News We Will Be Reading Tomorrow -- September 16, 2014

Active rigs:

	9/16/2014	09/16/2013	09/16/2012	09/16/2011	09/16/2010
Active Rigs	199	178	193	199	145

Accuracy questionable. Rigs sometimes double counted. I don't scan through the list; I simply post what NDIC is posting.

The Wall Street Journal

Boots on the ground.

US incomes end 6-year decline, just barely.

Federal prison population declines.

A novel use of eminent domain hits headwinds. Some officials in Richmond, CA, are pushing a novel use of eminent domain to purchase the mortgages of underwater homeowners, but not the homes, to reduce debt purchases.

Home prices in nearby San Francisco and Silicon Valley are setting new highs, but prices here still hover around 37% below where they were at their peak in 2006. More than a quarter of Richmond borrowers owe more than their homes are worth, according to a report prepared by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, compared with 10% nationally.

How so many Richmond homeowners got so deeply in debt helps explain why the plan is so controversial. Borrowers often compensated for slowly rising incomes during the boom years by tapping rising home equity to pay for bills and repairs. Then when the market crashed, they were left with mortgage debt exceeding their homes' values.

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin wants to use the city's property-seizing powers of eminent domain—normally reserved for shared public purposes like building roads—to help homeowners like Mr. LeGrande dig out from huge housing debts. Other cities, including Newark and Irvington in New Jersey, have proposed similar plans but none has advanced as far as Richmond's.

Under Richmond's plan, the city would seize the mortgage—but not the home—with backing from a private firm. They would then reduce the loan principal and refinance into a new government-guaranteed loan. That would leave the borrower with a fixed payment and less debt.

Gamblers sign own arrest warrants.

Orrin Silverman knew he couldn't legally gamble at the Maryland Live Casino outside the city. He had voluntarily banned himself from the state's casinos for two years, alarmed by visits that sometimes left him $1,000 poorer.

But the 24-year-old waiter said he didn't think the staff was enforcing the ban. In March, he showed identification to receive a $200 cash advance at the casino. In minutes, he was arrested and charged with trespassing.

"It was kind of a traumatic experience," he said. "I half-thought they would give me a slap on the wrist and say, 'Leave.' They full-blown put me in handcuffs, took my fingerprints," said Mr. Silverman, who ultimately received probation.

Thousands of people in the U.S. have wound up in Mr. Silverman's predicament in recent years—charged criminally after they have barred themselves from casinos in an effort to steer clear of gambling.

 Chess: Kremlin to base full military unit in Crimea.

Budweiser criticizes NFL.

UAW ends two-tier wages at Lear.

**************************************

The Los Angeles Times

Thousands without power as energy (air conditioners) use records fall.

SpaceX, Boeing land NASA contracts to carry astronauts to space.

Leonardo DiCaprio gets a climate-change gig with the UN.

NFL players' union appeals Ray Rice punishment.

Poverty rate posts first notable drop since 2006.

*************************

Apple

Apple is truly amazing. It may be apocryphal but it is/was said that Steve Jobs never would have offered a larger iPhone. Many think that Apple was forced into offering a larger iPhone by the success of its competitor(s). So, what did Apple do with all that extra space? More battery and improved battery life. Macrumors is reporting:

• First iPhone 6 and 6 Plus reviews: 'thin and sexy', 'bigger and better', impressive battery life up to 2 days.

Battery life up to 2 days; truly impressive. Samsung will rue the day it made fun of Apple "copying" its competitors.

Two full days. That's means an international-traveling businessman doesn't need to worry about his iPhone for the entire one-way trip. That means a lot.

And it looks like all reviews are positive; nothing negative. Except perhaps the shipping dates.

Deciphering Designations Of Twelve (12) New BR Permits; House Of Cards -- September 16, 2014

There may be errors on this page. Early on a lot of locations -- fields -- were inaccurate. They were updated from the NDIC website January 4, 2015. If something seems wrong, it probably is. Go to source if questions or to confirm / check data.

Note: with regard to the wells on this page, see also this link. 

