EOG's Riverview Wells In Clarks Creek

Locator: 10010RIVERVIEW.

Updates

June 24, 2024: production updated. #20513 finally back on line. Struggling.

December 31, 2019: a nice EOG Haweye well comes back on line; production data for wells in this area, updated at this post.

July 20, 2019: updated graphic --

August 29, 2018

There appears to be an interesting story here. EOG originally permitted about ten wells in the south, running north, and doing the same thing in the north, permitting ten wells in the north and running south. They then PNC'd ten to fifteen permits with plans to have, it appears about half the wells running north to south, and the other half running south to north, heel-to-toe/toe-to-heel in this drilling unit.

Look at the production data for #20513. Pretty nice.

The wells, from the north, running south:

• 31813, PNC, EOG, Riverview 131-3031H,
• 31814, PNC, EOG, Riverview 132-3031H,
• 31815, PNC, EOG, Riverview 101-3031H,
• 22200, 528, EOG, Riverview4-3031H, 38 stages, 4.4 million lbs; Clarks Creek, t7/12; cum 470K 3/20; off line as of 1/19; back on line 9/19; not particularly remarkable when it came back on line; cum 494K 4/24;
  
• 22199, 1,088, EOG, Riverview 100-3031H, Clarks Creek, t6/12; cum 489K 3/20; off line as of 1/19; back on line 9/19; not particularly remarkable when it came back on line; cum 507K 4/24;
  
• 31808, 1,981, EOG, Riverview 22-3031H, Clarks Creek, t8/19; cum 205K 3/20; cum 382K 4/24;
  
• 31807, 2,222, EOG, Riverview 23-3031H, Clarks Creek, t8/19; cum 191K 3/20; cum 307K 4/24;
  
• 31806, 1,316, EOG, Riverview 24-3031H, Clarks Creek, t8/19; cum 197K 3/20; cum 271K 4/24;
  
• 31805, 2,073, EOG, Riverview 25-3031H, Clarks Creek, t8/19; cum 266K 3/20; cum 439K 4/24;
  
• 31804, 2,596, EOG, Riverview 26-3031H, Clarks Creek, t8/19; cum 308K 3/20; cum 465K 4/24;
  

The wells, from the south, running north:

• 20513, 2,365, EOG, Riverview 3-3130H, Clarks Creek, 49 stages; 9.8 million lbs, t3/13; cum 756K 3/20; off line as of 3/19; back on line 8/19; huge jump in production but did not hold; finally, back on line, 3/24; cum 770K 4/24;
  
• 32647, PNC, EOG, Riverview 19-3130H, 
• 32646, PNC, EOG, Riverview 18-3130H, 
• 32645, PNC, EOG, Riverview 17-3130H,

Original Post

 

I'll start tracking EOG's Riverview wells in Clarks Creek here; there are also EOG Riverview wells in Antelope oil field, which are tracked here. There will be overlap. This is a cut and paste from an earlier post.

The singleton in section 32-152-94:

• 19247, 1,692, EOG, Riverview 01-32H, Antelope field, the Sanish pool, 15 stages, 9.2 million lbs sand, inactive as of 2/15; back on status as of 7/15; t11/10; cum 291K 3/20; small but definite jump in production, 8/19;

The 5-well pad in section 32-152-94 is an Enerplus pad, the "Butterfly/Turtle" pad (#27587 - #27591, inclusive) which are tracked here.

