Isn't This Interesting? Local Communities Need To Follow State Laws -- What A Novel Concept -- February 17, 2015

The AP is reporting over at Rigzone:

Certain local zoning laws aimed at limiting fracking can't be used to circumvent the state's authority over oil and gas drilling, a fiercely divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

In a 4-3 decision with three written dissents, the high court said that the home rule clause of Ohio's constitution doesn't allow a municipality to block drilling activities otherwise permitted by the state.

The decision came in a case brought by the Akron suburb of Munroe Falls against Beck Energy Corp. over a 2004 state law that gives Ohio "sole and exclusive authority" to regulate the location of wells. Beck received a state-required permit from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 2011 to drill a traditional well on private property in Munroe Falls. The city sued, saying the company illegally sidestepped local ordinances.

MinnWind Goes Broke -- February 17, 2015

This was reported over a month ago but not much national press. I completely missed it. A reader reminded me. StarTribune is reporting:

The companies that collectively own the two Minwind Energy projects filed for reorganization this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minnesota. The owners stand to lose their investment, and the wind farms eventually may have to shut down, according to regulatory filings.

It is the first of the state’s approximately 100 operating wind power projects to seek bankruptcy protection, and the case is raising questions about whether the small-scale wind farm model still works in an era of ever-larger wind-generating projects.

Additional background:

The Minwind wind farms, with 11 turbines that went on line in 2002 and 2004, made a profit until 2012, and are still operating, according to its financial reports. The electricity is sold to Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy and Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Alliant Energy under long-term deals. Some of Minwind’s power is fed into a giant battery built by Xcel near Luverne to store electricity for when the wind doesn’t blow.

Minwind has told federal regulators that the turbines have needed extensive repairs, including main bearings, and the company no longer can afford the upkeep.

To make things worse, Minwind got into a jam with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for not filing certain paperwork since 2006. The result is a $1.9 million regulatory liability that has left a potential buyer uneasy about signing a deal to acquire the wind farms.

Minwind’s attorneys have told the government that the owners were “unsophisticated” in regulatory matters, and should be excused from the filing lapse. Some of the owners also had invested in the former Agri-Energy ethanol plant in Luverne, which was sold in 2010 to another biofuel company.

From another article:

The 360 individuals who had invested in MinWind did so by purchasing $5,000 shares. Individuals could purchase as many shares as they wanted, and the one-time public offering led to a sell-out of shares in one night.

First Really Big Casualty Of The Dockworkers' Slowdown On The West Coast: Hanjin Shipping Leaves Portland -- February 17, 2015

If you want to see how big a story this is, just google it. In fact, all you have to do is put "Hanjin" into google search box and google will finish the search for you. It's amazing. If this wasn't a blog about the Bakken, this would be a nominee for the biggest story of the week.

Hanjin Shipping is leaving Portland, Oregon. OregonLive is reporting: Hanjin Shipping officially leaves Port of Portland, taking vast majority of port's business with it.

Hapag-Lloyd still calling at Port of Portland for now; Oregon legislators continue pressure on longshoremen, port operators. 

The next concern: domino effect. How many businesses will go under / leave Portland because of this, which comes close to closing the port itself.

Meanwhile down south: I'm being told there are about 30 ships out in the Pacific waiting to be brought into Los Angeles and Long Beach (San Pedro Harbor); and another 18 or so ships at the docks in the two ports waiting to be unloaded. The Chinese are probably looking at the mega-port at Charleston, SC, on the East coast.

Halcon With Two Huge Bakken Wells; One With 136K In Five Months: February 17, 2015

Wells coming off confidential list Wednesday:

• 21787, IA/SI, Enerplus, Tandem 148-93-23B-24H, South Fork, background gas up to 4,000 units, 20 - 40 ft flare; no production data,
• 26486, 2,638 , Statoil, Hawkeye 16-21 4H, Todd, no production data,
• 26597, drl, QEP, Fed 5-34-35H-152-92, Van Hook, no production data,
• 27277, 2,128, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-94-19C-18-4H, Eagle Nest, t8/14; cum 84K 12/14;
• 27280, 2,433, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-94-30B-31-5H, Eagle Nest, t8/14; cum 137K 12/14;
• 27515, drl, XTO, Guy Federal 24X-35A, Grinnell, no production data,
• 28052, 307, American Eagle, Donald 15-33S-164-102, Skjermo, t10/14; cum 20K 12/14;
• 28837, 138, Slawson, Mooka 8-29 20TF2H, Big Bend, t10/14; cum 2K 12/14;
• 28937, 703, CLR, Bud 3-30H1, Crazy Man Creek, spacing ICO, t1/15; cum 4K 12/14;
• 29153, IA/SI, BR, Bull Rush 21-10PH-R, Elidah, no production data,

