Re-Fracking In The Bakken; Case Studies With MRO

Updates

Other Re-Entry Wells

• 16580, CLR, J. H. Skarphol 1-31H, Burke; Stoneview, re-entered the Bakken, 11/12; IP: 544, cum 97K 9/16; 320-acre spacing;

Original Post

 

This is a long post and it might be a bit hard to understand, but I am incredibly proud of this. Back in 2011, I came up with a list of 25 MRO wells that might be candidates for re-fracking.

I had completely forgotten about. Then a reader, tonight, sent me a note about an MRO well that was refracked.

Here's my post tonight on that subject.

*********************************

I opined not too long ago (I can't find the most recent post) that there are still debates whether re-fracks "will work" in the Bakken, and if so, how effective they will be. A reader sent in another example.

For background to this story:

• August 17, 2012:  MRO and re-fracks/re-fracking
• December 18, 2011: re-fracking wells in the Bakken
• July 31, 2011: list of 25 MRO wells that might be candidates for re-fracking

A reader sent me this note:

16729, 348, MRO, Vihon 44-8H, this was a single-stage frack. MRO went in to re-frack and damaged the casing so the well was shut down for several months until they got it fixed; t11/07; cum 299K 9/16;

So, what's the story?

This well was originally spud and completed, as a one-stage frack, back in 2007.

It was subsequently re-fracked in 2011/2012, but ran into some difficulties before everything was "fixed."

Read the following production tables from bottom to top.

Following the one-stage frack, the well was spud/fracked with one stage back in November, 2011:

BAKKEN	7-2008	31	3954	4032	1655	1802	1802	0
BAKKEN	6-2008	30	4349	4643	1536	1911	1911	0
BAKKEN	5-2008	31	4578	4110	1231	2133	2133	0
BAKKEN	4-2008	27	3840	3625	1765	1702	1702	0
BAKKEN	3-2008	27	2676	2837	965	131	131	0
BAKKEN	2-2008	29	3593	3865	1471	232	232	0
BAKKEN	1-2008	31	4530	4508	1813	742	742	0
BAKKEN	12-2007	27	5453	5385	2202	158	158	0
BAKKEN	11-2007	21	6155	5633	2854	0	0	0

Then, the re-fracked the well, sometime around the re-frack in late 2011/early 2012; the results were not good; they had problems, sort of unrelated to the re-frack per se:

BAKKEN	6-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2012	1	0	0	0	3	3	0
BAKKEN	1-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2011	7	209	475	27	165	129	5
BAKKEN	11-2011	30	1203	1160	232	907	690	37
BAKKEN	10-2011	31	1264	1138	262	955	720	52

Once they got everything fixed:

BAKKEN	4-2013	30	6898	7191	2312	2942	2452	310
BAKKEN	3-2013	31	11101	11206	3746	4206	3361	659
BAKKEN	2-2013	7	3126	2767	1055	483	364	80
BAKKEN	1-2013	3	0	0	0	12	11	0
BAKKEN	12-2012	31	4645	4848	1569	1483	1260	43
BAKKEN	11-2012	30	11190	11629	3793	3898	3152	570
BAKKEN	10-2012	11	2487	1678	298	364	107	204

When originally posted, the well was producing about 5,000 bo per month.

Current status:

•  16729, 348, MRO, Vihon 44-8H, Bailey, t11/07; cum 299K 9/16;

There are several story lines here.

• The most important is the fact that folks like me will never know about these re-fracked wells if folks don't share their stories. 
• The second story is, of course, all the wells that might be candidates for re-fracking.
• A third story: the more success stories we have, the more "we" will know whether re-fracking is worthwhile or not. It certainly looks like it might be. 
• A fourth story: this changes the decline rates significantly, doesn't it?
• A fifth story: did EURs factor in these re-fracks?

