Net Acreage in the Bakken by Producer -- Subject to Typographical Errors and Incorrect Data -- January 10, 2015

The following is probably the most inaccurate information on the Bakken I have knowingly posted. I haven't looked at very many corporate presentations in a long, long time. I assume the 4Q14 presentations coming out in the next few months will be very, very enlightening; hopefully the operators provide their Bakken acreage so I can correct the many, many errors in the spreadsheet below.

If you have correct numbers for any/all, feel free to let me know.

The first column of numbers was posted January 31, 2012. It was based on best information I had at the time and was taken from my "Snapshot" page. The disclaimer at the "Snapshot" page should also be noted: that page is irregularly updated and contains many, many errors. It is for my use only.

If the first column (of numbers) is blank, it means I did not include it in the 2012 post, but am including that operator in this posting for the first time.

The second column (of numbers) in the data below is taken from the same "Snapshot" page. If the second column is blank, it means a) I have no data to suggest any change from the first column; and/or b) there was a huge change, but I don't know what it was (Anschutz, Denbury Onshore are two good examples).

Huge changes in acreage are not always explained on my "Snapshot" page which is concerning (a good example is the huge change in XTO's acreage). 

This information is for my use only. Feel free to look at it but don't consider it at all accurate. As I get updated data in the 4Q14 presentations, I will update the "Snapshot" page.

At any given moment the amount of acreage owned/controlled by any one individual/company can change, simply because deals are being done "all the time" in the oil patch. Announced deals may or may not close.

"Non-material" changes might not be reported by publicly-owned companies; private companies do not have to reveal transactions.

Again, this information is for my use only. Do not make any financial, investment, relationship decisions based on this data. Consider it full of major and minor, trivial and non-trivial errors. If this information is at all important to you, go to a more reliable source, which would be almost anybody except Joe standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

But it gives me an idea of who owns what in the Bakken. I tried to limit Bakken acreage to North Dakota, but some operators include Montana acreage, and some also include Canadian Bakken acreage. Of note, I believe KOG included some MT acreage which affects Whiting's Bakken acreage.

The spreadsheet is arranged in descending acreage based on the 2012 data. 

CLR	923,270	1,197,684
Hess	900,000	640,000
Whiting	680,137	868,000
EOG	580,000	580,000
COP	460,000	620,000
XTO (XOM)	410,000	600,000
MRO	391,000	370,000
Statoil (BEXP)	375,800	378,000
CHK	320,000	427,000
Oasis	307,430	505,960
Denbury	266,000
ERF	215,000	215,000
SM	204,000	159,000
OXY USA	200,000	335,000
Breitling	200,000	200,000
NOG	160,000	185,000
KOG	155,000	0
Newfield	140,000	100,000
Baytex	126,400	76,000
Ursa	110,000
Slawson Expl		100,000
MDU (Fidelity)	95,000	124,000
QEP	89,000	117,600
Williams	85,800
Triangle	83,500	190,450
Magnum	78,000	97,000
Emerald		68,800
Sequel	65,000
Halcon (GEOI)	46,000	131,000
Spotted Hawk		39,090
GMXR	35,524	34,918
Resolute	33,415
VOG	32,000	0
USEG	25,200
Renegade	23,673
Slawson Energy		2,300
Abraxas	20,853	18,290
Amer Eagle		46,800
Unit	12,750
LINN	11,193	17,000
Mountainview	11,000	36,000
Williston Expl		10,000
Open Range	7,700
CREDO	6,000
Surge	6,000
Samson O&G	3,033
Anschutz
Samson Res

The Sound Of The Bakken -- With Apologies to SACD's "Hound Of The Baskervilles"; Sierra Club (Silence Is Golden) Not Concerned About 38 Golden Eagles Killed By Slicers And Dicers-- January 9, 2015

Perhaps the biggest story of the year (2014) with regard to the Bakken economy was the fact that North Dakota did not share in the annual Silver Shovel Award.

