The Bakken Simply Never Quits -- BR's Remington #17118 -- September 29, 2017

The BR Remington wells in Blue Buttes.

July 15, 2018:  the graphic --

The wells:

• 32852, 284, BR, Remington 1A MTFH, Blue Buttes, no production data,
• 32853, 401, BR, Remington 1B MBH, Blue Buttes, no production data,

• 17118, 289, BR, Remington 14-11H, Blue Buttes, t6/08; cum 309K 5/20; went off-line since 9/17; back on line as of 6/18; big jump in production 7/18; off line 5/19; remains off line 9/19; back on line 11/19; remained on line during 2020 meltdown; cum cum 339K 2/22; off line 3/22;
  

• 32721, 576, BR, Remington 3C MBH, Blue Buttes, t7/17; cum 528K 5/20; cum 645K 3/22; off line 3/22;
  
• 32722, 533, BR, Remington 3D UTFH, Blue Buttes, t7/17; cum 405K 5/20; cum 484K 6/22; jump in production;
  
• 32723, 552, BR, Remington 3E MBH, Blue Buttes, t7/17; cum 531K 5/20; cum 610K 6/22; small jump in production;
  

• 32842, 566, BR, Remington 4A MTFH, Blue Buttes, t11/18; cum 221K 4/20; off line 5/20; cum 336K 6/22; coming back on line, 6/22;
  
• 32843, 45 (no typo), BR, Remington 4B MBH, Blue Buttes, t11/18; cum 323K 4/20; off line 5/20; cum 441K 6/22; coming back on line, 6/22;
• 32844, 360, BR, Remington-Lovaas 4C UTFH-ULW, Blue Buttes, t11/183 cum 204K 3/20; off line 5/20; cum 334K 6/22; coming back on line, 6/22;

Original Post

Again, here's another Bakken well with huge jump in production, and according to FracFocus, no evidence that it was re-fracked.

The well:

• 17118, 289, BR, Remington 14-11H, Blue Buttes, t6/08; cum 304K 3/20;

Production profile. Note the jump in production in 7/17.  Eleven-thousand (11,000) bbls over 22 days extrapolates to 15,000 bbls over a 30-day month. Pretty nice jump in production for not being re-fracked. Note how little produced water with the bump in crude oil production in 7/17. Most recent production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	8-2017	24	7588	7360	2861	9491	9431	0
BAKKEN	7-2017	22	11070	10983	3124	14251	14196	0
BAKKEN	6-2017	8	1795	2324	990	2810	2790	0
BAKKEN	5-2017	19	2491	2253	580	3748	3701	0
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	3120	3146	935	8298	8224	0
BAKKEN	3-2017	31	3648	3503	964	9672	9595	0
BAKKEN	2-2017	28	3250	3532	933	8708	8638	0
BAKKEN	1-2017	31	3646	3529	887	8267	8190	0
BAKKEN	12-2016	31	3856	4070	1065	10107	10030	0

And yes, the neighboring well was fracked at the time the index well had a jump in production:

• 32721, 576, BR, Remington 3C MBH, Blue Buttes, t7/17; cum see above;

The graphic:

Week 39: September 24, 2017 -- September 30, 2017

End of the third quarter, 2017.

US petroleum demand was the highest for any August since 2007. US crude oil inventories decreased slightly but re-balancing will still take 46 weeks at the current rate of drawdown.

The Permian pretty much stops all that talk about peak oil.

Harold Hamm opines that the EIA is mis-forecasting US crude oil production growth for next year; WTI climbs to $52 before dropping back to $51 and change.