Updates

May 22, 2020: production updated; production data here; 

January 28, 2019: production data updated; see below;

August 5, 2017: 18047, Teton 21-3H, recently taken off-line; also, #29428 also taken off-line recently; re-fracking one or the other?

August 12, 2015: with regard to the Kings Canyon wells, we have some new information -- from an update elsewhere --

#29434, 1,080, BR, Kings Canyon 3-1-27MTFH; 36 stages, 4 million lbs; t7/15; cum 118K 2/21; off line as of 8/19; back on line 2/20; is an important well from standpoint of understanding "legal" names of BR Kings Canyon wells in Camel Butte. In the original post below, written a long time ago, I suggested that the "M" in MTF stood for "middle Three Forks," a new term for me. In the old days, it was simply the upper Three Forks that was targeted whenever we saw "TF" in the legal name. Shortly thereafter, operators starting talking about the four benches in the Three Forks, and the "upper TF" became TF1, the first bench. Now, we see "middle Three Forks. In the application, this is identified as Three Forks B2 (second bench). From the well file, for #29434, "the Middle Three Forks Formation [in this location] is a 20-foot-thick zone (~ 52' below the base of the Lower Bakken Shale)." Later in the report, the target zone lithology was said to have been taken 13 - 30' below the base of the Lower Bakken Shale. Another interesting note: this is a 2560-acre stand-up drilling unit; this well is sited in the northernmost section 339 feet from the north line, and then runs south, as a long lateral. Formation tops:

• KOP: 10,400'
• Carrington State: 10,766'
• Scallion: 10,772'
• Upper Bakken Shale: 10,789'
• Middle Bakken: 10,819'
• Lower Bakken Shale: 10.885'
• Upper Three Forks: 10,936'

September 19, 2014: in today's daily activity report, seven more BR Teton / Kings Canyon wells to be drilled in Camel Butte:

a 4-well pad in the SWSE quadrant of section 10-150-96 (right next to the SESW pad in same section 10):

• 29461, 2,926, BR, RemingTeton 8-8-10MBH ULW, Blue Buttes, t7/15; cum 313K 2/21;
• 29462, 2,565, BR, Teton 8-8-10TFSH, Camel Butte, t7/5; cum 197K 2/21;
• 29463, 2,645, BR, Teton 7-8-10MBH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 293K 2/21; back on line 2/20;
• 29464, 2,525, BR, Teton 6-8-10MBH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 284K 2/21;

a 3-well pad in the NESE quadrant of section 34-151-96:

• 29465, 2,565, BR, Teton 7-1-3TFSH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 205K 2/21;
• 29466, 2,124, BR, Kings Canyon 8-7-8-34MBH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 258K 2/21;
• 29467, 1,566, BR, Kings Canyon 6-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, t8/15; cum 208K 2/21;

September 18, 2014: from a reader -- see first comment -- There is also a 4-well pad in section 10,  kitty corner, southwest to section 34. Despite the different names, they are all on the same pad, lot 1 section 4-150-96:

• 29048, 2,112, BR, Teton 2-1-MTFH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 162K 2/21; back on line 2/20;
  
• 29049, 1,560, BR, Tetonnorman 1-1-3UTFH, ULW, Johnson Corner, t6/15; cum 272K 2/21;
• 29050, 1,584, BR, Kings Canyon 2-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, KOP - Dec 16; TD - Dec 21, 2015; 17 - 48 feet below the base of the lower Bakken shale; t7/15; cum 237K 2/21; back on line 2/20;
• 29051, 2.064, BR, DeKing 1-8-34MBH-ULW, Camel Butte, t6/15; cum 341K 2/21;

Notice the combined names on permits #29049 and #29051 and the abbreviation ULW. These are overlapping spacing units and the ULW stands for Unit Line Well.

Original Post

 
[In these long notes, I don't often take time to proofread them two or three times. There may be typographical and/or factual errors. I have no formal training and no background in the oil and gas industry. No one should make any financial decisions, or otherwise, based on anything they read here or think they read here. With regard to the Bakken I make every effort to be as accurate as possible, but I blog quickly and don't double- or triple-check most things. (With all non-Bakken items, expect satire, parody, humor, sarcasm, opinions, factual errors, etc.) With regard to the posted information, I could use Microsoft Word to do the same thing but it would be more cumbersome; HTML works much better. See "Welcome/Disclaimer." I elected to share the HTML as a "blog" for various reasons. If anything appears wrong on the blog, it probably is. I try hard to link sources for everything posted. Go to sources.]

