BR Reports A Huge Well; Four (4) More DUCs; April 24, 2016

Monday, April 25, 2016

• 30769, SI/NC, XTO, FBIR Grinnell 34X-33G, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 31097, 127, Crescent Point Energy, CPEC Elgaard 2-31-32-164N-100W, Colgan, t1/16; cum 11K 2/16;
• 31557, 1,275, Hess, HA-Chapin-152-95-2932H-7, Hawkeye, t3/16; cum --

Sunday, April 24, 2016

• 21111, SI/NC, Enerplus, Anna G. Baker 6B-7-2H TF, Moccasin Creek, no production data,
• 30768, SI/NC, XTO, FBIR Grinnell 34X-33D, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 31558, 1,432, Hess, HA-Chapin-152-95-2932H-8, Hawkeye, t3/16; cum --
• 31679, SI/NC, SM Energy, Mo Farms 15-21HS, Musta, no production data,

Saturday, April 23, 2016

• 31314, SI/NC, Sinclair, Porcupine 2-19H, Little Knife, no production data,
• 31559, 572, Hess, HA-Chapin-152-95-2932H-9, Hawkeye, t3/16; cum --
• 31934, 2,245, BR, CCU Atlantic Express 41-30MBH, Corral Creek, t2/16; cum 7K after 13 days;

Idle Rambling: Natural Gas Production/Flaring/Processing -- Iran Vs North Dakota -- April 24, 2016

Disclaimer: there may be some major factual errors on this page. I do not understand natural gas. If this is important to you, the links are there. 

See this post for background.

I've never "understood" natural gas but after almost ten years of blogging, I feel a bit more comfortable with natural gas.

But when I read that North Dakota set an all-time record for natural gas production (for the state), I did not have feel for 48 million m³/d (1.69 Bcf/d).

This puts it in perspective, from an article in January, 2016, just a couple of months ago, talking to Iran's natural gas production:

The country's total gas production in the year to March 2015 stood at about 553mn m³/d, of which 93mn m³/d were re-injected to oil fields and 37mn m³/d delivered to petrochemical plants.

So, in bullets, for Iran's natural gas production, in round numbers:

• total natural gas production: 550 million m³/d
• natural gas re-injected into its oil fields: 100 million m³/d
• 40 million m³/d delivered to petrochemical plants

Iran delivered about 40 million m³/d of natural gas to its petrochemical plants.

North Dakota is producing about 50 million m³/d of natural gas. 50 x 0.89 = 44 million m³/d being processed.

At least that's what I'm reading. Again, I may be missing something.

MDU has sold off its Fidelity division.

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For The Archives

Saudi To Expand Existing Oil Field

I'm not sure what to make of this. For now, simply for the archives. From Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. will complete the expansion of its Shaybah oilfield by the end of May, allowing the biggest crude exporter in the world to maintain the level of its total production capacity.

Shaybah’s production capacity will rise to 1 million barrels a day from 750,000 barrels. The field, in the Empty Quarter desert near the border with the United Arab Emirates, produces extra light grade crude with API gravity of 42 degrees, they said.

Shaybah’s expansion will help Saudi Aramco, as the state producer is known, to keep the company’s output capacity at 12 million barrels a day.

This would suggest that existing fields are being depleted.

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US Troops To Syria To Take On The JV Team

Understanding how much President Obama did NOT want to send more troops to Syria, especially as his time in office is coming to an end, this story speaks volumes how badly things must be going. It is being reported everywhere (this link to FoxNews) that the president will send 250 more troops to Syria. This increases the number to 300. Many, many story lines here, not least of what the meager amount of troops suggests.

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The Literature Page

Wow, talk about a blind spot. In today's Dallas Morning News, there is a huge front page story in the "Points" section featuring Andrew Bacevich who will be at the Dallas Book Festival this next Saturday. Bacevich is the author of the new book America's Way for the Greater Middle East.

The "headline" to the story: "Why American fails to win wars." The answer: "Our military system is out of sync with military ambitions. Bacevich lays blame on the creation of an all-volunteer force."

