The WPX Emma Owner Wells In Spotted Horn -- Almost Everything One Can See In The Bakken

Updates

January 6, 2019: see also the Lead Woman wells in the area to come off the confidential list soon. The "Lead Woman" wells are noted in the graphic below.

Original Post

The Emma Owner wells:

• 30666, 2,553, WPX. Emma Owner 23-14HA,  Spotted Horn, 4 sections, t3/16; cum 569K 8/20; slow, slow Bakken decline;
• 29449, 2,049, WPX, Emma Owner 23-14HW, Spotted Horn, t3/16; cum 376K 8/20; only 16 days in 1/19;
  
• 29448, 1,986, WPX, Emma Owner 23-14HD, Spotted Horn, t3/16; cum 465K 8/20;
• 29447, 1,690, WPX, Emma Owner 23-14HC, Spotted Horn, t3/16; cum 425K 8/20;
  
• 29446, 1,871, WPX, Emma Owner 23-14HX, Spotted Horn, t3/16; cum 412K 8/20;
• 29445, 2,441, WPX, Emma Owner 34-14HB, Spotted Horn, t3/16; cum 582K 8/20;

Look at initial production for #29445:

BAKKEN	7-2016	31	22259	22459	12496	30094	7289	20186
BAKKEN	6-2016	30	28436	28694	15028	23678	15665	4719
BAKKEN	5-2016	31	31213	30984	16379	28439	17096	7761
BAKKEN	4-2016	30	39691	40030	23330	40069	11418	24195
BAKKEN	3-2016	31	62102	61528	39663	56204	7639	41700
BAKKEN	2-2016	3	1260	1104	7112	157	0	0

The graphic:

Look at Nathan Hale, #17978:

• 17978, 993, WPX, Nathan Hale 4-25H, Spotted Horn, t1/10; cum 359K 8/18; no evidence that this well was re-fracked (no sundry form; no FracFocus data)

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	8-2018	23	12332	12543	2039	17767	16327	0
BAKKEN	7-2018	31	16105	16005	2444	19438	15898	1654
BAKKEN	6-2018	30	26589	26639	5557	32093	23505	5274
BAKKEN	5-2018	31	8377	8171	4914	10112	6117	2116
BAKKEN	4-2018	18	2243	2216	2896	2707	982	1291
BAKKEN	3-2018	25	6576	6761	4828	7937	4612	2386
BAKKEN	2-2018	23	17139	17228	6048	20688	11684	6583
BAKKEN	1-2018	22	14317	14981	6872	17280	10324	4721
BAKKEN	12-2017	31	22754	22034	11469	27464	10535	13741
BAKKEN	11-2017	28	19318	19146	18597	23316	1568	18995
BAKKEN	10-2017	5	923	931	310	1114	26	914
BAKKEN	9-2017	29	1155	1079	192	1394	610	84
BAKKEN	8-2017	11	362	357	102	439	114	69
BAKKEN	7-2017	29	1230	1248	164	1484	336	252
BAKKEN	6-2017	30	1343	1446	167	1622	0	731
BAKKEN	5-2017	31	1218	1282	158	1469	483

Monster Wells -- Generation 3 Wells -- October 30, 2017

Note, August 27, 2017: due to the number of wells reporting cumulative production of 500,000 bbls of crude oil, future wells to make the "monster well" page will require 750,000 bbls or early production numbers to suggest they will meet this threshold. Of course, there will be exceptions.  Obviously I miss a lot of "monster" wells but even an incomplete list gives me an idea of what's going on in the Bakken.

Pads:

• MRO wells in Reunion Bay;
  
• the Bohmbach / Antelope pad in Elm Tree, CLR;
• the CLR Salers pad in Antelope-Sanish, section 27-152-94;
• unknown pad that might be able to produce 50,000 bopd;
• Oasis Aagvik pd in Banks
• WPX Alfred Old Dog pad in Reunion Bay
• WPX Emma Owner pad in Spotted Horn
• Enerplus "Heavy Metal" pad in Moccasin Creek
• Bruin's FB James pad in Spotted Horn; 
• the MRO 2A-D-JP-N pad;
• BR's Tailgunner pad;

Middle Bakken, individual wells:

• 36859, 6,341, MRO, Rock Woman USA 41-4TFH, API: 33-053-09177, Sanish-Antelope, t--; cum 209K over three months; a whopping 97K month; fracked 2/24/20 - 3/6/20; 8.0 million gallons of water (moderate frack); proppant composition not provided; date stimulated: February 2, 2020; first bench Three Forks, 45 stages; sand; 8.43 million lbs proppant; cum 404K 8/21;
  
• 35636, SI/A-->A/AL, WPX, St Anthony 9-16HB, Mandaree, API: 33-025-03606, t--; cum 225K 6/20; a 47K month; fracked 11/4/2020 - 11/14/2020; 5 million gallons of water (a small frack); 83% water by mass;36847, drl/A, MRO, Nokelby USA 34-21H, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 174K 4/20; an 85K month; cum 349K 8/21;
  
• 36413, 2,058, EOG, Clarks Creek 106-0724H, Clarks Creek t9/19, cum 363K 4/20; see this post; cum 536K 8/21;
  
• 36415, 3,519, EOG, Clarks Creek 18-0719H, Clarks Creek,  t9/19; cum 327K 4/20; see this post; cum 432K 8/21;
  
• 36416, 2,859, EOG, Clarks Creek 105-0719H, Clarks Creek; t9/19; cum 275K 4/20; see this post; cum 370K 8/21;
  
• 33813, 1,595, Petro-Hunt, USA 153-95-23D-14-2H, 43 stages; 5.4 million lbs; Charlson, t7/18; cum 507K 4/20; cum 568K 8/21;
  
• 32514, 1,355, EOG, Mandaree 31-0706H, t12/16; cum 633K 5/20; intermittent production in 2020; full production back as of 10/20; cum 693K 8/21;
  
• 32513, 1,910, EOG, Mandaree 24-0706H, t12/16; cum 546K 5/20; intermittent production in 2020; full production back as of 10/20; cum 599K 8/21;
• 31458, 6,311, FB James 150-94-3A-10-6B, Spotted Horn, t11/19; 98K over 25 days; cum 387K 4/20; extrapolates to 118,184 bbls crude oil over 30 days; 
• 34037, 1,787, Oasis, Aagvik 5298 41-35 3BX, 50 stages; 9.9 million bls; Banks, t11/18; cum 319K 4/20;
• 32294, 2,320, CLR, Holstein Federal 13-25H, Elm Tree, t11/16; cum 806KK 4/20; came off line 11/19; back on line 3/20;
• 31357, 1,102, CLR, Nashville 2-21H, Catwalk, 40 stages, 8.7 million lbs, t6/16; cum 510K 4/20; easily exceeding a 900,000 bbl-EUR type curve
• 31278, 4,862, Slawson, Torpedo Federal 10H, Big Bend, t12/18; cum 567K 4/20; TD: 25,490 feet; see this post; off line 1/20; back on line (?), 4/20;
• 30866, 1,486, Enerplus, Barn 147-94-13A-24H, McGregory Buttes, t5/16; cum 427K 4/20; see this post;
• 24337, 2,519, EOG, Hawkeye 3-2413H, Antelope, 133K in less than four months; t5/13; cum 820K 4/20;
  

Sanish, individual wells:

• 30135, 4,881, MRO, Deane USA 24-22H, Antelope, Sanish, t12/17; cum 342K 4/20; (and I'm sure the first full month of production (73,138 bbls crude oil; 111,373 mcf natural gas) is incorrect accurate 111,373 mcf = 18,556 boe + 73,138 bo = 91,693 boe in one full month, clearly a Bakken record, and clearly an error that will be corrected; see this post for several other monster wells on same pad;

Three Forks, first bench, individual wells:

• 19296, 2,388, SHD, Golden 22-31H, Deep Water Creek Bay, TF Bench 1, 62 stages, 15 million lbs, t3/15; cum 781K 4/20; cum 828K 8/21; this well is on a four-well pad; the other three wells, conf, and no action;
  

Three Forks, second bench, individual wells:

• several; Reunion Bay;
• 35109, 956, CLR, Morris 7-26H2, Oakdale, t4/19; cum 304K 1/21; cum 318K 8/21;
  
• 35081, 3,556, CLR, Carson Peak 8-35H2, Oakdale, t5/19; cum 653K 8/21;
  
• 32818, 1,176, CLR, State Weydahl 10-36H2, Corral Creek, 56 stages; 10.6 million lbs, t12/18; cum 322K 1/21; off line as of 1/19; still off line as of 4/19; back on line 6/19; cum 330K 8/21;
  
