Top Stories -- 2018

Top stories of 2018, final draft.

Top stories by month, 2018.

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A Shout-Out To The New Mexico Department of Transportation

When (if?) we get home, I will send a letter to the NM DOT thanking them for keeping a particular road / pass northeast of Albuquerque open. By all rights, it should have been closed. It would have been closed in North Dakota, but bless the New Mexico highway patrol who, without snow plows, mind you, kept a ten-mile pass open. It was one of the hairiest winter roads I've taken in my life. Had it been at night, I would now be in a ditch.

But huge, huge shout-out to NM DOT and the NM highway patrol. Huge "can-do" attitude.

Several semi-trucks in the ditch. At least two cars in the ditch. White-out conditions at one point. But relatively short -- lasted about the time it would take to cross the bridge southwest of Williston. Fortunately the road was straight. LOL.

4:37 p.m. CT, January 1, 2018, somewhere in eastern New Mexico.

Happy New Year -- 2019 -- Beware Of Those Seasonal Swings -- Throws Off The Data

Link here. After many paragraphs of gloom and doom, one finally gets to this in the Reuters article at the link:

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 for the week ended December 22, 2018, the Labor Department reported. 

Initial claims have now fallen in three of the last four weeks and are just above the 49-year low of 202,000 reached in the week ended September 15, 2018.

After several years of near-steady falls, claims trended higher between mid-September and mid-December, prompting concern the U.S. economy was losing momentum.

It remains unclear how much of that increase was related to the difficulty government statisticians have in adjusting the claims data for seasonal swings. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims increasing to 217,000 in the latest week. 

You can go to the link to see how Reuters interprets the data.

Ah, yes, "difficulty adjusting the claims data for seasonal swings." Seasonal swings. Is that something new for the government statisticians? LOL. But those same government statisticians know to the 100th-degree what the earth's global temperature will be one hundred years from now. The science is settled.

Yup, There Was Activity And The Wells Have Been Fracked -- January 1, 2019

Early last year, I noted the following: 

March 5, 2018: #18787 -- several new wells cross right over/under this old well; check this well periodically; it came off-line 12/17 which suggests activity in the area; these wells are being fracked/drilled and might affect #18787: #33482, #33483, #33484, #33485; #33472; #33471; #33470; #33469; and #33481. 

Tonight I checked on those ten (10) wells. All ten wells have been fracked and are now producing quite nicely. These wells are tracked here.

When I have time, I will update the ten wells but it was neat to see that my note of March 5, 2018 -- ten months ago was right on target. Wow. And that's why I love to blog, and that's why I love to follow the Bakken.

#18787 remains off line, so we don't know if it was affected by these newer wells. It's been off line so long it's possible this well will be shut in. I don't know. I have no idea. All I can do is wait and watch.

Update Of Three Older Wells Following Frack Of Neighboring Well -- January 1, 2019

This page will not be updated.

As I've said before, this gets tedious, but it never ceases to amaze me when I see this phenomenon. 

The recently fracked well:

• 32800, 2,615, EOG, Clarks Creek 155-0706H, Three Forks, 55 stages, 13.6 million lbs, Clarks Creek, t6/18; cum 244K 10/18;in 7/18; 89,098 + 23,321 boe = 112,419 boe in one month;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2018	30	17258	17333	15094	64747	46195	16538
BAKKEN	10-2018	31	27513	27417	20670	89580	87340	394
BAKKEN	9-2018	28	36949	37682	24096	81905	78817	1651
BAKKEN	8-2018	31	66588	66847	39518	124817	111653	11841
BAKKEN	7-2018	31	89098	88122	62535	139928	107069	32702
BAKKEN	6-2018	2	6245	6026	6536	8228	8203	1

So, the question is -- how did this well affect an older, producing well. There were three older, producing, neighboring wells:

• 20892, 1,352, EOG, Clarks Creek 16-0706H, middle Bakken, 31 stages, 3.6 million lbs, t3/12; cum 334K 11/18:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2018	30	6959	6976	5530	39990	28726	10326
BAKKEN	10-2018	31	10151	10113	7860	41288	40594	184
BAKKEN	9-2018	30	13107	13102	10776	41728	40367	851
BAKKEN	8-2018	11	4739	4674	4540	5563	4967	518
BAKKEN	7-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2018	0	0	10	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2018	12	686	700	332	1275	1191	2
BAKKEN	4-2018	30	1739	1745	1352	2901	2651	8
BAKKEN	3-2018	31	1852	1883	1772	3557	3303	4
BAKKEN	2-2018	28	2009	1992	855	3335	3103	6
BAKKEN	1-2018	31	2107	2107	540	3254	2988	16
BAKKEN	12-2017	31	2432	2422	626	3794	3526	21
BAKKEN	11-2017	30	2239	2234	746	4785	4512	31

• 20890, 600, EOG, Clarks Creek 11-0706H, middle Bakken, 22 stages, 4 million lbs, Clarks Creek, t3/12; cum 348K 11/18; 

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2018	30	4170	4179	9997	24807	17794	6398
BAKKEN	10-2018	31	6064	6033	11858	25846	25378	115
BAKKEN	9-2018	30	6003	5977	13888	24837	23990	508
BAKKEN	8-2018	8	361	356	206	354	299	31
BAKKEN	7-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2018	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2018	8	327	341	303	286	227	0
BAKKEN	4-2018	26	1409	1409	2102	1477	1267	4
BAKKEN	3-2018	22	1192	1227	2773	1457	1280	2
BAKKEN	2-2018	28	1731	1715	822	1681	1453	3
BAKKEN	1-2018	31	1752	1751	522	1666	1410	7
BAKKEN	12-2017	31	1997	1987	618	1398	1145	7
BAKKEN	11-2017	30	1725	1718	492	1672	1421	10
BAKKEN	10-2017	31	1892	1886	1099	1711	1387	75
BAKKEN	9-2017	30	1325	1334	1936	1406	1097	68

And if you have read this far, please note the formations.

Finally, the third older, neighboring, producing well:

• 20887, 1,455, EOG, Clarks Creek 13-1806H, middle Bakken, 31 stages; 4.6 million lbs; Clarks Creek, t3/12; cum 340K 11/18; 

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2018	30	11868	11850	11772	24056	17310	6136
BAKKEN	10-2018	31	12721	12665	13299	18807	18431	82
BAKKEN	9-2018	30	14170	14228	17983	21193	20451	424
BAKKEN	8-2018	18	9354	9225	15495	12965	11571	1215
BAKKEN	7-2018	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2018	0	0	14	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2018	15	966	987	1043	2012	1904	2
BAKKEN	4-2018	30	2605	2613	2624	6308	6052	16
BAKKEN	3-2018	31	2714	2749	3805	6939	6683	8
BAKKEN	2-2018	28	2565	2548	972	6247	6013	10
BAKKEN	1-2018	31	2874	2873	776	7172	6891	33