Three Wells Coming Off The Confidential List Today -- June 5, 2019

Reminder: best global warming site.

Global production: a nice animation at this link.

Gulf of Mexico. Disclaimer: I don't understand deep water drilling. From Rigzone, W&T, Kosmos struck oil in US Gulf of Mexico:

• W&T Offshore Inc. has discovered oil in the Gladden Deep exploration well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to project partner Kosmos Energy
• Kosmos has a 20% working interest
• Gladden Deep is a subsea tieback expected to be brought online through the existing Gladden pipeline to the Medusa spar in fourth quarter 2019 (article posted late 2Q19)
• Gladden Deep is the first of a four-well infrastructure-led exploration (ILX) program in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019
• Later this year, Kosmos will drill the Moneypenny prospect (third quarter) followed by the Oldfield and Resolution prospects (fourth quarter). The three prospects are targeting around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) net to Kosmos.
• Preliminary analysis of drilling and wireline logging results suggest the recoverable resource is expected to be in line with predrill estimates of 7 MMboe gross.

Light truck sales: in the US, highest since July, 2005. Link here. Stand-alone post later. Data points:

• light truck sales: 9.92 million units in May, seasonally adjusted
• highest rate since July, 2005 
• April, 2019: 9.20 million units
• May, 2018, 8.99 million units
• major US producers Ford and GM are focusing on producing light trucks, to include SUVs and EVs, as they move away from less profitable sedans
• GM: 80% of 1Q19 sales -- trucks and crossover vehicles
• but look at this: light trucks including SUVs rose to 12.53 million units 

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Back to the Bakken

Wells coming off the confidential list -- Wednesday, June 5, 2019: 10 for the month; 199 for the quarter;

• 35574, SI/NC, Newfield, Goliath 150-98-5-8-11H, Siverston, no production data,
• 34874, F, CLR, Ravin 3-1HSL1, Dimmick Lake, t--; cum --;
• 30027, SI/NC, Hess, BB-Federal -151-95-0817H-6, Blue Buttes, no production data,

Active rigs:

$52.93	6/5/2019	06/05/2018	06/05/2017	06/05/2016	06/05/2015
Active Rigs	64	61	50	25	82

RBN Energy: ethane exports on the rise, but hemmed in by its uniqueness.

U.S. ethane exports have risen steadily over the past five years, from next to nothing in early 2014 to an average of 255 Mb/d in 2018 and 269 Mb/d in the first three months of this year. But unlike its heavier NGL siblings propane and butane, which are in demand globally as fuels and feedstocks, ethane’s only established use is in steam crackers specifically equipped to process it, so there are only a few countries where exported ethane is likely to end up. Also, the waterborne transport of ethane is generally limited to specially designed ethane carriers, and there aren’t many of those around because of ethane’s restricted market. All this makes for an export commodity that stands apart. Today, we review the evolution of U.S. ethane exports and the challenges to export growth posed by the U.S./China trade war.

Ethane — the lightest of the NGL “purity products” — can either be “rejected” into the natural gas stream at the gas processing plant and sold (at the price of gas) for its Btu value or extracted from mixed NGLs (through fractionation) like its purity-product brethren and sold to steam crackers (to produce ethylene and other petrochemical byproducts). But, with the rapid run-up in U.S. NGL production in the 2010s — and, with it, the increasing availability of ethane — a number of niche foreign markets for U.S.-sourced ethane have sprung up, providing NGL producers with new outlets for their product for boosting their bottom lines.

The rise in ethane export volumes tracks the start-up of new ethane pipelines and ethane export terminals, as well as new contracts to deliver ethane to foreign users.

The initial rise in ethane exports came in 2014, when two NGL pipelines entered service: Pembina’s 68-Mb/d Vantage Pipeline from the Bakken (Tioga, ND) to Empress, AB, and Energy Transfer’s 50-Mb/d Mariner West pipeline from the Marcellus/Utica to Sarnia, ON.

In March 2016, Energy Transfer started exporting ethane from its terminal in Marcus Hook, PA, the end point of the company’s Mariner East pipeline system from the Marcellus/Utica.

Six months later, in September 2016, Enterprise Products Partners sent the first ethane-laden ship out of its new Morgan’s Point Ethane Export Terminal, located along the Houston Ship Channel. And, finally, in January 2018, Kinder Morgan started up its 50-Mb/d Utopia Pipeline from the Marcellus/Utica to Windsor, ON, where it connects to another pipe to Sarnia.