Locator: 52013B.
Reposting.
This is a huge story. Speaks volumes. Reminder: overseas, refiners are paying upwards of $40 / bbl in tanker costs that ship crude oil. I remember the "good ol' days" when they said transportation costs out of North Dakota were prohibitive. LOL. Wow, I'm just amazed at the short-sightedness of Hillary Clinton, et al. Well, I guess in her defense. she was smart, just politically on the wrong side of the fence. Her democratic successor was simply dumb. Both of them.
Here, again, is the Reuters link. This story is not yet behind a paywall. I don't understand. Reuters is almost fanatical about their paywalls.
Summary
- Time between drilling and preparing well for production has halved this year,
- North Dakota oil output rose 3,000 bpd to 1.161 million bpd in August
- West Coast refiners paid $93.51 a barrel for North Dakota crude versus $88.27 on East Coast in July
- Total producing wells hit record 20,177 in August. [These wells last "forever."]
Some key points from the story:
- US West Texas Intermediate futures topped $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly a month last week amid concerns that the Iran war could further tighten supplies.
- On Tuesday, WTI, the benchmark against which North Dakota crude is priced, was trading at around $102 a barrel. North Dakota crude traded at an average discount of about $4.21 a barrel to WTI through August.
- The faster pace helped push the state's total producing wells to a record high of 20,177 in August, 2026.
- There are 36 drilling rigs operating in North Dakota, up from 34 in September, with eight hydraulic fracturing crews active.
- Oil production rose by 3,000 barrels per day to 1.161 million bpd in August. However, the price gap between refiners on the US West Coast and East Coast has widened, according to the latest data collected.
- West Coast refiners paid about $93.51 per barrel for North Dakota crude, compared with $88.27 per barrel on the East Coast in July. "
- This is the biggest spread I have seen in a little while," [North Dakota spokesman] said, adding the differential is typically 50 cents to $1 a barrel. East Coast prices are particularly sensitive to crude supplies arriving via waterborne imports, the US Gulf Coast and rail, and that disruptions to those flows may have contributed to the price gap."
- Dumbest statement ever: "East Coast prices are particularly sensitive to crude supplies arriving via waterborne imports, the US Gulf Coast and rail, and that disruptions to those flows may have contributed to the price gap."
Well, how else does oil get anywhere? By plane? LOL. Oh, that's right -- pipeline. Unfortunately for Joe Six Pack and Debbie Downer, the East Coast doesn't allow pipelines into their states. California as a rule won't accept pipelines -- earthquakes.
