Random Update Of Three Wells On A 320-Acre Bakken Drilling Unit In Antelope Oil Field, Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota -- December 15, 2014

Updates

Sunday, October 8, 2017: update of three wells.

Original Post 

This is really, really cool. Trying to connect all the dots, I thought there was one dot missing, but they all connect.

In the original post on the Antelope Field, I wrote:

Antelope Field is an irregularly-shaped rectangular field, almost entirely within the reservation, on the east end of the northeast McKenzie County sweet spot in the Bakken. It is about two townships in size. It is of interest due to the fact that EOG plans to place 6 wells on a 320-acre spacing unit in this field.

It is interesting how things work out: in this immediate area, there are only three sections with 320-acre spacing: section 32-152-94; section 17-151-94; and section 20-15-94. When you expand the NDIC GIS map, you can find a few more such spacing units in: section 16-152-94; section 24-151-92; section 20-152-93, and you have to expand to almost the entire map to see additional such units: 320-acre drilling units in the Bakken are few and far between. It looks like most of them are inside the reservation. This puts things into perspective.

Three screen shots.

The first screen shot shows the 320-acre spacing units in the Antelope field:

The second screen shot shows four adjacent 320-acre spacing units in the area of interest:

The last screen shot shows the three wells being drilled on one of those 320-acre drilling units:

Cool, huh?

So, I suppose those are EOG wells? Nope.

The original applications were from Slawson.

But now:

• 21385, conf, White Butte Oil Operations, LLC, Panzer 1-20MLH, 
• 21386, conf, White Butte Oil Operations, LLC, Panzer 2-20MLH,
• 21387, drl, White Butte Oil Operations, LLC, Panzer 4-20MLH, original permit for a Three Forks well but name change suggesting a middle Bakken well; in January, 2014, along with the name change (from TF to middle Bakken), Slawson also requested a revision "to allow for an additional lateral, would submit a revised plan for a single lateral plan"; in July, 2014, the thee Panzer wells were transferred to White Butte Oil from Slawson; the business address for Slawson and White Butte were identical, 1675 Broadway, Suite 1600, Denver, CO.; and that connects the last dot.

Random Example Of Authorization Request For On-Site Units To Reduce Flaring; De-Ethanize Bakken Oil -- December 15, 2014

This is an example of what an operator needs to do to comply with new flaring rules. From file #26737:

Enerplus Resources requests authorization to add temporary NGL units to reduce flaring operations and comply with NDIC gas capture requirements in areas where pipeline tie-in and/or capacity is lacking. The units would remain onsite for approximately 6 to 12 months, or until the pipeline has been constructed to the locations. Each unit, contained within a 40' x 80' area, comprises a large-volume mobile refrigeration unit, large-volume de-ethanizer, natural gas-powered 100kW-250kW generator, 18,000 gallon NGL storage tank, and a natural gas compressor.

One 40' x 80' NGL unit would be set, on skids.

Photographs of the unit is available at the file. This is what the 18,000 gallon NGL tank looks like; gonna see a lot of these sprout up in the Bakken. 

KLJ's North Dakota Oil And Gas Industry Impacts Study -- Released In September, 2014

I can't remember if I ever posted this. This is the background:

The North Dakota Oil and Gas Industry Impacts Study was commissioned to forecast the level of oil and gas production in the state of North Dakota and trends that may increase, decrease or stabilize production. The study area focuses on the 19 oil and gas producing counties with a time frame of 2014-2019.

The collaborative team of KLJ, based in Bismarck, ND, North Dakota State University’s Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department (NDSU) in Fargo, ND, and the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota (EERC) in Grand Forks, ND, conducted the research and provided their expertise in preparation of this study.

The study suggests the next five years are forecasted for sustainable oil and gas production in the state of North Dakota. While there are undoubtedly conditions and events that could impact these expected outcomes, the oil and gas industry will continue to invest in the Bakken/Three Forks Formation if the economics of drilling prove profitable.