Finally, and this is the coolest thing I've done all day. Back on July 31, 2011, I came up with a list of 25 MRO wells that were candidates for re-fracking. Some were; most weren't (not yet). But, as one example, I suggested that the following well was a candidate for re-fracking (and it was re-fracked):

• 17216, 327, MRO, Alfred Hansen 24-11H,  Bailey, t2/09; cum 124K 10/13;

This well was re-fracked some time in early 2012, note:

BAKKEN	7-2012	20	4757	4450	4468	803	476	218
BAKKEN	6-2012	9	18	0	0	66	0	12
BAKKEN	5-2012	29	4110	3922	3565	1194	462	559
BAKKEN	4-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	3-2012	27	3093	3184	3711	934	516	256
BAKKEN	2-2012	11	2445	2392	77	178	59	53
BAKKEN	1-2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2011	14	356	464	228	191	110	16
BAKKEN	11-2011	30	877	931	553	492	276	36
BAKKEN	10-2011	31	934	903	615	510

I am absolutely thrilled. I had this well, the Alfred Hansen on my list of 25 candidates for re-fracking. This was re-fracked. I'm sure there were others. I just don't have time to go through them all.

There is a lot of talk of CO2 EOR right now, but folks, there's a lot of work to do before we get to EOR. To begin with, there are 60,000 (or more) wells that need to be drilled (at 2,000/year). And that's just the middle Bakken and upper Three Forks. Add in in the lower benches of the Three Forks. Then re-fracking all the early wells that were fracked with one stage. Then, work-over of those wells that were adequately fracked but have deteriorated for some reason. Yes, as a laboratory it's nice to see folks testing CO2 EOR and water flooding, but there's plenty of work to do before we get to that.

Active Rigs -- Idle Chatter

I'm really impressed with this graphic:

	12/23/2013	12/23/2012	12/23/2011	12/23/2010	12/23/2009
Active Rigs	189	187	197	162	78

I know I will get the usual feedback that the raw data doesn't tell the real story, that some of these rigs are drilling salt water wells, etc. But, still, each well represents activity in the North Dakota oil patch. Imagine the temperatures these rough necks are working in. A reader wrote to tell me it was thirty degrees below zero this morning in Williston. According to Weatherspark that was about right: the graph shows it got down to a minus 28 degrees at 9: 00 a.m. this morning.

******************************

A Note to the Granddaughters

Tomorrow, it's going to be a warm 25 degrees above zero in Williston. That's a 50-degree swing in 24 hours. Quite incredible.

I can't say I miss the weather, but I have so many wonderful memories of growing up in Williston, and many of those memories include very, very cold weather.

I remember all the nights walking home from school after wrestling, when it was already very dark, and very cold. The snow has a very distinct, unusual crispness when it's 40 degrees below zero.

By the way, speaking of wrestling, I remember "starving," getting down to 95 pounds from my natural weight of 115 pounds. I remember two things about losing weight: a) sucking on lemons; and, b) Tab.

Tab was introduced in 1963 (according to wiki) but I was not aware of it until I started wrestling in 1965 or thereabouts.

So, Monday through Thursday, or maybe Friday, I "starved" myself to make weight. Then on Friday or Saturday I had a wrestling meet. If the meet was out of town, I got home well after everyone had gone to bed, but mom always had a full steak dinner waiting for me when I got home. Once a week, either Friday or Saturday, I had a real meal -- all through the winter months in North Dakota.

Anyway, enough of this, a reader just sent me an interesting case study of an MRO re-frack.

But I'm still impressed with the fact there are 189 active rigs in North Dakota right now, two more than there were one year ago at this time, and almost as many as during 2011 when records were being set.

Eleven (11) New Permits -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA; Whiting Will Drill Near A Monster Madison Well In North Elkhorn Ranch

Active rigs: 189

Eleven (11) new permits --

• Operators: Whiting (4), Baytex (4), KOG (3)
• Fields: Estes (McKenzie), Whiteaker (Divide), Blooming Prairie (Divide), South Fork (Dunn), North Elkhorn Ranch (Billings), Ray (Williams)
• Comments: Whiting's North Elkhorn Ranch well will be located practically next to #9772; see below

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

Flashback (track monster wells here):

• 9772, 1,128/PNA, Whiting, North Elkhorn Ranch Unit 2101 a Madison well, t10/82; cum 1.1 million bbls 7/12; this well produced for about 30 years; it is located 627 feet FNL and 644 FWL, in section 21-144-101. 

The new Whiting well:

• 27328, loc, Whiting, Neru 2102X, will be located 639 feet FNL and 676 feet FWL, section 21-144-101 (a few feet southeast of the current PNA Madison well.