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27277, see above, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-94-19C-18-4H, Eagle Nest:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
12-2014	5880	8788
11-2014	17576	23244
10-2014	19776	24783
9-2014	25746	36385
8-2014	15247	13301

27280, see above, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-94-30B-31-5H, Eagle Nest:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
12-2014	23618	30734
11-2014	18339	17591
10-2014	27261	19391
9-2014	35025	28287
8-2014	32177	23470

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Whiting's "U" Designation In Today's Daily Activity Report -- February 17, 2015

Disclaimer: this was done very quickly; there may be errors. I will come back later and make corrections if necessary. 

On today's daily activity report, there were two Whiting wells with the designation "PHU."

A reader asked about that designation.

I will see if I can find some examples to confirm my hunch but for the moment the spacing units on the GIS map should suffice. [Update: there is an example, near the end of this post.]

The two permits:

• 30735, loc, Whiting, Privratsky 41-28PHU, Bell,
• 20736, loc, Whiting, Privratsky 44-21PHU, Bell,

Here's the approximate location for these two wells (they are not yet shown on the GIS map, so this is my guess); they are both "Bell" wells, so it means they both run north:

This area is spaced for 1280-acre drilling units:

But the area has also been spaced for 2560-acre drilling units:

Whenever I see a "U" in the name of a Bakken well (such as "ULW" used by another operator for 2560-acre spaced wells), I assume the "U" means a well in a 2560-acre (overlapping) unit.

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Confirmation

Here's an example of a Whiting well with the "PHU" designation and confirming that it's a 2560-acre spaced well:

• 30342, loc, Whiting, Obrigewitch 41-29PHU, Bell, the well file is available and shows that this permit is for a 2560-acre spaced well; sections 28/29/32/33 - 140-99;

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"ULW" Designation

The "ULW" designation is used by BR for 2560-acre spaced wells.

Only Five (5) New Permits; Active Rigs In North Dakota Sink To 135; Warren Buffett Sells His XOM Holdings -- February 17, 2015

Updates

Later, 4:59 p.m. CT: it turns out President Obama was golfing in Palm Springs on Monday, not Florida, as I incorrectly wrote initially; it's been corrected. I think I heard "Palm Springs" on the radio but misremembered that Palm Springs was in California, not Florida. Thank you, Don.

By the way,  it appears I was being unfairly harsh with my comments on the president golfing while ISIS was beheading Christians. First, it turns out that President Obama was under the impression this was a new federal holiday enacted by the outgoing Senator majority last year to specifically honor the President and his deft handling of a) America's health care system; and, b) the JV terrorist team. He must have felt very strongly it was imperative to celebrate "HIS" holiday in a manner consistent with the honor. Rumors are he was a bit miffed the holiday was named "Presidents Day" and not "President Obama's Day" but that didn't stop him from flying clear across the United States to play a round of golf.

The second reason my comments may have been too harsh: the rumor is that the president was not told of any atrocities in the Middle East. Considering that he considers the ISIS a JV team, that would make sense. [Also, as a reminder, the word "terrorism" is one of the seven words not allowed to be used in the White House.]

Original Post

A huge "thank you" to a reader who explained why the US Secretary goes to San Francisco, not Los Angeles with regard to the dockworker job action (euphemism for "slowdown").  I thought it was due to Pelosi and Feinstein both being from San Francisco, but it turns out the Pacific Maritime Association and the ILWU are both headquartered in the city. Interesting.