The sentence in red appears to be the summary but it is a funny way to say that the data suggests North Dakota's oil and gas industry is "sustainable" for the next five years. Whatever that means. Considering the billions of dollars of infrastructure that is in place, one would hope that the North Dakota Bakken is "viable/sustainable" for the next five years. [A sixteen-old teenager in perfectly good health is a lot different than a 75-year-old male diagnosed with a slowly progressing malignancy and given a 99% five-year survival change.] Again, I hope the Bakken is sustainable for the next five years.

That last sentence, in black bold ... well, what can I say?

This will take you to the web page, and then at the bottom of the page is the link to the PDF file. It downloads quickly despite being 215 pages. It appears the first 100 pages is the report itself; the rest is supplementary material. Again, the report focuses on the impact of the oil and gas industry on North Dakota, not necessarily the topics Business Insider or SeekingAlpha is interested in.

I don't see a lot of new information regarding size of the Bakken reservoir, primary recovery rate (how much it will increase over the next five years), etc. In fact, the report provides the size of many other oil reservoirs around the world, but correct me if I'm wrong, I don't see this report suggesting how big these folks think the Bakken/Three Forks is.

Maybe there's more there than meets the eye after a first run-through, but it seems like its lacking a lot of detail. Page 55 is perhaps the most interesting page with regard to production potential:

Recoverable oil and gas in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations make it the largest continuous oil accumulation in the US and accounts for more than half of all domestic-assessed tight oil resources. The second largest continuous oil accumulation in the US is the combined resources of the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk in Texas and Louisiana. Conservative government estimates state that 40,000 wells would be required to fully develop the Bakken and Three Forks Formations and could take 20 years or more to complete drilling activities and at least 50 years to produce all of the accessible oil, assuming 2014-2019 technology capabilities.

I also wonder if the study overlooked the recent estimates in the Permian.

It would have been interesting to see other estimates in addition to the "conservative government estimates" included in the study. There is nothing new in that paragraph; those figures have been around for the past several years.

What I did not care for were assumptions like these:

The number of wells drilled per rig will likely increase approximately five percent each year during the study period. 

It sounded like a wag. I have no idea how they came up with "five percent each year." Thirteen wells/year x 1.05 =  13.65.  After iterating five times, one comes up with 16.6 wells/rigs at the end of the 5th year. So?

The most glaring short-coming (obviously one can say this in hindsight), KLJ did all their studies based on three price-points for oil: $70/bbl; $85/bbl; and, $100/bbl. In hindsight, they needed to take this to $50/bbl which is very possible for the next two to three years. (It is very possible but very unlikely.) $50-oil won't shut down the Bakken but it changes the economic picture and the impact on North Dakota dramatically. In fact, the impact with $50 oil might be greater than if oil goes to $150 for the next five years. The contractor was lucky to complete this study by September, 2014, before the plunge in oil prices. 

The other shortcoming: I don't think the cost to complete a well within the parameters provided was all that helpful. It was pretty superfluous to the report. Having said that, I don't think they took into consideration the new completion techniques: huge amounts of proppant, for example, but I could have missed that. But even if they had included that data, it would have been superfluous for the purpose of the report.

It's a good source document for city planners and developers but I'm not sure how much it adds to our knowledge of the Bakken.

I Wonder If Anybody Noticed -- I Doubt It -- December 15, 2014

The AP is reporting:

North Dakota’s oil industry is coming in even lower than the targets set by new rules that require reducing the amount of natural gas burned off as a byproduct of oil production, the state’s top energy regulator said Friday.

Regulators endorsed a policy in July that sets goals to reduce flaring in incremental steps through 2020. The new rules allow regulators to set production limits on oil companies if the targets are not met.

The change requires flaring rates to be reduced to 26 percent by Oct. 1 and 10 percent within six years as infrastructure catches up with oil development.

State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said North Dakota’s natural gas flaring rate was 22 percent for October.

But we know that Alma Clooney wore a really nice hat to her wedding. All is right with the world.

