Trivia: How Long Have We Known About The "Lower Benches" Of The Three Forks In North Dakota? -- September 22, 2014

Earlier a reader mentioned that "we have been hearing about the lower benches of the Three Forks for a long time, now."

I was curious. How long has it been?

The earliest I can find when we first started talking about the lower benches of the Three Forks was sometime in 2011. A reference to CLR talking about these was benches was mentioned in an August 16, 2011, post.

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Deciphering Nomenclature

In today's Daily Activity Report, I see two new well designations I had not seen before (it turns out I had, but did not recall). Slawson normally uses "H" for middle Bakken, and "TFH" for upper bench of the Three Forks (TF1). From permits issued in 2014, so far:

• 27887, conf, Slawson, Mustang 1 SLH,
• 28219, conf, Slawson, Sniper Federal 1 SLH,
• 28450, conf, Slawson, Blade Federal 1-18MLH,
• 28451, conf, Slawson, Blade Federal 2-18MLH,
• 29435, conf, Slawson, Vixen Federal 1 SLH,
• 29471, conf, Slawson, Wolf 2-4MLH, 
• 29472, conf, Slawson, Pike Federal 1 SLH,

Note the "SLH" and the "MLH." Based on some Slawson activity in Montana, there might be an explanation for SLH and MLH but I really don't know. Maybe a reader out there knows what these designations mean.

I did not see these designations used by Slawson in 2013 (although the search was quick; I could have missed an example from 2013, but I doubt it).

By the way, it appears Slawson is using new designations for two of the lower benches in the Three Forks, TF2 and TF3. 

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Libya

Reuters is reporting:

Soldiers and police have clashed in the last few days near Libya's biggest El Sharara oilfield in the south, while separate fighting erupted in the west not far from the Zawiya refinery, residents and medics said. The violence came as video emerged on social media purportedly showing a rival oil minister appointed by an armed opposition group controlling the capital Tripoli giving a speech at the oil ministry.

If confirmed this could mean the central government has lost control of the oil ministry, potentially paralysing vital oil exports over questions of ownership. 

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News Some Of Us Will Be Reading About Eight Hours From Now

Futures:  both the "mini" Dow and WTI are up slightly.

The Wall Street Journal

US, Arab "allies" strike militants in Syria. It looks like the invasion has begun with little fanfare and minimal Congressional hearings. ObamaWar. The war may save President Obama's legacy.

President Obama issued new rules to combat tax inversions. As long as Warren Buffett is happy with this, I'm not going to argue.

German firms go on US buying spree. Link here.

Apple sold more than 10 million iPhones in first weekend. There is a question whether even as many as 7 million Americans signed up for ObamaCare in the first year, much less one weekend.

 Markets tremble on new worries about Chinese growth.

Siemen's Dresser deal has shades of Shell. 

I did not know this when I wrote that the more socialist an organizer seemed to be, the more likely he/she would show up at the NYC climate change march this past Sunday, or whenever it was. It turns out that the official slogan of Flood Wall Street, the demonstration that brought protesters to Mananhattan is/was: "Stop Capitalism. End the climate crisis." Again, right on target. 

The Los Angeles Times

Local council to vote on $15.37 minimum wage for workers at big hotels. Why not $153.70/hour?

Yahoo!Sports

Wow, Ravens owner screws it up with comment on domestic abuse.