Number of Active Drilling Rigs: North Dakota Surpasses Oklahoma

Bloomberg is reporting that North Dakota has surpassed Oklahoma in number of active drilling rigs.

North Dakota now accounts for almost 5 percent of oil produced in the United States.

North Dakota Number One in Sunflowers

One can add to the list of North Dakota firsts: sunflowers.

North Dakota leads the pack with its sunflower acreage, says the marketing director for the National Sunflower Association (NSA).

North Dakota has 865,000 acres of sunflowers this year, which is 98 percent of last year’s national acreage. South Dakota is second in sunflower production, behind North Dakota with 630,000 acres.

There has been a growth in acreage in the midwest regions of North Dakota, Majkrzak said. These regions have been producing the best crops over the past years, he added. What was once a very dry environment in this region has become a great growing region for sunflowers due to slightly increased rain fall, he adds.

According to the NSA, sun oil is up 58 percent over last year’s level for the first eight months of this marketing season. This rise is due to a decline in Canadian imports.

North Dakota is also number one in honey production for those who may have forgotten.

The Cost of Going Green

Customers of two utilities in the Bakken will be getting inserts in their monthly bills explaining why their rates are going up. MDU and Otter Tail are being reimbursed for a brand new utility plant that customers in Minnesota refuse to accept because it uses electricity generated by coal. Never mind that this was a state-of-the-art power plant.

The PSC recently approved a plan for the two utilities to recoup $13.8 million in development costs with slight increases in customers’ electric bills. The utilities calculated the sum as the share North Dakota customers should pay for the Big Stone II project.

The plan says an average North Dakota residential electric customer of Otter Tail will pay about 62 cents extra each month for three years. A typical MDU customer will pay $1.51.

Otter Tail, based in Fergus Falls, Minn., and Bismarck-based MDU were part of a group of utilities that proposed building Big Stone II next to an existing power plant near Milbank, S.D.

The project, which was five years in the making, was abandoned last November. Its supporters cited uncertain financing,  weaker demand for electricity and uncertainty about federal regulation of coal-fired power plants as reasons for its demise.

No comment required; the story speaks for itself. 

Oh, I can't resist. The big story here is how inexpensive coal energy is -- the plant, on average, cost each ND consumer less than $1.51/month for three years.

I guess the "weaker demand for electricity" means electric vehicles don't figure into Minnesota's future. Or larger television screens. Or more computers. Or more Fortune 500 companies. For some, the phrase "weaker demand for electricity" equates with "slower growth."

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UPDATE

August 17, 2010: MDU asks for 13 percent rate increase in Montana to cover costs of wind energy.

August 16, 2010: The story keeps getting better.  I hope the Minnesota folks don't mind higher utility bill; it looks like Xcel will be asking for a rate increase. Xcel recently announced they will be shutting down/retrofitting a coal-powered utility plant to comply with Colorado's greenhouse gas emissions laws. Wanna bet Big Stone II is eventually opened up for Minnesota customers. I can't make this stuff up.

August 1, 2010: This is priceless. One of Minnesota's largest utilty, Xcel, has a "Saver Switch" power management system which allows it to remotely control residential use of electricity. For the first time in three years Xcel had to "flip" that switch due to heavy electrical demand on their system because of the heat wave and the heavy use of residential air conditioners. And just a few days ago, Minnesota reports that there is "weaker demand for electricity." Remember all the flower children of the '60s in Berkeley? They now run the show when it comes to making strategic decisions in certain states.

Montana Governor: Upset That Congress Didn't Pass Broad Energy Bill

Governor Brian Schweitzer says he is upset Congress did not pass a broad energy bill.

The governor says he is against "cap and trade."

But without an energy bill, the governor says, energy companies, especially coal companies, will not know how to factor potential "cap and trade" risks.

A couple of thoughts:

• Thank goodness for unanswered prayers. In this case, those praying for an energy bill to bring this issue to closure might be happy a bill was not passed.
• My hunch is that coal companies now know the worst that could affect them, and can plan accordingly. Anything less onerous, and the profits will drop to the bottom line.
• Utilities and "big oil" have already begun to sort this out: by buying "renewable" energy assets, they have more than enough assets to "cap and trade," making any future bill moot for them. Coal companies, if smart, will do the same. It's not that hard. Enbridge has seven wind farms and one solar farm (the largest in the world, by the way).
• Governor Schweitzer and Senator John Kerry seem to have a lot in common. That's just my take after spending lots of time in Boston this summer. 

Can you imagine a broad energy bill?

• Excessive cap and trade
• Ridiculous fracking regulations
• Taxes on oil companies to pay for health care
• Unlimited risk for clean-up expenses

Unanswered Prayers, Garth Brooks

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UPDATES

Update: July 31, 2010 -- I admit I'm wrong.  Congress is going to stay out of this.  Congress will let EPA step in, make the rules, and then individual Congressmen/women can talk to their constituents. Those in favor will say they support the EPA; those against what the EPA does will say Congress will have to take a look. Meanwhile, the damage will have been done. Other thoughts here.

EOG Opens Multi-Million Dollar Office in Stanley, ND (USA)

This is really an incredible story. Some data points, from the EOG/CEO:

• Expectation that the Bakken to produce four billion barrels of oil over the next few decades
• Suggests the Bakken will be one of the top five fields in the history of the US
• Estimates royalties to private individuals of $5 billion
• Estimates taxes to the state of $3.6 billion
• EOG expects to drill 78 new wells in calendar year 2010

This link is likely to break in about thirty days, requiring password (free or paid) to search archives.

Update on the the EOG - BNSF railroad oil loading facility: the facilty has been open since the beginning of the year. It was built to handle 100,000 bopd; it currently ships 30,000 bopd.

This link is also likely to break in about thirty days, requiring password (free or paid) to search archives.