Agelio

One of the very first websites I linked to the blog was something called Agelio, a news aggregator. One can still see it listed as such on the sidebar at the right, near the bottom, but it's there.

I see it has morphed into a pay site for mineral owners. I have not accessed it or tried it out, but it looks interesting.

This is the link: Agelio.net.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

It's a very nice "summer" evening in the Dallas area tonight. It is still a bit on the cool side, but the skies are clear and even in short sleeves it is somewhat comfortable, but long sleeves would be better. It reminds me of the warmish evenings we had on some of the really nice days in May and June growing up in Williston. 

Natural Gas Pipeline Ruptures; Will Affect Upper Midwest Xcel Customers

This is the company that is "pushing" wind energy in North Dakota. I don't know why they don't just spin their turbines faster. The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Xcel Energy is asking customers in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin to reduce their natural gas usage because of a pipeline rupture in Canada.

The Minneapolis-based company is asking residential customers who use natural gas to heat their homes to turn their thermostats down to 60 and avoid using natural gas appliances. Businesses that use natural gas also are asked to conserve.

I can't recall if I posted this story last fall. This is a press release posted at Bakken.com:

Xcel Energy is halfway to winning the regulatory approval it needs to move forward with a 750-megawatt wind energy project — enough to power about 200,000 homes.

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has signed off on the plan, which includes the construction of two wind farms in Minnesota and two more in North Dakota. The company expects the North Dakota Public Service Commission to consider the project by the end of the year.

“Wind energy is a clean, low-cost substitute for natural gas and other fuels right now,” said Dave Sparby, a senior vice president at Xcel Energy, in a statement. “These cost-competitive projects will save customers money by providing a valuable hedge to rising and volatile fuel prices well into the future.”

Sparby added that the projects will save Xcel customers “more than $225 million over the projects’ lives.”

The four wind farms proposed in the plan include Courtenay Wind Farm near Jamestown, N.D., the Odell Wind Farm near Windom, Minn., Pleasant Valley near Austin, Minn., and Border Winds Project in north central North Dakota near the Canadian border.

All four wind farms are expected to begin operating by the end of 2015.

The $225 million in savings over the projects' lives works out to about $3/customer/year based on similar projects elsewhere.

And the turbines will certainly provide a hedge when natural gas pipelines burst.

That part about "low-cost" is a bit of hyperbole, of course.

But back to the story at hand. Xcel is asking folks to avoid using natural gas appliances. Whether or not the company is recommending folks re-wire their homes to support electric appliances is not clear. LOL.

I'm relieved the rupture occurred in Canada and not the US. I have more faith in the Canadians solving these energy problems / disruptions than Washington.

Oil Holds; Market Could Have A Rough, Scary Start In The Morning

Futures mean squat, but it's nice to see that the price of oil is holding. It's actually up about fifty cents/bbl. But Dow futures, down about 50 points right now, suggests that the it could be a bit scary at the market open tomorrow morning.

But that's not the reason for the post. In fact, I may re-write this whole post but keep the note for my granddaughters.

Reminder: wells coming off the confidential list tomorrow have been posted.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

One of my favorite movies ever was American Graffiti. 

The movie was set in 1962. I graduated from high school in 1969, so it was not far from my own experiences. I have the "Special Edition" with the director's commentary, George Lucas. The movie is just as good as I remember, but the commentary is absolutely excellent. If you grew up in the 60's, especially in a small town, or anywhere west of the Hudson River, I suppose, you must see the movie with the commentary of George Lucas.

The movie follows the "adventures" of four male friends, exactly tracking my high school experience.

"Everyone" knows "all" the young actors who got their start in Hollywood with this movie; interestingly enough, there were more such actors than one might realize, and won't know unless you hear the commentary. I won't specifically mention the specifics.

George Lucas really does a superb job with his commentary.

It's hard to believe just how talented some folks are. Just one example. This was Mackenzie Phillips' acting debut. She was twelve years old. I never would have guessed. She was really, really good in this movie. It's amazing. From wiki:

Phillips attended Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge, California. At age 12, Phillips formed a band with three of her classmates and was spotted by a casting agent during one of their performances. She was given an audition for a role in the 1973 hit film American Graffiti, which she won.