By the way, and I apologize for the digression, but the dockworkers' job action is nothing new. This was back from 2012: Small Union Shuts Down LA Ports -- 40% of The Nation's Import Trade. At that time (back in 2012) the "involved" union wouldn't accept a salary offer of $195,000, up from their current salary of $165,000. Obviously the strike ended; I don't recall (nor do I care) the specifics of the "new" contract agreement. More interesting: I had forgotten that the two LA ports account for 40% of the nation's import trade. Imagine if the most recent job action involves the entire west coast (which would include the ports in Washington and Oregon). 

Filings show Warren Buffett sold his XOM holdings.

After fiery explosion yesterday in West Virginia, new push for Keystone XL. Don't get your hopes up. Even while the Mideast is imploding, ISIS is beheading Christians, and the JV team (now in Libya) is just a short hop from Rome, the President spends his weekend golfing in Palm Springs and says nothing about the atrocities. His spokesperson says the way to fight ISIS is help the 17-year-old recruits find jobs and "build businesses." I cannot make this stuff up. The fiery explosion yesterday of a derailed train will have no bearing on the Keystone XL, though it may lead to even more CBR restrictions.

EPA may delay "clean air rules" on coal plants. Best way to kill an industry: jerk them around with ever-changing deadlines. The White House knows all about "deadlines." Looks at ObamaCare.

Active rigs in North Dakota:

	2/17/2015	02/17/2014	02/17/2013	02/17/2012	02/17/2011
Active Rigs	135	185	181	197	172

Wells coming off the confidential list over the last four days have been posted; see sidebar at the right.

Circling the wagons. Only five (5) more permits --

• Operators: Whiting (5)
• Fields: Sanish (Mountrail), Bell (Stark), Zenith (Stark)
• Comments: most dismal activity report for new permits in a long time

Five (5) producing wells completed:

• 24744, 2,715, MRO, Fox USA 14-1H, Moccasin Creek, t1/15; cum --
• 27224, 95 (no typo), Oasis, Mallard 5692 31-22 11T2, Alger, t10/14; cum 3K 12/14;
• 28302, 2,065, XTO, Omlid 41X-13C, Siverston, t2/15; cum --
• 28638, 587, EOG, Parshall 91-28H, Parshall, t2/15; cum --
• 28815, 616, SM Energy, James 16X-35HA, Camp, t1/15; cum 1K 12/14;

Hess abandons six (6) producers -- all but one part of the current Bakken boom but all were Bakken wells (#15889, #17272, #17710, #17852, #18288, #20690). Disclaimer: I do these quickly; I may have factual and/or typographical errors. I provide this information for my own benefit to learn about the Bakken; if this is important to you, go to the source, generally the NDIC.

• 15889, 38, Hess, Sara G. Barstad 6-44H, Alkali Creek, t12/05; cum 26K as of 6/13; a perforated liner fracked with only 500,000 lbs of proppant;
• 17272, PNA, Hess, IM-Shorty-159-88-0805H-1, wildcat, drilled, apparently cores suggested not worth completing; 8-159-88; on the far edge of the Bakken to the far northeast;
• 17710, 206, Hess, EN-Ritzke-158-93-1522H-1, Enget Lake, open hole, 1.5 million lbs sand/ceramic, t3/09; cum 52K as of 12/10;
• 17852, 374, Hess, EN-Hein-156-94-0112H-1, Big Butte, t5/09; cum 147K as of 51/3;
• 18288, PNA, Hess, EN-Davis-156-94-0805H-1, Big Butte, unsuccessful frack (started fracking; problems; did not complete frack; abandoned well;
• 20690, 25, Hess, EN-Wander-156-94-0904H-1, Big Butte, 11 stages; 1 million lbs, t9/11; cum 372 bbls over 9 days back in 9/11;

Oasis changed the name of two wells suggesting the new wells will target the middle Bakken and the upper Three Forks (T1) rather than the planned second bench of the Three Forks. 

Insanely Great: An Apple Automobile Dashboard; Data Points On The Tesla Battery, Degradation, Range, Cost -- February 17, 2015

ISIS And OBAMA

Two data points:

• while Christians were beheaded, President Obama spent the weekend golfing in Florida
• Obama White House says finding jobs, helping them "start businesses" is how we need to fight ISIS

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Apple - Tesla

This writer has got it right. Silicon Beat is reporting:

“If Apple was going to make a car, it would be ten times easier to just buy Tesla. But Apple doesn’t want a single branded experience, it wants Apple in many, many cars.”
— Tim Bajarin, analyst with Creative Strategies, on reports that Apple is working on an electric vehicle. 