The Day Finishes With 183 Active Rigs; Twenty-One (21) Producing Wells Completed; Twenty-Three (23) Wells Approved For Confidential Status; KOG Wells Now Listed As Whiting Wells; Nineteen (19) New Permits; SM Energy Reports A Huge Well In The Bakken -- North Dakota, December 15, 2014; Another Big Well In Stockyard Creek; At Four Pages, One Of The Longest Daily Activity Reports

Wells coming off confidential list Tuesday:

• 22626, 381, Triangle, Triangle 149-101-1-12-2H, Antelope Creek, t11/14; cum 12K 10/14;
• 23684, 726, WPX, Martin Fox 20-17HA, Mandaree, t10/14; cum 17K 10/14;
• 25081, drl, Statoil, Field Trust 7-6 3TFH, Todd, no production data,
• 27953, drl, CLR, Cincinnati 2-30H1, Indian Hill, no production data,
• 27954, drl, CLR, Scottsdale 3-31H1, Indian Hill, no production data,
• 28115, 28, Zargon, Zargon Mackobee Coulee 2HZ 3-16, Mackobee Coulee, a Madison well, about 1,000-foot-directional, 320-acre spacing, Sanjel's services [non-discounted total, $63K; discounted total (55%), $29], VD about 6,500 feet; TD, 7,450 feet, t8/14; cum 4K 10/14;
• 28200, 732, SM Energy, Calvin 2-13H, Poe, t9/14; cum 30K 10/14;
• 28450, drl, Slawson, Blade Federal 1-18MLH, Big Bend, producing,
• 28474, 94, Legacy, Legacy Et Al Berge 9-36 2H, North Souris, a Spearfish well, t7/14; cum 8K 101/4;
• 28608, loc (no typo -- that's what it shows on the scout ticket the day the well came off confidential; I assume the status should be DRL, awaiting fracking), EOG, Parshall 71-19H, Parshall, s10/22/14; cease drilling 10/31/14; TVD,9,400 fet; TD, 13,500 feet; reached TD 9 days after spud; single section, middle Bakken; no production data,

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28608, see above, EOG, Parshall 71-19H, Parshall, no production data; this is a very short lateral, it's in the southwest corner of section 19-152-90 (bottom hole starts in lot  2 and ends in the same section, about 4,500 feet away).

28200, see above, SM Energy, Calvin 2-13H, Poe:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2014	22634	11015
9-2014	7046	1211

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

Twenty-one (21)producing wells completed:

• 25117, 1,279, CLR, Bjarne 3-29H, Patent Gate, t11/14; cum --
• 26273, A, CLR, Rehak Federal 6-25H1, Alkali Creek, no test date yet;
• 26423, 1,328, Whiting, P Manning 154-99-2-2-11-15H3, Stockyard Creek, t9/14; cum 13K 10/14;
• 26498, 597, Hess, GN-Ringabeau-158-98-1102H-1, Rainbow, t11/14; cum 3K 10/14;
• 26840, 1,160, Hess, HA-Thompson-152-95-2017H-6, Hawkeye, t11/4; cum 13K 10/14;
• 26938, 998, Hess, SC-Norma-154-98-0706H-3, Truax, t11/14; cum 2K 10/14;
• 26939, 654, Hess, SC-Norma-154-98-0706H-2, Truax, t11/14; cum 8K 10/14;
• 26980, 1,376, Hess, HA-Nelson-152-95-3328H-9, Hawkeye, t11/14; cum 8K 10/14;
• 26981, 1,137, Hess, HA-Nelson-152-95-3328H-8, Hawkeye, t11/14; cum 14K 10/14;
• 27004, see below/2,358, Statoil, Brown 30-19 4TFH, Alger, t11/14; cum --
• 27462, 1,370, Hess, LK-Bice-LW-147-97-1201H-1, Big Gulch, 4 sections, t10/14; cum --
• 27472, 1,370, Hess, HA-Thompson-LW 152-95-2017H-1, Hawkeye, 4 sections, t11/14; cum 4K 10/14;
• 27497, 525, Hess, EN-L Cvancara-155-93-2627H-5, Robinson Lake, t101/4; cum 7K 10/14;
• 27722, 637, Sm Energy, Almos Farms 1B-26HN, West Ambrose, t10/14; cum 8K 10/14;
• 27801, 1,081, Hess, HA-Mogen-152-95-0805H-9, Hawkeye, t11/14; cum 12K 10/14;
• 27815, 1,257, Hess, HA-Mogen-LE-152-95-0805H-1, Hawkeye, 4 sections, t11/14; cum 5K 10/14;
• 27930, 1,787, Whiting, P Wood 154-98[15-23-15-3H, Truax, 4 sections, t11/14; cum --
• 27931, 1,802, Whiting, P Wood 154-98-15-23-15-2HA, Truax, 4 sections, t11/14; cum --
• 27932, 2,201, Whiting, P Wood 154-98-15-23-15-2H, Truax, 4 sections, t11/14; cum --
• 28066, 850, Hess, EN-State C-156-93-1615H-8, Alger, t11/14; cum 2K 10/14;
• 28884, 2,515, Whiting, P Wood 154-98-15-23-15-3HA, Truax, 4 sections, t11/14; cum --

