Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Cost Of Slickwater To Complete A Well -- Not Trivial -- September 3, 2014

From a SeekingAlpha article on Oasis:
Oasis had previously established itself as a "fast follower" when it came to drilling and completion techniques. Oasis lets companies like EOG or Whiting be more adventurous with new techniques to enhance productivity and/or lower costs and then tries them out on their own acreage. In particular, Oasis has been targeting a switch to slickwater (from gel fracking fluid), optimized proppant use, and the use of coiled tubing/cemented liners.
So far, the slickwater approach seems to be paying off. Although using slickwater costs about $2 million to $2.5 million more per well (it requires almost four times the volume of water/fluids and more ceramic proppants), it has been boosting production by 30% to 35% in many cases. That's not a trivial difference, and Oasis is looking to use this slickwater approach with about 25% of its second half wells.
Yes, the most recent Halcon report suggests EURs are up 35% using Slickwater. CLR is suggesting the same degree of improvement, about 35% improvement.

750,000 bbls at $50/bbl = $37.5 million

1,000,000 bbs at $50/bbl = $50 million

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Norway's 2015 Oil, Gas Investment To Fall More Than Expected

Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:
Norway's oil and gas investments, a key ingredient of economic growth, are expected to fall more than expected in 2015, a survey showed on Wednesday, weakening the crown and increasing the chance interest rates will be kept low.
Investment on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) is now expected to fall 13.9 percent in 2015 from 2014, a faster rate than the 12.3 percent year-on-year drop expected in June, when compared with the same forecast released in June last year.
See also: Statoil is cutting back.

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Trapped By A Thing Called Love

 
Trapped By a Thing Called Love, Denise LaSalle

"Trapped By a Thing Called Love" is the debut 1971 crossover hit single by Denise LaSalle. The single was her biggest hit on the R&B chart and her only Top 40 pop hit peaking at number thirteen. "Trapped By a Thing Called Love" was written by Denise LaSalle who also produced the song along with Bill Jones.

Los Angeles To Intensify Hunt For Loose Albino Cobra -- September 3, 2014

Active rigs in North Dakota:


9/3/201409/03/201309/03/201209/03/201109/03/2010
Active Rigs193186192198146

The Wall Street Journal

Apparently a "Jihadist Highway" runs through Turkey, connecting the western world with Syria, ISIL (ISIS). Turkey is being pressured to close the highway. [US/Mexico has a similar highway: Mexico Highway 15/US I-19 running from Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, to Tucson, Arizona, United States.]

Putin is getting ready to partition the Ukraine. Just yesterday I posted that the Ukraine is the "new" East/West Germany. Okay, so I get lucky once in a (great) while.

Attorney General Holder will investigate Ferguson police. I assume the findings are already in draft form.

Hmmmm... Kansas democrat withdraws from US Senate race, upending contest. Republican could be formidable candidate.

Hmmmm... New York rail hub's cost is soaring -- eight years behind schedule and at least $2 billion over budget. At some point, fracking (and the natural gas royalty money) is going to look really, really good. By the way, is the "Big Gulp" still banned in New York City?

Hmmmm... the French might actually think twice about sending a state-of-the-art warship to Russia. No. They need the cash. At some point fracking the Paris Basin (and the natural gas royalty money) is going to look really, really good.

Okay, let's raise the ante -- let's push the world toward another world war -- NATO will join Ukraine military exercises. Who thinks these things up? Next we will hear that South Korea plans to join North Korea in war games/military exercises.

Tesla picks Nevada for battery 'gigafactory.' The oldest profession meets newest technology.

Demand ebbs for electric, hybrid cars. Posted elsewhere, earlier. And this was during a period of robust auto sales: August auto sales aim for record.

Pimco's flagship fund shrinks (again). Is it 16 consecutive months? Something like that.

The Los Angeles Times

Even the Los Angeles Times sees the politics in this one. The top story: Attorney General Holder will probe Ferguson police department.

