:  At Bloomberg energy, Brent - $117; WTI - $97. Spread: $20.

I haven't watched television (except for NASCAR races at the Sports Restaurant) for the past two months (has it been that long), so I have no clue what CNBC is saying about the price of oil, but I have seen almost nothing in the print media or on the internet. Gasoline is solidly at $4.00/gallon and oil is solidly at $110 and the world keeps moving along.

Remember, most Bakken operators can make money at $40/bbl oil. They won't make much money, but they will keep drilling. At $60/bbl they do nicely. Over $100, they can start to get into trouble due to derivatives, hedges if there are glitches in production or transportation.

Incredible Hypocrisy -- Ecuador To Open The Amazon To Drilling

Ecuador -- this was the country that (fraudulently) sued Chevron for environmental concerns. Having lost that case (although there are remnants of the case that could still pop up), the country is now opening the Amazon to drilling. But that's only the beginning.

Apparently Al Gore couldn't get his cronies to save the Amazon.

Reuters is reporting:

Ecuador will open up part of the Amazon rainforest to oil drilling after rich nations failed to back a conservation plan that would have paid the country not to explore in the area, President Rafael Correa said on Thursday.

Correa launched the initiative in 2007 to protect the Yasuni area of the Amazon basin, which boasts some of the planet's most diverse wildlife, but said he had now scrapped it after it attracted only a small fraction of the sum it aimed to raise.

"I have signed the executive decree for the liquidation of the Yasuni-ITT trust fund and through it, end the initiative," Correa said in a televised address. ITT refers to three untapped oil blocks known collectively as Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini.

And so it goes. The hypocrisy never ends. The forests alone would have been a great CO2 sink to help prevent global warming (which, of course, everyone knows, has been on "pause" for 15 years).

Wells Coming Off Confidential List Friday; 4/6 On DRL Status; Other Links

Active rigs: 182

Wells coming off confidential list today:

• 23313, 1,441, WPX, Good Bird 36-25HW, Moccasin Creek, t5/13; cum 32K 6/13;
• 24585, drl, Hunt, Bear Butte 1-6-7H, Little Tank, no production data,
• 24591, 268, American Eagle, Myrtle 2-1-163-101, Colgan, t5/13; cum 12K 6/13;
• 24654, drl, SM Energy, Hartel 1-26HA, Siverston, no production data,
• 24658, drl, CLR, Farver 3-29H2, Hamlet, no production data,
• 24852, drl, XTO, Rolfson 11X-16E, Siverston, looks like a nice well

RBN Energy: an interesting post on another pipeline that has been reversed. Unlikely that anyone would have guessed; most probably did not even know about it. I did not. Another great RBN Energy post.

Re-posting photo gallery of the Bakken. These photos have been previously posted.

Wow: Marcellus natural gas production rising much faster than experts predicted just one year ago. Rigzone is reporting:

Marcellus Shale natural gas production is rising even faster this year than energy experts had predicted, and that's having a national impact on energy.

Bentek, a Colorado company that analyzes energy trends, said 2013 production in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is up about 50 percent compared with last year. Figures for the pipelines that take gas out of the Marcellus show that in the first six months of the year, Pennsylvania produced about 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, with projections for a year-end total of about 3.2 trillion cubic feet.

That yearly number translates into the equivalent of about 550 million barrels of oil.

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WSJ Links

Egypt is the big story. Two things stick out: a) President Obama's commitment to the Islamists when their back is against the wall, as he is said to have written in his book; and, b) the Egyptian Army dithering, allowing the Muslim Brotherhood time to regroup and re-arm. Military coups do not succeed when they do not follow through.

If you have not seen it, this would be a great time to watch Ben Affleck's Argo. I watched it for the first time and was really, really impressed. My wife saw it when it first came out and said I would enjoy it. It was bittersweet for me: I worked for one of the American hostages years later. And over the years, I met a lot of state department folks serving in foreign embassies. I have incredible respect for them, especially those in North Africa and the Mideast. Apparently the six Americans who escaped the hostage ordeal with the help of the Canadians returned to work in the foreign service. President Carter had a speaking part in the movie. Only disappointment: it was noted that the hostages were released on January 20, 1981, and the name "Reagan" appears nowhere in the movie.

I did not know this. Remember that law "No Child Left Behind." How many states have waivers? Forty. When is a law not a law? When "everyone" is waivered. I am amazed. Forty states have waivers for "No Child Left Behind." The WSJ is reporting that three states might actually lose their waivers (Kansas, Oregon, and Washington). The article was pretty lousy; the comments saw the same thing I noted.

I guess HHS will do the same thing for O'BamaCare: waiver anything that is not delayed. Sorry. Maybe it isn't HHS. Maybe it's the IRS. I'm confused: who has the lead on O'BamaCare? I think the IRS will enforce it. I think the HHS provides the waivers. President O'Bama provides the exemptions and special favors.

Ya gotta love this. This is the headline: Philadelphia Schools To Open On Time. That's front section news. Sad. The school district got a $50 million cash infusion at the last minute, apparently. One more reason they aren't going to stop fracking in this state. See story posted above on how much natural gas is being produced from the Marcellus.

More and more Christie appears to be a RINO, but he is laying out a GOP revival plan. The Tea Party would be a great place to start.

 Lots of international news, but not one story on Syria. Whatever happened to Syria?

Pretty weak WSJ today.