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Wednesday, August 14, 2019

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 Do not quote me on any of this.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:


$55.148/14/201908/14/201808/14/201708/14/201608/14/2015
Active Rigs6258573374

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:

$55.588/14/201908/14/201808/14/201708/14/201608/14/2015
Active Rigs6158573374

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.