Nineteen (19) new permits:

• Operators: BR (11), Triangle (5), Slawson (2), Resonance Exploration
• Fields: Sand Creek (McKenzie), North Fork (McKenzie), Elk (McKenzie), Big Bend (Mountrail),
• Comments: this is the second permit for Resonance Exploration; both were permits for wildcat wells, both in the same township, right next to Westhope oil field, up in the far north of North Dakota, in Spearfish oil area, near the Landa oil fields; based on the name of the well the company is likely associated with Ballantyne;

Active rigs:

	12/15/2014	12/15/2013	12/15/2012	12/15/2011	12/15/2010
Active Rigs	183	191	181	198	165

NOTE: from "Things To Follow Up On" --

November 17, 2014
Statoil's Brown wells will be their first crack at cemented liners and increased frac stages. Will be interesting to see the difference. [ 27003, 27704, 27005, 27006, 28733, older wells: 20790, 18760.

An Update On Nigeria -- December 15, 2014

Regular readers are aware of the Nigerian story. There was one data point I did not know with regard to Nigeria and its oil.

A pundit, about ten days ago, that the Saudi action (or inaction) will cause more harm to west Africa than Ebola.

An earlier story suggested that Nigeria's oil exports to the US appear to be headed toward 0.000 bbls/day.

The question on everyone's mind. I did not know the answer. What percent of oil that comes from Africa comes from Nigeria? It looks like that percentage could head to zero also. Unlikely, but the future is grim. Historically, Nigeria accounts for one-fourth of all oil that is produced (produced, but not necessarily exported) from Africa. One-fourth.

An update, Bloomberg is reporting:

Nigeria’s two oil unions began an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude.

Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue. Brent crude oil plunged 44 percent this year. It rose as much as 2.3 percent to $63.25 a barrel in London today. Nigeria needs about twice that to balance its budget, according to estimates in October from Deutsche Bank AG.

“We do not expect the strike to have a material impact on Nigeria’s oil production, certainly not in the early days,” Philippe de Pontet, New York-based Eurasia Group’s Africa director, said in an e-mailed statement today.

Okay.

But if they need $126-oil to balance their budget, it seems they were spending outlandishly to begin with.

By the way, it's never said what it means when a country says it needs "$xx-oil" to balance its budget. Does that figure, on any give day, take into account the cumulative loss of income during a price collapse? A country's budget is an "annual" thing, not a daily thing. If Nigeria needs oil to be priced on average of $126 over the course of the year, the price is going to have to get a lot higher to average out the current $62.

OPEC chief says "the" ministers of OPEC voted for the new policy that resulted in the plunge of the price of oil. I wonder if the Nigerian minister was one of those ministers? If so, I wonder if he is still Nigeria's minister of oil? Actions have consequences.

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Is It Just Me?

I used to do a feature, titled "Is It Just Me....?"

It looks like I might have to resurrect the series.

Following up on the earlier story regarding Barbara Walter's most fascinating people of 2014, this is one of the reasons she chose Mrs. Clooney, as reported by USA Today:

Walters called the wedding "perfect," particularly pointing out Amal's hat and the wedding dress designed by the late Oscar De La Renta, according to ABC News.

