Eight (8) New Permits; Wind Chill Temperatures In North Dakota; Active Rigs Higher In Number Than One Year Ago; All Eyes On January 22 -- Keystone XL South; Ah, Yes -- The Well-Known Polar Vortex

Updates

January 7, 2014: in the original post I noted the hypocrisy surrounding the way "warmists" treat this cold spell. In 1974, it turns out, Time Magazine blamed polar vortex on "global cooling."

Original Post

Active rigs: 186 (last year: 179)

Wind chill temperatures in North Dakota: the link is at Facebook but it will probably break. During the Green Bay-49ers game, I don't know how many saw it, but inside the television production trailer, the temperature was reported to be 65 degrees, with a wind chill factor of 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The trailers are kept cool to accommodate the computers.

Unable to find link to this story posted at Clearbrook last week (Thursday): the start of TransCanada's 700,000-barrel-per-day pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas later this month. In Clearbrook, Minnesota, Bakken oil differentials largely held on to gains made on Thursday with barrels bid at $3.15 a barrel under futures.

Eight (8) new permits --

• Operators: KOG (4), XTO (3), Enduro
• Fields: Pembroke (McKenzie), Garden (McKenzie), Little Deep Creek (Renville)
• Comments: the KOG permits are for four more Smokey wells in 16-149-98. Some time ago I suggested that operators might start drilling wells heel-to-toe/toe-to-heel; it looks like KOG is doing this in 16-149-98 with the four new permits.

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

Note: there may be new "shorthand" in the Bakken. "5 and 4" may mean five middle Bakken wells and four Three Forks in a 1280-acre drilling section; likewise, a "7 & 6" may mean seven middle Bakken wells and six Three Forks wells in a 1280-acre drilling unit.  If in a drilling unit other than 1280 acrem perhaps "5 & 4 - 640" for example. More to follow, I'm sure.
Producing wells completed: None reported.

Operator transfers:

• Hess Corporation to Enduro Operating: eight (8) wells in Bottineau County
• KOG to Triangle Petroleum: five (5) wells in McKenzie County (T150N-R101W)
• Merit Energy to Emerald Oil: thirteen (13) wells in McKenzie County (all very old wells; in T148N-R102W) 

For investors only: three observations about the drop in the price of oil --

• this was highly anticipated and talked about at length, especially by RBN Energy in late 2013
• the price drop may be temporary; watch the numbers after January 22, 2014
• dropping crude oil prices affect investors differently: PSX, a refiner, hit new highs today; and, some operators might have their quarter saved by the lower spot prices if the cold weather prevented them from getting contracted oil to the refinery; they buy the difference on the spot market 

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Global Warming

This summer when we have a hot spell, or when there's another report on the devastating heat in Australia, the mainstream media will blame it on Americans use of fossil fuel.

However, when we get record-setting cold, never before reported cold-related events (like schools closing in Williston, North Dakota, because of the cold, or JetBlue canceling flights into NYC because it is too cold) it is blamed on "polar vortex." I can't make this stuff up.