Sunday, September 28, 2014

Blogging On Monday, September 28, 2014 Will Be Delayed

I have a conflict Monday morning starting at 6:30 a.m. CDT and extending for several hours. After I sign off tonight, I won't be back on the internet until mid-day Monday.

This is probably my last post for the evening.

If one scrolls down, one will find that the wells coming off the confidential list over the weekend and Monday have been posted. The results will not be posted until later Monday afternoon.

Long, Long Article On BNSF In Montana -- September 28, 2015

This is a must-read, must-bookmark article. Often these articles disappear over time. The Billings Gazette has a long, long story on BNSF, CBR, and the agricultural, coal, and automobile shipping backlog.

Some data points:
BNSF is spending $160 million in Montana this year to expand rail capacity, and is also hiring 450 people in the state. The swelling workforce shows in Forsyth, where outside Fransen’s depot office, the company parking lot is full and the pay is well above average for the area. Starting pay for BNSF conductors is $60,000 a year after 13 weeks of training. The only prerequisite is a high school diploma. It doesn’t take too many workers with that size salary to stimulate the economy of a small town like Terry where rail construction is underway.
And this:
That’s a lot of investors with wagers on BNSF’s iron horse to not only show, but win. No community has more on the line than Shelby, which launched its rail industrial park a few years ago after turbines for North Central Montana’s wind farms began rolling into town. Shelby gets 45 to 55 trains a day, according to Mayor Larry Bonderud. The mayor would like to see the number of trains increase to 65, where it was before the Great Recession.
“We’re seeing more agriculture commodities, more value-added ag commodities,” Bonderud said. “We’re seeing coal come up from the south and being interchanged to the Canadian Pacific,” which crossed the border and picks up loads in Shelby.
Bonderud said you could see the rail traffic picking up if you knew what to look for. Not only because oil tankers and grain cars were rolling down the track, but also because recession-idled shipping container cars began leaving the seldom-used side tracks across Montana, which were lousy with the specialty cars used to move shipping containers between Chicago and the West Coast.
Bonderud said BNSF is making the necessary track improvements, none bigger than a 60-mile double-track stretch between Glasgow and Minot, ND, that allows incoming and outgoing oil and agriculture trains to travel more freely.
Remember that Dickinson Press story telling us that more CBR would result in longer waits at railway crossings? Here, we are told that prior to the Great Recession as many as 65 trains a day rolled through the northern tier. Now, it's only 45 to 55 trains a day. Something tells me ....

Imagine how bad this would all be if there was no "war on coal."

It's a long, long article. Many, many story lines. 

Regular readers know that I have the highest respect for BNSF and anyone "blaming" BNSF for these problems either has an agenda, or doesn't understand the business.

And it's the folks in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, farm states as far I know, that still favor CBR over oil pipelines -- having killed the Keystone and looking to kill the Sandpiper.

The last chokepoint for BNSF across the northern tier is a small river in Idaho. The small town located near the river doesn't want BNSF to put in a second bridge to complete the double-track project across the northern tier (previously reported). They cite ... environmental concerns.

Crockett's Theme, Jan Hammer

I see Europe won its third straight Ryder Cup. Did anyone even watch? I see that Jeff Gordon won at Dover today. "Chase for the Sprint Cup" (from wiki):
Under the new system (2014), the Chase field is expanded to 16 drivers. But unlike previous versions of the Chase, drivers are eliminated from title contention as the Chase progresses.
The bottom four of the top-16 drivers are eliminated from title contention after the third race (Dover) in what is called the "Challenger Round", as points are reset to 3,000 points. [That's what happened today.]
Then the new bottom four are eliminated after the sixth Chase race (Talladega) in the "Contender Round," while the points all reset to 4,000. The "Eliminator Round" involves axing the drivers 5th-8th in the points after the penultimate race at Phoenix, and the top four drivers have their point totals reset to 5,000 so that they are tied for the final race at Homestead-Miami for the title run.
Of these four drivers, the driver with the best finish at Homestead is then the crowned series champion.

