NDIC Hearing Dockets Starting To Post -- September, 2019

Dockets are tracked here.

The NDIC posts dockets here.

The usual disclaimer applies. As usual this is done very quickly and using shorthand for my benefit. There will be factual and typographical errors on this page. Do not quote me on any of this. It's for my personal use to help me better understand the Bakken. Do not read it. If you do happen to read it, do not make any investment, financial, job, relationship, or travel plans based on anything you read here or think you may have read here. If this stuff is important to you, and I doubt that it is, but if it is, go to the source.

Note: the overlapping units are getting larger and larger; the units are often composed of smaller-than-full sections; it's difficult to abbreviate the description and/or visualize the overlapping unit; expect many typographical errors in the summary below; if this is important to you, go to the source.

Friday, September 27, 2019 (two cases)

27829, Ballard Petroleum, request to unitize the Chatfield-Madison Unit Area, Bottineau County
27830, Ballard Petroleum, request to have plan for unitization of the Chatfield-Madison Area approve, Bottineau County

Thursday, September 26, 2019

27926, NDIC, McGregor-Bakken, to review the pilot injection project order authorizing Liberty Resources Management Co temporary authority to use certain wells located in sections 8/17-158-95 as injection wells for EOR pilot project, Williams County

27927, Lime Rock Resources, Cabernet-Madison, redefine field limits/rules, Dunn County

27928, Newfield, Sand Creek-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; 1 well; McKenzie County

27929: Nine Point Energy, Bear Butte-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit 1 well; McKenzie county

27930, WPX, Antelope-Sanish, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; one well; McKenzie, Mountrail counties

27931, WPX, Spotted Horn-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, one well, McKenzie, Mountrail counties

27932, Slawson, Big Bend-Bakken, i) establish an overlapping 3840-acre unit, 2 wells; ii) terminate an existing 1280-acre unit, and alos terminate an existing 2560-acre unit, Mountrail

27933, Windridge, Portal-Madison, i) establish an overlapping 800-acre unit, one hz well; ii) establish an overlapping 1280-acre unit; one well; Burke County

27934, Samson Oil and Gas USA, Foreman Butte-Madison, re-work and use Mays 1-20H (file #15646) as a combined production / injection well for an EOR pilot project; McKenzie County

27935, CLR/NDIC, Jim Creek-Bakken, appropriate spacing in a 22560-acre unit; Dunn County

27936, CLR, Banks-Bakken, establish two overlapping 1280-acre units, two wells each; Williams, McKenzie counties

27937, CLR, Elm Tree-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre spacing unit, section 2, 3, 10, and 11-153-94; 26 wells, McKenzie, Mountrail

27938, XTO/NDIC, Grinnell-Bakken, to review the status of leases in a single 2560-acre drilling unit, McKenzie, Williams

27939, Enerplus and RimRock; Heart Butte-Bakken; i) establish two overlapping 2560-acre units; ii) two wells each, Dunn County

27940, CLR, Haystack Butte-Bakken; revoking permits issued to XTO, Abby Federal, #36852, Dunn

27941, CLR, Haystack Butte-Bakken, ditto

27942, Petrogulf, Antelope-Sanish; terminate two existing 640-acre units; McKenzie, Mountrail

27943, RimRock, Heart Butte-Bakken, revoke permits issued to Enerplus, the "Spider" pad, Dunn County

27944, RimRock, pooling, 

27945, RimRock, South Fork-Bakken, 14 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, sections 8/17-148-93; Dunn County

27946, Newfield, pooling

27947, Newfield, Westberg-Bakken; 14 wells on an exiting 1280-acre unit, sections 25/36-152-97;

27948, Newfield, Sand Creek-Bakken, 14 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, sections 4/9-153-96; McKenzie

27949, Slawson, pooling

27950, Slawson, pooling

27951, Slawson, pooling

27952, Slawson, pooling

27953, Slawson, pooling

27954, Slawson, pooling

27955, Slawson, pooling

27956, Slawson, Big Bend, 5 wells on an existing 640-acre unit, section 14-152-92, Mountrail

27957, CLR, pooling

27958, CLR, pooling

27959, CLR, pooling

27960, CLR, pooling

27961, CLR, Big Gulch-Bakken, 14 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, section 19/30-147-96; Dunn County

27962, CLR, commingling,

27963, CLR, commingling,

27964, WPX, pooling

27965, WPX, pooling

27966, WPX, Moccasin Creek-Bakken, 5 wells on an existing 640-acre unit; section 35-148-93; Dunn County

27967, Windridge, pooling

27968, Windridge, pooling

27969, Sinclair, risk penalty legalese

27970, Sinclair, risk penalty legalese

27971, Sinclair, risk penalty legalese

27972, Sinclair, risk penalty legalese

27973, Equinor, commingling

27974, Equinor, commingling

27975, Cobra, flaring,

27976, Cobra, flaring

27977, Cobra, flaring

27978, Cobra, flaring

27979, Cobra, flaring

27980, Cobra, flaring

27981, KODA Resources Operating, LLC, SWD

27982, Denbury, SWD

27983, Citation, SWD

27984, Twin Buttes Gathering, SWD

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

27832, NDIC/confiscation, file #50068

27833, Hess, Beaver Lodge-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; two wells; Williams