And, of course, for her, the rest was history.

By the way, the "Special Edition" includes scenes that were deleted by the studio before the movie that was released. I was not aware of that until I listened to the commentary. I thought I was seeing scenes I had not remembered when I first saw the movie years ago.

The movie came out the year I graduated from college. I was journaling all those years; it would be interesting if I happened to note when I first saw the movie. Unlikely. It would be interesting to know exactly where I was, what I was doing when I saw the movie.

During the summer of 1973 I had hitchhiked from Williston to New York City, from where I flew Luxemburg Air, to spend the summer hitchhiking through Europe. [I did a lot of "hiking" in Europe, but not a lot of "hitching."] I don't know when I saw the movie. According to wiki, it was released August 1, 1973; I was still in Europe.

I look forward to watching the movie with the commentary with my wife. It's a must see.

And, yes, "one dot" connects the video to American Graffiti.

Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf     Watching the dance scene in American Graffiti reminded me of the dance "scenes" in Mulholland Drive. It's interesting to think what David Lynch would have done with the American Graffiti script had he produced/directed it from the Mulholland Drive perspective. Another scary thought. LOL.

Wells Coming Off Confidential Monday: EOG WIth Two Huge Wells; MRO With A Nice Well

Monday, January 27, 2014:

• 24960, 1,442, EOG, Wayzetta 155-2636H, Parshall, a huge well, 184K in less than 5 months; t7/13; cum 185K 11/13;
• 25153, 297, Triangle, Dwyer 150-101-21-16-2H, Pronghorn, t8/13; cum 40K 11/13;
• 25154, 395, Triangle, Dwyer 150-101-21-16-3H, Pronghorn, t8/13; cum 46K 11/13;
• 25542, drl, Newfield, Anderson State 152-96-16-3H, Westberg, no production data, a short lateral drilled in less than 8 days;
• 25924, drl, Hess, EN-Jeffrey A 155-94-2734H-5, Alkali Creek, no production data,

Sunday, January 26, 2014:

• 24846, drl, QEP, MHA 1-06007H-147-92, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 25211, 1,951, Statoil, Holm 9-4-5TFH, Alger, t12/13; cum --
• 25246, drl, WPX, Elk 16-21HX, Van Hook, a nice well,
• 25289, 1,710, KOG, Charging Eagle 14-14-10-3H3, Twin Buttes, 4 secs, t12/13; cum --
• 25315, 1,041, CLR, Rehak 3-25H1, Alkali Creek, t11/13; cum 7K 11/13;

Saturday, January 25, 2014:

• 24666, 1,913, EOG, Van Hook 126-2523H, Parshall, a huge well, 222K in less than 5 months; t7/13; cum 222K 11/13;
• 24845, drl, QEP, MHA 3-06-07H-147-92, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 25481, 2,404, MRO, Hubbel 24-24H, Bailey, t10/13; cum 42K 11/13;
• 25763, drl, Oasis, Cornette Pow 5300 34-26, Willow Creek, no production data,

Note: #25763 is the only Oasis well on the confidential list not designated with one of the following suffixes: H, B, TF, HTF.

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24960, see above, EOG, Wayzetta 155-2636H, Parshall:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	38915	12308
10-2013	48383	14822
9-2013	45769	8265
8-2013	42062	4916
7-2013	8949	0

25153, see above, Triangle, Dwyer 150-101-21-16-2H, Pronghorn:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	6826	2552
10-2013	7281	0
9-2013	9925	0
8-2013	12398	0
7-2013	3218	0

25154, see above, Triangle, Dwyer 150-101-21-16-3H, Pronghorn:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	7270	2757
10-2013	8886	0
9-2013	10403	0
8-2013	16224	0
7-2013	3052	0

24666, see above, EOG, Van Hook 126-2523H, Parshall:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	43663	26579
10-2013	57863	26949
9-2013	48993	25624
8-2013	40555	22580
7-2013	30486	12144

 25481, see above, MRO, Hubbel 24-24H, Bailey:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2013	15147	6519
10-2013	26507	12475

