Number Of Active Rigs In North Dakota Now Up To 39; Five New Permits; And, Eleven Permits Renewed -- April 8, 2022

The Sports Page: I'm a fair-weather fan when it comes to Tiger Woods, but I have to say, I was thrilled to see Tiger Woods play and do well the first two days of the Master, and made the cut "easily"  based on his score, but one can tell he is really giving everything he has, physically. It is truly a remarkable story. I am also impressed with the televised coverage. 

Texas high school soccer:

• Olivia's Grapevine, TX, team won today, 6 - 1, in the semifinals, regional.
• Her team will play for regional championship on Saturday, tomorrow. If they win tomorrow, one last game, for state championship.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$98.26	4/8/2022	04/08/2021	04/08/2020	04/08/2019	04/08/2018
Active Rigs	39	16	36	64	58

Five new permits, #38875 - #38880, inclusive, except for #38876, a SWD permit:

• Operators: Whiting (4), CLR (1), Ovintiv (1)
• Fields: Dollar Joe (Williams); Jim Creek (Dunn); and, Westberg (McKenzie)
• Comments:
• Ovintiv has a permit for a Clear Creek Federal well in SESW 365-152-97; 
• to be sited 470 FSL and 1470 FWL
• Whiting has permits for four wells:
• two Sanish wells, two Smith wells, in lot 2, section 7-153-91, 
• both to be sited 2423 FNL, and one 418 FWL and one 448 FWL;
• two Dollar Joe wells, one Mariah Olson, and one Richard Olson, 
• both to be sited in lot 2, section 1-155-97; one to be sited 838 FNL and 2328 FEL, the other to be siteed 840 FNL and 2418 FEL

Eleven permits renewed:

• MRO (8): multiple permits in Dunn County, and McKenzie County -- Sahaydek, Anweth, Quam, Basham, Bergelie, Foolish Bear USA, Herzig USA, and Coleman USA;
• BR (3): two George permits and a George-Lillibridge permit, all in McKenzie County;

The Dinosaur Page -- April 8, 2022

This is over at the NY Times -- features a story coming out of North Dakota. Behind a paywall, but accessible through different passwords you probably have.

GREENBELT, Md. — Pristine slivers of the impactor that killed the dinosaurs have been discovered, said scientists studying a North Dakota site that is a time capsule of that calamitous day 66 million years ago.

The object that slammed off the Yucatán Peninsula of what is today Mexico was about six miles wide, scientists estimate, but the identification of the object has remained a subject of debate. Was it an asteroid or a comet? If it was an asteroid, what kind was it — a solid metallic one or a rubble pile of rocks and dust held together by gravity?

“If you’re able to actually identify it, and we’re on the road to doing that, then you can actually say, ‘Amazing, we know what it was,’” Robert DePalma, the paleontologist spearheading the excavation of the site, said on Wednesday during a talk at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

A video of the talk and a subsequent discussion between Mr. DePalma and prominent NASA scientists will be released online in a week or two, a Goddard spokesman said. Many of the same discoveries will be discussed in “Dinosaurs: The Final Day,” a BBC documentary narrated by David Attenborough, which will air in Britain in April. In the United States, the PBS program “Nova” will broadcast a version of the documentary next month.

Later in the article:

A New Yorker article in 2019 described the site in southwestern North Dakota, named Tanis, as a wonderland of fossils buried in the aftermath of the impact some 2,000 miles away. Many paleontologists were intrigued but uncertain about the scope of Mr. DePalma’s claims; a research paper published that year by Mr. DePalma and his collaborators mostly described the geological setting of the site, which once lay along the banks of a river.

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The Book

I have to go back and look at this book: How Mountains Grew, John Dvorak, c. 2021. I believe the author spent a bit of time on this story. At that linked site, this is all I have so far;

Chapter 10: Western Interior Seaway -- Late Mesozoic Era 145.7 mya - 66.043 mya
Cretaceous Period

Chapter 11: A Calamitous Event -- Chicxulub Meteor Impact -- 66.043 mya

Along with dinosaurs, the ammonites go extinct. Not to be confused with the Amish-nites. The latter are still with us.

Another CLR Well Goes Over 500K Bbls Crude Oil Cumulative -- April 8, 2022

The well:

• 30362, 2,575, CLR, State Weydahl 5-36H1, Corral Creek, t1/19; cum 465K 12/20; cum 562K 2/22; recent production:
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	28	7110	7133	8089	10793	10604	148
BAKKEN	1-2022	31	8597	8584	9889	12205	12069	86
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	9212	9205	10090	13170	12825	295
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	9512	9511	10558	12593	12411	134
BAKKEN	10-2021	31	10762	10780	12629	13767	13555	164
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	10433	10413	13060	14574	13984	547
BAKKEN	8-2021	31	11451	11449	15067	12774	12599	134
BAKKEN	7-2021	26	9363	9315	15036	10688	10563	91
BAKKEN	6-2021	9	3019	2997	6377	4025	3930	80

Update Of The Jensen - Mittlestadt Wells Sited In Section NENW 17-146-95 -- April 8, 2022

I happened to spot a number of Mittlestadt wells that have come off line / out of production. Curious to see what's going on.

