Week 52: December 9, 2018 -- December 15, 2018

Based on time it takes first class mail to get from Williston, ND, to our apartment in Grapevine, TX (DFW) and based on delivery date information from Amazon, it is likely that many items not yet mailed will not reach their destination by Christmas. Letter mail seems particularly slow. Packages are arriving more quickly than letters, the latter delivered only by USPS (FedEx-type exceptions, of course). 

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:

• North Dakota sets another oil production record; winter slowdown due to price, not weather
• Western school make expansion plans; Williston, Watford City announce January bond votes
• PSC Christmann: "Not so fast on wind power."
• Appeals court dismisses claims against Dakota Access -- Courthouse News
• Marathon sees success in North Dakota, plans to expand Bakken activity -- Houston Chronicle
• Western Canada oil industry ‘beyond a crisis’ due to lack of pipelines -- Weyburn Review
• Going green is raising your electric bills, wind/solar raising rates -- Inside Sources

International: Saudi Prince MSB considering game-changing handshake with Israeli PM.

National: President Barack Obama takes credit for US shale revolution; and, here.

Williston:
New birthing center opens
Pizza Hut will move to a new building, next to Applebee's

Bakken

Bakken 2.5
Eleven new permits; twenty-five permits renewed; five producing wells reported as completed; 

Three Forks
A preliminary study of the middle and lower benches of the Three Forks;

Operations 
MRO extends core position in the Bakken
Noble Energy tiptoes into the Bakken
The Equinor Johnson wells in Banks oil field
A seven-year-old Petro-Hunt well goes over 900,000 bbls crude oil;
Number of active rigs remain at four-year high;
The Bakken setting all kinds of records; Director's Cut -- October, 2018, data;
Huge activity in Reunion Bay 
Vantage and the "Helis Grail" update; a case study;
Enerplus reports a 50K well;
Update of an old CLR Dvirnak well;
CLR Dvirnak wells in Jim Creek field are being completed;
Numerous pads have been updated;
The incredible Bakken; and, here; and, here; and, here, a 76K well;

Pipelines
DAPL survives first of two current court challenges 

Geology
A preliminary study of the middle and lower benches of the Three Forks;

Bakken economy
Kraken Development III. LLC acquires Kaiser-Francis assets in Mountrail County

Miscellaneous 
Break-even costs 
How to spend the Legacy Fund money