First Time Since iPhone 6 Went On Sale, No Lines In Front Of Local Apple Store -- September 28, 2014

Every day since the iPhone 6 was available for sale at the local Apple retail store, I have gone by to see if there was a line; if no line, I was going to go in, just to see for myself the size difference of the iPhone 6 Plus.

Tonight, Sunday night, I rode my bike the usual five miles up to Starbucks, and went past the Apple retail store. It was 6:37 p.m. People (Apple employees as well as customers) were inside. There was no line. I parked the bike and walked in. Nope, they were close; the doors were simply unlocked to allow the last few stragglers to make their purchases and leave. I didn't ask, but I assumed the store closed at 6:00 p.m.

Speaking of which: when do we set our clocks back? November 2, I guess. That seems a long time from now.

Whatever.

I'm being told by a friend of a friend that the oft-rumored proposed CBR terminal at Gascoyne, ND, might be getting the "go-ahead." Back on May 23, 2012, there were talks of such a terminal. At the link, by the way, are a couple of photos of Keystone XL stacked pipeline (near Gascoyne).

On another note, a reader alerted me to this link/story. Bloomberg is reporting NiSource will spin off an MLP.
NiSource Inc., owner of utilities that serve northern Indiana, will form a tax-advantaged partnership for its natural gas pipeline system to help exploit the shale boom.
Initial holdings will include a 14.6 percent interest in CPG OpCo LP, a natural gas transmission, midstream and storage business now owned by NiSource, the Merrillville, Indiana-based company said today in a statement. Forming a so-called master-limited partnership, or MLP, will enable a NiSource spinoff to raise cash to expand pipeline networks while retaining control of assets.
A 44 percent surge in U.S. gas output during the past decade, brought on by the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, has driven demand for new pipelines to deliver the fuel to market. NiSource has announced plans to spend about $8 billion to $10 billion over the next five to 10 years to expand and upgrade pipelines serving the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. 
This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment or financial decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

Comment: one wonders if these discussions come up in Bismarck (MDU)? Probably not. [Later: a reader tells me I'm wrong: MDU does have these discussions.]

Comment: every time "I turn around," it seems the Marcellus and the Utica are getting bigger.

Turn Around, Look At Me, The Vogues
 
By the way, I see there was record-setting hot temperatures in the Bakken the past few days. Must be that global warming stuff everyone's talking about.

I see this will be one of the themes this week in the financial sphere: the US Fed sees "recovery": the EU sees recession looming. I've talked about that at length; have a webpage devoted to the EU's energy problems; see sidebar at the right. Reuters is reporting:
On one side of the Atlantic they're trying to refill the punchbowl. On the other they're getting ready to take it away. This week, investors may get a clearer idea why.
The European Central Bank will spell out on Thursday its latest attempt to steer the euro zone away from the prospect of damaging deflation, following the latest snapshot of consumer price pressures on Tuesday.
U.S. jobs numbers on Friday will probably confirm that the fast-recovering American economy has reached the point where the Federal Reserve can finally halt its massive bond-buying stimulus.
Which makes for a perfect poll. Do you think the unemployment rate will tick below 6.0% this Friday when the new numbers come out? That would be 5.99% or lower.

Wells On Confidential Status, By Operator -- September 28, 2014

This list is not proofread or double-checked; errors probably exist; check the source if it's important to you. 

There is a tag at the bottom of the blog, "ConfidentialList." Back in June, 2011, there were 1,222 wells on the confidential list. Today there are almost twice that many wells on the confidential list. 