Refer to the graphic below.

In today's daily activity report, BR was issued twelve (12) permits in Camel Butte oil field. Four wells will be placed on each of three pads. I noted the designations (which may have been used earlier, but if so, I've missed them, or never paid any attention).

The three pads are designated by the "red rectangles" in the graphic above, in sections 10, 27, and 34. 

The following wells will be placed on each of the three pads, as noted:

SWSE 34-151-96

• 29423, 1,608, BR, Kings Canyon 4-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, pay target 24 feet thick; low background gas, moderately high trip gas; t7/15; cum 184K 2/21;
• 29424, 1,200, Kings Canyon 4-8-34MBH, Camel Butte, t8/15; cum 195K 2/21;
• 29425, 1,608, Kings Canyon 5-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, t7/15; cum 136K 2/21;
• 29426, 2,040, BR, Teton 5-1-3TFSH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 241K 2/21;

NESE 34-151-96

• 29465, 2,565, BR, Teton 7-1-3TFSH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, pay target 18 feet thick, t7/15; cum 205K 2/21;
• 29466, 2,124, Kings Canyon 7-8-34MBH, Camel Butte,  t7/15; cum 258K 2/21;
• 29467, 1,566, Kings Canyon 6-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, t8/15; cum 208K 2/21;
• 29517, 2,669, LaCanyon 8-8-34MBH ULW, Blue Buttes, t8/15; cum 404K 2/21;

SESW 10-150-96

• 29427, 2,766, Teton 2-8-10MBH, Johnson Corner, t7/15; cum 389K 2/21;
• 29428, 1,844, Teton 3-8-10MBH, Johnson Corner, t7/15; cum 272K 2/21;
• 29429, 2,124, Teton 5-8-10MBH, Johnson Corner, t7/15; cum 172K 2/21;
• 29430, 2,044, Teton 6-8-10TFSH, Johnson Corner, t7/15; cum 182K 2/21;

NWNE  27-151-96

• 8873, 83, Murex, George Tank 2, Madison/Devonian/Silurian, t8/88; t6/82; t6/82; cum 339K 2/21; cum 86K TA/88 (Devonian); dry (Silurian); Camel Butte, 
• 18018, 321, BR, Kings Canyon 21-27H, Camel Butte, t12/09; cum 312K 2/21;
  
• 29431, IA/1,848, Kings Canyon 6-1-27MBH, t7/15; cum 176K 2/21;
  
• 29432, 1,560, Kings Canyon 6-1-27MTFH, t8/15; cum 162K 2/21;
• 29433, 1,464, Kings Canyon 4-1-27MTFH, t7/15; cum 127K 12/20; off line;
• 29434, 1,080, Kings Canyon 3-1-27MTFH, t8/15; cum 118K 2/21; was off-line 10/16 - 4/17;

I am assuming the "M" does not stand for monitoring, but of course that's always a possibility.

The usual designation for a horizontal in the middle Bakken is: MBH (sometimes simply "H").

The usual designation for the Three Forks Sanish, also often referred to as the upper Three Forks, has been TFS. I suppose there might be horizontals in the TFS designated as TFSH.

I could be wrong, but I believe what we used to call the TFS, is now the upper Three Forks, and which is now generally referred to as the first bench, TF1.

The underlying benches are TF2, TF3, and TF4. To date, it is accepted that some areas in the Williston Basin are productive in TF2 and TF3, but to the best of my knowledge, TF4 is not yet recognized as a productive target.

But I haven't seen any operator use those designations (TF1, TF2, or TF3) in the names of their permits/wells.

This is, just as one example, how Oasis "sees" the formations in the Bakken Pool, which I believe is the same way that CLR "sees" the formations:

From the September, 2014, Oasis presentation.

So, back to the BR permits above.

We have UTFH, MBH, TFSH, and MTFH in the BR permits above.