Since I seldom watch television except for sports (I saw Dallas Cowboys destroy the Philadelphia Eagles last night), I won't see this interview. If the hat is mentioned in the interview, please let me know.

And to think some folks are worried about waterboarding. OMG. 

Idle Chatter On Missing Another Production Record In The Bakken -- December 15, 2014

This is for newbies. Regular readers are very much aware of this. Wanna see just how "incredible" the Bakken?

Some dots to connect:

1. From the most recent Director's Cut, data for October, 2014. I did not expect the first decline in a long time in Bakken oil production until November, 2014. In fact, the first decline in a long time was in October, 2014, a month earlier. How much did "we" miss by. By 0.3%. Or about 3,000 bbls out of every million bbls produced. 3,000 bbls. There are IPs of 3,000 bbls. But it was still a miss.

2. From the most recent Director's Cut, data for October, 2014. The wind was too strong nine days in October to allow fracking. There was no fracking for nine days in October. 9/30 = 30%. Thirty percent of the month was lost to fracking due to excessive winds. Big deal?

3. Everyone knows that Bakken wells are front-loaded. The best production occurs in the first few months and then declines after that. Losing 30% of your fracking days in any given month is going to dramatically decrease production for the entire month. Even the Red Queen knows that. And, yet, despite losing 30% of fracking opportunities, another production record was almost broken.

4. But there's more. It was said in the Director's Cut, data for October, 2014, that operators were already choking back on production to meet the new flaring rules. Flaring is a bigger problem in the higher production areas than in the poorer production areas. And still, another production record was almost broken.

5. That should be enough. But indications are that operators are meeting contract obligations, most of which are probably hedged, and are probably cutting back on production that would be sold at spot price and not required by contract.

But when you lose 30% of your fracking month to the freaking wind, it's not hard to understand missing a new production record. [Yes, I'm sure it's not the first time this has happened; but it's the first it's happened with a) new flaring rules; and, b) a slump in the price of oil.]

By the way, active rigs in North Dakota are holding steady at 182:

	12/15/2014	12/15/2013	12/15/2012	12/15/2011	12/15/2010
Active Rigs	182	191	181	198	165

Monday, Monday -- December 15, 2014

Updates

December 15, 2014: things are looking gloomy for the Nigerians. 
 

Original Post

AFP over at Yahoo!News is reporting:

Nigeria's two main oil workers' unions said they would launch an indefinite strike on Monday, threatening to hurt the output of Africa's largest oil producer.

Nigeria looks to be the first OPEC nation to zero out its oil exports to the US, having gone from 6 million bbls of oil / month to less than 2 million bbls of oil / month in less than six months.

Meanwhile Libya's "civil war" continues.

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Major Nominees For The Gold Globe Awards

Those that caught my attention:

• House of Cards: television series/drama; actor Kevin Spacey; actress Robin Wright
• The Imitation Game: movie drama, actor Benedict Cumberbatch
• The Grand Budapest Hotel: movie musical or comedy; actor Ralph Fiennes, director Wes Anderson,
• St Vincent: movie actor Bill Murray,
• Veep: television actor Julia Lewis-Dreyfus
• Fargo: television movie

I can take or leave Julia Lewis-Dreyfus and I've never watched her sitcom Veep. But having seen her in Curb Your Enthusiasm she comes across as a "team player," feisty, and non-judgmental. I am happy for her.

I get the biggest kick out of The Grand Budapest Hotel being nominated (in three major categories). It's one of my favorite movies; I can watch it over and over again in the same weekend. My wife does not like it all.

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1969

I opine elsewhere that 1969 was the best year ever for music --1969, plus/minus 6 months-- starting late 1968 and ending early 1970.

I devote an entire blog to the music of 1969. Do not open that site; it will probably crash your computer; just too much posted at that site.

I mention all this because I've in my "midnight fugue mode" and stumbled across this Linda Ronstadt video from, of all things, 1969.

The Only Daddy That Will Walk The Line, Linda Ronstad

Lights Out In Washington, DC? -- December 15, 2014

CBS Local is reporting:

Authorities say an electrical transformer explosion has caused power outages at several government buildings in Washington.

