If DAPL Expansion Denied -- This Is Not Rocket Science -- November 20, 2019

I posted this data yesterday.

This may be the big story coming out of the Director's Cut for September, 2019, data: the number of wells off line for operational reasons (DUCs and "inactive" wells):

• Wells that were off line, at the end of September, 2019: 3,020 -- this may be an all-time high since this data was first reported for the Bakken; this is amazing; due to a very, very wet September; wettest on record, some say

• DUCs: 916 (down 14 from the 930 in August)
• inactive well count: 2,104 (up 429 from 1,675 in August)
• wells off line for operational reasons are tracked here; 

Others are now posting it, including The Williston Herald and The Bismarck Tribune:

North Dakota saw a jump of more than 400 wells idled from August to September. Now the state has 2,100 inactive wells, a number that’s concerning to Helms as the state is trying to put in place greater safeguards surrounding idle wells to prevent companies from abandoning them and shirking their cleanup responsibilities.

“Inactive wells tend to turn into abandoned wells, which tend to turn into orphaned wells,” he said. “It’s the canary in the coal mine, so to speak, that could potentially be a large liability for companies.”

Helms attributed the change, in part, to the wet weather and producers shutting in some lower-producing, less-profitable wells ahead of winter. He said some of the idle wells could also be the result of companies that handle the pipeline and processing side of the natural gas industry moving away from accepting what’s known as “sour” gas. Sour gas contains higher concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, which can be poisonous to humans who breathe it.

Older oil wells that have been operating for decades tend to have more hydrogen sulfide than newer wells, given the geologic makeup of the rock formations they target, Helms said. But even some newer wells in western North Dakota are showing higher concentrations as companies experiment with larger hydraulic fracturing treatments.

“They started sometimes fracking out of zone into neighboring formations that have hydrogen sulfide in them,” Helms said.

Not mentioned: North Dakota's seemingly ambiguous support for more takeaway capacity. 

If the DAPL expansion is denied, operators in the Bakken will see just how serious North Dakota is about promoting the oil sector.