Operations
Oasis reports a number of nice Forland wells 
Another random example of a peculiar phenomenon in the Bakken
Marathon reports a re-frack, a Larry Repp well
Random look at an NP Resources well in southwestern North Dakota
Petro-Hunt has another big well in Charlson oil field

Pipelines
Dakota Access LLC (DAPL) donates $15 million to state of North Dakota to help pay for law enforcement during the Standing Rock pipeline protests; speaking of which the Standing Rock tribal chief was voted out of office
MDU to supply Bobcat plant (Gwinner, ND) with natural gas via new pipeline 

Bakken economy
Boomtown's taxable sales surge 30%
New post office in Watford City opens
Update on Halcon's plans to exit the Williston Basin
Update on new runway at Bismarck airport 

Bakken 101
Bakken crude oil: lightest and sweetest of them all

Flashback
Article on re-fracks -- 2015

XTO Has Six More Permits In Siverston Oil Field -- September 29, 2017

Active rigs:

$51.64→	9/29/2017	09/29/2016	09/29/2015	09/29/2014	09/29/2013
Active Rigs	58	34	69	186	184

Six new permits:

• Operator: XTO
• Field: Siverston (McKenzie)
• Comments: a lot of activity in Siverston oil field -- XTO has permits for a 6-well Ravin pad in NENW 15-150-97; see graphic below;

Four permits renewed:

• EOG (4): three Austin permits; one Liberty LR permit; all in Mountrail County

Two permits canceled:

• EOG: a Mandaree permit in McKenzie County
• Petro-Hunt: a Ty Webb permit in McKenzie County

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From The Williston Wire -- September 29, 2017

From the Williston Wire.

High tax state. Few people know this: in the oil industry, North Dakota is seen as a high-tax state on oil production. From The Bismarck Tribune:

North Dakota's governor wants the state to produce 2 million barrels a day, but lower taxes on oil and better access to markets in the South mean the competition for drillers is tight, industry experts and state regulators said Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Grand Forks.

"We need, as problem-solvers, to figure out how we are going to convince capital back to the Bakken," Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

"There are still somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 wells to drill (in North Dakota), and we need to attract capital back into the Bakken to improve the recovery. A lot of that is going to be selling how we do technology in North Dakota."

New post office opens in Watford City. Located north of the Watford City Airport, at 1204 4th Aveue NE. The new facility is more than double the size of the previous building; has nearly 3,000 postal boxes.

McKenzie County considers hiring a county coordinator. Proposed salary if the position is created, advertised: just slightly less than $80,000.

Too crowded to attend any more for a pleasant experience: Norsk Hostfest opens in Minot, September 27 - 30, 2017. I could be wrong, and I probably am, but years ago, I thought the Hostfest lasted nearly two weeks. It's hard to believe that the festival is only four days. I remember my dad buying tickets for the Hostfest for his sibs and we would all spend several days in a local motel for a family reunion. At that time, it was often too crowded to really enjoy, and I can only imagine how crowded it must be now, but, again, I may be wrong.

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Asplundh

WSJ headline: Pennsylvania company to pay record fine for illegally hiring immigrants. Asplundh Tree Expert pleads guilty for employing those who didn’t have authorization to work in the U.S.

This company is "all over" Texas. I guess tree pruning just got a lot more expensive here in the DFW area.

A Pennsylvania-based tree-trimming company was ordered to pay $95 million in the largest fine against a company for hiring thousands of immigrants who didn’t have permission to work in the U.S., according to federal officials.

Asplundh Tree Expert of Willow Grove, Pa., pleaded guilty in federal court in Philadelphia on Thursday to illegally hiring the immigrants. Some of the immigrants were in the U.S. illegally, none had authorization to work in the country, according to court documents.

A federal judge ordered the family-owned company to pay $80 million and adhere to an Administrative Compliance Agreement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The details of the agreement weren’t made public.

 Something tells me Asplundh is not the only company guilt of such things.

The Energy And Market Page, T+252 -- September 29, 2017

Wow! NYSE -- 173 issues hit new 52-week highs, including: CAT, FedEx, Home Depot, D.R. Horton, Navistar International,

• new lows: 7

The Trump rally continues to broaden -- Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index and Russell 2000 Index all moved into record territory, with the S&P 500 benchmark on track for its eighth straight quarterly gain. Financial shares helped spearhead the gains as the KBW Bank Index leaped to the highest since March.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

All aboard! Full steam ahead on UNP dividends -- Morningstar.

