WTI Trending Toward $52; Five Wells Coming Off Confidential List; Update On The D-J Basin -- January 30, 2020

Boom! Apple now worth more than Germany's 30 largest listed companies that make up the DAX index on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The DAX is worth a combined $1.36 trillion, including business software giant SAP ($162 billion), chemical company Linde ($111 billion), engineering and industrial conglomerate Siemens ($108 billion), and insurance group Allianz ($100 billion). 

The tech giant's market capitalization has now grown to over $1.4 trillion, further cementing its place as the world's most valuable tech company. Only the Saudi Aramco oil company is worth more. 

Hammered: speaking of Saudi Aramco, OPEC is getting hammered by low oil prices and may move the next OPEC meeting forward (sooner than now scheduled). And Russian oil companies say that Russia production may decrease if they don't get some tax relief from Putin. Everyone has problems. Meanwhile, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, plans to host the biggest Super Bowl party ever down in Miami, on his yacht. Party like it's 1999. So, that's a trifecta for "hammered": OPEC, Russia, and Super Bowl party attendees.

Ovintiv: already forgot who this is? The old Encana. Link here:

Ovintiv Inc. will update investors Wednesday on its progress for the shale oil assets in Oklahoma it amassed after the $5.5 billion acquisition of Newfield Exploration Co. in 2018. The Stack and Scoop fields in the Anadarko Basin have faced investor scrutiny and operational challenges that sent a handful of small explorers into bankruptcy.

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

Back to the Bakken

First things first: the CLR Omlid-Ransom wells in Elidah oil field have been updated; some huge wells.

Active rigs:

$52.32	1/30/2020	01/30/2019	01/30/2018	01/30/2017	01/30/2016
Active Rigs	54	65	57	38	45

Five wells coming off confidential list today -- Thursday, January 30, 2020: 104 for the month; 104 for the quarter, 104 for the year:

• 35957, 1,470, Whiting, Cayko 21-22HU, Dore, t8/19; cum 68K 11/19; a 21K month;
• 35852, drl, XTO, FBIR STephen 21X-19A, Heart Butte,
• 35115, 54 (no typo), Oasis, Kellogg Federal 5297 11-30 5T, Banks, t8/19; cum 41K 11/19; a 25K month;
• 34967, 1,880, CLR, Rader 11-24H1, Avoca, t7/19; cum 80K 11/19; a 24K month;
• 32109, 3,350, CLR, Boulder Federal 8-4H, Banks, t9/19; cum 138K 11/19; a 64K month, followed by a 47K month;

RBN Energy: D-J Basin production gains spur crude gathering systems build-out. Peak oi? What peak oil? Archived. 

The Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming has been producing crude oil for many decades now, but there were only a few crude gathering systems there until just the past three or four years, which were marked by a rapid ramp-up in production associated with the Shale Revolution. The development of these systems was spurred by producers’ desire to more efficiently and cost-effectively transport increasing volumes of crude from their new horizontal wells to new and expanded takeaway pipelines. The gathering systems have been built and added to over time by a combination of entities –– producers themselves, midstream affiliates of producers, and independent midstream companies, many of them backed by private equity. Today, we discuss highlights from our new Drill Down Report on D-J Basin crude oil gathering systems.

It would be hard to ignore the D-J Basin of late, given both the rapid growth in crude oil, natural gas and NGL production there and the efforts to develop new takeaway capacity. For example, crude oil production in the D-J has nearly doubled over the past four years and increased by 45% over the past two years to about 620 Mb/d, according to IHS Markit, making the D-J the second-fastest-growing major production area in the U.S. — only the Permian Basin has been growing faster. Natural gas production in the D-J has also been rising fast, from less than 1.6 Bcf/d, on average, in January 2016 to almost 2.8 Bcf/d this month, driven by NGLs-rich associated gas production from crude-focused wells.