Futures Don't Mean Squat ...

.... but it looks like activity in the Crimean is moving the futures market. Dow futures are down almost 120 points and WTI oil is up $1.20, probably the biggest jump I've seen in years.

Selected Whiting Cases From The March, 2014, NDIC Hearing Dockets

From the March, 2014, NDIC dockets:

• 21969, Whiting, Elk-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie 
• 21970, Whiting, Lonesome-Bakken, 9 wells on three 1280-acre units, McKenzie
• 21971, Whiting, Nameless-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
• 21972, Whiting, Sioux-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
• 21973, Whiting, Pronghorn-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
• 21974, Whiting, Rawson-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
• 21975, Whiting, Timber Creek-Bakken, 9 wells on each of three 1280-acre units, McKenzie
• 21976, Whiting, Arnegard-Bakken, 9 wells on each of two 1280-acre units, McKenzie
• 21977, Whiting, Ellsworth-Bakken, 9 wells on each of three 1280-acre units, McKenzie
• 21978, Whiting, Pleasant Hill-Bakken, 9 wells on each of 8 1280-acre spacing units, McKenzie
• 21979, Whiting, Juniper-Bakken, 9 wells on a 1280-acre unit, McKenzie
• 21980, Whiting, Bully-Bakken, 9 wells on two 1280-acre units, McKenzie

9+27+9+9+9+9+27+18+27+72+9+18 = 243 locations.

Pleasant Hill oil field as it looks today:

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Watching the Academy Awards, 2014

Part of the extensive hedgehog family that Arianna and Olivia have collected.

WPX, Petro-Hunt, CLR, Petrogulf, Mountain Divide, All Reporting Nice Wells Tomorrow -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

March, 2014, is going to be one of the busier months with regard to the number of wells coming off the confidential list. 

Monday, March 3, 2014

• 24857, 318, Fidelity, Van Hook 44-4H, Sanish, t9/13; cum 19K 12/13;
• 24918, drl, Slawson, Hunter 7-8-17TFH, Big Bend, no production data,
• 25525, drl, HRC, Fort Berthold 152-94-11B-14-6H, Antelope, no production data,
• 25984, 12, Whiting, Stedman 22-30, Bonnie View, a Red River well, t12/13; cum --
• 26048, drl, BR, Capitol 24-7MBH, Westberg, no production data,

Sunday, March 2, 2014

• 25429, drl XTO, FBIR Youngbear 31X-9F, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 25943, 553,  CLR, Anker 1-22H, Frazier, t12/13; cum 15K 12/13;
• 26013, drl,  Hess, HA-Chapin 152-95-3229H-3, Hawkeye, no production data,
• 26017, drl,  MRO, Zimmerman 21-26TFH, Killdeer, no production data,

Saturday, March 1, 2014

• 25245, 838, WPX, Elk 16-21HW, Van Hook, t11/13; cum 64K 12/13;
• 25371, 1,309, Petro-Hunt, Boss 154-99-18C-17-5H, Stockyard Creek, t11/13; cum 32K 12/13;
• 25430, drl, XTO, FBIR Youngbear 31X-9A, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 25431, drl, XTO, FBIR Youngbear 31X-9E, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 25524, drl, HRC, Fort Berthold 152-94-11B-14-5H, Antelope, no production data,
• 25592, drl, XTO, Loomer 41X-4D, Tobacco Garden, no production data,
• 25593, drl, XTO, Loomer 41X-4H, Tobacco Garden, no production data,
• 25713, n/d, Murex, Deanna Marie 34-27H, Fortuna, a Three Forks well, tn/d, cum 28K 12/13;
• 25715, 75, Murex, Lacey Marie 17-20H, Fortuna, t12/13; cum 6K 12/13;
• 25941, 109, CLR, Morner 1-23H, Fraizer, t10/13; cum 40K 12/13;
• 25949, 1,367, Petrogulf, Sandstrom 151-94-2HTF, Antelope, t12/13; cum 14K 12/13;
• 26115, drl, Hess, EN-Chamley 156-93-0508H-5, Baskin, no production data,
• 26142, 544, Mountain Divide, Charlotte 1-12-1H, Fortuna, a Three Forks well, 32 stages; 2.6 million pounds, t11/13; cum 35K 12/13;
• 26305, 1,715, Newfield, Holm 150-98-8-5-4HR, Siverston, t12/13; cum 1K 12/13;