Officer Araz Alali, a D.C. police spokesman, says the transformer blew at 9:05 a.m. Monday at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He says the problem was a mechanical failure and no one was injured.

Most power at the State Department was lost and employees were told to work as best they could. Other buildings affected included the Federal Reserve, the General Services Administration, Metro’s Smithsonian subway station, the Labor Department, the U.S. Park Police and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Lights flickered off then on at the White House, but that appeared to be unrelated. A Pepco spokesman said a cable was damaged during construction on private property around the same time.

Yep ... just a coincidence, lights flickering off at the White House -- maybe going to emergency power? Just a coincidence that a cable was cut "around the same time"? But we have it on good faith from Officer Araz Alali, a police spokesman, this was simply a mechanical failure. Happens all the time.

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If renewable energy was not viable vs $140 oil, it's hard to believe that renewable energy will see better days with $50 oil. The Independent is reporting:

The collapsing oil price that is reshaping the global economy could derail the green energy revolution by making renewable power sources prohibitively bad value, experts have warned.

The falling prices could damage the North Sea and fledgling fracking industries and make it harder for the UK to hit its legally binding targets to cut carbon emissions.

But the biggest threat posed by falling oil and gas prices – in the UK and globally – is to the renewable energy industry dominated by wind-, solar- and hydro-power, experts say.

“Renewable energy subsidies have been mostly sold to the public on the basis of the economic benefits. But the economic arguments hinged on the idea that fossil fuel prices would get more expensive, while expensive renewable subsidies would be able to come down over time. That’s looking doubtful now.”

 “More subsidies are likely to be needed [for green power] as the gap between the cost of fossil fuel power and renewable power gets bigger.”

The extra subsidies would be borne by households in the form of higher energy bills.

Tell this to the folks in New England. 

Is This A First? Memo To New England -- Send Your Consultants Out To Williston, ND, To See How It's Done

Updates

Later, 2:40 p.m. CT: look again at the dollar amount -- $286.08. Which "they" say is what their average customer pays for electricity over three months. Are you kidding? Less than $300 for three months of electricity. What a bargain. Might even make it worthwhile to buy an EV.
 

Original Post

 
See first comment: the story was picked up by The Dickinson Post but the Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative is headquartered in Williston. A big "thank you" to the reader for calling me on this.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen this before. A North Dakota utility is giving its customers their electricity free for three months. The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative had a great year, and it’s customers will be rewarded.

Customers are getting free electricity or $286.08 off their bills, said Jessica Martin, a communications manager with MWEC.

MWEC serves about 6,000 customers throughout Mountrail and Williams counties. It’s experienced significant growth during the boom.

For folks unfamiliar with MWEC this is a rural electric cooperative; the major utility in Williams and McKenzie counties serving residential customers is MDU.

Meanwhile, utility bills in New England will double, maybe triple this winter, and activist environmentalists apparently want those utility bills to go even higher. Previously posted.

Economy Improving? Luxury Pick-Up Truck Sales Suggest Something Is Afoot -- December 15, 2014

Simply a car article that Don sent me, but a lot of story lines. USA Today is reporting:

The "luxe truck" phenomenon, dressed-up pickups and SUVs, account for for most U.S. vehicle sales over $50,000.

Those trucks make up six of the 10 best-selling vehicles at that price level. It's a boon automakers, adding more profit to vehicles that are already cheaper to build than cars.

The biggest beneficiary: Ford. Ford is on track to sell 189,776 F-Series pickups this year at transaction prices over $50,000, more than sales of BMW's 3, 5 and 7 Series. Or, to put it another way, projected sales of Ford's F-series pickups are higher than the combined sales of Audi in the U.S. this year.

Ford sells deluxe pickups with names like King Ranch, Lariat and Platinum. While only one, the Platinum, has a list price above $50,000, buyers can load them up with so many extras that it isn't hard to hit the high price.

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Supreme Court: Cops Make Mistakes; Get Over It

Being tweeted right now, 10:30 a.m. CT, December 15, 2014: Supreme Court rules a police officer's mistaken idea of what is illegal, such as a broken tail light, doesn't make an arrest and a search invalid - @NBCNews

Also being tweeted, Barbara Walter's most fascinating person of 2014, Amal Clooney. I had to look her up on Wiki to confirm who I thought she was. I always thought her first name was Mrs.