I was reminded of that while watching a 1972 episode of Columbo last night, "The Most Crucial Game" in which the "smoking gun" was what was NOT heard on the tape.

Speaking of "things" not being heard: the Sierra Club has had no comment on the 38 golden eagles killed by slicers and dicers and PacificCorp admitting guilt in slaughtering those birds and 336 other protected birds. Park Record is reporting:

Wind farm operator PacifiCorp Energy will pay $2.5 million in fines after pleading guilty Friday to charges related to the deaths of protected birds in Wyoming.

The subsidiary of Portland, Oregon-based PacifiCorp pleaded guilty in federal court in Wyoming to two counts of violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act under a plea deal with prosecutors.

The U.S. Justice Department said the charges stemmed from the discovery of more than 370 dead birds at the company's Seven Mile Hill and Glenrock/Rolling Hills wind projects in Carbon and Converse counties from 2009 until now.

Authorities counted 38 dead golden eagles and 336 other dead protected birds, including hawks, blackbirds, larks, wrens and sparrows. It's the second prosecution of a wind energy company for harming or killing protected birds. Duke Energy pleaded guilty last year to killing eagles and other birds at two Wyoming wind farms.

There were so many killed birds, the scavengers could not even keep up in disposing of the evidence. And folks wonder why coyotes look so well fed these days. LOL.

PacifiCorp is "wholly-owned" by Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett). 

Yes, silence is "golden" (pun intended, I guess):

Silence Is Golden, The Tremeloes

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Meanwhile, The Bismarck Tribune is reporting another pretty good year for the Bank of North Dakota:

The Bank of North Dakota reported its 11th consecutive year of record net income Friday upon release of its fourth-quarter report.

The bank’s net income was approximately $111.2 million in 2014. This was $11.7 million higher than originally budgeted for the year and the first time the bank exceeded $100 million in net income.

In addition:

The quarterly report stated the bank had a balance sheet of $7.22 billion at the end of 2014. The balance sheet was approximately $400 million higher than a year ago.

The net income breaks last year’s record of $94.2 million.

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Keystone XL Back in Jack's Lap

This will be fun to watch. A reminder of where this story stands is reported by Politico.

With regard to the linked story: it's a no-brainer. John Kerry won't approve it. He will toss the ball into Obama's court.

John Kerry is already known as THE flip-flopper and this would cement his legacy as a flip-flopper if he changed his mind on the Keystone XL.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

I read the book back in the late 1970's. I saw the movie last night. The Imitation Game was a pretty good movie; I'm not sure how much I can recommend it to others; it's not one I would need to watch again. The book I read back in the 1970's was The Ultra Secret, F. W. Winterbotham, c. 1975; I was surprised to see the movie state that "Enigma" was a (UK) state secret for 50 years. Perhaps much of Enigma/Ultra was, but certainly by the 70's the story was well known if not well before that. Be that as it may, the story needed to be told in a movie.

I haven't read the book on which this movie was based so I don't know to what extent the movie took artistic license in presenting Alan Turing's story. I put another Turing biography in my Amazon cart before Christmas but have not yet ordered it; I have too much to read at the moment. This one can wait, but now that I've seen the movie, I am eager to see the "real" story.

I saw The Imitation Game because my wife "just loves" Benedict Cumberbatch, her favorite actor at the moment. The movie reminded me too much of Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind; way too much -- the love interest, the bar scenes, the emotional moments for the lead character in both movies. Spoiler alert. I think the moment Keira Knightley slaps Benedict suggested to me this was better for HBO than for the big screen. It's funny how a little thing like that can affect an entire movie.

The sound track? MIA.

The high point of viewing the movie last night with my wife: when I whispered to her "the secret" of Enigma less than a minute before that secret was broken on-screen. Spoiler alert. Following the bar scene, I whispered to my wife, "the weather reports." And, then, less than 60 seconds later, Benedict has solved the problem. My wife seemed impressed.

But Benedict Cumberbatch is still her heart throb. LOL.