Wells coming off the confidential list Tuesday:

• 24613, 2,136, Oasis, Toby 5200 43-20T, Camp, t8/13; cum 31K 10/13;
• 24632, 1,880, Oasis, Oreo Federal 5300 24-25T, Willow Creek, t10/13; cum 11K 10/13;
• 25125, 90, Oasis, Robuck 6093 13-1T, Gros Ventre, t11/13; cum --
• 25136, 1,180, Oasis, Beth 5792 13-3B, Cottonwood, t9/13; cum 13K 10/13;
• 25319, 1,969, Oasis, Christa 5393 12-9B, Sanish, t7/13; cum 34K 10/13;
• 25320, 2,009, Oasis, Kray 5393 12-9T, Sanish, t7/13; cum 40K 10/13;
• 25438, 2,972, BR, CCU Bison Point 44-34MBH, Corral Creek, unitized, t91/3; cum 14K 10/13;

******************************

 24613, see above, Oasis, Toby 5200 43-20T, Camp:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	1857	699
9-2013	13217	14989
8-2013	16197	15970

24632, see above, Oasis, Oreo Federal 5300 24-25T, Willow Creek:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	10645	11566

25319, see above, Oasis, Christa 5393 12-9B, Sanish:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	7790	548
9-2013	8835	390
8-2013	11831	108
7-2013	5160	8

25320, see above, Oasis, Kray 5393 12-9T, Sanish:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2013	9462	1071
9-2013	11061	703
8-2013	14108	271
7-2013	5415	12

The US Propane Shortage In The Winter, 2013 - 2014; The Story Behind The Price Spike In Propane; Merry Christmas -- Half Of US Already Covered In Snow -- Sets Record

Updates

February 8, 2014: the government steps in. Orders EPD to prioritize propane shipments to the midwest.

February 7, 2014: human toll due to propane shortage; human interest story out of Missouri. The Los Angeles Times is reporting:

KNOB NOSTER, Mo. — From a bay window in her home on the prairie, Angela Hostetler stares out at the six huge chicken barns out back. They hold 156,000 chickens, and when she and her husband, Mardy, purchased the farm two years ago, it seemed like a good investment.

But this year, the Hostetlers are struggling. That's because their barns, which must be kept at 85 degrees to keep young chickens warm, are heated by 12 1,000-gallon tanks of propane, which are now covered in icy snow.

Propane prices have tripled this year, and the Hostetlers have stopped using propane to heat their home. Now they plug in electric space heaters to counter the 15-degree cold in this unusually brutal winter.

Still, their last propane bill was $26,000, and that covered just a month of fuel. Because of the cold, they've been using more fuel than usual to keep the barns warm. The Hostetlers estimate they'll spend at least $70,000 on propane this winter. Last year's tally: $30,000.

"It's really scary, you don't know how you're going to pay for it," said Hostetler. "It makes you panic when you get those bills." She says the family has considered taking out a loan to pay for propane.

Original Post

For background to this story, see also:

• January 23, 2014, The Duluth News, after the original post; no mention of the Cochin pipeline
• January 22, 2014, The Dickinson Press, after the original post
• November 11, 2013: propane shortage for farmers
• November 29, 2013: the propane story gets more and more interesting

Regular readers saw this coming. I knew some of the story but not all of it.

Now this story sent in by a reader fills in some of the background why propane prices are spiking. The AP via Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

Several states in the upper Midwest are dealing with significantly higher prices for propane because of a supply problem caused by a late harvest, persistent very cold temperatures and the temporary shutdown of a major supply pipeline.

The problem began in October and November when farmers across the Midwest took to the fields to harvest the late developing corn crop before the cold weather set in. Much of the crop was still wet and needed to be run through propane powered dryers to avoid spoilage, creating a surge in demand for the fuel.

And as colder than usual temperatures arrived early in the Upper Midwest, demand for propane increased. The liquefied petroleum gas is used to heat homes in rural Midwestern areas where there are no natural gas lines. About 15 percent of Iowa households rely on propane for warmth.

"We came out of a crop drying season that really took a toll on the amount of volumes available in the industry," said Drew Combs, vice president of propane for Minnesota-based CHS Inc., one of the nation's largest wholesalers. "Now we're looking at a situation where we have a very large demand because of the extremely cold weather ... and it is looking to last into January." 