Starbucks is changing coffee-purchasing habits: WSJ link. Starbucks is no longer on my daily (or even weekly) things to do. I go to Starbucks when it's about the only option I have (for what I need to get done). I last visited our local Starbucks while waiting for our minivan to have new brakes installed and I noted that things had improved with regard to mobile ordering. From the linked article:

When it comes to mobile payments Starbucks has succeeded where Silicon Valley has generally struggled. But the coffee giant’s advance-ordering process via smartphones hasn’t always run smoothly. Earlier this year, the company admitted that it was getting so many advance orders that the whole process was hurting the in-store experience for those who wanted to wait on line and buy their drinks the old-fashioned way. 

Biomass. If Minnesota doesn't want it, no one wants it. Look at the cost of biomass energy. A huge "thank you" to Don for sending me the link. I would have missed it. But look at the cost of biomass energy -- no wonder a Minnesota utility wants out.

Minnesota utility regulators are studying a proposal by Xcel Energy to close two biomass plants that could mark a turning point for the industry here, particularly as prices for renewable energy drop.

The proposal — which has approval by the state legislature and the communities affected — would close Benson Power, which burns turkey waste and wood, as well as a biomass plant in northern Minnesota owned by the Laurentian Energy Authority (LEA).

Closing the two plants, which make up half of Minnesota’s biomass generation, could cost hundreds of jobs, and state forest management officials and the poultry industry say it will create turmoil among various suppliers to the plants. Their message is simple: slow down.

Xcel has contended the contracts — which in both cases would have lasted roughly another decade — cost too much, especially in light of low wind energy prices. Xcel spokesperson Randy Fordice said in a statement that the “energy generated from these facilities is the most expensive energy on our system and is more expensive than other cleaner renewable sources.”

New wind energy costs Xcel an average of $15 to $25 per megawatt hour (MWh), while biomass is around $150 MWh. All other sources of generation — nuclear, solar, natural gas and coal — are also less expensive than biomass.

Reminder: Europe loves biomass. Europe is paying for wood chips being shipped from southeastern US to the continent. Imagine the additional cost incurred in transporting sawdust. 

The Oasis Forland Wells In Siverston Oil Field

The wells:

• 32240, 238, Oasis, Forland 5198 41-33 2TX, Siverston, 50 stages, 3.8 million lbs, t2/17; cum 208K 9/19;
• 32241, 1,825, Oasis, Forland 5198 41-33 3B, Siverston, 50 stages; 4 million lbs; small and large sand; ceramics33, t2/17; cum 303K 9/19; (21657)
• 32242, 1,598, Oasis, Forland 5198 41-33 4T, Siverston, Three Forks 1st bench, 50 stages; 3.9 million lbs, small, medium, ceramics, API: 33-053-03816; no frack data at FracFocus, t3/17; cum 255K 9/19; (21657)
• 32243, 852, Oasis, Forland 5198 41-33 5B, Siverston, 50 stages; 4 million lbs, large/small/ceramic; t3/17; cum 242K 9/19;
• 32244, 781, Oasis, Forland 5198 41-33 6T, Siverston, Three Forks, 50 stages, 4 million lbs, t3/17; cum 262K 9/19;
• 32245, 1,320, Oasis, Forland 5198 31-4 7B, Siverston, t4/17; cum 315K 9/19;
• 32246, 1,083, Oasis, Forland 5098 13-4 8T, Siverston, t4/17; cum 269K 9/19;
• 32247, 1,270, Oasis, Forland 5098 13-4 9B, Siverston, 50 stages, 10.1 million lbs, t4/17; cum 392K 9/19;
• 32248, 684, Oasis, Forland 5098 13-4 10T, Siverston, 10 stages, 1.7 million lbs, large sand/ceramic, t4/17; cum 73K 10/18; taken off-line at end of 6/17, see this post; remains off line 5/19; intermittent production, 9/19;
• 32254, 1,320, Oasis, Forland 5198 44-33 11T, Siverston, Three Forks, 50 stages, 4 million lbs; large/small/ceramic, t4/17; cum 299K 9/19;
• 32255, 1,262, Oasis, Forland 5198 44-35 12B,  Siverston, 50 stages, 4 million lbs, small/large/ceramics, t4/17; cum 404K 9/19;
• 21657, 1,844, Oasis, Forland 28-33H, Siverston, 26 stages; 3.4 million lbs; t3/12; cum 462K 9/19;

A Peculiar Phenomenon Of The Bakken -- Take A Bakken Well Off-Lline For A Few Months And Watch Production Surge When Brought Back On Line -- September 29, 2017

Well #1 and well #2 are adjacent horizontals. Well #1 is a new well among many new wells from the same pads running south to north; well #2 is an older well that runs north to south; it was not re-fracked, but even so production has surged. 