The 12-well mega-pad in section 32-152-94:

• 31445, PNC, EOG, Riverview 107-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31447, PNS, EOG, Riverview 109-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31449, PNS, EOG, Riverview 111-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31450, PNC, EOG, Riverview 1137-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31451, PNC, EOG, Riverview 9-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;

• 31452, PNC, EOG, Riverview 10-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31453, PNC, EOG, Riverview 11-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31714, PNC, EOG, Riverview 12-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;

• 31444, PNC, EOG, Riverview 108-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;
• 31446, PNS, EOG, Riverview 110-3229H, Antelope, last checked1/18;
• 31448, PNS, EOG, Riverview 112-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;

• 31713, PNC, EOG, Riverview 120-3229H, Antelope, last checked 1/18;

The singleton in section 30-152-94:

• 20513, 2,365, EOG, Riverview 3-3130H, 49 stages; 9.8 million lbs sand, choked back as of 5/15; back to full months; t3/13; cum 756K 3/20;

The fourteen (14) EOG permits in Clarks Creek, all on Lot 1, section 30-152-94 (production updated above):

• 31804, conf, 360' FNL, 1060' FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31805, conf, 360' FNL, 1010' FWL; last checked 1/18;;
• 31806, conf, 360' FNL, 960' FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31807, conf, 360' FNL, 910' FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31808, conf, 360' FNL, 860' FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31809, conf, 360' FNL, 810' FWL; llast checked 1/18;

• 31810, conf, 290' FNL, 750 FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31811, conf, 290' FNL, 800 FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31812, conf, 290' FNL, 850 FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31813, conf, 290' FNL, 900 FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31814, conf, 290' FNL, 950 FWL; last checked 1/18;
• 31815, conf, 290' FNL, 1000 FWL; last checked 1/18;

• 22200, 528, EOG, Riverview 4-3031H, 290' FNL, 1,050' FWL, t7/12; cum 434K 11/17;
• 22199, 1,088, EOG, Riverview 100-3031H, Three Forks, 39 stages; 5.8 million lbs sand, 290' FNL, 1,150' FWL, t6/12; cum 453K 11/17;

The graphic above: we saw this area just a few days ago, when we were discussing EOG's 2Q15 earnings/conference call.

• 20513, 2,365, EOG, Riverview 3-3130H, Clarks Creek, ESP 3/15, NGL stripping skids removed -- last date of NGL being made at this location was September 24, 2014; skids were placed and first date of NGL being made at this location was August 25, 2014; 49 stages, 9.8 million lbs all sand; t3/13; cum 667K 11/17;

A close-up of the 12 new permits:

For newbies, generally speaking, when new permits are issued, they go to loc status, and then eventually to conf status. These wells are already on conf status, the very day the permits are issued; they can remain on the conf list for six months; this suggests EOG is ready to start drilling.

Thirteen (13) New Permits; EOG With Twelve (12) New Riverview Permits; BR With Three Huge Wells; Five Wells Coming Off Confidential List Thursday; August 12, 2015

Tweeting now: IEA sees global oil demand +1.6MM b/d to 94.2MM b/d in 2015—biggest growth spurt in 5 yrs. Story here.

Tweeting now:  World oil supply fell 600K b/d in July to 96.6MM b/d on lower non-OPEC output. From same link above.

A reminder: another blog, "Meanwhile, back at the ranch...."

Active rigs:

	8/12/2015	08/12/2014	08/12/2013	08/12/2012	08/12/2011
Active Rigs	72	194	184	199	191

Five (5) wells coming off the confidential list Thursday:

• 27125, 1,926, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-95-23D-14-6H, Eagle Nest, 31 stages, 4.5 million lbs, a big well, possibly choked back; t2/15; cum 83K 6/15;
• 29432, SI/NC, BR, Kings Canyon 6-1-27MTFH, Camel Butte, no production data,
• 29686, 1.424, Hess, SC-Bingeman-154-98-0904H-2, Truax, 35 stages, 2.5 million lbs sand, t7/15; cum --
• 30350, 438, Hunt, Writing Rock 161-101-23-14H-1, Writing Rock, t5/15; cum 10K 6/15;
• 30351, 389, Hunt, Writing Rock 161-101-26-35H-1, Writing Rock, t5/15; cum 10K 6/15;

Thirteen (13) new permits --

• Operators: EOG (12), St Croix
• Fields: Clarks Creek (McKenzie)
• Comments: For the EOG permits, see below; they are all Riverview well (of my goodness). The St Croix permit is for a wildcat in Ward County (Minot); this is St Croix's second permit in North Dakota; their first well (#29075, 28-158-82) was dry; the permit issued today is for 29-157-81, 7 miles to the southeast; these are south of the Glenburn oil field, about 12 miles northeast of Minot;

Whiting renewed two Zalesky permits in Stark County.