Until I'm corrected, I am assuming:

• UTFH: upper Three Forks, but because there is also TFSH, this is most likely TF2;
• MTFH: the middle Three Forks, and for the same reason, this is most likely TF3;
• TFSH: the traditional (legacy) upper Three Forks, or TF1; and,
• MBH: middle Bakken, of course.

Section 27 has all "M" wells: middle Bakken and middle Three Forks (TF3).
Section 34, with the "question mark," has "UTFH" and "TFSH" designations.
Section 10, with "MB, TFS" has the traditional "MBH," as well as the "TFSH" designation.

I could be very wrong; maybe BR had earlier permits which could explain all this and I simply missed them.

KOG has its own system for designating the various formations but I haven't sorted them out, nor have I have sorted out designations used by other operators.

Trivia: #8873 is still flowing, no pump. The Devonian was first drilled in 1982; re-entered the Madison in 1988; total production approaching 400,000 bbls of oil. They also drilled the Silurian in 1982 but it was dry. (Note: factual errors and typographical errors are possible.)

• 8873, 44/83/dry; Madison/Devonian/Silurian; 1988; 1982; 1982; Murex, George Tank 2, t8/88; t6/82; cum 336K 8/20; cum 86K 7/88;

********************************

House of Cards - Real

EbolaWar; ObamaWar (Gulf War III); no boots on the ground; third televised ISIL beheading; OPEN BORDERS/OPEN ARMS; where are the undocumented children; Homeland Security's Southern Command; the division of the Ukraine; Russian sanctions pushing Germany (EU to follow) into a new recession; a UN Climate Change Conference boycott; ObamaCare Sting; fast food restaurant movement for $150/hour minimum wage; Bergdahl; Benghazi; the war on coal; the war on nuclear energy; it all feels like everything is unraveling. Of course, as Blondie's Chris Stein once famously said, "It was never raveled in the first place."

And now more unraveling.

CNBC is reporting: "big" Minnesota insurer is leaving ObamaCare site.

The "Blue Ox" of Minnesota Obamacare is calling it quits.

PreferredOne, the insurer that sold nearly 60 percent of all private health plans on Minnesota's Obamacare exchange, on Tuesday said it would leave that marketplace.

PreferredOne's plans were the lowest-cost options on that exchange, known as MNSure.

PreferredOne cited the costs of doing business on MNSure as the reason for its surprising decision, saying that selling plans is "not administratively and financially sustainable going forward," according to KSTP.com, the website of that Minnesota TV News network. 

This will be the first of many across the nation. Slowly, but surely. 

Remember, by executive order, most of ObamaCare is on hold, delayed until 2015, and 2016. 

MNUNINSured?

****************************

House Of Cards - Fake

My wife and I have just finished watching Season 1 of "House of Cards," and are now starting on Season 2 having watched the first two episodes (of Season 2).

SPOILER ALERT.

I really, really enjoyed Season 1 but with the death of Zoe at the end of Season 1, I've pretty much lost interest in the series (I've lost interest, but I still watch it). The music is still worth listening to, although my television speakers don't do the bass justice.

I've also lost interest in the series because as "incredible" (as in "unbelievable") as it was coming to be with each new episode, it could not keep up with what seems to be occurring in real life. 

Wood Burns -- Eco-Scientists, 21st Century; BR With 12 Permits For Wells In Camel Oil Field; Eighteen (18) New Permits; Fourteen (14) Producing Wells Completed -- September 16, 2014

Active rigs:

	9/16/2014	09/16/2013	09/16/2012	09/16/2011	09/16/2010
Active Rigs	198	178	193	199	145

Wells coming off the confidential list Wednesday:

• 23481, 1,399, WPX, Ruby 31-30HA, Antelope, t8/14; cum --
• 25944, 2,346, QEP, Poncho 1-3-10BH, Grail, t4/14; cum 73K 7/14;
• 25945, 2,656, QEP, Poncho 1-3-10TH, Grail, t4/14; cum 41K 7/14;
• 25946, 2,907, QEP, Poncho 2-3-10BH, Grail, 31 stages; 3.3 million lbs sand, t4/14; cum 55K 7/14;
• 25947, 2,701, QEP, Poncho, 2-3-10TH, Grail, t12/13; cum 87K 7/14;
• 26329, 3,180, QEP, Poncho 5-3-10BH, Grail, t4/14; cum 61K 7/14;
• 26682, drl, Zavanna, Angus 3-10 1H, Long Creek, no production data,
• 26687, drl, Zavanna, Angus 3-10 7H, Long Creek, no production data,
• 26828, drl, XTO, Rolfson 14X-34F, Siverston, no production data,
• 27495, drl, Hess, EN-L Cvancara-155-93-2627H-3, Robinson Lake, no production data,
• 27583, 297, CLR, Dunkirk 1-8AH1, St Demetrius, t7/14; cum 7K 7/14;
• 27663, drl, CLR, Mercer 1-13H, Ellisville, no production data,

Fourteen (14) producing wells completed:

• 23015, 894, CLR, Sacramento Federal 6-10H, Brooklyn; t9/14; cum --
• 26333, 559, Hess, GN-margaret-158-97-1522H-1, New Home; t8/14; cum --
• 26789, 1,014, Hess, BB-Belquist-150-95-1110H-3, Blue Buttes, t8/14; cum --
• 26790, 1,145, Hess, BB-Belquist-150-95-1110H-4, Blue Buttes, t8/14; cum --
• 26858, 561, Hess, EN-State D-154-93-2635H-8, Robinson Lake; t9/14; cum --
• 26987, 826, Hess, EN-Dobrovolny-155-93-2128H-7, Alger, t8/14; cum --
• 27021, 1,107, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-6, Hawkeye, t8/14; cum --
• 27088, 600, Hess, GN-Wendell-158-96-1819H-1, South Meadow, t8/14; cum --
• 27314, 349, Hess, EN-Joyce-2560-156-94-1720-1621H-1, Manitou, 4 sections, t9/14; cum --
• 27586, 190, CLR, Melgaard 5-14H1, Sadler, t9/14; cum --
• 28206, 549, Triangle, Nygaard 150-101-28-33-3H, Pronghorn, t8/14; cum --
• 28221, 3,347, Whiting, Brehm 13-7H, Sanish, t8/14; cum --
• 28222, 1,434, Whiting, Brehm 13-7TFH, Sanish, t9/14; cum --
• 28305, 1,441, Whiting,  Lee Federal 12-27TFH, Sanish, t9/14; cum --

Wells that came off the confidential list today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Eighteen (18) new permits --

• Operators: BR (12), XTO (3), Murex (2), Slawson
• Fields: Camel Butte McKenzie), Siverston (McKenzie), Temple (Williams), Big Bend (Mountrail)
• Comments: BR's 12 permits are for the following sections -- 34-151-96 (4); 10-150-96 (4); 27-151-96 (4)

If it wasn't for "bad luck," OXY USA wouldn't have any luck at all. OXY USA reports a dry hole. I don't think this well has been previously reported:

• 28162, dry, OXY USA, Evelyn Stroh 4-20-17H-143-96, Fayette, from the sundry form received August 14, 2014: "The surface hole was drilled, cased, and cemented on 6/5/14 using a spudder rig. A suspension of drilling was approved for this well and the other two wells on this pad. Propose to plug and abandon the surface hole and reenter at a later date. .... cement ... Shut in well head equipment. There are other wells on this pad and the location will not be reclaimed. Secure well head with a blind flange."
• The other two wells on this pad:
• 28163, drl, renamed Federal Bud 3-29-32H-143-96, 
• 28164, drl, renamed Federal Bud 4-29-32H-143-96, 

****************************

For The Archives

This Is 21st Century Science

Breitbart is reporting:

Environmental scientists at the University of Nottingham have made a shocking and expensive discovery: eco-friendly buildings made of "sustainable" wood burn much more easily than eco-unfriendly ones made of stone, concrete, steel or glass.

They made their surprise discovery over the weekend when their new Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry burned to the ground in what local firemen claimed was the biggest blaze in over a decade.

The £15 million building had been erected according to the most rigorous environmental principles, made with a wooden frame and other "sustainable" materials, and powered with "renewable" energy, so that the structure could remain "carbon neutral" throughout its lifetime.