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From the well file, #24960:

• Spud date: February 26, 2013
• Cease drilling: March 13, 2013
• Total depth: 18,832'
• Acres in spacing unit: 1920
• Middle Bakken was the target from the beginning
• "Drilled in the Middle Bakken, a silty dolomite sub-unit of the Bakken Formation."
•  "When the Upper Bakken Shale was breached, a gas spike of 768 units, no flare..."
• "The sixth portion....on the lsat of the wel, light green crude began cming over the shaker and a 10' flare ws occasionally observed. Background gas levels on the last day of drilling averaged 10,425 units (no typo)."

From the well file, #24666:

• Spud date: January 22, 2013
• Cease drilling: March 6, 2013
• Total depth: 21,164
• Acres in spacing unit: 1920 
• The Three Forks was the target from the beginning.
• No narrative.

From the well file, #25153:

• Spud date: April 23, 2013
• Cease drilling: n/d
• Total depth, vertical and curve: 14,537' 
• Total depth, lateral: n/a
• Purpose: to test the production potential of the Bakken Formation in the Pronghorn field
• Gas ranged from 348 - 707 units in the vertical portion in the Middle Bakken
• The drilling of the straight hole encountered one difficulty when the MWD survey tool failed. The curve was landed with no issues. The well experienced at least five difficulties while drilling the lateral. The MWD gamma failed at 11,513 feet measured depth. The mud motor failed at 11,821 feet measured depth. Gyrodata MWD was replaced by Sharewell at 11,821 feet measured depth. The rig became stuck in the hole at 14,537 feet measured depth. The MWD gamma tool failed at 14,356 feet measured depth. 

From the well file, #25154:

• Spud date: March 22, 2013; April 14, 2013
• Cease drilling: not logged
• Total depth, vertical and curve: 11,275' 
• Total depth, lateral: not logged
• Purpose: to test the production potential of the Bakken Formation in the Pronghorn field
• Gas ranged from 393 - 595 units with an average of 494 units in the Middle Bakken vertical at 11,123' measured depth.
• No discussion regarding the lateral.
• The drilling of the straight hole went well and the curve was landed with no issues.

Random Look At Flared Natural Gas By Two Bakken Operators In November, 2013

Disclaimer: the data below may have significant errors. I went through the PDF file fairly quickly and did not double check the data.

I was curious about the percent of flaring by two similar (?) operators in the Bakken.

This is November, 2013, data only.

The data is from the NDIC web page (a PDF). This is from the Bakken pool only; it does not includes wells targeting other pools such as the Madison or Red River. [If one has the time, the information in that spreadsheet is incredible. Comparing the amount/percent of natural gas flared by EOG in the Parshall field, and the amount/percent flared by Hess in the Robinson field, is enlightening. Both fields have the pipes; there is simply not enough processing capability; it takes about two years to build a natural gas processing plant. I assume there is some risk, I suppose, that natural gas will deplete faster than the Bakken oil. I've not seen discussions about natural gas depletion rates in the Bakken.]

The data does not include wells that are on the confidential list that might also be flaring.

So, with those caveats, let's look at Kodiak and Oasis in the Bakken. And again, there may be significant errors.

Number of producing wells:

• KOG: 238
• OAS: 365

Amount of natural gas sold in the month of November, 2013 (mcf):

• KOG: 866,276
• OAS: 1,117,141

Amount of natural gas produced in the month of November, 2013 (mcf):

• KOG: 1,899,653
• OAS: 1,495,564

Sold/produced in the month of November, 2013:

• KOG: 866,276 / 1,899,653 = 45.60% sold
• OAS: 1,117,141 / 1,495,564 = 74.70% sold

Percent flared in the month of November, 2013:

• KOG: 54.4%
• OAS: 25.3%

Amount flared (mcf) in the month of November, 2013:

• KOG: 1,033,377
• OAS: 378,423

In aggregate, the operators are flaring about 30% of all produced natural gas in the Williston Basin.

One can find the historical price of US natural gas at the wellhead at this link. That table, by the way, is fascinating in its own way, as one scrolls through it.