Well #1 below was fracked 1/31/2017 - 2/6/2017 and the data is already at FracFocus.

Well #2 well has not been re-fracked based on data at FracFocus.

Production of well #1, recently fracked:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	7-2017	31	29152	29152	22252	61773	57806	3807
BAKKEN	6-2017	30	28613	28671	20647	50175	36620	13395
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	32974	32925	23224	66848	53427	13256
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	33736	33739	35664	80505	30818	49527
BAKKEN	3-2017	2	2344	2332	8840	577	0	564

Production of well #2, not re-fracked, based on data at FracFocus, recent production (full production data is posted here):

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	7-2017	31	18622	18748	17530	46922	46622	0
BAKKEN	6-2017	30	20037	19893	21285	47223	46923	0
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	22370	22625	31072	46142	45832	0
BAKKEN	4-2017	30	16423	15355	36574	22371	22071	0
BAKKEN	3-2017	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2017	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2017	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2016	1	0	0	0	10	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2016	5	95	414	140	294	274	0
BAKKEN	10-2016	29	2359	2297	939	5542	5329	213

The wells:

• 21657, 1,844, Oasis, Forland 28-33H, Siverston, 26 stages, 3.4 million lbs, t3/12; cum 351K 7/17 (well #2)
• 32247, 1,270, Oasis, Forland 5098 13-4 9B, Siverston, 50 stages, 10.1 million lbs, t4/17; cum 127K 7/17; (well #1)

The graphic:

From the archives: at this post, if you scroll down, there was a very, very interesting study back in 2009 -- "Simultaneous Hydraulic Fracking Treatments In Adjacent Horizontal Wells."

Years ago, I posted the likelihood that operators would run horizontals in opposite directions once in-fill wells started to be drilled. I won't be able to find it, but if I run across it, I will post the link.

Active Rigs Steady At 58 As North Dakota Moves Into Autumn -- September 29, 2017

Active rigs:

$51.62→	9/29/2017	09/29/2016	09/29/2015	09/29/2014	09/29/2013
Active Rigs	58	34	69	186	184

RBN Energy: development finally advancing in Argentina's biggest shale play. Bottom line: a long way to go.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

From Boomberg / Moody's Investors Services: for shale drillers and oil sands producers -- consistently above $50 is needed. Data points:

• study consisted of 37 E & P companies in US and Canada
• with a few notable exceptions, few companies with a "healthy leveraged full cycle ration"
• exceptions: Appalachian explorers Antero Resources Corp and Range Resources Corp, as well as Canadian shale gas producer Seven Generations Energy Ltd
• most others had ratios way below a level Moody's considers healthy
• the three best performers focused on liquids-rich gas plays: the Marcellus and the Utica, and the Montney
• cash flow surge in last few years: Antero and Seven Geenrations
• Moody's: producers' leveraged full cycle ration needs to be significantly above 1 for explorers to earn a meaningful return on their investment
• the average for 37 explorers, last year: 0.59
• the ratios of the top three: above 1.5
• Antero's ratio: 2.19 tops the list
• among the lowest ranking were Apache Corp and Devon Energy Corp with ratios below 0.05

Dutch natural gas: from Reuters via Rigzone, data points:

• recent natural gas discovery in Dutch North Sea could be even bigger than originally thought
• now estimated at 2 trillion cubic feet of gas, more than the Netherland's annual gas production

The story only interests me because:

Dutch gas production has been steadily declining, partly due to a lack of new developments and partly to a government-mandated cap on output from the country's largest field at Groningen after it was established that it triggered earth tremors.