Yes, here it comes: Germany's Merkel is starting to "go wobbly" with regard to sanctions on Putin. Predicted. Deep down Obama is hoping so. This gives him an "out" and someone to blame.

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Best story on the front page: apparently there's a loose albino cobra in Thousand Oaks (Los Angeles); the hunt will "pick up" (as "intensify") at night. Photograph at link with Los Angelinos frantically running in all directions.
Authorities have deployed a three-man search team to Thousand Oaks to hunt for an albino cobra that has been on the loose for two days and is expected to most likely emerge again at sunset, officials said.
The albino monocled cobra -- which can grow up to seven feet long as an adult and has venom that can kill within an hour of a bite -- has been slithering undetected since at least Monday, when it bit a dog in the 1300 block of Rancho Lane. The size of the snake being searched for is not known.
The dog would know but he's not talking. And, yes, the dog will survive.

The big question: is it a pregnant female released by ISIL?

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Okay, I thought the cobra story was pretty unique, but the next story in The Los Angeles Times might be better. Headline: "13 injured with fake-tornado experiment explodes at museum." One would think with all the angst over global warming, the last thing we should have to worry about is a fake tornado experiment.

President Obama is heading for Estonia to reassure the citizens that NATO policy will be invoked if Russia invades Estonia. President Obama is sending "boots on the ground." Yes, that's the quote in the article, "boots on the ground." Nice duty if you can get it. Memo to President Obama: Estonia is not a member of NATO.

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Despite global warming, we keep finding new species.
This week, scientists described a mushroom-shaped sea creature that may be in a phylum all its own.
Two species of the newly described animal were found along the bottom of the ocean as deep as 3,200 feet beneath the surface.  One is a about 10 mm in length, the other is 17 mm; both are slightly smaller than a button mushroom.
The Danish research team that described the animal named it Dendrogamma, but in a paper published in PLOS One, they acknowledge that they are having trouble deciding exactly how to categorize it. It has features similar to animals in the phylum Ctenophora (the comb jellies and their relatives) and Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, and jellyfish), but it doesn't fit neatly into either category.
The article did not say how rising sea levels would affect this new sea creature, but my hunch is that the Danes have already submitted a research proposal to the EPA for continued research. The researchers, no doubt, want to continue their research in the South Pacific, preferably near a 5-star hotel on the big island of Hawaii.

And just when I was losing interest in the article, I came across the paragraph which might explain why the researchers are having problems studying the carcasses of these sea creatures:
Unfortunately, these specimens were not ideally preserved. They were accidentally kept in pure alcohol rather than 80% ethanol, which resulted in them shrinking and almost completely drying out. They are also unsuitable for molecular analysis.
"It is of course very disappointing to us, but that's life!" Just said.
I remember when I was in college doing research for Dr Tieszen, our biology instructor: we, too, had to be cognizant of 80% alcohol vs 200 proof.

White Lighning, George Jones


And with that, I'm heading to bed.

Just the first minute and a half:

Pulling troops out of Iraq was not my decision, LOL

Running The Numbers For The Proposed Natural Gas Power Plant In Emmons Country -- September 3, 2014

Emmons natural gas power plant proposal, $600 million for 675 MW.

That works out to $890,000 / MW.

  • Solar: $3 million / MW
  • Wind: $2.5 million / MW
  • Natural gas: $865,000 / MW
So, Emmons: $600 million for 675 MW

$600,000,000 / 675 MW = $888,888 / MW which seems to be in the ballpark. 

Pembina Pipeline To Build Half-Billion Dollar Propane Terminal In Portland, Oregon -- September 3, 2014; Electric Car Sales Have Run Out Of Gas

I thought I posted this story yesterday along with the other story with regard to Pembina Pipeline. I guess I didn't. Here it is.