Ten permits canceled:

• Hess canceled four EN-Chamley permits in Mountrail County
• CLR canceled six Margaurite (5 of 6 Federal) permits in Mountrail County

Four (4) producing wells were completed:

• 28710, 2,886, BR, Harley 11-2MBH-R, Blue Buttes, 20-foot thick zone; 100% inside drilling target footage; 1,120-acre spacing, 2 & N/2 & N/2 S/2 11-151-95, t7/15; cum --
• 29428, 1,844, BR, Teton 3-8-10MBH, Camel Butte, 2560-acre stand-up drilling unit, 18-foot thick zone, inside target payzone 100%; background gases low/moderate, t7/15; cum --
• 29462, 2,565, BR, Teton 8-8-10TFSH, Camel Butte, Three Forks B2, 24-foot thick zone; 100% inside driling target footage; 2560-acre spacing, t7/15; cum --
• 29485, 3,468, Statoil, Bures 20-29 6TFH, 1280-acre; Three Forks B1; Alger, t7/15; cum --

The fourteen (14) EOG permits in Clarks Creek, all on Lot 1, section 30-152-94:

• 31804, 360' FNL, 1060' FWL;
• 31805, 360' FNL, 1010' FWL;
• 31806, 360' FNL, 960' FWL;
• 31807, 360' FNL, 910' FWL;
• 31808, 360' FNL, 860' FWL;
• 31809, 360' FNL, 810' FWL;

• 31810, 290' FNL, 750 FWL;
• 31811, 290' FNL, 800 FWL;
• 31812, 290' FNL, 850 FWL;
• 31813, 290' FNL, 900 FWL;
• 31814, 290' FNL, 950 FWL;
• 31815, 290' FNL, 1000 FWL;

• 22200, 528, EOG, Riverview 4-3031H, 290' FNL, 1,050' FWL, t7/12; cum 365K 6/15;
• 22199, 1,0888, EOG, Riverview 100-3031H, Three Forks, 39 stages; 5.8 million lbs sand, 290' FNL, 1,150' FWL, t6/12; cum 387K 6/15;

The graphic above: we saw this area just a few days ago, when we were discussing EOG's 2Q15 earnings/conference call.

• 20513, 2,365, EOG, Riverview 3-3130H, Clarks Creek, ESP 3/15, NGL stripping skids removed -- last date of NGL being made at this location was September 24, 2014; skids were placed and first date of NGL being made at this location was August 25, 2014; 49 stages, 9.8 million lbs all sand; t3/13; cum 511K 6/15; choked back now; 

A close-up of the 12 new permits:

For newbies, generally speaking, when new permits are issued, they go to loc status, and then eventually to conf status. These wells are already on conf status, the very day the permits are issued; they can remain on the conf list for six months; this suggests EOG is ready to start drilling.

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I track the BR Kings Canyon wells here.

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27125, see above, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-95-23D-14-6H, Eagle Nest:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
6-2015	14550	13988
5-2015	10300	9511
4-2015	16584	13424
3-2015	29079	27702
2-2015	12294	14264

Oil At $30 Is No Problem For Some Cost-Cutting Bakken Operators -- August 12, 2015

For newbies, I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken. Do not make any investment or financial decisions based on what you read here or what you think you have read here.

A reader sent me a very, very interesting article. Bloomberg is reporting: oil at $30 is no problem for some cost-cutting Bakken operators.