• 32816, 1,272, CLR, Brandvik 10-25H2, Corral Creek, 60 stages, 7.7 million lbs, t12/18; cum 373K 1/21; cum 383K 8/21;
  
• 30367, 2,318, CLR, Brandvik 7-25H2, Corral Creek, 4 sections, 82 stages, 10.1 million lbs, t1/19; cum 255K 1/21; see this post; huge well; 40K+ in 1/19; offline as of 3/19; remains offline through 4/19; back on line 5/19; cum 263K 8/21;

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Record IPs and/or Record Monthly Production

30135, 4,881, MRO, Deane USA 24-22H, Antelope, t12/17; cum 389K 8/21;

SANISH

1-2018

31

73138

73190

17241

111373

18783

84433

30541, 4,871, Bruin, Fort Berthold 151-94-26A-35-4H, t6/18; cum 753K 8/21;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
SANISH	9-2018	30	52975	53044	56150	60629	46067	5677
SANISH	8-2018	31	72516	72408	63718	90671	45480	39524
SANISH	7-2018	31	63800	63646	74543	90608	42893	42889
SANISH	6-2018	30	95315	95959	67134	67211	37232	25562
SANISH	5-2018	15	7799	6657	26169	13921	7572	3178
SANISH	4-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Making North Dakota Great -- October 30, 2017

This is a great story. Skyscrapers on the prairie.

From myndnow:

A new skyscraper on the North Dakota prairie is just about finished - and it only took a week to take shape.

The structure rises up from the farmland near Lansford - thanks to 24-hour-a-day pouring of concrete for several days.

CHS-SunPrairie's operations manager says the new 83 North Project will be able to load 110 rail cars at a time and will take some pressure off the company's Mohall location.
The building has been growing at a rate of around 20 feet per day - with concrete being pumped around the clock to slowly build up the walls of the six silos and main structure.

The new elevator is expected to be in operation by late spring and will join Minot, Bowbells, and Mohall as sites as shuttle load facilities for the CHS-SunPrairie.

Great video at the link. 

Hell Just Froze Over -- Judge In Pacific Northwest Sides With Coal Company -- October 30, 2017

From Penn Energy: judge sides with developer of Washington coal terminal.

The $680 million terminal, which would ship coal from Montana, Wyoming and other states to Asia, could boost U.S. coal exports by 40 percent. The plans are reviled by environmentalists and Indian tribes because of concerns about global warming, coal dust pollution and potential damage to fisheries on the river.

A Washington state judge on Friday handed a victory to the developers of a massive proposed coal-export terminal on the Columbia River, saying the state acted arbitrarily when it blocked a sublease sought for the project.

Boom! Europe's largest bank, HSBC, reports a pre-tax profit that jumped 448% and no one seems to care or notice. From CNBC:

• Europe's largest bank, HSBC, said Monday its third-quarter pre-tax profit jumped 448 percent year-on-year to $4.6 billion
• HSBC also said it completed 71 percent of the $2 billion share buyback it announced in July
• the bank is listed in Hong Kong, London and New York

Number of Active Rigs In ND Trending Toward 50; Slawson Reports Five DUCs Completed -- October 30, 2017

Active rigs:

$54.19↑	10/30/2017	10/30/2016	10/30/2015	10/30/2014	10/30/2013
Active Rigs	52	34	70	190	182

Five new permits:

• Operators: Hess (4); BR
• Fields: Ross (Mountrail); Elidah (McKenzie)
• Comments: I assume this has occurred before but I have not noticed it; generally, the cases at the hearing dockets for unit line wells suggest a single well (maybe two wells) along the unit line in an overlapping unit; Hess has permits for four (4) unit line wells on the same pad in SWSE 2-156-91 -- later, see first comment: reader is most likely correct; these are probably not unit line wells but rather four wells to the west in a 1280-acre spacing unit (as an example, see the graphic at the EN-Pederson post);

Fourteen permits renewed:

• EOG (10): six Hawkeye permits in McKenzie County; three Wayzetta permits in Mountrail County; and one Van Hook permit in Mountrail County
• HRC (2): two Fort Berthold permits in Dunn County
• Petro-Sentinal (2): one Miller permit and one Coyote Creek permit, both in Bowman County

