Week 6: February 8, 2015 -- February 14, 2015

Operations
New production record, December 2014 (Director's Cut)
Random update of Oasis; well and rig locations
Increasing activity in the Madison formation
Whiting has some huge "KOG wells"
Random update on a high-production Petro-Hunt well coming back on-line

Fracking
Re-fracking

Bakken economy
BNSF to invest another $326 million in North Dakota

Slump in oil prices
Abraxas to focus on the Bakken
Anxiety in Williston / Boom Town
Few Williston stores rattled by slump in oil prices

Bakken 101
Re-fracking in the Bakken
Finding wells in Montana
Filloon on possible tax breaks for Bakken operators

Miscellaneous
North Dakota ready to test CO2 EOR

Texas Should Weather The Worst -- February 13, 2015

CNBC is reporting:

"Texas should hold up better than it did when oil prices tumbled in the 1990s and 1980s because the state's economy is much more diverse than it was then."

The region also will benefit from the ongoing development of oil and gas reserves elsewhere in the country, as Texas companies supply goods and services needed to support that production.

"There is still a tremendous boom in petrochemical plant construction along the Gulf Coast, stretching from Houston to New Orleans," Vitner noted. "While some projects have been postponed or shelved, most remain on track and should keep construction humming right through the current supply glut."

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Updates On Two MLPs 

24/7 Wall Street is reporting:

The two largest oil and gas midstream (pipeline) companies in the United States each closed a major deal Friday. One was the $3 billion acquisition of pipeline, gathering and processing company Hiland Partners by Kinder Morgan Inc. Hiland was owned by shale developer Harold Hamm and certain Hamm family trusts and operates primarily in the Bakken play in North Dakota and Montana.

The second deal that closed was the acquisition of Oiltanking Partners L.P. (NYSE: OILT) by an affiliate of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. in a two-step transaction valued at around $5.9 billion. The first step in the deal was completed in October, with an Enterprise an payment of approximately $4.41 billion to acquire about 66% of Oiltanking Partners’ outstanding common units, its general partner and the general partner’s incentive distribution rights. In the second step completed Friday, Enterprise exchanged 1.3 Enterprise common units for each common unit of Oiltanking Partners that it did not already own.

Kinder Morgan’s acquisition of Hiland Partners gives the company a significant position in the Williston Basin, serving producers like Hamm’s own Continental Resources, Oasis Petroleum, XTO Energy, Whiting Petroleum and Hess, among others. The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Kinder Morgan’s cash available to pay dividends in 2015 and 2016 and to add approximately six to seven cents to the dividend beginning in 2017.

Enterprise has now acquired a company that it has done business with for 31 years and that owned 12 ship and barge docks on the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Beaumont, Texas, with about 24 million barrels of storage for both crude oil and refined products. Prior to the completion of the acquisition, Enterprise estimated that it generated about 40% of Oiltanking Partners’ 2013 EBITDA. Oiltanking Partners was already connected to the existing Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) facility, with its 800,000 barrels of crude oil capacity. Enterprise plans to bring the total at ECHO to 6 million barrels and another 8 million barrels per day of refining and water capacity.

Friday Night Blues -- NOT! Market Hits Record Despite Headwinds -- February 13, 2015; Health CO-OPs All (But One) Underwater -- Sinking Fast

Wow, where do I even begin?

With all the negative news being reported daily (and there will be a lot of negative news coming out tonight -- the usual Friday night news dump -- after close of business every Friday we see it -- but with all the negative news being reported daily, who would have guessed Wall Street would hit a record high on Friday the thirteenth.

Despite an administration that is the most-anti-business and anti-working class in modern history, or maybe because the administration is so anti-working class -- the market is hitting new highs. One has to remember, with an administration doing what it can to slow hiring, the Fed has no choice to keep rates low: over and over and over we're told the market is being driven by the "easy Fed." This administration is definitely not out to help the "working class":

• it will veto the Keystone XL (huge number of jobs lost)
• ObamaCare (very hard on the middle class)
• immigration policy / amnesty program (and that's where the jobs will go)

Be that as it may, Wall Street is on a roll. It's hard to believe, considering all the headwinds, and considering that a huge sector on Wall Street, the oil and gas sector, is down ten, twenty, thirty, forty percent depending on which specific company one might be looking at.

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Honda Accord Sales Beat Toyota Prius In California -- First Time Ever

Gas2 is reporting:

California is known for imposing tougher environmental regulations on car manufacturers than the EPA...