Portland (OR) Business Journal is reporting:
The Port of Portland announced an agreement Tuesday that will result in a $500 million propane terminal near the port’s Terminal 6 site in the Rivergate District.
Under terms of an agreement, Pembina Pipeline Corp., based in Calgary, Alberta, will bear the entire cost of the project with no tax breaks or other public consideration. Construction will employ more than 600. Operating the terminal will require 30 to 50 workers.
Bill Wyatt, the port’s executive director, said talks with Pembina began about six months ago. The value of the deal is still unknown but any profits will be reinvested in port infrastructure — berths, airport facilities, rail lines and so forth.
Wyatt said the port has entertained any number of proposals from firms rushing to move fossil fuel-based energy down the Columbia River for export to Asia or West Coast refineries.
And, OregonLive is reporting:
Pembina Pipeline's announcement Tuesday that it plans to build a $500 million propane export terminal near the Port of Portland's Terminal 6 is part of a larger push into the American market by the Canadian company.
At the same time Calgary-based Pembina announced plans to build the propane storage and export terminal at Rivergate, it said it paid $650 million to acquire a 435-mile pipeline that carries ethane from the Bakken shale deposits in North Dakota into Alberta.
While the two announcements involve different fuels and different distribution networks, together they represent an aggressive expansion by Pembina, Canada's third-largest pipeline company.
The pipeline purchase is "the kind of deal they have to do" to grow, Steven Paget, an analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary, told Bloomberg News.
In Portland, Pembina intends bring propane to the terminal by train, then pipe it underground from the terminal to an existing dock, where it will be loaded for shipment across the Pacific to customers in Asia. The company and the Port say they hope the terminal will be operating by early 2018.
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Predicted

Electric car sales have run out of gas.
Electric car sales are not charging the marketplace. A new study by online automotive research company Edmunds.com suggests the segment may have run out of gas.
Sales of electric drive vehicles are stuck at about 3.6% of all new car sales for 2014, Edmunds senior analyst Jessica Caldwell said.
That's below the 3.7% market share for 2013, and it's not likely to grow any before the end of the year.
And that's during an otherwise robust sales season. Total figures for August were higher than any time in the last decade.
The whole automobile market has grown. We're not seeing electric vehicles as part of that growth.
Let's count the reasons:
  • too expensive
  • too expensive
  • too expensive
Other reasons:
  • lack of charging stations
  • two-hour charging required
  • $2,000-electric outlet garage adaptation
  • limited range
  • "Chariots on fire"
  • styling
  • resale value
  • battery life
  • might pay for themselves in 12 years
  • #1 US electric car manufacturer is known for expertise in ignition switch engineering
  • waiting for Godot Tesla
Now, let's count the reasons why folks buy them
  • to feel good about saving the environment, one rung above solving world hunger
  • to feel good about saving the environment, two rungs above world peace
  • to feel good about saving the environment, three rungs above winning the war on terror

Twenty-One New Permits In North Dakota; QEP, Whiting To Report Some Nice Wells Thursday -- September 3, 2014; Natural Gas Production In The Utica Is Staggering -- Look Who Found It!

Active rigs:


9/3/201409/03/201309/03/201209/03/201109/03/2010
Active Rigs193186192198146

Wells coming off confidential list Thursday:
  • 24697, 483, OXY USA, Henry Kovash 5-6-7H-142-95, Manning, t3/14; cum 26K 7/14;
  • 26138, 2.080, QEP, TAT 2-35-26TH, Grail, t4/14; cum 46K 7/14;
  • 26139, 2,232, QEP, TAT 3-35-26BH, Grail, t4/14; cum 50K 7/14;
  • 26140, 2,496, QEP, TAT 4-35-26BH, Grail, t4/14; cum 48K 7/14;
  • 26238, drl, CLR, Pierre Federal 7-21H,  Dollar Joe, no production data,
  • 26408, 1,884, BR, CCU Corral Creek 21-28TFH, Corral Creek, t4/14; cum 43K 7/14;
  • 26528, 2,071, Whiting, Wisness 14-34-2H, Juniper, t3/14; cum 41K 7/14;
  • 26529, 2,294, Whiting, Wisness 14-34H, Juniper, t3/14; cum 41K 7/14;
  • 26531, drl, CLR, Jerry 5-8H, Poe, no production data,
  • 27130, drl, BR, CCU Four Aces 34-21MBH, Corral Creek, no production data, 
  • 27513, 1,595, XTO, Serrahn 41X-6H, Siverston, t7/14; cum 5K 7/14;
  • 27658, 2,263, Statoil, Buford 10-3 1H, Buford, t7/14; cum 6K 7/14;
Twenty-one (21) new permits --
  • Operators: Liberty Resources (6), Statoil (4), Slawson (4), Oasis (2), CLR (2), Mountain Divide, Hunt, Whiting
  • Fields: East Fork (Williams), Stony Creek (Williams), Baker (McKenzie), Big Bend (Mountrail), Glass Bluff (McKenzie), Fortuna (Divide), McGregor (Williams), Parshall (Mountrail), Green River (Stark)
  • Comments:
Wells coming off the confidential list today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Five (5) producing wells completed:
  • 26344, 1,896, Statoil, Cvancara 20-17 5H, Alger, t8/14; cum --
  • 26410, 1,339, Oasis, Prairie USA 1-12H, Foreman, t2/14; cum 26K 6/14;
  • 26427, 991, Oasis, Osage 5693 43-35T, Alger, t4/14; cum 29K 6/14;
  • 27402, 1,319, XTO, William Federal 41X-6C, Bear Den, t8/14; cum --
  • 27403, 1,485, XTO, William Federal 41X-6H, Bear Den, t8/14; cum 3K 7/14;
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Increase in natural gas production in the Utica is staggering

In only two years, the production of natural gas in the Utica Shale region has increased from about 200,000,000 cubic feet per day in September 2012 to 1.34 billion cubic feet per day this month based on the EIA’s most recent estimate. And we can expect the eye-popping increase in shale gas in the Utica to continue, according to a news report today from Bloomberg about Shell’s recent discovery of two new very promising natural gas fields in the Utica. 
Royal Dutch Shell’s natural gas discoveries near the Pennsylvania-New York border indicate that the Utica shale formation extends hundreds of miles farther east than originally thought.
Two gas finds in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, announced today by Europe’s largest oil company are more than 300 miles away from the epicenter of Utica shale drilling in Monroe County, Ohio. Shell, which has been selling gas assets in other parts of the U.S. to focus on its highest-profit prospects, said it owns drilling rights across about 430,000 acres in the discovery zone, an area five times the size of Philadelphia.
Fortunately it looks like it was found in natural-gas-fracking-friendly Pennsylvania.

This was Rigzone's report on the Shell discovery:
Shell announced Wednesday new discovery wells (Neal and Gee) within the Utica formation in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, USA.
These wells were drilled to a total measured depth of approximately 14,500 and 15,500 feet with lateral lengths of 3,100 feet at Gee and 4,200 feet at Neal, respectively.
These results are comparable to the best publicly announced thus far in the emerging Southeast Ohio Utica dry gas play.
The Gee and Neal discovery wells extend the sweet spot of the Utica formation beyond Southeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, where previous discoveries have been located, and into an area where Shell holds a major leasehold position of approximately 430,000 acres.
The Gee well was drilled over 100 miles to the northeast of the nearest horizontal Utica producer, and had an initial flowback rate of 11.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Gee has been on production for nearly one year. Shell began production of the Neal well in February, with observed peak flowback rates of 26.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
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And So It Goes -- A 3% Surcharge In Some California Restaurants -- ObamaCare

Truth Revolt is reporting:
On Tuesday, LA Weekly reported that several upscale restaurants in the City of Angels will be adding a 3 percent surcharge to cover their employees healthcare costs, a trend that has been gaining steam since the Affordable Care Act launched nearly one year ago.
Beginning on September 1, restaurants Lucques, Tavern, A.O.C, and a few offshoots all added a 3 percent surcharge to customers' checks, explicitly stating in a press release their decisions hinged on covering employee healthcare costs.
Lucques Group, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne, owners of the restaurants, also named several other restaurant groups that will be duplicating their efforts; Restaurants Rustic Canyon, The Hungry Cat and Melisse were among those mentioned. 
These are just the first; many more will follow. And by 2016, the surcharge will go to 5%, and eventually 7.5%. Trust me. I saw it in Europe during the 13 years (my wife says 14 years) that we were stationed overseas.