“One of the explanations for why production hasn’t fallen off is that the cost has gone down so much,” David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates LLC, an energy consulting firm in Irvine, California, said by phone. “The marginal cost to produce has shrunk pretty dramatically with the drop in prices. The efficient drillers are now able to take advantage.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 22 cents to settle at $43.30 today. It fell $1.88 a barrel to $43.08 yesterday. In North Dakota, where producers have to offer discounts to account for extra transportation costs, the price of Bakken oil dropped to $30.58 yesterday, according to Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

I responded. These are my opinions only. In a long note like this, there will be factual and typographical errors. Some of my comments which appear to be facts, may in fact be wrong. If this is important to you, go to the source:

Thank you. I appreciate that article. For investors this is how I see it.

Let's take WLL, or Oasis, or NOG, or CLR.

Let's assume they are not bought out.

They only have to survive. Even if they only earn a penny, they stay in business -- paying their employees, drilling their wells, paying their expenses. Earning a penny every quarter, and they can go on indefinitely. Of course, the investors aren't going to like it, seeing no growth, but eventually oil is going to go back to something more reasonable.

Companies who survive should do very very, very well.

But it's even "better" than that. They can actually have some quarters of losing money if their credit facility (the banks loaning the money) continue to have faith in them. In the 2Q15 earnings call, both Oasis and CLR said they had barely tapped their credit facility. Oasis actually said they had developed their 2015 budget assuming $50 oil for the entire 2015 calendar year.

They can cut a lot of CAPEX if they have to. Anything to stay positive. They can cut CAPEX before they have to start selling assets. I haven't seen anyone in the Bakken announce any significant asset sales. (Fidelity/MDU announced their sale -- on again / off again / on again -- before the slump in prices.)

And if a Bakken operator goes bankrupt / out of business, the oil is still there for another entrepreneur or mature oil company.

But for Saudi Arabia, oil is their lifeblood. I don't know how they will do it, but something has to give. They can't keep giving their oil away for $60. Even if it costs them pennies to drill, the fact is they need a lot of $$$$/bbl to finance their entire way of life and their very survival.

Maybe I'm whistling past the graveyard, but all these articles about how low oil can go before companies can no longer take it, is sort of the reverse of the Peak Oil argument.

Everyone has their own world view, their own myth. My world view is that a) the Bakken is not going away; b) investors in the oil and gas sector with a very long horizon (ten years) will do just fine; and, c) the US is in uncharted territory with its glut of energy (wind, solar, natural gas, oil, nuclear, coal) compared to the rest of the world. We should be reveling in our good fortune -- made possibly for free market capitalism and roughnecks, geologists, and truckers -- and talk about the opportunities and not fret about low oil prices. [One almost has to laugh: one would think Americans would be cheering low oil prices. Whatever.]

I'm looking forward to a president and an administration who can navigate through this uncharted territory, this unprecedented limitless energy as far out as the eyes can see.

Again, thank you very much for the attached article.

Headlines From The Bismarck Tribune -- August 12, 2015 -- Part III

From The Bismarck Tribune today, a number of interesting stories.

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ONEOK Pipeline Update

$6 million pipeline project to reduce truck traffic, flaring. I haven't read the article yet. Let's take a guess. Rule of thumb: $1 million for a mile of pipeline. Let's guess this pipeline is 8 miles long; it's pretty easy to build a pipeline in North Dakota. Okay, now to the article. Wow, was I wrong!

A short pipeline project to move natural gas liquids from a gas processing plant under construction in McKenzie County to a pipeline interconnect would reduce traffic by 95 truckloads per day, according to Oneok Bakken Pipeline LLC.

Members of the North Dakota Public Service Commission approved the proposed $6 million Lonesome Creek NGL Pipeline, saying it also would help reduce natural gas flaring in the oil patch. The Wednesday vote on the project was 2-0; Commissioner Brian Kalk was absent.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Oneok is planning to build a 4-mile, 8-inch diameter pipeline in McKenzie County from its Lonesome Creek Gas Plant to an interconnect at its Garden Creek NGL Pipeline south of Arnegard.