Bajarin tells USA Today it makes more sense that Apple is instead working on owning the car dashboard — by integrating an iPhone-like platform in different makes and models of vehicles.

Apple operating systems have long had a "dashboard" and still do.

An "Apple automobile dashboard" seems insanely great.

And Apple may be a lot closer than folks realize. Those "Apple" cars may already be "beta-testing" their Apple dashboard. Meanwhile, Apple could already be talking with automobile manufacturers -- remember, automobile manufacturers contract out all kids of components and sub-components.

And what one could see on an integrated Apple-Tesla dashboard (radio, mapping, iRadio/iTunes, market, breaking news, PC-access, FaceTime):

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More Spin

This is the Retuers headline: U.S. West Coast ports reopen as labor secretary arrives for talks --

U.S. West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo vessels during the holiday weekend reopened in full on Tuesday as Labor Secretary Tom Perez arrived in San Francisco seeking to broker a settlement ending months of shipping disruptions.

The Secretary's arrival had nothing to do with the opening of the ports. The port operators announced some time ago that they would close the ports over the 3- or 4-day Presidents Day weekend so they would not have to pay overtime pay to the dockworkers who are already alleged to be purposely slowing down unloading in the job action.

Update: a reader pointed out that the slowdown is real, that I should not have used "alleged." Corrected. I was writing fast and couldn't remember if it's a strike, a slowdown, a job action, whatever. I used the wrong word.

The reader also explained why the US Secretary goes to San Francisco, not Los Angeles. I thought it was due to Pelosi and Feinstein both being from San Francisco, but it turns out the Pacific Maritime Association and the ILWU are both headquartered in the city. Interesting.

A huge "thank you" to the reader.

 *********************************

Greece Update

Markets turn positive. Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

U.S. stocks traded positive Tuesday afternoon after reports surfaced that Greece would seek a bailout extension on Wednesday. S&P 500 reached a new record high after reaching 2,100.

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

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Tesla Batteries

Noting a Tesla battery replacement priced at $44,000, a writer dug a little deeper. is reporting;

My 2013 Tesla Model S, when new, had an EPA range of 265 miles. But six or eight years down the road, with 100,000-plus miles on the odometer, there’s no way to know what my range will be.

It’s an especially worrisome question for Model S owners, for two reasons:

• First, the list price of a replacement 85-kWh battery pack is a whopping $44,000. (That cost would presumably be reduced by the trade-in value of the old pack, a number that has not been publicly revealed as far as I know.)
• Second, it’s a little-noticed fact that Tesla’s eight-year “infinite-mile” battery-pack warranty doesn’t actually guarantee any particular level of capacity.  It only guarantees that the battery will work properly to propel the car.

Other data points:

• range losses of the two-seat predecessor, the Roadster, less than expected since 2008 introduction
• the typical Roadster should still have 80-85 percent battery capacity after 100,000 miles
• recent Model S numbers from The Netherlands are even more encouraging
• after 100,000 miles, the typical Model S is projected to retain about 92 percent of its battery capacity and range
• a range loss of only about 21 miles, from 265 to 244 miles

Distance from West Los Angeles to San Francisco: 342 miles. At a full charge on a brand new battery, your $100,000+ luxury car won't get you from your McMansion in Hollywood to the new Apple headquarters building in Cupertino.

The writer also noted that it is widely believed that heavy use of ultra-fast DC chargers, such as the Tesla Superchargers and CHAdeMO charging stations, may reduce battery life as well.

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Yemen

One wonders, with the new government in Yemen, whether this movie will be released in that country. After all, the protagonists are Yemeni-American. LOL.

What Is Love, A Night At The Roxbury, Haddaway

Halcon's Proved Reserves Up 60% YOY; Surprise Is Bakken Vs Eagle Ford -- February 17, 2015

Tweeting now: DC federal offices closed today because of winter storm - @cnnbrk.

