Nuverra Bankruptcy; The Trials And Tribulations Of SM Energy -- Filloon -- May 22, 2017

Nuverra (formerly Power Fuels) files for bankruptcy protection. Not sure of the date the company first announced it was considering protection; the date it publicly said it would file; and the exact date of filing, but the latter must be very recent. One can go back and find many articles on pros and cons of investing in this company:

• will file for bankruptcy in coming weeks, WSJ, April 13, 2017  
• restructuring deal, April 12, 2017
• bankruptcy around the corner, November 12, 2015
• Bismarck Tribune, September 29, 2015
• article wrong on Nuverra, August 25, 2013

I find it interesting that one of the bigger oilfield services companies in North Dakota (and the heart of the Bakken in this case) filing for bankruptcy did not appear in The Bismarck Tribune, unless for some reason it did not get picked up by Google.

As far the founder of Power Fuels:

The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

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Trials And Tribulations Of SM Energy

At SeekingAlpha:

• SM Energy has underperformed Permian operators in 2017 due to lackluster well results
• Blissard 20-29 1H has produced more oil in 4 months than the average of all SM's Permian wells curved to 18 months
• It is just one result, but this is in line with other top operators and might be the start of much better initial production rates going forward

This is the operator that was predominantly a natural gas company when it entered the Bakken. It said repeatedly -- at least that was my impression -- the company would "never leave" North Dakota. The company left North Dakota in 2016, but has delayed selling its Divide County assets due to poor prices.

From the linked article:

SM's average completion produces considerably less when compared to the average of all locations. This is significant, as SM's produce 158,930 BO compared to the 201,310 BO for the group over 18 months of wells life. One of SM's newest completions could change this. Blissard 20-29 1H only has 4 months of production, but is significantly outperforming its older location.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$50.88	5/22/2017	05/22/2016	05/22/2015	05/22/2014	05/22/2013
Active Rigs	51	25	82	189	185

RBN Energy: the series continues -- takeaway capacity in the Marcellus / Utica. This post is on the takeaway projects to the southeast US.

One of the major target markets for Appalachian natural gas is the U.S. Southeast. More than 32 GW of gas-fired power generation units are planned to be added in the South-Atlantic states by 2020 and LNG exports from the Southeast are increasing.

Of the 15.5 Bcf/d of takeaway capacity planned for Appalachia, close to 5 Bcf/d is targeting this growing demand. Despite the need, these pipeline projects designed to increase southbound flows from the Marcellus Shale have faced regulatory delays and setbacks. Today, we provide an update on capacity additions moving gas south along the Atlantic Coast.