$1.5 million/mile of pipeline.

A company official says the 200 million cubic feet per day Lonesome Creek Gas Plant is expected to be online by Dec. 1 and the pipeline to be built and ready prior to that.

I track ONEOK gas plants here. 

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Water Clause

Cooperative drops plans for Spiritwood fertilizer plant; I track the Spiritwood here; developers couldn't get "water guarantee" clause for the plant.

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Surface Owners Rejected

Dunn County Planning and Zoning Board rejects landfill proposal -- one that would have given surface owners more power. Dunn County if one of the four "big" Bakken counties: Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie, and Dunn. Northeast Dunn County is most associated with the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

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Meth Ring Broken Up In Minot

Meth ring broken up in Minot; glad to see it was not "inside" the Bakken

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Conceal Carry

Conceal carry, Minnesota / North Dakota: North Dakota and neighboring Minnesota have reached a deal to allow residents of one state to carry concealed weapons in the other, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem announced Wednesday morning.

I would think, it's getting to the point where we need a federal conceal carry permit law. All 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, allow conceal carry permits for their residents. Some have reciprocity. Some issue conceal carry permits to non-residents. The vast majority of states will issue conceal carry permits to residents and non-residents.  California is the only "may issue" state: California ranges from a no-issue in areas like San Francisco, to nearly shall-issue environment in rural counties.

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Do You Want Fries With That? 

Earning $15/Hour

Wow, this is really, really bad. Think about this. Thirty percent of New York's eighth graders passed the state-mandated literacy test. Thirty percent. But then note this. The test was not taken by 20 percent. One assumes the twenty percent that did not take it was because they were unlikely to pass it. Even if that is an inaccurate assumption, Woody Allen was correct when he said, "90% of life is showing up." Not taking the test is the same as failing it in the minds of many employers. (Actually, this is probably an overstatement -- some hyperbole on my part -- because the "20%" refers to not taking one or the other test -- one test was in reading, the other test was in math.)

So, of a 100 eighth graders, only 80 took the test. Of the 80 that took the test, 30% (actually 31%) passed. 31% of 80 = 25 students of every 100 eligible students passed the test. One also must assume that the test was not written for highest achievers. One wonders if one is looking at a 15% of New York eighth graders able to read at a level necessary to be successful going forward.

The good news is the cashier terminals at McDonald's use pictures, not words, and that gradually the cashier terminals will be replaced by customer-friendly kiosk ordering.

From The New York Times article:

Twenty percent of New York State’s third through eighth graders sat out at least one of New York’s standardized tests this year, state education officials said Wednesday, in a sign of increasing resistance to testing as more states make them harder to pass.

New York was one of the first states to introduce tests based on new Common Core academic standards, and this year, the third under the new benchmarks, just 31 percent passed reading tests and 38 percent passed math. Both results were slight improvements from last year, and far below the passing rates under the easier, pre-2013 tests.

While opt-out groups had estimated, based on surveys, that roughly 20 percent of the million-plus eligible test takers, or about 200,000 students, had declined to take the test, the figures released on Wednesday were the closest to an official count. They represent the percentage of students who did not take each exam and had no “known valid reason,” such as an illness, for sitting out.

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More Evidence That Global Warming Is On Hold

For The Archives

The Obama administration announced today that July was one of the cooler months in history in the US. July, 2015, was cooler-than-normal for the 3rd year in a row.

Consolidation In The Oil And Gas Industry, Rigzone -- August 12, 2015; World Oil Demand Expanding At Fastest Rate In 5 Years

Tweeting now: IEA: world oil demand expands at its fastest pace in 5 years, oil glut persists. Story here.

World oil demand is expanding at its fastest pace in five years thanks to rebounding economic growth and low prices, but global oversupply will last through 2016, the West's energy watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Energy Agency said in a monthly report that it was steeply raising its demand growth outlook for this year and 2016, and expected non-OPEC supply growth to decline next year, with U.S. producers hardest hit. 

