Primary Petroleum -- Montana State Land Auction -- Investors

Updates

February 29, 2012: Primary Petroleum sold 20,000 nets acres at $170/acre in the Williston Basin: specifically Daniels County, northeast of Elm Coulee and far west of where the action is in the Bakken/Williston Basin. I believe this is/was their entire Williston Basin/Bakken play. Primary Pete says they are focusing on their other Montana play (see below).  Discussion about the sale; and, the corporate website on the day of the announcement (I assume the latter link will be lost/changed over time).

Original Post

I don't have time to follow much of anything outside the North Dakota Bakken, but I know some readers are interested in investment possibilities and some have asked me or sent me information about Primary Petroleum.

Today it was announced that Primary Petroleum got the bulk of acres leased in the largest western Montana state land auction to date.

Primary Petroleum acquired 31,286 net acres (49 sections) out of the 45,000 net acres available for auction at the largest Western Montana State Land Sale Auction to date.

Ticker symbol for Primary Petroleum: PIE.V.

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - 03/03/11) - Primary Petroleum Corporation is pleased to announce that it was successful at the March 1st, 2011 Western Montana State Land Sale Auction where it acquired 31,286 net acres (49 sections) out of the 45,000 net acres available for auction at the largest Western Montana State Land Sale Auction to date. The acquired state leases along with Primary's ongoing Land Acquisition Strategy has enabled the Company to accumulate over 242,000 long term net acres (380 sections) in the Southern Alberta Basin Bakken Fairway of Western Montana.

Numbers In: Volts and Nissan Leaves Selling As Fast As They Can Make Them

... or not.

Update

July 20, 2011: Leaf outsells the Volt; both insignificant. 

June 14, 2011: Nissan taking folks off waiting list for the Leaf because they don't have the $2,000 electric plug-in installed in their garage.  $2,000 for an outlet. Can you spell "scam"?

Some customers who have signed up to buy a Nissan Leaf electric car have reported getting the run-around from Nissan. According to Bloomberg, customers have reported being removed from the car’s waiting list and having their estimated delivery dates change wildly.

Bloomberg reports that Nissan is delaying some orders because potential buyers don’t yet have a 220-volt charger installed.

The problem may be due in part to the Leaf’s complicated sales process. Potential buyers must register online, pay a $99 deposit, and have a 220-volt charging station installed in their home. Nissan will then contact the buyer when a Leaf electric car is available. Given the slow rate of production for the car, that could take some time.

June 1, 2011:  Sales smoking. Nissan Leaf -- 1,142; GM's Chevy Volt, flat at 481. The fact that they are powered with coal is of concern for those watching the carbon footprint.

June 1, 2011: The GM Chevy Volt scam. Incredible.  Thank goodness for the internet.

April 16, 2011: Guilt by association. Garage fire may have been started by the Volt. I wonder if overheating electrical wires could be a problem in older homes/garages where Volts are charged? By the way, thank goodness for the internet and Matt Drudge. Without either, we would not have known about this latest Volt story. Interestingly, some folks blame GM's problems on Drudge, who simply links the news, rather than on Government Motrors, but I digress. The overheating of old electrical wires is a very serious problem, and where are electric cars best suited? In high density urban areas where houses are more than 100 years old, like Boston.

April 1, 2011: Chevy Volt doubled their March sales over February -- they sold 608 Volts in March. They have now sold a total of 1,210. This compares with 50,000 Chevy Cruzes sold to date. Interesting car to compare sales with.

Original Post

Remember, one month ago GM spokesman said sales of the Chevy Volt was "red hot."

Well, the numbers are in for the month of February.

• GM sold 281 Chevy Volts in February, LOWER than the 321 sold in January. Wow. 
• Nissan Leaf isn't faring any better: 67 sold in February, LOWER than the 87 sold in January. Double wow.

So, what's the total of ALL coal-powered Volts and Leaves sold to date (same link as above)?

• Volt: 928
• Leaf: 173

Remember, just last month we were told that demand for the Chevy Volt was "red hot." 

And, I still haven't seen any advertisements for the Chevy Volt. [Update: 5:45 a.m., Friday, March 4, 2011: I caught the last second or so of the first Chevy Volt commercial. I had just turned the television on. I believe it was on MSNBC, " Morning Joe." Thoughts on time of day and show? Maybe more on that later.]

For other posts on the Chevy Volt:

• Consumer Reports: the Chevy Volt doesn't make economic sense
• Sales of coal-powered cars up in smoke
• Coal-powered cars not economical until oil is between $174 and $250/bbl
• $Chevy Volt > $Cadillac

Another Great Bakken Blog -- North Dakota, USA

Somehow I have been remiss in adding a great website to the list of external sites at the sidebar on the right. That has been corrected; it is now linked: the Bakken Formation.

I put it at the top of the list of "external links."

Eight (8) New Permits in North Dakota, USA

Producers: CLR (4), SM (2), EOG, and Slawson

Fields: Chimney Butte, Colgan, Antelope, and Van Hook

The four CLR permits are on an Eco-Pad, SESE 9-146N-95W, the Kukla-Canee series.

And just after I mentioned three or four days ago that I had not seen any CLR Eco-Pads recently, here comes CLR with another Eco-Pad. Good for them. 

The two SM permits are in adjacent sections but I don't think they are on the same pads.

A fair number of wells were released from the confidential list which are reported elsewhere.

Just How Busy Has the Oil Industry Been in North Dakota This Past Calendar Year?

Bakkenshale.com alerted us to this YouTube video.

For those who want a visual how active the oil industry has been in western North Dakota this is awesome. The title suggests this is activity only in calendar year 2010:

Time Lapse Review of North Dakota Oil Activity, Calendar Year 2010