It became fashionable for every Hollywood star to have one parked in the garage alongside the Jaguar/Ferrari/Lambo. California has a lot of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on its many freeways and Prius drivers were allowed to use them even if they were driving alone. How cool is that? Eco-snobbery drove Prius sales through the roof, making it the best selling car in the state year after year.

Until recently.

During the first quarter of 2014, the Honda Accord muscled its way to the front of the line, edging out even the mighty Prius as California’s best-selling car. There are a couple of reasons for this.

The 9th generation Accord was released last year, so the 2014 Accord represents the latest thinking in the automotive universe. The Prius has been around, virtually unchanged, for almost 10 years. Its shape, once so trendy, is looking a little dated.

The Accord is a bigger car that has more room for families, and the hybrid version gets virtually the same gas mileage as the Prius (in addition to being WAY more fun to drive).  The Accord looks more mainstream, and doesn’t scream “hybrid” the way the Prius does.

The Accord only outsold the Prius by about 300 units (and limited supply could be hurting those numbers), but those sales numbers offer insight into trends in car sales nationally. Prius sales are down about 10% from a year ago, primarily because buyers have many more hybrid models from other manufacturers to choose from. Because California is such a trendsetter, the Accord/Prius battle there provides clues as to how the new car market will evolve in the rest of America over the next year or two.

So many story lines. I believe the "lone driver/Prius in the HOV lane" is being phased out this year in California, but I could be mistaken; don't quote me on that. If I'm wrong, it was the thought that counts. [Update: I was wrong: green decals for cars like the Prius -- hybrids -- are still valid -- but a limited number -- only 70,000. The thinking is that when the 70,000 is reached, the number of Priuses sold will fall quickly. Link here.]
 

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Busted

Forbes is reporting:

When Democrats were ramming Obamacare down Americans’ throats, many of them wanted a “public option” that was supposed to demonstrate just how efficient and affordable government-run health insurance could be. What they settled for was something called “co-ops”—which stands for Consumer Oriented and Operated Plans.

As the Washington Post explains, “The co-ops differ from traditional insurers in their nonprofit status, consumer focus and organizational structure; they will be governed by boards controlled by policyholders.” In other words, the co-ops would get rid of those greedy, self-interested actuaries and insurers who were profiteering on the backs of the sick. Not full-blown socialized medicine, but a good start.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services just released its assessment of the 23 state co-ops, and all but one are underwater.

Most co-ops’ weak operating performance is a result of high medical claims trend and not enough scale to offset administrative costs. … In fact, nine of the co-ops  reported a a medical loss ratio of 100% or more through September 2014.”

In short, the co-ops are leaking money faster than an Obama green energy project, or Obama’s student loan program. Some are even spending more on claims than they’re receiving in premiums and that’s before any administrative costs.

Need I say more? Nope, but I will. Later.

Thirteen (13) New Permits On Friday The Thirteenth -- February 13, 2015

Thirteen (13) new permits --

• Operators: XTO (5), HRC (4), Hess (2), Whiting, MRO
• Fields: Tobacco Garden (McKenzie), Pembroke (McKenzie), Robinson Lake (Mountrail), Roosevelt (Golden Valley)
• Comments:

Active rigs:

	2/13/2015	02/13/2014	02/13/2013	02/13/2012	02/13/2011
Active Rigs	137	188	183	205	165

Four (4) producing wells completed:

• 21978, 399, Hunt, Bruhn 2-112H, Parshall, single section, t2/15; cum --
• 27965, 755, XTO, Kathy 31X-15H, Tioga, spacing ICO, t12/14; cum 1K 12/14;
• 27966, 828, XTO, Kathy 31X-15D, Tioga, spacing ICO,  t1/15; cum 1K 12/14;
• 27964, 541, XTO, Kathy 31X-15C, Tioga, spacing ICO,  t1/15; cum -- 

Twenty-two wells transferred from Liberty Resources to Emerald Oil; all of them fairly old permit numbers (13XXX for the most part; two recent ones, 25XXX); all in McKenzie County.