According to Nottingham's registrar Dr Paul Greatrix this demonstrated the university's "commitment to sustainability in all its forms."

Unfortunately, the fire appears to have remained unmoved by the building's eco-friendly credentials and razed it to the ground in much the same way one of its ancestors did to a third of the City of London in the Great Fire of 1666.

After the Great Fire - and the rebuilding of London by Sir Christopher Wren - an act was passed in 1667 making it illegal to erect buildings using wooden frames. 

I wonder how much CO2 was released into the atmosphere fighting this fire.

The rest of the story gets better. I wish I could post all of it. Go to the linked article to get the rest of the story.

It appears the original study -- which turned out to be flawed about the safety of wood-timber-framed buildings -- might have been authored by the same folks who did the original "hockey stick" study suggesting global warming.

What's Up?

Generally, the hits on this blog fill up a page going back 30 minutes or so (see "Feedjit Live" at the bottom of the blog). Right now, the hits are filling the entire page at 17 minutes, almost twice the usual rate. I have no idea why. The price of oil is up, and the landmark study on fracking was released, but that was about it.

Whatever. I appreciate the interest.

Oh, that's it. I just checked. The hits are twice the usual rate due to Vern Whitten photos being posted. Amazing!

Thank you, Vern.

**********************

United Airlines Offer Flight Attendants $100,000 Buyout

Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

United Airlines, the only major U.S. carrier to post a quarterly loss this year, is offering its flight attendants buyouts of as much as $100,000 as it seeks to rein in costs.

Employees who accept the early-exit plan will be eligible for lump-sum payments, said a spokeswoman, Megan McCarthy, who declined to disclose the formula needed to reach the maximum. United also is recalling 1,450 furloughed attendants, most of whom took voluntary leave one to two years ago, she said.

**********************

ObamaWar

No Boots On The Ground

That was easy.

For Investors Only -- September 16, 2014

Remember: 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.

Having said that, I hope investors took advantage of the recent pullback in the general market, and the oil market more narrowly.

Trading at new highs: BRK-B, CAH.

Talking heads, according to this site, provide two reasons why the market is up today. If I'm in the mood later today, I will comment on these reasons. But right now, too tired.

Biggest Story Of The Year For Fracking? -- September 16, 2014; Holding A Conference And "No One" Attends -- Do You Still Take Selfies?

The AP is reporting:

The final report from a landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, found no evidence that chemicals or brine water from the gas drilling process moved upward to contaminate drinking water at a site in western Pennsylvania.

The Department of Energy report, released Monday, was the first time an energy company allowed independent monitoring of a drilling site during the fracking process and for 18 months afterward. After those months of monitoring, researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to free gas stayed about 5,000 feet below drinking water supplies.

Scientists used tracer fluids, seismic monitoring, and other tests to look for problems, and created the most detailed public report to date about how fracking affects adjacent rock structures.

The fracking process uses millions of gallons of high-pressure water mixed with sand and chemicals to break apart rocks rich in oil and gas. That has led to a national boom in production, but also concerns about possible groundwater contamination.

************************

Flat Earthers Are Staying Home
(Their Phrase, Not Mine)

It's one thing when "no one" shows up, but it speaks volumes when neither the prime minister of the Australia nor the prime minister of Canada NOR the president of ever-green Germany is attending the green energy / climate change conference in NYC. The link does not say whether the prime minister of the UK is attending. However, this source says he is attending but the EU prime minister will not be attending. The fact that neither Germany nor the EU will be sending their leaders -- just coincidental? The EU prime minister will be in NYC at the UN the following day, so it is a thought-out decision for him not to attend the Climate Change Conference. One must remember that much of the EU is heading into another recession (or never recovered from the last recession), much of it due to emphasis on global warming. The French premier plans to attend. It appears the farther one leans to the socialist agenda, the more likely one is to attend. This serves to point out, more than anything else, the "green movement" is simply an anti-capitalist / anti-free-market movement.

A Meeting Of The Flat Earth Society

Vern Whitten Photography -- September 16, 2014

What a gift. What a treat. Again, these make wonderful gifts. 

