Jim Cramer's Interview With North Dakota Senator Hoeven

For those who missed it or want to see it again, here's the link to Jim Cramer's interview with Senator John Hoeven.

If the link is broken, there is nothing new there that is not already know to regular followers of the Bakken.

Oil.
Wind.
Common sense.

North Dakota has an abundance of all three.

First Deepwater Drilling Permit Since the Gulf Spill

Updates

March 1, 2011: a "talking head" on CNBC today opined that this first permit was "political."  He warned investors not to get excited about deep water drilling in the Gulf. He expects the next permit won't be issue for quite some time. In addition, I don't expect BP and others to rush back in.

Original Post

Rigzone is reporting that the first deep water drilling permit has been issued for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico since drilling was suspended on June 12, 2010 following the blowout/spill.

I am very happy to see that this may be the beginning of a return to a normal economy in Louisiana. Let's hope so. Those folks have been through a lot.

Good luck to all. That's a cliche. I know "luck" has very little to do with. Godspeed? May the force be with you.

Australia, Wyoming, and Enhanced Oil Recovery -- Denbury

Before reading the rest of this post, you may want to review coal beneficiation, above-ground coal gassification, and below-ground gassification.

Although this story pertains to an event in Wyoming, it is relevant to the energy story in North Dakota.

An Australian company has bought three oil fields in Wyoming. These are old fields but may give up more oil with enhanced oil recovery (EOR), i.e., flooding the reservoirs with carbon dioxide.

Linc Energy Limited, an Australian firm has plans to conduct underground coal gassification in the Powder River Basin. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of the gassification process and will be used for EOR in these Wyoming oil fields.

An American company most associated with EOR (at least in my mind) is Denbury. Denbury recently entered the Bakken in a big way by acquiring Encore.

Denbury Promotional Presentation on EOR

How "GOOD" Is the Bakken? Very, Very Good -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

In 2009, North Dakota produced 80 million barrels of oil.

In 2010, North Dakota produced 113 million barrels of oil. That represents an increase of more than 40 percent.

The state set production records almost monthly in 2010, jumping from an average of 236,200 barrels daily in January to nearly 343,900 in December. A record 356,505 barrels a day was pumped in November, with nearly 10.7 million barrels produced for the month, state documents show.

One year ago there were 94 rigs drilling in the state. There are now as many as 172 rigs drilling in the state. 

BEXP: Microseismic Data Support Eight Wells In One 1280-Acre Spacing Unit -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This has been reported earlier, but some folks may have missed it: BEXP's micro-seismic data shows that one 1280-acre unit will support eight (8) horizontal wells, a combination of Bakken formation and Three Forks formation wells.

Microseismic data accumulated during the Brad Olson 9-16 2H well fracture stimulation indicates that frac wings appear to extend laterally 500 ft on either side of the wellbore. The results imply an increase to 782 total net locations from 590 in the Ross-Parshall-Austin and Rough Rider project areas, according to BEXP.