Hess Continues String Of Announcements; Reports Two Wells Today -- November 23, 2020

Active rigs:

$42.63	11/23/2020	11/23/2019	11/23/2018	11/23/2017	11/23/2016
Active Rigs	13	57	62	54	37

Two wells coming off the confidential list today --

Monday, November 23, 2020: 25 for the month; 49 for the quarter, 714 for the year

• 37211, drl/A, Hess, TI-Nelson-157-94-3031H-1, Tioga, t--; cum 86K 9/20;

Sunday, November 22, 2020: 24 for the month; 48 for the quarter, 713 for the year

• 36460, drl/A, Hess, EN-Ruland-156-94-3328H-2, Manitou, t--; cum 66K 9/20;

RBN Energy: PADD 2 refiners gaining new pipeline access to PADD 1 gasoline, diesel markets. 

For a few years now, refineries in the eastern part of PADD 2 — feedstock-advantaged and capable of producing far more refined products than their regional market can consume — have been eyeing the wholesale and retail markets to their east in PADD 1. Their thinking has been, if they could just pipe more of their gasoline and diesel into Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and adjoining areas, they could sell the transportation fuels at a premium and take market share. Well, things are looking up for PADD 2 refineries pursuing this strategy. Not only has new pipeline access to the east been opening up, but PADD 1’s refining capacity has been shrinking fast, leaving East Coast refineries less able than ever to meet in-region demand. Today, we discuss recent developments in the battle for refined-product market share in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The refining sectors of both PADD 1 (East Coast) and PADD 2 (Midwest) have been frequent topics in the RBN blogosphere. East Coast refineries — for many years dependent on waterborne imported crude oil — in the mid-2010s benefited briefly from the U.S. Shale Revolution by railing in steeply discounted light sweet crude from the Bakken. But they soon lost that leg-up when pipeline constraints from the Bakken to the Gulf Coast eased and the spread between Bakken and Brent prices narrowed, leaving many East Coast refiners back in the same leaky boat they were sailing pre-shale, relying largely on shipped-in crude oil from overseas and, to a lesser extent, U.S.-sourced oil barged in from Corpus Christi and other Gulf Coast ports. Another important thing to note about PADD 1 and refined products: the combined capacity of East Coast refineries — almost all of them in the Philadelphia area or near New York City — has been shrinking, and is now well under one million bopd, which means that the region needs to pipe in refined products from the Gulf Coast (on the Colonial and Plantation pipelines) or import it to keep pace with regional demand.