WTI Surges 3.5%; Trading At Nearly $57; Active Rigs At 61; Eight New Permits -- August 13, 2019

API: weekly inventory US crude oil inventory up by 3.7 million bbls. I'm sure this was a surprise, also. [Later: and there it is -- it was another "surprise." LOL]. Headline at oilprice: 

Surprise Crude Build Reverses Earlier Oil Price Gains 

Analysts didn't even guess correctly on the direction.

Analysts forecast a "decline" in US crude oil inventories. In fact, it was an "increase," and not trivial: a build of almost 4 million bbls. Analysts had expected a 2.761 million bbl draw (note the false precision).

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$56.87	8/13/2019	08/13/2018	08/13/2017	08/13/2016	08/13/2015
Active Rigs	61	60	57	33	72

Eight new permits, #36840 - #36847, inclusive):

• Operators: Hess (4); MRO (4)
• Fields: Tioga (Mountrail), Reunion Bay (Mountrail)
• Comments:
• Hess has permits for a 4-well TI-State pad in Tioga oil field, lot 4/section 31-158-94;
• MRO has permits for a 4-well Akko/Aslak/Donaason/Nokelby pad in Reunion Bay, section 21-151-93

Eight permits renewed:

• Equinor (3): three Maring permits in Williams County
• Whiting (3): three Wold Federal permits in McKenzie County
• Oasis (2): a Pederson permit in McKenzie County and an Erickson permit in Burke County

Four permits canceled:

• QEP: four MHA permits in section 23-148-92, Dunn County

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed -- except it wasn't:

• 35288, SI/NC, Whiting, Berg Trust Federal 1-27HU, Pembroke. Whiting received a letter from the NDIC dated July 8, 2019, that the permit would expire as of August 7, 2019. Back in August, 2018, Whiting had the standard request to waive open hole logs; the plan called for a 30-stage frack by Halliburton; paperwork lags but the NDIC map suggests that Whiting is drilling this pad -- it looks they got the letter, and began drilling; probably completed by August 7 and now remains a DUC.