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

New Production Record In The Bakken -- Director's Cut -- February 13, 2015

Some comments regarding data from the Director's Cut:

• not only did production hit a new record, the increase was quite striking -- up 3%
• think about that: when you start getting to high production numbers, each one (1) percent increase translates into a significant amount of actual production measured in bopd
• this new production record was made in one of the colder months of the year in North Dakota
• this new production record was despite record fall in number of active rigs 
• this new production record despite new flaring rules
• this new production record despite operators choking back on production
• this new production record despite record number of wells waiting to be completed (around 750) 
• Note: 1,227,334 bopd / 12,124 wells = 101 bopd/well, at record level of production / well at a time when wells were being choked back 

Some will argue that the production record occurred because with the slump in oil prices, operators are drilling the best Bakken and slowing drilling in other parts of the Bakken. Remember, this data was taken at the end of December. Most of these wells were planned and spudded well before the slump in oil prices. There is a "circling of wagons" but we haven't see it it in the daily permits to the extent that I think most folks would have expected by now.

The record production, I think, can be attributed to:

• incredibly good pool of passionate, dedicated roughnecks with similarly passionate, dedicated first-tier field managers
• better technology in all stages of planning, drilling, completing, but mostly in completion techniques
• better understanding of the Bakken, especially delineation of the sweet spots

Link here.

Disclaimer: this update is always done in haste; typographical errors are likely. This is for my use only. If this is important to you, you should go to the source. 

Oil:

• December, 2014: 1,227,344 bopd (preliminary, new all-time high)
• November, 2014: 1,187,206 bopd (preliminary, new all-time high); 1,188258 (revised)
• delta: 39,086(daily bopd)
• 39,086 / 1,188,258 =  3.3% (last month, November, the increase was only 0.4% -- barely hitting a new record; this month, almost a ten-fold increase in production over previous month)

Producing wells: 

• December, 2014: 12,124 (preliminary, new all-time high)
• November, 2014: 11,951 (revised); 11,942 (preliminary, new all-time high)
• October, 2014: 11,892; revised 11,942 (preliminary, new all-time high)
• September, 2014: 11,758 (revised); 11,741 (preliminary; new all-time high)
• August, 2014: 11,565
• July, 2014: 11,293
• June, 2014: 11,079  

Permitting:

• January, 2015: 246
• December, 2014: 251
• November, 2014: 235
• October, 2014: 328
• September, 2014: 261
• August, 2014: 273
• July, 2014: 265
• June, 2014: 247
• All-time high was 370 in 10/2012
  

Pricing:

• Today, 2015: $34.50 (lowest since February, 2009) (all-time high was $136.29 7/3/2008)
• January: $31.41
• December: $40.74
• November: $60.61
• October, 2014: $68.94
• Sept, 2014: $74.85
• August, 2014: $78.46
• July, 2014: $86.20

Rig count:

• Today: 137 (lowest since July 2010) (all time high was 218 on 5/29/2012) 
• January: 160
• December, 2014: 181
• November, 2014: 188
• October, 2014: 191
• Sept, 2014: 193
• August, 2014: 193
• July, 2014:  192
• June, 2014: 190

Director's comments:

Drilling rig count:

• dropped 7 from November to December
• dropped 21 from December to January
• dropped 23 from January to today

Well completions:

• December: 173 (preliminary)
• November: 48

Weather:

• no major precipitation events
• only 3 days with wind speeds in excess of 35 mph (too high for completion work)
• only 2 days with temperatures below -10F

Wells waiting to be completed:

• 750, a decrease of 25

Flaring:

• decreased to 24%
• Tioga gas plant increased to 76% of full capacity
• expansion of gas gathering from south of Lake Sakakawea is still delayed

Gas capture statistics:

• statewide: 76%
• FBIR: 77%

Whiting Has A Great Pronghorn Well In Bell Oil Field, Southwestern North Dakota -- February 13, 2015

The other day a reader noted the same thing I've noted: the Whiting wells have recently gotten very good. Of course, some of them were the KOG wells already being drilled/completed.

Here's another one today:

• 27947, 2,076, Whiting, Bock Federal 44-7PH, Bell, t8/14; cum 58K 12/14:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2014	31	8003	8000	12474	9109	9109	0
BAKKEN	11-2014	30	10248	10198	14164	11349	10930	419
BAKKEN	10-2014	31	12945	13007	15669	15924	15410	514
BAKKEN	9-2014	30	18509	19617	19787	21468	21374	94

Not nearly as good as an EOG well in the Parshall, but for the Bell oil field in southwest North Dakota, and the Pronghorn target, and a Whiting well, this IP and initial production is quite good. Whiting announced an enhanced completion technique sometime last year (2014). Hopefully I will find some examples to post.

Now, more on this well.

The well is sited in section 18-139-100 in Gaylord field but the lateral will run north, and the drilling unit will be a 1280-acre unit, sections 6/7-139-100 in Bell oil field.