Didn't I just read that the Los Angeles mayor wants to raise the minimum wage to $13.25?

I can't remember which one it is now, but there's one fast food restaurant chain that has already said it won't be expanding in California due to all these new costs.

The good news: it will help solve the US obesity problem; less people will go out to eat. Not.

Construction Begins On Northstar Center, Williston -- September 3, 2014

More on these later, just sent to me by a reader:
The first link: the master plan developer Citation Communities. It shows in video, what is proposed and planned in this development. The second link from KUMV-TV on the ground breaking that took place yesterday (September 2, 2014).

The development will span across 500 acres north of Williston, and consist of more than 2,000 homes and more than seven-million-square-feet for commercial space.

From the Truck Reliever Route to 56th street north of Williston. I believe this is where it will be located. I think I have Love's on the correct side of the road.


The Truck Reliever Route is the new temporary bypass that bypasses Williston to the east, north, and west.

From Boom Town To Center Of Investment -- JLL -- September 3, 2014

A reader just sent me this link. I have not had a chance to read all of it, but it is quite "staggering" in a certain sense.

As per my usual procedure, I post things as fast as I get them, and come back to comment on them or correct errors.

Enjoy. And a huge "thank you" to the reader for sending me this.

JLL is reporting, Williston from "boom town" to "center of investment." The lede:
No one would confuse Williston, North Dakota with Houston.
It would be difficult to mistake Williston’s double-wide mobile home trailer serving as a temporary airport terminal with George Bush Intercontinental or even the harsh Dakota winters and balmy gulf summers. But there’s one thing these two cities have in common: they’re both attracting massive amounts of capital from all over the world, thanks to the booming market for shale energy.
The other thing that connects Houston and Williston: the "can-do" attitude."

It's "fun" to read this so soon after having just seen the Bakken and Williston first-hand. There really is a "can-do" attitude in the Bakken; something not seen everywhere. 

Much more to say/write. Maybe later.

Some Bakken Halcon EURs Now Up To One Million Bbls -- Halcon -- September 3, 2014

Updates

September 6, 2014: Zeits on an Eagle Ford update, focus on Halcon.  
  • The article presents Halcón’s latest (through July, 2014) well performance data in the Eagle Ford play.
  • El Halcón production decline in July relative to the Q2 2014 average was expected and is driven by a trough in the completions schedule.
  • Halcon’s Eagle Ford drilling program will remain HBP-driven for at least another year. Significant well cost savings are expected thereafter.
  • El Halcón may prove to be a two-bench play. Speaking at an industry conference this week, Floyd Wilson made an interesting comment with regard to the multiple-bench potential of the East Texas Eagle Ford play.
As a reminder, Halcón has targeted a narrow zone immediately above the Buda top to land its laterals. Clayton Williams, another significant acreage holder in the play, has applied a different strategy, landing its laterals close to the top of the Eagle Ford. Both approaches have produced positive results.
Floyd Wilson commented that the upper Eagle Ford zone may work in addition to the lower Eagle Ford.
The slide below from Halcón's presentation indicates that a frac barrier exists between the lower Eagle Ford and upper Eagle Ford intervals.
The slide implies that fracs initiated in the lower zone may not stimulate the entire Eagle Ford column. This seems to suggest a possibility for a dual-zone development. El Halcón may prove to be a two-bench play. In the event both zones prove economic, the drilling inventory in the play may prove even more significant.
Original Post
 
Reminder: this is not an investment site. Do not make investment decision based on what you read here or think you may have read something here. Having said that, Halcon has "proved" its prospects in two (Bakken, El Halcon) of three. If the TMS proves to be another "hit," HK should do very, very well. In the notes below, I will pretty much concentrate on the Bakken only.

Presentation (PDF) here.