Vern Whitten has sent links to four new sets of images from North Dakota and Minnesota: two are from the Bakken, one cruise down the Badlands, and the last set covers central Minnesota to the middle of North Dakota.

Summertime Bakken: http://www.vernwhittenphotography.net/wes62914/

Sights and Progress:  http://www.vernwhittenphotography.net/wes8914/

Cruising the Badlands:  http://www.vernwhittenphotography.net/bad8914/

Summertime Sights: http://www.vernwhittenphotography.net/sum2014/

Too much to discuss, but there is an aerial view of the CLR 14-well Atlanta pad southwest of Williston in Baker oil field. I tried getting to that pad but could not.


Contact:

Vern Whitten Photography

whittenaerials@aol.com

www.vernwhittenphotography.com

(701) 261-7658

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

East Fork oil field has been updated.

Active rigs:

	9/16/2014	09/16/2013	09/16/2012	09/16/2011	09/16/2010
Active Rigs	198	178	193	199	145

RBN Energy: the challenges of condensate and widely varying quality of oil in the Eagle Ford.

***********************

Doomsday

I track the states over here.
 
Breitbart is reporting:

Among the many metrics that show Obama's home state is struggling to break the Great Recession, a new report shows that applications for food stamps in Illinois is greater than its creation of jobs. [And, of course, that can only go on for so long, I suppose.]

Illinois has had the worst recovery from the recession of any state in the country, the Illinois Policy Institute reported this month: "There are nearly 300,000 fewer Illinoisans working today than in January 2008, and 170,000 fewer payroll jobs. "

"For every post-recession job created in Illinois, nearly two people have enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps," the Institute wrote. “In the recession era, the number of Illinoisans dependent on food stamps has risen by 745,000.

************************************

Staggering

I knew "the number" but I missed the staggering significance. Apple probably sold in excess of 4 million iPhones in the first 24 hours, September 12, 2014. Everyone said that set a record. I guess. That was double the number iPhone 5's Apple sold in 2012 in that rollout. Link here. Apparently analysts were hoping for more. LOL. The stock (AAPL) is down almost 2% today.

On a side note: it's pretty well agreed that not more than four or five million people actually signed up for ObamaCare after several months of intensive marketing and arm-twisting and laws requiring folks to sign up, and yet Apple sold more than 4 million iPhones in less than one 24-hour period. And their website did not falter - though in the first three hours, the website was oversubscribed/down simply because too many folks trying to access the site. But that resolved itself in less than six hours. Ellen DeGeneres was incredulous that as many as 5 million people might have signed up for ObamaCare, and yet many more than that will buy an iPhone 6/6+ in the first two weeks it is offered.

***********************

A Note to the Grandparents

Our 11-year-old starts off the year in her science class studying the periodic table. That is one of her favorite subjects; we've "studied" the periodic table, off and on, together for the last two years. 

One of the things we discovered on our own was the "ability" to predict whether the radius of an element/atom would be be greater or smaller than the radius of the preceding element/atom in the periodic table. I say we discovered it on our own because we had not see that particular subject discussed anywhere. [Yes, one can find discussions of such by googling, but in the general textbooks and general science books we've been reading, we did not come across it.]

She said she was disappointed that they would "only" be studying the first three rows of the periodic table. LOL.

I reminded her that whatever she learns, it builds on the fund of knowledge she already has about that subject, so studying "just" the first three rows would be fine. Even if they studied just one element, she could learn a lot. She seemed to accept that.  

I say all that because two books that seem to "read together" nicely on the subject are: Sean Carroll's  Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World, c. 2013 and, Lisa Randall's Knocking On Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World, both c. 2011, 2012. The first is short, snappy, and to the point, and includes some nice glossy photographs, even as a softcover. Lisa is a lot wordier, seems to digress a bit too often, and treads (occasionally and unnecessarily) into "religion vs science." I have the paperback and perhaps she added some of that after the initial hardcover release although I doubt it.

Although I don't understand the math and understand very little of the theory, I feel I've come a long way in "getting it."  Forthe first time I feel I have a better grasp on all the hoopla surrounding the Higgs boson. That, and $1.89, will get you a tall dark roast cup of coffee at Starbucks in north Texas.