The lateral is not yet shown on the GIS map server -- the well is on confidential until today and the GIS map needs to be updated. The well in question, #27947 is in "yellow" -- confidential and no lateral is shown. This is on a dual-well pad; the other well is #22120, running south.

Fracking data for the this new Three Forks (Pronghorn) well: 40 stages; 5.6 million lbs, all sand.

Other data points:

• Spud: June 12, 2014.
• TD: June 25, 2014, thirteen (13) days from spud.
• The middle Bakken was encountered at 10,485 TVD.
• The Pronghorn member was encountered at 10,491 TVD, which means the middle and lower Bakken must have been about six (6) feet thick at this location. It appears that the middle Bakken is about two (2) feet thick here and the lower Bakken is about four (4) feet thick.

I did not see any report of the background gases; I could have missed this data. No mention of a flare but, again, I could have missed it.

Disclaimer: I have no background or formal (or informal) training in the oil and gas industry, so there may be factual errors. If this information is important to you, go to the source, generally the NDIC.

Nuclear Physics -- February 13, 2015

With a small spherical bell in each hand, Sophia is demonstrating the electrostatic repulsive force and the strong nuclear force affecting the proton Z and the neutron N:

She is intrigued by the fact that an even number of protons Z and neutrons N lead to a more stable nuclide. Sophia is also intrigued by the fact she can gum cheerios.

New Hampshire Cancels Ice Carnival; Twenty-Year History; Too Cold -- February 13, 2015; Brian Williams Has A New "WOW" Moment: Getting Fired

With all the big oil projects that are being delayed or canceled, 2017, and possibly 2016, is going to be a huge year for oil investors.

This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions, financial decisions, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

Best advice today: don't go to "Fifty Shades Of Grey" today. The lines are going to be really, really long. Take your sweetheart tomorrow. LOL.

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One Week From Today

 
On another note: one week from today -- Trader Joe's opens in Southlake, Texas -- within biking distance. A long ride -- 5.5 miles -- but a nice ride except for that one-mile stretch in which the busies road in the area narrows to two lanes, no shoulder, and no sidewalk. It is very, very sporty. That half-mile stretch needs to be widened but with constraints on either side, it's not likely to happen. It might be the last "country mile" in the DFW metroplex area.

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Really?

It's just hard to believe that these are our Supreme Court judges -- one would think we could do better.

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Gotcha: ObamaCare

CNN Money is reporting:

Early data is in from some tax preparers. Some 53% of Jackson Hewitt clients who received subsidies have to repay part or all of it, with the largest being $12,000.

The rest overestimated their income so they are getting even larger refunds. One taxpayer is collecting an additional $7,500.

Some Obamacare enrollees who have to pay back their subsidies are now thinking twice about enrolling for 2015.

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A New "Wow" Moment for Lyin' Brian:

Getting Fired

Something tells me that Tom Brokaw will weigh in on this. Los Angeles CBS Local is reporting:

While speaking at a forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 2008, an audience member asked Williams what his “wow” interview was or moment in his career.

“What was my wow … I’ve been so fortunate,” he said. “I was at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down.”

What Williams was referring to was the demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but there are now reports that he actually arrived the day after the wall came down.

Williams’ predecessor Tom Brokaw was the only American anchorman to report live from the scene on that historic day.

A new "wow" moment for Brian: watching the video (over and over and over).

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Can't Make This Stuff Up

Daily Caller is reporting:

Yale anti-fossil fuel campaigners have indefinitely postponed a protest that was set for this weekend due to “unfavorable weather conditions and other logistical issues.”

Fossil Free Yale, a group pushing the university to divest itself from fossil fuels, told the Yale Daily News that frigid, snowy weather set for this weekend will mean their global warming protest will have to be postponed.

FFY’s Mitch Barrow said that “unfavorable weather conditions and other logistical issues, including some cancellations from speakers and performance groups” would mean they would not be able to rally on Global Divestment Day — a day where environmental groups urge institutions like Yale to divest from fossil fuels, like coal, natural gas and oil.

Canada News/Reuters is reporting:

Following a series of record-setting snowfalls, New England on Friday got a new metric for how severe its winter has been: The town of Alton, New Hampshire called off its annual ice carnival due to a forecast calling for more snow and brutal cold.

"It'll be zero degrees and blowing snow, and that's not a good time for everybody," said Roger Sample, who owns a construction business in the town on the shores of New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee and serves as the carnival's chairman.