Pretty good article on what's going on with Greece: over at Yahoo!Finance. Key dates and comment:

• loans from 2010 bailout have come due
• without extension, Greece runs out of collateral in about 14 weeks (February, March, April, May)
• Yahoo!Finance says late March is day of reckoning -- that seems much short of 14 weeks
• Europe feels in a much better position now that Spain, Portugal, and EU are all improving

Proved reserves, Halcon's annual update (link here):

The Company's estimated proved reserves as of December 31, 2014 were approximately 189.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe), representing approximately 60% reserve growth.

Year-end 2014 estimated proved reserves were 82% oil, 9% natural gas liquids (NGLs) and 9% natural gas on an equivalent basis. Of total estimated proved reserves, 74% were in the Williston Basin, 22% were in the East Texas Eagle Ford ("El Halcon") and 4% were in other areas.

Year-end 2014 estimated proved reserves were approximately 93% Company-operated and 41% proved developed.

Active rigs:

	2/17/2015	02/17/2014	02/17/2013	02/17/2012	02/17/2011
Active Rigs	136	185	181	197	172

RBN Energy: update on the Seaway.

Since December the first significant volume of Canadian heavy crude - an average of 240 Mb/d - has flowed to the Gulf Coast on the Seaway Twin pipeline. It’s been a rocky road to the Gulf Coast for Canadian heavy crude producers – beset with delays and congestion that they probably never envisioned when they planned their oil sands projects (including the wider political battle over Keystone – currently back in the President’s hands.)

And Canadian crude that does make it to Gulf Coast refineries faces stiff competition from incumbent suppliers. Today we chart the progress of the Seaway Twin and Flanagan South pipelines and look at price competition for heavy crude at the Gulf. The opening up in December, 2014, of the Enterprise/Enbridge joint venture 450 Mb/d Seaway Twin pipeline from Cushing to Freeport, TX, in conjunction with the Enbridge 585 Mb/d Flanagan South line from Pontiac, IL, to Cushing has enabled significant pipeline flows of heavy Canadian crude to reach the Texas Gulf Coast.

According to our friends at Genscape, average daily flows on Flanagan South since December 19, 2014 have been 389 Mb/d and average flows on the Seaway Twin have been 240 Mb/d. As we described last year the two new pipelines are part of an extensive expansion project by Enbridge of their Western Gulf Access system, that delivers Western Canadian heavy oil sands crude as well as Canadian conventional crude and shale crude from the northern portions of the Williston Basin into the U.S. Midwest.

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Reuters Spin -- ObamaCare

This from a Reuters article published today ...

 "...Republicans are opposed to ObamaCare..." 

... in an article about the case to be argued before the Supreme Court beginning March 4, 2015.

In fact, a Gallup poll last November, 2014:

Support for Obamacare continues to decline, with the law hitting a new low in approval, and a new high in disapproval, as the second enrollment period has opened for Americans.

Just 37 percent approve of the Affordable Care Act, 1 percentage point less than the previous low recorded in January.

The pollster notes the approval results are a “new numerical low” for Obamacare.

Now that folks are "losing" their annual tax refund because of ObamaCare it is unlikely that the approval rating for ObamaCare is increasing. 

Less then 37% of Americans support ObamaCare and yet Reuters implies that it is only the Republicans who are opposed to ObamaCare.

This explains, by the way, why Texas Democrats are meeting with Jeb Bush in his run to be the 2016 GOP presidential nominee.

This may very well be the video of the ObamaCare Trainwreck if the Supreme Court rules against the federal websites:

ObamaCare TrainWreck If Supreme Court Rules Against Federal Websites

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A Geography Lesson For The Granddaughters

Imagine the Sea of Marmara (Propontis) as a somewhat "squished/flattened" elephant, walking towards the right. The tail is the "Hellespont," now known as the Dardanelles, connecting the body of the elephant (the Propontis/Sea of Marmara) to the Aegean Sea (eastern sea of Greece); the trunk of the elephant extends toward the east (right). But above the eye, this peculiar elephant has a horn, the Bosphorus (a strait) which connects this peculiar elephant, the Sea of Marmara, to the Black Sea. The Bosphorus also has a smaller horn that protrudes into the heart of Istanbul, the "Golden Horn."

Incidentally, the peninsula to the west of the Dardanelles is the Gallipoli peninsula. The Gallipoli Campaign, a notable failed offensive by the Allies in World War I, took place on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915. The Turkish hero: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.