Five producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 25873, 141, Slawson, Pike Federal 5-3-2TFH, Big Bend, t8/17; cum -- (18970 -- off-line)
• 25874, 1,505, Slawson, Pike Federal 4-3-2TFH, Big Bend, t9/17; cum -- (18970 -- off-line)
• 29621, 2,548, Slawson, Lunker Federal 1 SLH, Big Bend, t10/17; cum -- (23105 -- no change)
• 31438, 747, Slawson, Pike Federal 3-3-2H, Big Bend, t10/17; cum -- (18970 -- off-line)
• 33701, 754, Slawson, Snakeeyes 4-29-20H, Big Bend, t10/17; cum -- (17459 -- no change)

The Market And Energy Page, Page 2, T+282 -- October 30, 2017

NYSE, new highs -- 112 at the close, including Deere; D. R. Horton; Marathon Petroleum (MPC); Royal Dutch Shell-B;

• new lows: 45
• folks disappointed with GOP suggesting the corporate tax could be phased in over 5 years (Wall Street thoughts on that proposal: DOA)

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Trump Derangement Syndrome

The October 30, 2017, issue of The New Yorker -- front cover with a caricature of Donald Trump in a clown costume for Halloween.

The letters to the editor are scathing in their remarks about Harvey Weinstein, but incredibly neither Bill nor Hillary are mentioned, nor is Jane Fonda who knew about Harvey all along but didn't speak up "because she felt it wasn't her place to say anything."

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Where The Boys Are

 
One article in this week's issue is worth the price of an annual subscription (if one can get past all the TDS but I cannot): "The Empire of Pain," by a reporter-at-large, Patrick Radden Keefe (he may want to "watch his back" and/or apply for membership in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

The article article is about OxyContin. From the article:

OxyContin's sole active ingredient is oxycodone, a chemical cousin of heroin which is up to twice as powerful as morphine. 

Who makes OxyContin?

Purdue Pharmacy -- a privately held company, based in Stamford, CT, that developed the prescription painkiller OxyContin. Upon its release, in 1995, OxyContin was hailed as a medical breakthrough, a long-lasting narcotic that could help patients suffering from moderate to sever pain. The drug became a blockbuster, and has reportedly generated some thirty-five billion dollars in revenue for Purdue.

1995 - 2015: 20 years.

Now the back story, involving three Brooklyn brothers, all physicians -- Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond. All three have died (1987, 2010, and 2017, respectively). The family is one of America's richest families, with a collective net worth of thirteen billion dollars -- more than the Rockefellers or the Mellons.

From the article:

During the sixties, Arthur got rich marketing the tranquilizers Librium and Valium.

In 1952, the brothers bought a small patent-medicine company, Purdue Frederick, which was based in Greenwich Village and made such unglamorous staples as laxatives and earwax remover.

After Arthur's death, the two surviving brothers wanted to buy his stake in the company. The company, which had moved to Connecticut would eventually change its name to Purdue Pharma, had made a great deal of money under their stewardship. But such riches were about to seem paltry. By the time the brothers made their bid, Purdue was already developing a new drug: OxyContin.

That takes up up to page three (four if you count the full-page graphic) of the 16-page article (if you count the full-page graphic) and we haven't even touched on the last name of the brothers.

Sackler.

As in:

• the Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC
• the Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Boston
• the Sackler Center for Arts Edcation, at the Guggenheim, NYC
• the Sackler Wing at the Louvre, Paris
• the Sackler institutes and facilities at Columbia, Oxford, and a dozen other universities
• endowed professorships and underwritten medical research
• Arthur's daughter Elizabeth is on the board of the Brooklyn Museum; where she endowed the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
• endowed a professorship at Yale Cancer Center
• Mortimer's third wife Theresa Rowling, founded Beespace, a non-rofit "incubator" that supports organizations like the Malala Fund (it takes forever to download but while you are waiting you can click on the "DONATE" button)
• the number of rooms in different parts of the world named after the Sacklers is countless

The brothers:

• all three attended medical school
• all worked together at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens
• collectively published some 150 scholarly papers
• particularly interested in the biological aspects of psychiatric disorders, and in pharmaceutical alternatives to mid-century methods such as electroshock therapy and psychoanalysis
• made their fortune in commerce (mostly marketing and advertising) and not by practicing medicine

Fascinating article.

And it looks like Congress and the states attorneys general need to go -- but they won't.