It may be worse next year:

To compound the issue, a major pipeline was shut down from Thanksgiving to Dec. 18, further reducing the availability of propane in the Upper Midwest.

The 1,900-mile Cochin pipeline carries propane southeastward from Canada, through North Dakota and Minnesota, across northeast Iowa and into eastern Illinois. Its owners, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, shut the pipeline down to install new pumps that would reverse the pipeline's flow early next year. Instead of bringing products such as propane from Canada, the company plans to move a petroleum product called light condensate from Illinois to Alberta, Canada, where the product is in high demand and more profitable. It is used to dilute bitumen — thick oil taken from Canadian oil sands — so it can be transported.

Minnesota, which gets about 40 percent of its propane from the pipeline, was hit hard by its closure, which forced propane suppliers to send trucks to northern Iowa terminals for fuel. Add additional traffic from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to the Iowa terminals and the stress on Iowa's propane supply became a serious issue, said Harold Hommes, an energy analyst for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. 

This repurposed pipeline will have far-reaching consequences:

The propane industry is preparing for the long-term loss of 50,000 barrels per day the Cochin pipeline provided. Kinder Morgan plans to shut down propane transport early next year as the pipeline is repurposed.

Combs said CHS is building railroad terminals in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin and is significantly increasing rail car leases to transport more propane to areas that will see a loss when the pipeline shuts down.

Farmers and the retailers that sell them propane likely will need to increase storage capacity for propane to ensure they have a 10- to 14- day supply on hand, Combs said.

************************************ 

US Snow Record

Merry Christmas

The Washington Post is reporting:

Last week, snow covered more than half of the continental United States, the highest this measure has reached by this date in a decade, according to government scientists.

As of Dec. 15, snow covered 53 percent of the Lower 48, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported. That’s a significantly higher portion than in recent years. In 2006, for example, snow covered just 12 percent of those states on the same date, according to Climate Central, a climate news Web site.

November and early December have also been quite chilly for much of the country, below the 20th-century average, Climate Central noted. “With the noteworthy exception of Alaska, nearly every state was affected by the unusually cold air at some point during the November-to-December timeframe,” Climate Central reported.

What’s going on?

An unusual configuration blah, blah, blah, but it's not a sign that global warming is going away blah blah blah...

How Thick Must A Payzone In The Bakken Be, To Be Economically Viable

[Note: the discussion below concerns the Williston oil field, a small field in the Williston Basin, although references are made to the entire Bakken in the Williston Basin.]

A reader asked:

How thick does a layer need to be in order for a well to be worth producing?

To the best of my knowledge, there is no published information on this. There would be too many variables. (For example, if the price of oil goes to $1,000/bbl, then even poor wells [now] would become more valuable.)

However, having said that, it seems I have seen reports where the middle Bakken was less than 10 feet thick (sometimes as little as four feet thick) in some places where the horizontal was drilled. It always amazes me they can keep the bit in a seam that narrow.

I also believe that I read somewhere that the upper Three Forks, though more variable in distribution, is generally much thicker than the middle Bakken. This would go along with what else the reader had to say:

I have been told that the Three Forks is 75 feet thick in the Williston oil field.

The reader noted that the first well to target the Three Forks in the Williston oil field, #23746, Statoil's Mark 4-9 2TFH, spud in May, 2013, is still on DRL status.

But note this, the well only 150 feet away, targeting the middle Bakken:

• 22384, 2,910, Statoil, Mark 4-9 1H, Williston oil field, t5/12; cum 157K 10/13:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2013	31	1812	1991	1504	2694	2268	426
BAKKEN	9-2013	30	6059	6293	4384	6553	6294	259
BAKKEN	8-2013	31	4418	5715	3989	4279	3869	410
BAKKEN	7-2013	31	5711	5516	4461	5708	5676	32

Although the well was on-line for 31 days in October, 2013, its production dropped from 6,000 bo the month before to less than 2,000 bbls in September, 2013, suggesting that the well was choked back or taken off-line, perhaps to complete the TFH well to the east.

My hunch is we will see the results of the Mark 4-9 2TFH well in another month or so, having been completed/tested in October or early November, 2013. Just a hunch. 