Active Rigs Holding Steady At 182 -- December 15, 2014; Range Resources May Have Set Utica Record For An IP

Active rigs:

	12/15/2014	12/15/2013	12/15/2012	12/15/2011	12/15/2010
Active Rigs	182	191	181	198	165

RBN Energy: finding markets for US tsunami of condensates. 

The U.S. has a surplus of light hydrocarbon liquids – much of it in the form of field condensate produced at the wellhead and plant condensate extracted from natural gas at processing plants. Declining domestic demand leaves both field and plant condensate increasingly reliant on export markets. Trouble is those export markets are far from secure and the oil price crash isn’t making things any easier. Today we preview RBN’s latest Drill Down report – a deep dive into the supply and demand balance for field and plant condensate.

What follows is based on our latest Drill Down report – available exclusively to RBN Backstage Pass subscribers. The report describes the extraction and production of both field and plant condensate in the U.S. We provide actual and forecast production data as well as an explanation of markets for condensate today and over the next five years. We explain why both types of condensate are headed for a surplus in the domestic market and evaluate possible export markets that could soak up that surplus. Finally we discuss the increasing possibility that export markets may not be able to absorb the U.S. condensate surplus and how that likelihood has increased following the recent oil price crash.

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From Yahoo!In-Play

Summit Midstream Partners announces its General Partner develop natural gas gathering system for XTO in the Utica Shale:

• Summit Midstream Partners, the privately held company that owns and controls the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, and also owns a 49.5% limited partner interest in SMLP, announced that it has reached an agreement with XTO Energy to develop and operate a new natural gas gathering system servicing XTO's natural gas production from Belmont and Monroe counties in southeastern Ohio. 
• The $400 million, multi-year development of the Summit Utica gathering system is currently underway and first flows to Regency Utica Ohio River are expected in the second half of 2015.

Range Resources announces 2015 capital budget and record Utica Well Results; sets 2015 capital spending at $1.3 bln, down 18% YoY : Co announced today its 2015 capital budget and the initial results from its Utica/Point Pleasant well located in Washington County, Pennsylvania. 

• Range has set its 2015 capital spending budget at $1.3 billion, a decrease of 18% versus its 2014 capital budget. 
• As a result of improving capital efficiencies from its Marcellus activities, Range expects to continue to deliver year-over-year production growth in the 20% to 25% range despite the reduction in its capital budget.

Range Resources also announced that its Utica/Point Pleasant well located in Washington County, Pennsylvania achieved an average 24-hour test rate of 59.0 Mmcf per day against simulated pipeline pressure and conditions during the initial flow back.

• Initial calculations indicate a 0.88 psi/foot pressure gradient. This initial production rate equates to a 10.9 Mmcf per day IP rate per 1,000 foot of lateral. 
• Co believes this is a record for any horizon drilled in the Appalachian Basin and also represents the highest IP rate of any Utica well.

Comment: I believe 59 mmcf converts to about 10,000 boe. If accurate, this is quite a record.

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Japan In Texas

Texas is now home for bargain-hunting Japanese oil buyers.

ONEOK To Add De-Ethanizers At Stateline I And Stateline II Plants West Of Williston -- December 15, 2014

A big apology; I accidentally rejected this comment. I was able to recapture it and place it here. I did not mean to reject it; I was typing too fast. Sorry.

A reader wrote:

OneOk is showing in their latest Wells Fargo presentation that they will be adding de-ethanizers to the Stateline I & II plants. 

Another company will build a pipeline, to the Vantage ethane pipeline to Alberta. 

Maybe Pembina Pipeline builds an extension. 

The supplier to the Badlands NGLs ethane cracker plant should soon be announced. Maybe OneOK will just be using the Northern Border pipeline to gather gaseous ethane and installing a de-ethanizer plant where the cracker plant goes, probably west of Mandan. That would eliminate the need for a separate ethane pipeline to the cracker plant.

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/12/120070/WELLS-FARGO.pdf