From the reader who sent me this:
Check out HK presentation from today. Floyd Wilson stated that EUR type curve for Fort Berthold is now 1 MILLION. They have new IP record of 4,381. Check out downspacing and IP's on pages 8 thru 11. He also stated that Williams county type curve is over 500K now.
The link in case there's a problem with the link above:
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-5X1N65/3443951194x0x779046/5d4253d0-351a-4926-9895-8beeaaf2b62c/Halcon_IR%20Presentation_Barclays_vFINAL.pdf 
Fascinating.

Some data points from the presentation, dated September 3, 2014:

Net acreage:
  • Bakken/Three Forks: 131,000
  • El Halcon: 101,000
  • TMS; 316,000
  • % operated: 92%
  • % oil: 84%
  • % proved developed: 41%
In the Bakken
  • Williams County, northwest of Williston, "average" acreage
  • McKenzie/Dunn counties: includes FBIR acreage, superb acreage
  • Slickwater FBIR wells outperforming all wells drilled/completed with prior methods
  •  development proceeding with 660' - 880' spacing
South FBIR - Sneffels Pad North experience (a nice graphic to see naming protocol)
  • FB 35C-26-3H (MB), 4,081 boepd,
  • FB 35C-26-5H (MB), 3,152 boepd,
  • FB 35C-26-4H (TF), 2,902 boepd
  • FB 35D-26-1H (MB), 2,088 boepd,
  • FB 35D-26-2H (TF), 1,563 boepd,  
South FBIR - Sneffels Pad South experience (a nice graphic to see naming protocol)
  • FB 2B-11-3H (MB), 3,243 boepd,
  • FB 2B-11-4H (MB), 3,143 boepd,
  • FB 2B-11-5H (MB), 3,179 boepd
  • FB 2A-11-1H (MB), 1,138 boepd,
  • FB 2A-11-2H (TF), 1,842 boepd
South FBIR - Blanca Pad North experience (a nice graphic to see naming protocol)
  • FB 19C-18-4H (MB), 2,515 boepd,
  • FB 19C-18-5H (MB), 2,911 boepd,
  • FB 19D-18-3H (MB), 2,334 boepd
  • FB 19D-18-1H (TF), 1,355 boepd,
South FBIR - Blanca Pad North experience (a nice graphic to see naming protocol)
  • FB 30B-31-4H (MB), 4,381 boepd, new HI record IP,
  • FB 30B-31-5H (MB), 3,551 boepd,
  • FB 30A-31-1H (MB), 2,174 boepd
  • FB 30A-31-2H (TF), 1,448 boepd,
  • FB 30A-31-3H (MB), 2,675 boepd,
Efficiency of pad drilling, single well vs 4-well batch drill on pad
  • $1.3 million in savings
  • 25 days saved
  • average spud to total depth drilled dats: 35 (2012) to 16 days (YTD 2014)
FBIR Bakken Slickwater well EURs are staggering
  • previous average EUR type curve: 576K boe
  • average now: 801K boe type curve
  • individual wells with new EUR curves suggest trending toward 1 million boe
Williams County Bakken Slickwater well EURs are excellent and getting better
  • previous average EUR type curve: 333K boe
  • average now: 477K boe type curve
  • individual wells with new EUR curves suggest trending toward 500 million boe, maybe more
Entire El Halcon acreage position de-risked; early stages; delineation still

TMS is still an emerging shale play

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 -- For Investors And Newsaholics; New $200 Million NG Processing Plant In The SCOOP; MRO To Add New Rig In The Bakken (2014)

Reminder: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here. 

The Dow started off strong, has since fallen back. Bloomberg shows WTI up $1.34, back to $94.22.