To get back to the original question, the thickness of the seam. All things being equal, the thickness of the seam is very, very important, but so is TOC, permeability, porosity which I wrote about a long time ago. However, if the upper Three Forks in the Williston oil field is 75 feet thick that is worth noting; in my book, that is huge. The middle Bakken in the same area might be 20 feet thick. I looked at the well file but couldn't find an easy answer to how thick the middle Bakken was at the Mark 4-9 1H location.

Some other links of interest:

• "The middle Bakken is good; but the Three Forks is better." -- Mike Filloon 

• Thickness: whereas thickness in Bakken and Eagle Ford  comparatively thin (20 - 100 feet in the Bakken; 75 to 300 feet in Eagle Ford), some seams are extraordinarily thick in California (500 feet to 3,500 feet). Note the "thinnest" California seam is five times the thickness of the thickest Bakken seam.
• Continental in 2011 cut six cores of the entire vertical thickness of the Three Forks formation, which is 180-270 ft thick under its acreage, over a distance of 115 miles north to south. The cores revealed that the formation has up to four separate benches of dolomite that contain oil.

I have never thought about how thick a seam needs to be for an well to be economically viable. I assume the operator has a pretty good idea going into an oil field what the thickness will be based on earlier wells, seismographic studies, etc. Wildcats would not have the offset wells, of course.

The Red River in the Bowman area: said to be 3 - 6 feet thick, with EURs of 300,000 bbls, and probably one-third to one-half the cost of a middle Bakken well.

****************************

A Note to the Granddaughters

As regular readers know, I am Apple fanboy #3 (I own no stock in AAPL; never have, never will). I have owned practically every desktop/laptop retail version of the Apple computer line. I had the original iPad, and now the second version (still awful old), and my wife has an iPhone. I do not have a smart phone.

Maybe it's just me, but does it seem like the only computer company the media follows closely for new developments is Apple? Except for a new Surface tablet by Microsoft, I am unaware of any new computer gadget that the masses are eagerly awaiting.

Now, I see that there is talk that Apple will bring out a LARGER iPad. That's a hoot. Every time Apple comes out with something, it seems to be thinner, smaller, and lighter. Now we actually might see something that is LARGER.

The LARGER iPad would be targeted to the pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary education market. I've always thought the original iPad and the mini iPad were really too small for the younger set. Kindergartners have less hand-eye coordination and a larger "desktop" makes sense.

It's also possible Apple will replace the 11-inch MacBook Air with the larger iPad. Incredible.

I see AAPL did nicely on the market today, with approval to sell iPhones to a gazillion Chinese. Hackers. LOL.

Hess To Drill Seventeen (17) Wells In One Drilling Unit Under The River

This case caught my attention: up to 17 horizontal wells to be sited in one 1280-acre drilling unit. It turns out that this is along the river and the siting is required to reach locations under the Missouri.

Case No. 21619: Application of Hess Corp. for an order amending the applicable orders for the Sanish-Bakken Pool to authorize up to seventeen horizontal wells to be drilled on a 1280-acre spacing unit described as Sections 15 and 22, T.153N., R.93W., Mountrail County, ND, and granting such other and further relief as may be appropriate.

The red arrow points to the section (and likely location) where these seventeen wells will be sited.

The case suggests that the 17 horizontals will be confined to that one 1280-acre drilling unit, but it certainly seems more likely that the 17 wells will be sited in section 15, and will actually extend to three adjoining sections, (16, 21, and 22) but I don't know.

Random Look At Stockyard Creek

Regular readers know that I am absolutely fascinated by this little field. Part of the reason is that I know this area very well; I have driven through it a gazillion times on the way out out to the river. It's a beautiful stretch of road and this particular stretch is quite pretty especially during the "green" season.

I am also fascinated by all the operators working in this relatively small field.

I follow Stockyard Creek here. The permits and IPs have been updated. The cumulative production numbers are updated through 8/13.