Making America Great -- Nice Problem To Have -- After Huge Buildout, US Still Has Insufficient Capacity For All Its Fossil Fuel -- Further Buildout Will Impact GDP -- October 30, 2017

From last week:

***********************************************

Now this story from The Christian Science Monitor:

Tankers carrying record levels of crude are leaving in droves from Texas and Louisiana ports, and more growth in the fledgling US oil export market may before long test the limits of infrastructure like pipelines, dock space, and ship traffic.

US crude exports have boomed since the decades-old ban was lifted less than two years ago, with shipments recently hitting a record of 2 million barrels a day. But shippers and traders fear the rising trend is not sustainable, and if limits are hit, it could pressure the price of US oil.

How much crude the United States can export is a mystery. Most terminal operators and companies will not disclose capacity, and federal agencies like the US Energy Department do not track it. Still, oil export infrastructure will probably need further investment in coming years. Bottlenecks would hit not only storage and loading capacity, but also factors such as pipeline connectivity and shipping traffic.

Analysts believe operators will start to run into bottlenecks if exports rise to 3.5 million to 4 million barrels a day.

The headline is a bit misleading; the very next paragraph:

The US has not come close to that yet. A total of the highest loading days across Houston, Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, and St. James/New Orleans – the primary places where crude can be exported – comes to about 3.2 million b/d.

But then this:

But with total US crude production currently at 9.5 million barrels a day and expected to add 800,000 to 1 million b.p.d annually, export capacity could be tested before long. Over the past four weeks, exports averaged 1.7 million b.p.d, more than triple a year earlier.

And earlier today RBN Energy blogs that natural gas pipelines coming out of the Permian have reached full capacity.

Maybe we need to start tracking docks. At the CSM link above:

For instance, exports are expected to start from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in early 2018 at around one supertanker a month. Its location 18 miles offshore means it can handle larger vessels than other, shallower ship channels.

In Houston, when looking at the top 30 loading days, crude exports averaged 700,000 b/d, Kpler added. That includes Enterprise's Houston terminal, among the largest of the export facilities, that had 615,000 b/d.

Other terminal operators are also developing additional facilities. NuStar Energy LP currently can load between 500,000 to 600,000 b.p.d at its two docks in Corpus Christi, which has about 1 million in capacity, according to a port spokesman. NuStar is developing a third dock, which should come online either late first quarter or early second quarter.

In Houston, Magellan Midstream Partners LP is planning a new 45-foot draft Aframax dock for mid-2018. Aframax vessels can carry about 500,000 to 700,000 barrels of crude. 

Wells Coming Off Confidential List This Week -- October 30, 2017

Monday November 7, 2017: 43 for the month; 43 for the quarter
32600, conf, WPX, Ruby Parshall 31-30HZ, Antelope, 

Sunday November 6, 2017: 42 for the month; 42 for the quarter
32860, conf, Hess, AN-Dinwoodie-153-94-2833H-2, Antelope, 

Saturday, November 5, 2017: 41 for the month; 41 for the quarter
32861, conf, Hess, AN-Dinwoodie-153-94-2833H-3, Antelope, 

Friday, November 4, 2017: 40 for the month; 40 for the quarter
32862, conf, Hess, AN-Dinwoodie-LE-153-84-2833H-1, Antelope, 

Thursday, November 3, 2017: 39 for the month; 39 for the quarter
33249, conf, Hess, AN-Gudbranson-LW-153-94-2215H-1, Antelope, 

Wednesday, November 2, 2017: 38 for the month; 38 for the quarter
30240, 1,650, CLR, Bud 5-30H1, Crazy Man Creek, Three Forks 1st bench, 30 stages; 7.3 million lbs, t9/17; cum 24K 8/17;

Tuesday, October 31, 2017: 37 for the month; 37 for the quarter
None.
 
Monday, October 30, 2017: 37 for the month; 37 for the quarter
326321, SI/NC, Abraxas, Yellowstone 3H, North Fork, no production data,

Sunday, October 29, 2017: 36 for the month; 36 for the quarter
None.

Saturday, October 28, 2017: 36 for the month; 36 for the quarter
32631, SI/NC, Abraxas, Yellowstone 4H, North Fork, no production data,
32375, SI/NC, Petro-Hunt, Sabrosky 144-97-6A-7-2H,  Little Knife, no production data,

The Market And Energy Page, T+282 -- October 30, 2017

ExxonMobil and Chevron production disappoint -- from Bloomberg.