The carnival, which Sample said has been held for more than two decades, typically draws about 1,000 visitors out onto the frozen lake's Alton Bay for games and rides, as well as to see small planes that land on the ice.

0.2 Away From 18,000 -- February 13, 2015

Updates 

February 14, 2015: Dow closed at 18,019; S & P, 2,097; NASDAQ, 4,894.

Later, 10:41 a.m. CT:

Original Post

NASDAQ nearing 5,000.

S&P over 2,000.

And President Obama takes out 20 ISIS fighters in northern Iraq. At least that's what I heard on the radio earlier today. Twenty (20) ISIS fighters.

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Nomination for most bizarre headline over at Yahoo!Finance: Ten cheap energy stocks that could soar up to 202%. The precision is quite remarkable: 202%. Not 199% or 204% but right at 202%. These numbers are almost as precise as the global warming numbers which suggest the ocean will rise 0.01 inch per decade and the global temperature -- if they massage the data just right -- will rise 1.68 degrees over one century -- that's in centigrade. It sounds even worse if the numbers are in Fahrenheit. Sort of like environmentalists measuring oil spills in gallons rather than barrels. But back to the linked investment story: my own calculations suggest three of the named companies could soar 201.67% +/- 0.02%.

Idle Rambling To Get The Morning Started -- February 13, 2015

Updates

February 14, 2015: speaking of dividends. Nice article over at Seeking Alpha.  

Original Post

Until I saw the note that WMB increased its dividend by a penny I had not looked at WMB in a long, long time. In fact, I have not looked at individual stocks in a long, long time, not since late December. Some exceptions. There have been some great buying opportunities this past month.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

But getting back to WMB. It's paying almost 5% (a dynamic link). In Europe you can get a negative return on your savings account, but here in the good 'ol USA you can get 5% at some of these companies.

How about more than 11% over at WIN? Another dynamic link. If that's too risky for you, 1.5% at AAPL; it was a lot more but that was before the price of AAPL surged five, six, eight, twelve percent or whatever it was. Likewise, UNP used to pay more on a percent basis -- but now back to less than 2% after reaching record highs yesterday. McDonald's pays almost 4% and is not far from it's 52-week high.

The Keystone XL bill will be vetoed, the Nebraska folks have stopped TransCanada from securing more easements, and the railroad companies like Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A and BRK-B) will keep on rolling along. Speaking of Warren Buffett, he will be watching See's Candy sales this Valentine's weekend. My wife bought me a box of See's Candy for Valentine's Day. I enjoy Coke every night watching DVDs. All big for Warren.

Nordic American Tankers is paying slightly over 9%, and continues to trade in a trading range.

Wal-Mart is suing the state of Texas to be able to sell hard liquor in its stores; it's already the state's largest beer and wine seller, but selling hard liquor would bring a lot of new customers into the store, I suppose. Sort of like Target now selling sex toys. LOL. By the way, I watched The Onion's video review of "Fifty Shades of Grey." The review was so boring I did not get past the first minute or so. The film looks incredibly boring but it's gonna do really, really well. The French rated it PG-13 -- that's how benign it is. France had considered giving it a "G" rating but probably thought folks would confuse that with the "G-String" rating.

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EOG Parshall Well Produces Almost 160K Bbls In First Four Months

I wonder if Warren has considered buying EOG?

• 27044, 931, EOG, Parshall 44-1004H, Parshall, t8/14; cum 159K 12/14:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2014	30	19891	20146	20530	9303	5100	3763
BAKKEN	11-2014	30	33159	32763	30457	15667	8275	6900
BAKKEN	10-2014	31	41801	41872	44216	20105	1523	18081
BAKKEN	9-2014	28	47721	47650	58361	18954	0	18492
BAKKEN	8-2014	16	16224	15562	26051	5786	0	5565

Friday The Thirteenth, February, 2015; New Light Sweet Crude Oil Trading Market Developing In Houston; Canadian Tar Sands Feeling Pinch

WMB increases its dividend by a penny. See disclaimer. In early 2010, this company paid 10 cents/share; with the penny increase, the dividend is up to 58 cents/share. They raised it even during one of the worst slumps in oil prices ever.

Biggest economic news story yesterday: hardly a word said on the surge in first time unemployment claims; up 25,000; far more than forecast. And nary a word.