Wow, talk about a blind spot.

If I remember correctly, the US "won" WWII, stalemated in Korea, and lost "big" in Vietnam. All before the all-volunteer force.

We toppled Saddam with shock and awe with an all-volunteer force.

And, no, I won't be buying (or reading) his new book.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

Yesterday afternoon/evening we had Sophia, granddaughter #3, age two this summer, over to the new apartment. As usual, she was good as gold, as they say.

We were reading in one of the bedrooms and had not heard a peep out of Sophia for quite some time (three minutes), so I thought it best to go check on her. The last time I saw her she was sweeping the kitchen using the broom and dustpan she had found by the refrigerator.

Just as I walked into the newly-painted dining room, I noted that Sophia had found the Christmas eggnog mugs where we keep about ten pencils, lots of pens, a pair of scissors, and other paraphernalia. From all those items, and the mug was crammed full of stuff, she managed to find the one black Sharpie. She had just gotten the top off and was about to write on a stack of Post-It notes.

It boggles the mind how a two-year-old can immediately spot a Sharpie among 53 other items which pretty much all look alike, crammed together in a small mug in a room full of other interesting items to explore.

But there you have it.

North Dakota Natural Gas Hits Milestone: More Gas Than Ever Despite Huge Decline In Active Wells; Mike Filloon's Bakken Update -- Focus On Producers In The Bakken -- April 24, 2016

North Dakota natural gas industry hits milestone: 

Natural gas production from North Dakota reached an all-time high in February as flaring declined and gas output from oil wells in of the Bakken and Three Forks formations increased.

Gas production in February rose to 1.69 Bcf/d (48mn m³/d), up by 3 percent from January and about 1 percent higher than the previous record set in November 2015.

The amount of flared gas in February dropped to 11 percent, down from 13 percent a month earlier as processing capacity rose.

The Tioga gas plant increased its operational capacity to 84 percent, up by 5 percentage point from January.

Nearly all of the gas produced in North Dakota comes from the state's oil wells. But gas production grew despite a decline in producing wells.

The well count dropped at the end of February to 13,012, down by 129 from a month earlier.

See this post, also, natural gas, North Dakota vs Iran.

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Mike Filloon's Bakken Update

From Filloon:

• US oil production continues to decrease approximately 20K bbl/d each week although Gulf production continues to increase
• Producers had planned to increase production significantly from 2014 to 2015 but low oil prices pulled barrels from the market
• 2016 oil production from shale could see a much larger decrease year over year as increases may be seen from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Russia, Kuwait, etc
• U.S. small cap unconventional oil producers could shoulder the majority of the 2016 production cut if 2015 numbers were a preview

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Mezcal

I think I mentioned a few days ago that I have moved on to mezcal. It took several years for me to become comfortable with Scotch, and now that fad is over. Last year/this year I was determined to become comfortable with martinis, and now that fad is over.

I didn't have any alcohol for about a month while I went on a very restricted caloric diet. I'm at the first plateau in my weight loss journey and will probably stay at this level for several months, hopefully not as long as a year. Then I will begin the next phase in my weight reduction program.

Meanwhile, I am now trying to understand mezcal, after a recent article in The New Yorker. I only have on mezcal in the house -- I have no idea how critics rate it -- good, bad, indifferent -- but it is what it is: the label says "Mezcal' in huge 1.5 inch letters, with "Espadin-Joven" in three-quarter inch letters underneath. The label says it is "homemade by our own maestro mezcalero, in Matatlan, Oaxaca, Capital of Mezcal."

My first taste of mezcal: "hey, this is Islay scotch." Seriously. Others have had the same thought. I've had about half an ounce each of the last three nights mixed with various proportions of tequila and triple sec. Compared to the time it took me to become comfortable with understanding a martini, it appears that it will take considerably less time to become comfortable in my understanding of mezcal and margaritas.

I write all of that to say this: why I love to blog. One of my favorite other blogs is "Left Coast Cowboys," one of the better travel and food blogs. Some years ago the writer had an article on mezcal.