This is an important story. At least a few Saudi princes said addiction to oil was like addiction to illicit drugs. Bring down the price of oil to levels where demand would grow again, reinforcing the addiction. If the story is accurate, the Saudi princes look like they are correct.

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Musings

Musings: A Retrospective View of A Restructured Energy Industry. Link here. 

Using our time machine, we ventured to 2025 where the global oil and gas industry is enjoying its fifth year of the “new normal” – crude oil prices were settled in the $95 a barrel range. Luckily for the industry, demand for its oil continued to grow, albeit ever so slowly. The steady growth since 2020 of 250,000 barrels a day represented an environment some are starting to call “boring.”

That may be a welcome respite for managers following the volatility of the first 20 years of this Century and the toll it took on companies, technology and investment. Countries have become less fearful of oil shortages now that renewable fuels supply a significant share of the world’s energy needs and electric power generation. In developed economies, crude oil is essentially reserved for transportation fuels, but even then, the increased penetration of green fuels, electric vehicles and social attitude changes toward the use of vehicles and mobility in general have limited the growth of hydrocarbon-based transportation fuels.

US Gasoline Demand Highest Since 2007; Almost Hits Record -- August 12, 2015, Part II

Tweeting now: US commercial crude oil inventories fell 1.7MM bbl last week—less than expected—to 453.6MM bbl, Oil & Gas Journal story here.

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Gasoline Demand Close To Hitting New Record

Record Last Set, July 2007

This is really cool. Some time ago I wagered that the US would set an all-time record for gasoline demand this year, and it would occur in August. I wagered that it would hit 10 million bbls of gasoline per day. We're not quite there, and we may not hit the 10 million bbls as an average, but it's very possible we will hit 10 million bbls on at least one day (that number will never be known, I suppose, because the best we can do is get weekly totals).

Tweeting now: US gasoline consumption averaged 9.62 million b/d over last 4 wks, highest seas. level since 2007 and close to record.

I assume the last four weeks would be as of the fourth week ending on/about August 7.

See these posts:

• Memorial Day, 2015
• Breaking all records ahead of Memorial Day, 2015

This is just shy of the all-time record. At 9.62 million b/d, if that was over a 31-day month (it was not, but if it was), that would be 31 x 9.62 = 298.22 million bbls in that hypothetical month. The US has been above that number once. Back in July, 2007, a 31-day month, the record was set at 298.827 million bbls for the month. 

In May, 2015, the most recent month in which data is available, the US hit 286.768 million bbls, a 31-day month.

298.22 - 286.768 =  11.452 / 286.768 = almost a 4% increase.

In 2007, the July demand (the record US demand) was 2.17% greater than the May, 2007, demand.

Extrapolating, for May, 2015, at 286.768 million x 1.0217 = 292.990 million bbls / 31 = 9,450 bbls/day.

It will be close.

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Bakken 101: The Pronghorn

I track the Pronghorn here.

From the ND DMR monthly publication:

Whiting Petroleum drilled 217 oil wells in Billings and Stark counties targeting the Pronghorn Member of the Bakken Formation from 2010-2014.

In their own words, they drilled these wells and pursued this oil play based upon their work in the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library.

As of November 2014, these wells had produced 19,542,147 barrels of oil. Using just the oil extraction tax and a conservative price of $40/ barrel, Whiting’s Pronghorn oil play has generated more than $50,800,000. That is more than three times the $13.6 million core library expansion.

In November 2014, Whiting Petroleum’s 217 Pronghorn oil wells produced 558,412 barrels or 18,613 barrels per day. These wells generated $48,400 in extraction taxes per day (at $40 per barrel). At that rate, the extraction tax pays off the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library expansion project in 280 days.