Apple leads in the metrics that count. This one is absolutely stunning. Of all the money made on cellphones -- i.e., PROFIT -- Apple captured 93% of worldwide profit on cell phones. Samsung was second, capturing 9%. The numbers (93 +9) add up to more than 100% because nearly all of the other companies reported losses. I find this absolutely stunning. Think about that: 93% of worldwide profits on cell phones was streaming to Apple. If 93% of worldwide gasoline profits were streaming to Exxon -- would  that get anyone's attention. Oh, yeah.

A trifecta?

• US intelligence admits it was surprised by Yemen's fall
• ISIS is "JV" -- we could take them out any time we wanted -- President Obama
• Beghazi? What does it matter -- President-hopeful Hillary

Market?

• futures up
• oil up
• Tesla down 

Pinocchios?

• Brian Williams
• Hillary Clinton
• Elon Musk 

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RBN Energy: new light sweet crude oil trading market developing in Houston.

A new light sweet crude oil trading market is developing in Houston at the Magellan Midstream Partners East Houston terminal – delivery point for that company’s Longhorn and BridgeTex (50/50 owned with Plains All American) pipelines delivering crude from the Permian Basin. Light sweet crude from the Permian is also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) the domestic U.S. benchmark crude - widely traded at Cushing, OK where it underpins the CME NYMEX futures contract.  Today we review the developing market and the price relationships that underpin it.

We have previously discussed the possibility of a new crude benchmark in Houston as well as the challenges that Houston faces as a destination for as many as 2 MMBbl of new crude streams flooding into the region from U.S. domestic shale and increased Canadian production over the past four years. There has been talk in the past two years of the CME NYMEX developing a new crude futures contract based on delivery in Houston – with the Enterprise ECHO terminal often discussed as a potential delivery point  but so far that has not panned out. There is little disagreement in the market that Houston could use a definitive benchmark crude to set prices at the Texas Gulf Coast – it’s just that no clear favorite crude grade or location has emerged to take that role.

That may be changing now as more active trading takes place at the Magellan East Houston terminal since increased crude supplies started showing up on the 300 Mb/d BridgeTex pipeline from Colorado City in the Permian in mid-December 2014. Recall that the BridgeTex pipeline actually came online earlier in 2014 but was not able to deliver significant quantities of crude out of the Permian until the Plains All American Sunrise pipeline opened up capacity from Midland, TX to Colorado City. Up until that point pipeline takeaway capacity from the Permian had been constrained by limited outflows on the 275 Mb/d Magellan Longhorn pipeline from Crane to Houston and the older traditional route to the Midwest Cushing, OK trading hub on the 450 Mb/d Basin pipeline. Rapidly increasing Permian crude production trying to find a route to market caused congestion in Midland and prices there were heavily discounted versus Cushing as producers bid each other down to get space on the pipeline. The opening up of the BridgeTex and Sunrise pipelines in December has reduced the congestion and brought Midland and Cushing prices more into line as well as bringing significant new supplies of Permian crude into Houston.

The full story at the link.

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Active rigs:

	2/13/2015	02/13/2014	02/13/2013	02/13/2012	02/13/2011
Active Rigs	137	188	183	205	165

Wasn't Apache one of the darlings on Wall Street this past year? Rigzone is reporting: Apache slashes 2015 rig count: 

Apache Corp, one of the top U.S. shale oil producers, said on Thursday it would slash capital expenditures and its rig count in 2015, in response to the collapse of crude oil prices.

The company, which reported a multibillion-dollar net loss but adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates, also said it would not divest its overseas businesses, with one possible exception: Australia.

Crude oil prices, down about 50 percent since June, prompted Apache to cut its 2015 capital expenditures by 60 percent and slash its fleet of drilling rigs by 70 percent.

The company is setting aide plans to sell or spin off its Egyptian and North Sea businesses, as they generate much-needed cash.

Cenovus Energy will cut 15% jobs, freeze salary hikes. Rigzone is reporting:

Cenovus Energy Inc, Canada's second-largest independent oil producer, reported a quarterly loss that ballooned eight times and said it would cut 15 percent jobs, freeze salary hikes and cut discretionary spending as it adjusts to the slump in global crude prices.

Cenovus has already slashed its 2015 capital budget twice, which is expected to delay development of some of its tar sands properties, and on Thursday said further cuts were possible if oil prices continue to fall or remain low for an extended period.

The company joins a host of Canadian and U.S. oil and gas producers in scaling back spending plans as crude oil prices have more than halved since peaking in June last year. Analysts have also cut their forecasts for average oil prices in 2015 and 2016, citing global growth concerns, a strengthening dollar and ample supply.