At Seeking Alpha: 1,000 Bakken Wells Waiting To Be Fracked -- November 14, 2015

 Updates

November 15, 2015: some things to keep in mind when thinking about these 1,000+ wells waiting to be fracked:

• they are all in the sweet spots of the Bakken
• operators have spent 7+ years perfecting completion techniques, resulting in huge 90-day production, and then 1-year production profiles
• every well in the Bakken -- especially in the sweet spots -- will create a halo effect on neighboring wells 
• the infrastructure is most robust in the sweet spots of the Bakken
• 3 - 5 days to frack; once decision is made to frack, oil will moving fairly quickly after that 

In other words, these are going to be the best of the best wells in the Bakken; they are going to increase the production from neighboring wells with no increased associated expense; and, the can be completed in just a few days. 

Original Post

From Seeking Alpha: 

The number of oil wells in North Dakota that have been drilled but not fracked surpassed 1,000 for the first time in September, as producers wait for prices to recover before turning them on.

As a result, more than 8% of oil wells in North Dakota now are sitting idle, harming the industry's ability to grow production; daily output in the state fell 2% in September to ~1.16M bbl/day.

The backlog is "sending a definite signal to the market that oil and gas operators are not willing to do a lot of drilling or hydraulic fracturing or production at these low prices," says Lynn Helms, director of the state's Department of Mineral Resources, who figures the backlog is not likely to be worked off until next year at least, and only if oil prices rise.

There are so many story lines here, but I've had a busy weekend, so all of this will have to wait.  For more of September, 2015, data, click here.

There are least as many wells in Texas waiting to be fracked, maybe twice that number. It's time for the US government to empty the strategic petroleum reserve and shut the operation down. The SPR is no longer needed.  Actually it looks like the SPR will simply become a "slush fund" of sort as Congress starts selling off the oil to raise money for other projects.

Baltimore Sets Homicide Record -- November 14, 2015

Updates

July 27, 2017: the article does not say when Baltimore took the law off the books but it's amazing that any councilman would vote against putting this law back on the books. The law: one-year minimum sentence if caught with an illegal gun. The law is already being watered down. Again this tells me that some folks really aren't concerned about homicides in Baltimore.
 

Original Post

 

It was just three months ago that I posted this note:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Ten federal law-enforcement agents are being assigned to the Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit for 60 days to help solve murders amid the city’s worst surge of violence in decades.

For 60 days. That's just enough time to put together two or three PowerPoint presentations, have a few 3-martini lunches, and head home. Are they serious? My hunch is that Baltimore couldn't come up with the cash necessary to pay for more Feds for more days. Doesn't the Bakken have about ten full-time FBI agents? Just asking. I don't know. And it's rhetorical. Please don't tell me.

Baltimore has had 192 homicides so far this year, a 57% jump from this time last year, police say. Nonfatal shootings are up more than 80%, records show.

The city had 42 homicides in May—a one-month total that hadn’t been seen since 1990. July was even bloodier, with 45 homicides—which tied the city’s highest monthly tally set in August 1972, according to news reports.

Just give the murderers a big more space.  

So how did that task force work out? FoxNews is reporting:

Baltimore has recorded its 300th homicide of the year.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said in a statement Saturday evening that it was a "sad homicide milestone." He said that "it's important to pause and vow to continue our collective fight to find a better path forward."

The 300th victim was a 27-year-old man who was stabbed multiple times Saturday and later died. It's the first time since 1999 that the city has recorded 300 homicides. In 2014, the city saw 211 killings for the year. Baltimore crossed the 200 death mark in August.

As long as they don't shoot the police.

The Untouchables