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Follow-Up On Henrietta Lacks

I posted this earlier. Some years ago a bestseller book capitalized on the fact that researchers made slightly less than a gazillion dollars on a few cells from a biopsy taken from Henrietta Lacks' cervix (part of a routine medical cancer-detection procedure done annually on most women during their reproductive years). 

Flash forward some four years, and now we see Planned Parenthood selling baby parts, prices determined by free market capitalism, supply and demand.

The big outrage with regard to the Henrietta Lacks story was that her cells were used/sold without her consent. There is a very, very real possibility we could see talk of a class action suit against Planned Parenthood by all those women who have similar claims, that their "donations" were sold without their consent (my hunch is that in the long legalese document that the women sign prior to the procedure includes a phrase that the clinic (Planned Parenthood) "owns" the baby parts once collected and the woman leaves the building. That will be why there will be no talk of a class action suit.

It will be interesting to see if women who go to Planned Parenthood strike through that legalese before undergoing the procedure, and if they do, if the clinic would proceed.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015; BR's Upper, Middle, And Lower Three Forks; Iowa Quickly Becoming The Wind Farm For America

Active rigs:

	8/12/2015	08/12/2014	08/12/2013	08/12/2012	08/12/2011
Active Rigs	72	194	184	199	191

RBN Energy: update on the Henry Hub, a continuing series.

For newbies, a new designation regarding the Three Forks benches, from an update elsewhere --

#29434, SI/NC, BR, Kings Canyon 3-1-27MTFH is an important well from standpoint of understanding "legal" names of BR Kings Canyon wells in Camel Butte. In the original post below, written a long time ago, I suggested that the "M" in MTF stood for "middle Three Forks," a new term for me. In the old days, it was simply the upper Three Forks that was targeted whenever we saw "TF" in the legal name. Shortly thereafter, operators starting talking about the four benches in the Three Forks, and the "upper TF" became TF1, the first bench. Now, we see "middle Three Forks. In the application, this is identified as Three Forks B2 (second bench).  

BR seems to suggest they might refer to these benches as the upper Three Forks (first bench, B1, UTH); the middle Three Forks (second bench, B2, MTH); and the lower Three Forks (third bench, B3, LTH), suggesting they will not be targeting the fourth bench.

I think this was the first advertisement-free site to suggest what BR meant by UTFH, and that was done quite awhile ago. Always something to learn in the Bakken.

By the way, for newbies, the upper Bakken and the lower Bakken are shale, and are generally not targeted (Slawson has targeted the upper Bakken in tests). The Bakken is a "tight" play and not a "shale" play, I think, is what purists say. The terms "tight" and "shale" are often used interchangeable, but purists "know" the difference.

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Iowa Wind Energy 

For The Archives

Don sent me this link. It's a great article in that is provides a lot of data points for the archives. Update regarding Iowa wind energy:

I think most of this wind energy is being sent out-of-state; it's being used by utilities to meet out-of-state-mandated numbers, I believe.

The good news:

• Iowa has found a revenue-generating business model
• the wind farms are in Iowa and not in western North Dakota; I don't think Teddy Roosevelt would mind; there's probably a reason there are only two national parks in Iowa (although I can't find them at this site, maybe others can);
• and, yes, natural gas will be needed to back-up all this intermittent energy

Great article. Lots of data points. 

Note this: 

On the consumption side of the equation, as of 2015, the Obama Administration does not even breakout wind energy for Iowa (for 2013, the most recent year data is available).  It appears that for electricity, Iowa consumes, in BTUs, from the following sources:

• coal: 400
• natural gas: 305
• nuclear: 50
• other renewables (which I assume is mostly wind): 150

150/750 is still very, very impressive. But, again, all that intermittent energy needs to be backed up by natural gas -- unless they build 4x as many wind farms as needed across the entire state, and assume that if 25% are turning 100% of the time, they will not need back-up.

Iowa is going to look like one huge industrial wind farm. That never goes away. Because, after all, wind is "renewable." 

Iowa becomes the wind farm to America.