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25245, see above, WPX, Elk 16-21HW, Van Hook:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
1-2014	19213	12992
12-2013	23428	7481
11-2013	21072	0

25371, see above, Petro-Hunt, Boss 154-99-18C-17-5H, Stockyard Creek:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
1-2014	9566	0
12-2013	18568	0
11-2013	2798	0

25941, see above, CLR, Morner 1-23H, Fraizer:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
1-2014	13485	0
12-2013	18030	0
11-2013	7678	0

25949, see above, Petrogulf, Sandstrom 151-94-2HTF, Antelope:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
12-2013	13316	7270

26142, see above, Mountain Divide, Charlotte 1-12-1H, Fortuna

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
1-2014	8832	0
12-2013	11334	0
11-2013	14166	0

Sunday Morning -- March 2, 2014; Cold In The Bakken; Snow In Montana Smashes Record

The good news: we are at the low for the day (-19 degrees F). By 5:00 p.m. it will be a balmy -3 degrees, the high for the day.  Bright, sunny, calm -- as I've said before, three out of four ain't bad.

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More regional global warming news: The Billings Gazette is reporting --

The 36.8 inches of snow that fell on Billings during the 28 days of February smashed the previous February record, of 22.4 inches, by 14.4 inches. That record was set in 1978.

Melt that 3 feet of snow down, and it works out to 2 inches of February precipitation. That also breaks the all-time record for February, which was 1.77 inches, a mark also set in 1978.

This year is now Billings’ third-snowiest year on record.

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I guess they must be getting some rain/snow in Washington, DC. I see they've shut down the government again for global warming. That's a dynamic link and I'm sure it will be different by the time you see it, but at the moment,

Washington, DC, Area

Applies to: March 3, 2014

Status: Federal Offices are Closed - Emergency and Telework-ready Employees Must Follow Their Agency's Policies

FEDERAL OFFICES in the Washington, DC, area are CLOSED. Emergency and telework-ready employees required to work must follow their agency's policies, including written telework agreements.

 

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Meanwhile, roughnecks will be working through the night in the Bakken in wind chills forty-five degrees below zero to ensure that the presidential motorcade has enough gasoline/diesel to get where it's going in all those SUVs.

The Road To New England: Illinois Is At Risk Of Losing Three Of Six Exelon Reactors

Back on February 4, 2012, I wrote a long rambling note regarding the effect natural gas would have on the energy future for the United States. In that note I quoted CarpeDiem:

But cheap gas has also thrown energy markets into turmoil. It is impossible for almost any other source of electric power to compete, especially coal and nuclear. By trimming fuel bills, cheap gas has reduced incentives for energy conservation and efficiency. And it has left solar and wind, despite their own falling costs, heavily dependent on government mandates in California and roughly 30 other states, including Maryland.

“Shale gas has changed the game in the United States,” said Paul Browning, head of General Electric’s thermal-products division, which makes gas turbines. “It is putting pressure on other power generation technologies.”

Crain's Chicago Business is reporting  (with a byline date of March 3, 2014, by the way) that Exelon may have to close three of six nuclear reactors that it operates in Illinois because they are struggling to make money.

In recent weeks, Exelon privately has said its large Byron nuclear plant in northwest Illinois is at risk along with the Quad Cities station in western Illinois and the downstate Clinton plant, which already had been identified as hardship cases, according to sources who've heard the company pitches.

Unlike Clinton and Quad Cities, Byron is one of Exelon's best-performing plants and one of its largest. Byron is licensed to run for another decade. The three plants together employ more than 2,300 with an annual payroll of $193 million, pay $51 million in taxes to localities and the state and provide enough electricity to light more than 4.2 million homes. 

It is interesting to read this story in light of the February, 2012, CarpeDiem and Washington Post articles linked above.