Recent graphics, note all the activity:

From the cases in the February, 2021, hearing dockets:

Case No. 28687, second half: Application of Continental Resources, Inc. for an order authorizing the drilling, completing and producing of a total not to exceed fourteen wells on an existing
2560-acre spacing unit described as Sections 5, 8, 17 and 20, T.146N. R.95W., Chimney Butte-Bakken Pool, Dunn County, ND, and such other relief as is appropriate. 

• 22773, 1,471, CLR, Jensen 2-8AH, Chimney Butte, t9/12; cum 423K 11/20; cum 449K 2/22;
  
• 23604, 244, CLR, Jensen 4-8H1, Chimney Butte, t9/13; cum 291K 11/20; cum 311K 2/22;
  
• 23603, 962, CLR, Jensen 3-8H, Chimney Butte, t9/13; cum 346K 11/20; cum 225K 2/22; uneven;
  
• 23606, 787, CLR, Mittlestadt 4-17H1, Chimney Butte, t8/13; cum 216K 11/20; cum 225K 2/22; uneven;
  
• 23605, 854, CLR, Jensen 3-17H, Chimney Butte, t8/13; cum 277K 11/20; cum 542K 2/22;
  
• 31803, IA/1,633, CLR, Jensen 7-8H, Chimney Butte, t1/19; cum 329K 11/20; cum 347K 5/21; off line 5/21;
  
• 31801, 1,703, CLR, Jensen 5-8H1, Chimney Butte, t12/18; cum 416K 11/20; cum 350K 2/22; incredibly consistent;
  
• 31802, 2,238, CLR, Jensen 6-8H, Chimney Butte, t1/19; cum 467K 11/20; cum 576K 2/22; halo effect;
  

• 31800, 1,814, CLR, Mittlestadt 7-17H, Chimney Butte, t1/19; cum 335K 11/20; cum 360K 2/22;
  
• 31798, 1,928, CLR, Mittlestadt 5-17H1, Chimney Butte, t1/19; cum 281K 11/20; cum 315K 2/22;
  
• 31799, IA/1,949, CLR, Mittlestadt 6-17H, Chimney Butte, t1/19; cum 271K 11/20; cum 298K 9/21;
  
• 21569, IA/723, CLR, Mittlestadt 2-20H, Chimney Butte, t7/12; cum 405K 11/20; cum 422K 8/21;
  
• 17201, IA/956, CLR, Mittlestadt 1-20H, Chimney Butte, t11/08; cum 269K 9/20; cum 271K 8/21;
  
• 16316, IA/280, CLR, Jensen 1-5H, Chimney Butte, t1/07; cum 227K 12/19; cum 227K 7/21;
  

These are really nice wells and they will only get better.

Benefit Of Ceramic? April 8, 2022

This well still producing 11,000 bbls / month after two years. Note the relatively large frack; moderately large number of stages, but more importantly (?), the use of ceramic:

• 24045, A/F, Petro-Hunt, State 154-94-31C-32-1H, Charlson, t--; cum 42K 12/20; cum 226K 2/22; still producing 12,000 bbls / month after two years; 18 million gallons of water; quartz and ceramic; water by mass: 93.4%; 48 stages; 10 million lbs proppant; 430,259 bbls of proppant = 18.07 million gallons. Full production here.
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	28	11997	12021	8815	26572	25766	806
BAKKEN	1-2022	31	13168	13143	9340	27952	25495	2457
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	14366	14439	11509	29131	27512	1591
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	14980	14998	10318	29898	29508	181
BAKKEN	10-2021	30	9665	9596	8474	18275	16839	1220
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	9394	9335	7143	17331	16341	781
BAKKEN	8-2021	31	9555	9606	8200	17226	16896	114
BAKKEN	7-2021	31	13258	13272	12037	26003	22068	3719
BAKKEN	6-2021	30	15690	15651	11871	29509	28014	1286

Today's Featured Article -- April 8, 2022

The gap between investors and savers will continue to widen. 

US credit card debt: link here. Consider the source. 

In November, consumer credit exploded by a whopping $41.8 billion, more than double the expected $18.1 billion print, nearly five times more than the upward revised $8.9 billion January number (revised from $6.8 billion), and the highest on record!