Exxon churned out the equivalent of 3.97 million barrels a day, short of the 4-million average estimate ....

Chevron’s tally was 2.717 million barrels a day, underperforming its 2.777-million average estimate. I

Since 2014, when crude prices crashed, major oil companies have prioritized one thing -- conserving cash. They’ve engaged in mass layoffs, canceled marquee projects and put intense pressure on suppliers and contractors to cut prices. Despite a recent recovery, prices are still about half the level seen three years ago, so there’s little sign that this focus is shifting.

One victim of that strategy for the two big majors may be production.

For Exxon, whose net income jumped by 50 percent in the quarter, the result seemed to vindicate the explorer’s strategy of keeping a hand in all facets of the petroleum industry. 

Chevron is showing the benefits of a sweeping austerity plan that included job cuts, project cancellations and asset sales to protect cash flow during the three-year oil rout.

With crude futures now settling in New York above $52 a barrel, Exxon net income rose 50 percent in the third quarter, with per-share results topping the estimates of all but two of 20 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. At Chevron, third-quarter per-share profit exceeded the 99-cent average estimate.

The biggest U.S. oil producers followed on the heels of Total SA, which earlier Friday disclosed its highest earnings from pumping oil and natural gas in more than two years.

FERC back in business: regains ability to certificate natural gas pipelines.

Three new pipeline projects in the northeast received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in October, the first projects to be approved since February. 

The three projects approved in October, which are designed to increase the delivery capacity from the Northeast’s Utica and Marcellus natural gas-producing regions, are:

• Supply Header Pipeline: a 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), 38-mile pipeline from West Virginia to Pennsylvania
• Atlantic Coast Pipeline: a 1.5 Bcf/d, 600-mile pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina
• Eastern Shore 2017 Expansion Project: 40 miles in pipeline expansions, providing 0.061 Bcf/d from Pennsylvania to Delaware

Apple Suppliers Asked To Increase Shipments; SRE Misses By Three Cents; Active Rigs In The Bakken Steady -- October 30, 2017

Top NFL story of the day (a must read): link here. 

Top business news story (well actually two):

• Apple asking suppliers to increase iPhone X shipments (AAPL shares up slightly in pre-market); after market opens, AAPL shares surge, about 1.5%
• SRE misses by 3 cents (earnings) but 5.5% increase on revenue y-o-y; survives a missing-earnings bloodbath; opens slightly higher Monday morning after earnings came out

Venezuela: what happened to all those stories that Venezuela was going to default? Apparently bond payments were made by the deadline. No links. Stories everywhere. Google Venezuela bond payments.

Nice to have friends in high places: from President Trump via Twitter, not yet being reported by mainstream media:

Report out that Obama Campaign paid $972,000 to Fusion GPS. The firm also got $12,400,000 (really?) from DNC. Nobody knows who OK'd!

Yup, it's Manafort.

Twitter: I only follow a handful of Tweeters. Today, John Kemp has about 30% of the tweets; and President Trump about 60%. Five percent to ads and five percent to others, most re-tweets.

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Back to the Bakken

Active Rigs:

$53.94↓	10/30/2017	10/30/2016	10/30/2015	10/30/2014	10/30/2013
Active Rigs	53	34	70	190	182

RBN Energy: Permian gas prices get spooked as pipelines to gulf coast markets fill.

Permian natural gas production recently topped 7 Bcf/d and shows no signs of slowing its growth trajectory.

While new pipelines are expected to move additional Permian gas volumes to the Gulf Coast markets by the beginning of 2020, the current paths to those markets are full. Over time, Mexico is expected to export significant volumes directly from Waha, but current amounts are relatively small.

As a result, increasing volumes of gas are leaving the Permian on the pipelines that head west to California and north to the Midcontinent. However, the pricing in these markets is downright ghoulish compared to the Gulf Coast and Permian gas is increasingly finding itself in scary market conditions. Today, we analyze recent pricing and flow trends in the Permian natural gas market.

Permian natural gas has been a frequent subject in the RBN blogosphere in 2017. This summer we posted a four-part blog series on Waha in which we outlined our view that

Permian gas production is set to grow to almost 9 Bcf/d by the end of 2019 and create gas takeaway constraints in the process. Nothing has changed from that general view, but with a few months of time having passed, we thought we’d check in on Permian gas to see how things are playing out.