This is what caught my attention most recently, from the January, 2014, NDIC hearings:

Case No. 21617: Application of Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. for an order amending the applicable orders for the Stockyard Creek-Bakken Pool to authorize up to twelve horizontal wells to be drilled on six 1280-acre spacing units described as Sections 1 and 12; Sections 2 and 11; Sections 3 and 10; Sections 4 and 9; Sections 5 and 8; and Sections 6 and 7, T.154N., R.99W., Williams County, ND, and granting such other relief as may be appropriate.

12 wells in each of six 1280-acre drilling units. Seventy-two KOG wells in the area outlined in red:

The interesting thing about this case: I assume these will be middle Bakken and upper Three Forks wells. The wells targeting the lower benches of the Three Forks will come later. 

*********************************

Happy Holidays

Maybe The Dots Are Connecting On CO2

For background read:

• CO2 is not a hazardous waste -- EPA
• OXY, CO2 EOR, and the Permian

Now this story, sent in by a reader, AP vis Yahoo!Finance:

America's newest, most expensive coal-fired power plant is hailed as one of the cleanest on the planet, thanks to government-backed technology that removes carbon dioxide and keeps it out of the atmosphere.

But once the carbon is stripped away, it will be used to do something that is not so green at all.

It will extract oil.

When President Barack Obama first endorsed this "carbon-capture" technology, the idea was that it would fight global warming by sparing the atmosphere from more greenhouse gases. It makes coal plants cleaner by burying deep underground the carbon dioxide that typically is pumped out of smokestacks.

But that green vision proved too expensive and complicated. So the administration accepted a trade-off.

To help the environment, the government allows power companies to sell the carbon dioxide to oil companies, which pump it into old oil fields to force more crude to the surface. A side benefit is that the carbon gets permanently stuck underground.

The program shows the ingenuity of the oil industry, which is using government green-energy money to subsidize oil production. But it also showcases the environmental trade-offs Obama is willing to make, but rarely talks about, in his fight against global warming.

Monday -- Could Light Sweet Oil Drop Below $85 In First Six Months Of 2014?

Active rigs:

	12/23/2013	12/23/2012	12/23/2011	12/23/2010	12/23/2009
Active Rigs	191	187	197	162	78

RBN Energy: could light sweet oil drop below $85?

If the flood of new crude arriving at the Gulf Coast during the first six months of 2014 overwhelms refiners in the region, then the pricing consequences may very well be quite radical. Could prices at the Gulf Coast flip to trade at a discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude delivered at the Cushing hub that is home to the CME NYMEX contract? Even if Gulf Coast crude retains its premium over WTI, deep discounts may be required to encourage refiners to process increasing quantities of light sweet crude. A downward spiral of crude prices could ensue.  Today we lay out possible price scenarios.

The Wall Street Journal

Lead story, front page: rule change (singular) on health insurance rattles industry. The rule change being referred to, no doubt, is the one in which President unilaterally delayed the individual mandate  for one year. The corporate mandate was delayed until 2015 some time ago. In effect, the entire law has been delayed one full year, though the insurance companies revamped policies to comply with the law.

The number of Americans enrolling continues to fall short of the goals the Obama administration has laid out, which is a problem for the White House.

It also represents a problem for the insurance industry, which calculated that the prospect of millions of new customers brought their way by the Affordable Care Act and its coverage requirements would make up for any disruption that came along with the law.

Karen Ignagni, the industry's top representative in Washington, spent the weekend managing the fallout after the administration overhauled its approach to people who buy coverage on the individual market. The insurers Ms. Ignagni represents as head of the industry's main lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans, got late notice Thursday night of the new rules: People dumped by their insurers could buy bare-bones "catastrophic" plans or get a hardship exemption from having to buy health insurance at all.

Those were customers Ms. Ignagni's members were counting on to buy fuller coverage. In an interview Friday at AHIP's offices, Ms. Ignagni expressed concern about any erosion of the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

Bottom line: the insurers are on the hook for unlimited liability and the president just told the under-30 crowd to wait a year before buying ObamaCare policies.

What's not to like.

By the way, after I posted the above, this was posted over at Yahoo!Finance echoing what I just posted:

At the same time, the Obama administration continues to amend, if not water down, its name-sake policy in a bid to shore up confidence and stave off criticism.  The most recent example came just last week, when the so-called individual mandate (that requires everyone to have insurance or face a fine from the IRS) was waived for anyone who had a policy cancelled or can show any of a dozen other approved reasons to qualify for an exemption.