Market:

• traders: check the portfolio dollar value / dollar change on a daily basis (or even more often); price of shares very important
• investors: try to add shares of great companies every month; price paid of secondary importance;

Metaverse: VR is a significant component of the metaverse. VR? I'm still not sold; still not impressed. From Gavin Baker this week, the comments, as usual, very important, The metric missing: percent of iPhone-using teenagers who also own a personal VR headset. Most likely respondents exaggerated, slightly, the amount they actually use a VR headset. Other questions need to be asked:

Challenging me to an hour on the treadmill (LOL):

Notes From All Over -- April 8, 2022

Sports:

• Masters today: the wind is going to pick up "bigly" this afternoon; Tiger tees off late, 1:41 p.m. 

US credit card debt: link here. Consider the source. 

In November, consumer credit exploded by a whopping $41.8 billion, more than double the expected $18.1 billion print, nearly five times more than the upward revised $8.9 billion January number (revised from $6.8 billion), and the highest on record!

Euphemisms: link here.

global warming --> climate change--> sustainability--> energy transition
vs
oil and gas --> fossil fuel -->dirty energy-->energy security

Five best cars for California surfers: link here. My ranking, if money were not an issue:

• Toyota Tacoma
• F-150 Lightning
• Jeep Wagoneer
• Mercedes Sprinter (as second backup van)
• Subaru Outback
• Ram Promaster City Wagon
• Chevy Suburban
• Tesla Model X (as a second or third car)

California Dreamin': Terranea Resort -- paid advertisement disguised as a news story; where my wife is spending these three weeks, not as a paying guest but as a visitor taking advantage of the hiking trails. And, just down/up the coast from the Trump Resort. From today at Yahoo!Finance:

Set along coastal bluffs at the edge of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Terranea Resort's location commands some of California's most stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. 

The luxury eco-resort opened in 2009 on the coveted site that was once the home of Marineland, California's first theme park. Today, Terranea honors its 102 acres of natural beauty, wildlife habitats, and native plants by encouraging guests to enjoy its unique setting.

Three Wells Coming Off Confidential List -- April 8, 2022

Daimler Trucks - EVs: can't get those tractors out there fast enough! At Long Island, NY, earlier this week:

Not an EV. Sorry. Not sorry:

• link here:
• MSRP.
• Sarasota, FL: if you can't afford the car, lots of cool accessories.
  

Long Covid: President Biden steps in. Released April 5, 2022 -- earlier this week.

Natural gas: is this the biggest energy story today that won't reach mainstream media?

• US natural gas storage reverses flow as final draw drops stocks below 1.4 Tcf.

Friday Night Baseball: kicks off tonight on Apple TV+. NY Mets vs Washington Nationals.

Tale of two countries:

• US: kills Keystone XL:
• Canada: greenlights controversial $12 billion offshore deepwater oil project; link here, previously posted;

Stocks to watch today: SRE, COP. Rite Aid, GE,

COP: steps up land sale with divestiture of some Eagle Ford assets. Link here.

T: record date for spin-off passed earlier this week, April 5. 

I assume this is the Warner Bros. Discovery ticker for "when issued" but I don't know for sure. If I understand this correctly, T shareholders maintain same number of shares but will receive 0.24 shares WBD for ever share of T held.

Rite Aid: link here.

Billionaires: Forbes list  -- link here but focuses only on Philadelphia-area residents.

The top four spots on the Forbes list were held by the same billionaires as last year. Elon Musk ($219 billion) surpassed Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos ($171 billion) for the top spot. They were followed by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault ($158 billion) and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($129 billion).

<Fluff. Headline caught my eye. Chart says it all. If I have time, I will come back to this later.

South America: oil. Compare this article to early articles on the Bakken. Peak oil? Nope.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$96.04	4/8/2022	04/08/2021	04/08/2020	04/08/2019	04/08/2018
Active Rigs	37	16	36	64	58

Friday, April 8, 2022: 16 for the month; 16 for the quarter, 175 for the year

• 38556, conf, Crescent Point, CPEUSC Pankake 3-6-7-157N-99W-MBH,
• 38555, conf, Crescent Point, CPEUSC Pankake 4-6-7-157N-99W-MBH,
• 38516, conf, CLR, Thorp Federal 6-28H,

RBN Energy: E&Ps post record profits in 2021, and 2022's likely to be even better.

With soaring oil prices dominating recent headlines, it’s no surprise that profits and cash flows for the U.S. exploration-and-production (E&P) sector rebounded dramatically in 2021 from heavy, pandemic-induced losses in 2020. Rising crude oil and natural gas demand fueled a whopping $150 billion turnaround in results, as the 43 major publicly traded E&Ps we monitor recorded $86 billion in pre-tax income after incurring a net loss of $66 billion in 2020. Oh, and by the way, 2021 was the most profitable year in at least the last two decades for producers, which reported income two-thirds higher than the previous peak in 2014, when commodity prices were significantly higher. In today’s RBN blog, we compare producers’ 2021 performance with 2020 and 2014 and explain why results should be even stronger this year.