2,287 wells on the confidential list, September 28, 2014 (the list excludes the 20 SWD wells):

Abraxas: 7
American Eagle: 38
Anschutz: 1
Armstrong Operating: 1
Bakken Hunter: 3
Ballard Petroleum: 2
Baytex: 4
Burlington Resources: 129
Continental Resources: 276
Corinthian: 11
Cornerstone: 5
Crescent Point: 12
Cynosure Energy: 1
Denbury: 10
Emerald: 25
Enduro: 40
Enerplus: 60
EOG: 48
Fidelity: 13
Flatirons: 1
Fram Operaitng: 4
Gadeco: 2
Hess Bakken: 272
Halcon: 46
Hunt: 30
KOG: 38
Legacy: 22
Liberty Resources: 4
Luff: 1
Marathon: 93
MBI: 3
Mountain Divide: 6
Murex: 10
Newfield: 68
Oasis: 100
OXY USA: 23
Peregrine: 1
Petro Harvester: 3
Petro Hunt: 91
Petrogulf: 2
QEP: 90
Resonance Exploration: 1
Roff Operating: 1
Samson Oil and Gas: 1
Samson Resources: 22
SHD: 10
Sinclair: 8
Slawson: 101
SM Energy: 37
Solutions: 1
St Croix Operating: 1
Statoil: 114
Stephens Production: 1
Strata-X: 4
Strike Oil: 1
Texakota: 9
Thunderbird Resources: 8
Triangle: 18
Welter Consulting: 1
Wesco: 1
White Butte Oil: 2
Whiting: 56
WPX: 77
XTO: 171
Zargon: 2
Zavanna: 50

WPX To Report A Great Well Monday -- September 28, 2014

It's a gorgeous day in north Texas. I have three back-to-back soccer games to watch starting at noon today. Coffee now.

Normally I wait until later in the evening to post the wells that will be coming off the confidential list over the weekend and Monday, but not much else to post, so will do that now.

Monday, September 29, 2014
  • 26722, 640, Triangle USA, State 152-102-36-25-6H, Elk, t4/14; cum 46K 7/14;
  • 27906, drl, CLR, Vachal 11-27H2, Alkali Creek, no production data,
Sunday, September 28, 2014
  • 26478, 243, Murex, Robert Stephen 5-8H, Writing Rock, Three Forks B1 (TF1?), t6/14; cum 15K 7/14;
  • 27041, 1,905, SHD, Bullet 12-36H, Clarks Creek, t6/14; cum 36K 7/14;
  • 27747, drl, XTO, Willey 31X-3G,  West Capa, no production data,
  • 27908, 473, Hess, LK-M Elisabeth-147-97-1522H-6, Little Knife, t8/14; cum --
Saturday, September 27, 2014
  • 25175, drl, WPX, Morsette 35-36HX, Spotted Horn, no production data,
  • 26893, 607, OXY USA, Leiss 4-26-23H-143-96, Hawkeye, t3/14; cum 40K 7/14;
  • 26894, 424, OXY USA, Robert Sadowsky 2-35-2H-143-96, Manning, t3/14; cum 42K 7/14;
  • 27535, 90, Legacy, Legacy Et Al Bernstein 12-17 2H, Red Rock, a Spearfish well, t5/14; cum 9K 7/14;
  • 27573, conf, Hess, EN-Jeffrey A-155-94-2734H-9, Alkali Creek, no production data,
  • 27711, 1,515, WPX, Independence 2-35 HI, Mandaree, t6/14; cum 49K 7/14;
  • 27876, 305, Slawson, Cruiser 6-16-9TFH, Big Bend, t8/14; cum --
  • 27907, drl, Vachal 10-27H3, Alkali Creek, no production data,
  • 27956, drl, SM Energy, Dorothy 3-27HST, wildcat, far northwest corner of North Dakota, west of West Ambrose field, south of Colgan; producing
*******************************************

27041, see above, SHD, Bullet 12-36H, Clarks Creek:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
7-20142709821060
6-201488330

26894, see above, OXY USA, Robert Sadowsky 2-35-2H-143-96, Manning:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
7-201496770
6-201493180
5-201476770
4-2014113390
3-201431170

27711, see above, WPX, Independence 2-35 HI, Mandaree:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
7-20142259114834
6-20141867812189
5-201468144046