At Yahoo!In-Play, this caught my eye:

Marathon Oil provides highlights of Barclay's confernce presentation; adds significant unconventional resource, positions for further acceleration : Co provides investors with key updates on the Company's progress and operations, with specific focus on the strategic imperatives of resource capture, profitable volumes growth and shareholder value.
In the presentation, co highlighted the following:
  • More than 20% growth in U.S. unconventional 2P resource to 3 billion boe across Oklahoma Resource Basins, Bakken and Eagle Ford; up 520 million boe vs. year-end 2013 
  • Future drilling inventory increased to 4,650 net wells 
  • Resource adds concentrated in Oklahoma, where unconventional 2P resource is up approximately 40% to 1.11 billion boe vs. year-end 2013 
  • Initial acceleration of three incremental rigs to be added by year-end 2014; further acceleration expected in 2015 
  • Expect resource play production growth at a double-digit CAGR for 2015-2017; total Company production growth projected as high single-digit CAGR for the same period 
  • "Organic investment is our first priority, as we optimize our portfolio and redeploy operating cash flow and proceeds from strategic transactions. In line with this objective, we plan to add an initial three incremental rigs - two rigs in Oklahoma and one inthe Bakken - before year end. This increased drilling activity will give us a 'fast start' on 2015 growth as we continue to position for further acceleration."

Enable Midstream Partners announces new $200 mln natural gas processing plant located in Prolific SCOOP Play; investment was anticipated in the capital guidance announced in Enable Midstream's second quarter 2014 earnings release : Co announced its Board of Directors approved construction of an additional 200-million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of natural gas processing capacity that will be located near its Bradley Processing Plant to serve producers in the rich gas play called the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province.

Zack's on Halcon today:
One such company that might be well-positioned for future earnings growth is Halcon Resources Corp. (HK). This firm, which is in the Oil – Exploration & Production industry, saw significant EPS growth last year, and is looking great for this year too.
In fact, the current growth estimate for this year calls for earnings-per-share growth of 41.5%. Furthermore, the long-term growth rate is currently an impressive 25%, suggesting pretty good prospects for the long haul.
And if this wasn’t enough, the stock has actually seen estimates rise over the past 60 days for the current fiscal year by about 23.5%. Thanks to this rise in earnings estimates, HK has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) which further underscores the potential for outperformance in this company.
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Back to the Cold War -- Thank You, Mr Obama
Looks like US elementary students will now get chance to practice nuclear missile drills
The Ukraine is the New East/West Germany
Back to the 60's

Drudge report headlines:  US military drills in Ukraine; and, Russian will hold nuclear exercise.

The first story, as reported by Reuters:
As fighting between the army and Russian-backed rebels rages in eastern Ukraine, preparations are under way near its western border for a joint military exercise this month with more than 1,000 troops from the United States and its allies.
The decision to go ahead with the Rapid Trident exercise Sept. 16-26 is seen as a sign of the commitment of NATO states to support non-NATO member Ukraine while stopping well short of military intervention in the conflict.
The second story, also reported by Reuters:
The forces responsible for Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal will conduct major exercises this month involving more than 4,000 soldiers, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of rising tension with NATO over the Ukraine crisis.
The Washington Times: Obama consistently underestimates America's adversaries

Meanwhile, these are the president's priorities: golf, global warming, minimum wage.

War, Edwin Starr

Flashback, from NPR: War and violence on the decline in modern times -- December 7, 2011:
Despite news of terrorist bombings, U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and crackdowns in Syria, two recent books argue the world has never seen so little war and violence. Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Joshua Goldstein, author of Winning the War on War, discuss.
But Joshua Goldstein argues that despite Iraq and Afghanistan, Congo and Sudan, the past 10 years have seen fewer war deaths than any decade in the past 100 years. And Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker goes even further. We may be living in the most peaceful period in the history of our species.
Well, to Afghanistan, Congo, Sudan, since 2011, we can add Egypt, Hamas, Israel, Syria, ISIS (ISIL), Ukraine, Russia, Somalia.

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If the price of oil spikes due to concerns about reliability of "overseas" oil, just remember that under Bush/Cheney, the Keystone XL would have been complete, and operational by now. WTI is up almost $2.00 today.


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Choppy Day For The Market ... 

... but trading at new 52-week highs: BRK.B, CAH, DIS, GPRO, LNG, MRO, NFLX, PBR, PSX, RAIL, SRE, STE, TRP, UNP.