“I think it’s actually going to drive costs up,” Cote says of the formally named Affordable Care Act, predicting that young healthy enrollment will be too low and insurance companies will end up saying "we got all the sick people."

Insurers are in deep trouble. We'll start to see that in the earnings reports in 3Q14.

The health care system will be inundated with folks new to the system; the heath care system has not adjusted to this influx. In the Grapevine, Texas, area (northwest of Dallas, suburb of Ft Worth) at least four new stand-alone emergency centers have opened in the past year. This is how "they" see this developing: existing clinics, hospitals, and emergency rooms will be inundated; the overflow will will visit these stand-alone emergency centers. My hunch: these new emergency centers will be the "new" clinics for many folks, especially the under-30 who are now allowed to purchase catastrophic insurance policies previously not allowed under ObamaCare.

Meanwhile, The Hill is reporting that ObamaCare is polling LOWEST numbers ever: 35% support the law.

***********************************

Hell is beginning to freeze over. The Obama administration will not tighten pipeline rules.

The U.S. Transportation Department doesn't plan to change regulations to better protect underground pipelines from riverbed erosion, a year after Congress ordered it to evaluate its policies in the wake of pipeline breaks that spilled hazardous liquids into waterways.

The department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said its review found that over the past two decades, riverbed erosion contributed to just one in every 200 significant hazardous-liquid incidents involving pipelines.

The agency, which oversees pipeline safety, said in a recent letter to Congress that its "existing legislative authority is adequate to address the risks of hazardous liquid pipeline failures at major river crossings." The agency said that after its review, it sees no need to change existing regulations.

The letter could spell the end of efforts by pipeline-safety advocates to enhance protections against "scouring," in which flooding or rapid currents strip away layers of earth from a river's bed and damage pipes buried underneath.

On-line retailers with huge problem: returns. Up to one-third of all products sold over the internet are returned due to easy shipping policies. 

Stock to watch today: AAPL. The Chinese effect. It's up almost $20 in pre-market trading. Merry Christmas.

Target traffic down significantly over the weekend, compared to other retailers, and considering this was the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

Boeing's largest union will vote on new contract to guarantee that the 777X would be built in Washington State. This contract was voted down by the "union leaders," not the rank and file. The rank and file have read Sun Tzu.

Lights flicker for utilities. Fortunately, the utilities saw what happened in Germany and will take steps to prevent this from happening in the US.

Gasoline prices take off in the US. Regular readers know why.

The Los Angeles Times

Thirteen biggest political blunders of 2013: the president's "You Can Keep Your Doctor" did not make the list, but nine obscure Republican actions did. Talk about slanted. I don't even know how #13 made the top 13 list.

CarpeDiem

Some Sunday links:

• The US now watches the majority of its online porn on mobile phones. 
• Cuba opens up sale of new cars for the first time since 1959 revolution.
• Bad news for people who like bad news: the economy is showing signs of serious growth.
• Economic death with: DC city council votes to increase minimum wage to $11.50 by 2016. 

Monday: For Investors Only -- Disclaimer: This Is Not An Investment Site

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you might have read here. 
Futures: oil down 20 cents; Dow futures up 53 points.

Dividends/distributions: eleven companies announce increased dividends/distributions.

In-Play Yahoo!Financial

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. reported In the Bakken, the company will maintain its one rig continuous drilling program resulting in the drilling of 7.2 and completion of 6.4 net wells:

• Abraxas' Board of Directors recently approved a 2014 capital budget of $105 mln. In the Bakken, the company will maintain its one rig continuous drilling program resulting in the drilling of 7.2 and completion of 6.4 net wells. In the Eagle Ford, the company will complete one well on its Cave prospect in McMullen County and drill and complete five net wells on its Jourdanton prospect in Atascosa County. 
• Approximately $10 mln is budgeted to be spent acquiring additional leasehold in Abraxas' core areas, the Bakken and Eagle Ford. Abraxas recently monetized several non-core assets in North Dakota, Wyoming and Texas at the December Oil and Gas Clearinghouse Auction for gross proceeds of approximately $3.6 mln. The assets sold produced approximately 54 boepd (33 barrels of oil per day, 125 mcf of gas per day).