Court Rules That British Columbia Cannot Interfere With Federal Crude Oil Pipeline -- May 24, 2019

It's a federal pipeline and the province does not have jurisdiction to "regulate" the pipeline.

One of many links here, from PrinceGeorgeMatters, "Five takeaways from the Court of Appeal ruling on B.C.'s pipeline law."  Takeaway #4:

4. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and former premier, Rachel Notley, are celebrating the decision as a win for the province.

Kenney said he hopes the B.C. government will respect the rule of law and end its "campaign of obstruction," adding that the project would be a "win-win" for both B.C. and Alberta in creating jobs and increasing the flow of natural resources.

Notley, now leader of the NDP Opposition, said she used a ban on B.C. wines last year to "force" the province to take the reference case to court.

"Turns out B.C.'s toolbox was more Fisher Price than DeWalt," she said, referring to B.C. Premier John Horgan's statement that the government would use every tool in the toolbox to protect the coast from a potential spill.

What a great analogy. LOL. I'll have to remember that when talking about toolboxes. DeWalt, not Fisher Price. Snap-On Tools, not Fisher Price. Sears Craftsman, not Fisher Price.

Five New Permits -- May 24, 2019

Active rigs:

$58.63	5/24/2019	05/24/2018	05/24/2017	05/24/2016	05/24/2015
Active Rigs	65	65	49	28	82

Five new permits:

• Operators: WPX (3); Whiting; Newfield
• Fields: Squaw Creek (McKenzie); Pembroke (McKenzie); and, South Tobacco Garden (McKenzie)
• Comments:
• WPX has permits for a 3-well Blue Racer pad in section 14-149-94, Squaw Creek;
• Whiting has a permit for a Rauser well in sectio 28-149-98, Pembroke;
• Newfield has a permit for a Schneiderman well in section 20-150-99, South Tobacco Garden

North Dakota Sets Record For Number Of Non-Producing Wells -- May 24, 2019

Updates

May 25, 2019: It looks like others have also noted the impact of "inactive wells" and DUCs.

The original post (down below) was for Bakken data. Within hours of posting the Bakken data, the Permian data was also posted.

There are a number of take-aways from this data, most those related to the Red Queen.  Also, factoring into this is "breakeven prices" and that research.

From twitter yesterday:

Original Post

I could be wrong but I bet I'm correct, or very, very close.

Note: this does not include wells that have been plugged and abandoned since 1951. These are "current" wells that have not yet been plugged/abandoned. These wells are identified in scout tickets as IA (inactive) or SI/NC (DUCs).

Link here for the data.

It appears that "we"  have set a new record in the number of DUCs for most recent data available, March, 2019: 968. I believe the previous record was 959.

March, 2019:

• DUCs: 968, up 74 from last report
• inactive: 1,697, up 30 from last report
• total: 2,665 (up from 2,561 last week; this represents about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,561 is about what North Dakota will complete every three years)

The number of inactive wells may be at an all-time high or very near an all-time high. When I first started tracking this data I suggested that the number of inactive wells never exceeded 1,700. In March, 2019, there were 1,697 inactive wells.

For newbies: there are three main "groups" of inactive wells:

• the largest group of inactive wells are wells taking offline for operational reasons, and will come back on line in a few months
• there are a few wells that are placed on inactive status on the way to plugging and abandoning
• the smallest group of inactive wells are wells that in purgatory: these are wells that the operator is trying to figure out what to do with them;  

Taken together, DUCs and inactive wells, I do believe we have a new record. Combining DUCs and inactive wells, I think we have a new all-time record of 2,665 wells.

It looks like about 300 wells will come off the confidential list [on average] every quarter this year, suggesting about 1,200 wells will come off the confidential list for the entire year of 2019.

Data:

• 1Q19: 346 wells came off the confidential list;
• 4Q18: 228 wells
• 3Q18: 190 wells
• 2Q18: 263 wells
• 1Q18: 242 wells
• Total for CY2018: 923 wells

Disclaimer: I often make simple errors in arithmetic. My numbers will not agree with the official data provided by the NDIC. There could be any number of reasons for the difference. But, in the big scheme of things, I bet my numbers are pretty close.

Memorial Day Gasoline Prices; Global Warming: Great Lakes To Reach All-Time Highs This Summer -- May 24, 2019

I think the EIA is missing the bigger story here. Is Rick Perry even engaged in his own agency?