27834, Hess, Manitou-Bakken and/or Big Butte-Bakken; establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; two wells; Mountrail County

27835, Hess, Manitou-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; one well; Mountrial

27836, Hess, Big Butte-Bakken, injection into multiple wells, a pilot enhanced EOR project, Mountrail

27837, MRO, McGregory Buttes-Bakken; relief, Dunn County

27838, MRO, Killdeer-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, two wells; Dunn

27839, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27840, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27841, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27842, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27843, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27844, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27845, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27846, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27847, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27848, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27849, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27850, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27851, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27852, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27853, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27854, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27855, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27856, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27857, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27858, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27859, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27860, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27861, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27862, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27863, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27864, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27865, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27866, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27867, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27868, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27869, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27870, Petro-Hunt, pooling

27871, Petro-Hunt, pooling

27872, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27873, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27874, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27875, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27876, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27877, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27878, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27879, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27880, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27881, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27882, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27883, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27884, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27885, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27886, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27887, Petro-Hunt, flaring

27888, Hess, commingling

27889, Hess, commingling

27890, Hess, commingling

27891, Hess, commingling

27892, Hess, commingling

27893, Hess, commingling

27894, Hess, commingling

27895, Hess, commingling

27896, Hess, commingling

27897, Hess, commingling

27898, Hess, commingling

27899, Hess, commingling

27900, Hess, Alkali Creek-Bakken, two wells on an existing 2560-acre unit, Mountrail, McKenzie

27901, Hess, pooling,  

27902, Hess, pooling,  

27903, Hess, pooling,  

27904, Hess, pooling,  

27905, Bruin, Otter-Bakken, 9 wells on each of two 1280-acre units, sections 13/24-157-101, and sections 25-36-157-101; Williams County

27906, Bruin, commingling

27907, Kraken Operating, commingling

27908, Whiting, pooling

27909, Whiting, pooling

27910, Whiting, pooling

27911, Whiting, pooling

27912, Whiting, pooling

27913, Whiting, pooling

27914, Whiting, pooling

27915, Whiting, pooling

27916, Whiting, pooling

27917, Whiting, pooling

27918, BR, commingling

27919, Oasis, flaring

27920,  Oasis, flaring

27921, Oasis, flaring

27922, MR), Killdeer-Bakken, nine wells on each of four 1280-acre units; sections 3/10; sections 4/; sections 15/22; and section 17/20 in t145N-R94W, 36 wells total in this case; Dunn County

27923, MRO, Killdeer-Bakken, 8 wells on a 1280-acre unit, sections 16/21-145-94; Dunn

27924, MRO, Killdeer-Bakken, 2 wells on each of two 2560-acre units, Dunn County

27925, Petro Harvester, SWD

Thursday, September 12, 2019 (one case)

27831, Resonance Exploration, SWD; Bottineau County

WTI Holds At $55; 62 Active Rigs; Nine New Permits -- August 14, 2019

Active rigs:

$55.14	8/14/2019	08/14/2018	08/14/2017	08/14/2016	08/14/2015
Active Rigs	62	58	57	33	74

Nine new permits, #36848 - #36856, inclusive:

• Operators: Hess (4); XTO (3); Kraken Operating, LLC (2)
• Fields: Alkali Creek (Mountrail County); Haystack Butte (Dunn County); Oliver (Williams County
• Comments: 
• Hess has permits for a 4-well EN-VP And R pad in section 24-154-94, Alkali Creek;
• XTO has permits for a 3-well Abby Federal pad in section 7-148-97; Haystack Butte;
• Kraken Operating has permits for a 2-well Colfax/Mathewson pad in section 19-157-98;

Three permits canceled:

• Nine Point Energy: three Shaffer permits in Williams County

Fifteen permits renewed:

• Petro-Hunt (6): four USA permits in McKenzie County; two Phelps Trust permits in McKenzieCounty
• Hess (3): three BL-Myrtrice permits in Williams County
• Whiting (2): two Zalesky permits in Stark County 
• XTO (2): two Hartel permits in McKenzie County
• Liberty Resources: one Blomquist permit in Burke County
• NP Resources: one Audrey permit in Golden Valley

One producing wells (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 35359, 1,528,Hunt, Halliday 146-92-19-18H-4, Werner, t7/19; cum --; neighboring wells: #20246, #18354; the latter probably too far east to be affected; too early to tell about #20246;

EIA Weekly US Crude Oil Inventory Data; US Sets All-Time Gasoline Demand -- August 14, 2019

EIA: weekly US crude oil inventories -- link here:

• US crude oil change: increased by 1.6 million bbls -- WTI slumps 4%; now trading below $55 (again)
  
• US crude oil inventory: 440.5 million bbls; 3% above the five-year average; and the five-year average has been steadily increasing for the past several years;
• refiner's operating capacity at: 94.8% -- a healthy number