From twitter today:

The EIA thinks the big story is that gasoline prices this year are "nearly the same" as last year's -- in in fact, they are lower, but yes, nearly the same. But lower.

The real story is the price of gasoline today compared to that under the previous administration which was led by a doofus when it came to US energy. His predecessors weren't a whole better.

************************************

Meanwhile, Global Warming Can Be Blamed For Everything ...

From Droughts To Floods

Link here. The Great Lakes are drying up.

National Geographic: “Climate Change and Variability Drive Low Water Levels on the Great Lakes.”

The National Resources Defense Council: “Climate change is lowering Great Lakes water levels.”

It’s no secret that, partially due to climate change, the water levels in the Great Lakes are getting very low.

The U.N’s IPCC: “[T]he following lake level declines could occur: Lake Superior -0.2 to -0.5 m.”

Dick Durbin: “What we are seeing in global warming is the evaporation of our Great Lakes.”

Minnesota Public Radio:

Scientists at the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [are] studying the interplay between low water levels, shrinking ice cover and warm water temperatures. They have already concluded that climate change is playing a role in determining Great Lakes water levels.

Those quotes date from 2013, while my [PowerlineI] post was in 2017, when news reports indicated that Lake Superior was nearing a record high water level. Steve had already pointed out in 2014 that, in “a development that has startled scientists”–notwithstanding, apparently, the claim that the science is settled–Great Lakes water levels were rising rapidly.

What reminds me of this is today’s article in the Wall Street Journal headlined, “High Water Levels on Great Lakes Flood Towns, Shrink Beaches.”

Lakes Erie and Superior are among the Great Lakes expected to reach all-time highs this summer, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And the levels of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Ontario are well above seasonal averages. 

High water levels across the Great Lakes are being driven primarily by persistently wet conditions for the past five to six years, including heavy rains and a large snowpack…

Snowpack!

I wonder if the National Geographic will have a photo-essay on the rising Great Lakes this summer. LOL.

Four Wells Coming Off Confidential List Today -- May 24, 2019

Wells coming off confidential list today -- Friday, May 24, 2019:

• 35360, conf, Hunt, Halliday 146-92-19-18H-5, Werner, no production data.
• 35318, SI/NC, MRO, Gartland USA 31-16H, Reunion Bay, no production data,
• 35299, SI/NC, WPX, Minot Grady 26-35HT, Squaw Creek, no production data,
• 34905, SI/NC, Hess, SC-JCB-154-98-1720H-8, Truax, no production data,

Active rigs:

$58.54	5/24/2019	05/24/2018	05/24/2017	05/24/2016	05/24/2015
Active Rigs	64	65	49	28	82

RBN Energy: WPX and Howard Energy Partners' Permian crude gathering system, part 6.

On its surface, the development of small-diameter crude oil gathering pipeline systems in the Permian may seem like a ho-hum topic. In fact, though, these systems are at the heart of critically important strategies to ensure the reliable, low-cost flow of crude to multiple takeaway pipelines out of the basin, and thereby enhance the oil’s value and minimize financial risk.

A case in point is the 50-mile-plus, 100-Mb/d-capacity gathering system that a producer/midstreamer joint venture has been building in the Delaware Basin along the Texas/New Mexico line. Today, we continue our series on Permian gathering systems with a look at WPX Energy and Howard Energy Partners’ new pipes in New Mexico’s Eddy County and Texas’s Loving and Reeves counties.

Previously discussed:

• the recently announced Beta Crude Connector, a 100-mile-plus, 150-Mb/d gathering system that a joint venture of Concho Resources and Frontier Energy Services is developing in the Midland Basin to serve Concho and other producers
• another Midland-area system: Reliance Gathering’s 185-Mb/d pipeline network, which was originally developed to serve the affiliated producer Reliance Energy, but which has since undergone a number of expansions to serve other producers too
• the San Mateo Midstream’s crude gathering systems in the Delaware Basin — one in Eddy County, NM, and the other in Loving County, TX (the same areas we’ll be zeroing in on today) — and its plans for two new systems on the New Mexico side of the state line
• the Medallion Midstream’s fast-growing, 1,000-mile crude oil gathering/header system in the Midland (which provides access to firm shippers serving 20 producers) and its 116-mile Delaware Express gathering/shuttle system in the southern Delaware
• the approximately 200-mile Midland Basin gathering system that refiner Delek US has been developing to deliver locally produced crude to Delek’s Big Spring, TX, refinery — and others.