Gasoline demand: we'll see the graph later this afternoon at this link.  At 2:57 p.m. CT, the EIA has posted the new data at the link but not the new graph. [Later: the EIA "gasoline demand" graph is finally posted, a day late.] Until then, this graphic from twitter:

Re-balancing:

Week	Week Ending	Change	Million Bbls Storage
Week 0	November 21, 2018	4.9	446.9
Week 1	November 28, 2018	3.6	450.5
Week 2	December 6, 2018	-7.3	443.2
Week 3	December 12, 2018	-1.2	442.0
Week 4	December 19, 2018	-0.5	441.5
Week 5	December 28, 2018	0.0	441.4
Week 6	January 4, 2019	0.0	441.4
Week 7	January 9, 2019	-1.7	439.7
Week 8	January 16, 2019	-2.7	437.1
Week 9	January 24, 2019	8.0	445.0
Week 10	January 31, 2019	0.9	445.9
Week 11	February 6, 2019	1.3	447.2
Week 12	February 13, 2019	3.6	450.8
Week 13	February 21, 2019	3.7	454.5
Week 14	February 27, 2019	-8.6	445.9
Week 15	March 6, 2019	7.1	452.9
Week 16	March 13, 2019	-3.9	449.1
Week 17	March 20, 2019	-9.6	439.5
Week 18	March 27, 2019	2.8	442.3
Week 19	April 3, 2019	7.2	449.5
Week 20	April 10, 2019	7.0	456.5
Week 21	April 17, 2019	-1.4	455.2
Week 22	April 24, 2019	5.5	460.1
Week 23	May 1, 2019	9.9	470.6
Week 24	May 8, 2019	-4.0	466.6
Week 25	May 15, 2019	5.4	472.0
Week 26	May 22, 2019	4.7	476.8
Week 27	May 30, 2019	-0.3	476.5
Week 28	June 5, 2019	6.8	483.3
Week 29	June 12, 2019	2.2	485.5
Week 30	June 19, 2019	-3.1	482.4
Week 31	June 26, 2019	-12.8	469.6
Week 32	July 3, 2019	-1.1	468.5
Week 33	July 10, 2019	-9.5	459.0
Week 34	July 17, 2019	-3.1	455.9
Week 35	July 24, 2019	-10.8	445.1
Week 36	July 31, 2019	-8.5	436.5
Week 37	August 7, 2019	2.4	438.9
Week 38	August 14, 2019	1.6	440.5

It's hard to believe that not too long ago, total US crude oil inventory was significantly higher.

I believe that a few months ago (?), the EIA removed "oil in pipelines" as part of the inventory figure, but I could be wrong on that. If they did, to what extent the impact was, I certainly do not know. But by now, this should be water under the bridge, to coin a phrase.

Those weekly drops of 12.8 million barrels (June 26); 9.5 million barrels (July 10); and, 8.5 million barrels the following week (July 24) certainly make one wonder, though.

Time To Connect Three "What If" Dots -- August 14, 2019

First dot: the CLR 60-well Long Creek project. A Harold Hamm project.

Second dot: the failed attempt for a $4 billion petrochemical plant. Harold Hamm involved. Link here.

Third: state concerned about flaring. And it's only going to get worse. Link here. Archived.

Fourth dot? Yes there is a fourth dot, but I will leave that for a later date.  Hint: there are actually two dots connect to this fourth dot and both involve Harold Hamm.

Fifth dot? Financial. Money is cheap. 30-year Treasury at 2%. That is an all-time low. Link here if you want to read a scary note. The 10-year at 1.7%. In addition, the Fed has rules it can use to force banks to lend money if there's a downturn. Hasn't been used before, but now being talked about.

Two Wells Come Off The Confidential List Today -- August 14, 2019

Wells coming off confidential list today -- Wednesday, August 14, 2019: 19 for the month; 68 for the quarter:

• 35603, SI/NC, XTO, Cole 44X-32DXA, Siverston, no production data,
• 34889, 1,402, Bruin, Fort Berthold 147-94-2A-11-13H, MCGregory Buttes, t2/19; cum 111K 6/19;

Active rigs:

$55.58	8/14/2019	08/14/2018	08/14/2017	08/14/2016	08/14/2015
Active Rigs	61	58	57	33	74

RBN Energy: Noble Midstream's crude gathering system in the Delaware Basin, part 14. Archived.

Of the many midstream companies with Permian crude oil gathering systems, a few also own bigger-diameter pipelines that shuttle crude to regional hubs as well as even larger takeaway pipelines to the Gulf Coast. Noble Midstream Partners is one of those that employs this “well-to-water” strategy, which enables midstreamers to participate in multiple links of the value chain; it can also give them better control over oil quality as crude makes its way from wells in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico to coastal refineries and export docks hundreds of miles away. Today, we conclude our series on Permian crude gathering with a look at the master limited partnership’s (MLP) mix of gathering, shuttle and long-haul pipelines.