Buffalo Wild Wings Coming To Williston

According to the Williston Wire.

Will break ground September 4, 2012.  To open sometime around February 1, 2013.

Will be located south of Herman Oil Convenience Store.

Lukoil, Russia's Biggest Independent Oil Producer Reports Decreasing Production

The story at the link emphasizes the financial side of the story.

I think the bigger story is yet another large producer reporting decreasing oil production.

Lukoil Holdings, Russia's biggest independent oil producer, expects to reverse falling output and start increasing hydrocarbon production from 2013 or 2014, the company's vice president said Friday.

Lukoil has long been fighting output decline, but has now managed to stabilize production in its main region of West Siberia. Output in the region grew 0.5% in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period for last year due to the introduction of new drilling technology, Mr. Fedun said.

Lukoil, Russia's second-biggest producer, said total hydrocarbon production was down 0.8% on the year in the second quarter to 2.14 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Crude output was down 1.9%.

Just a random data point to ponder. 

Chesapeake Squeezes Mineral Owners -- Cash Crunch

Link here to Bloomberg.

I blogged about transportation costs a very long time ago related to another story. I doubt I can find that link again. It had to do with natural gas royalties in the Haynesville, if I remember correctly, or it might have been the Barnett. ... Ah, yes, here it is .. I found it on the first "blog search." I'm impressed with the search engine! Back on August 11, 2011 -- more than a year ago -- I blogged about it! Yes, nothing new under the sun.

But here's another reminder for mineral rights owners and transportation costs associated with "their oil."

As gas prices were heading toward a 10-year low in April, Chesapeake began reinterpreting in its favor thousands of contracts with landowners from Pennsylvania to Texas that own the 1 trillion cubic feet of gas the company produced last year, according to interviews and documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Chesapeake, arguing that other contract language allows for cost deductions, is fighting more than a dozen lawsuits.

I posted my initial thoughts at the second link above.

I guess that's the good news for North Dakota folks who have leases with Chesapeake: for the most part they are not paying transportation costs for oil. If they are, it can't be much. 

Update on Schlumberger Fracking Technology: Hiway

Link here.

I talked about Schlumberger Hiway fracking a long time ago.  That posting has been one of my most visited sites; this should be of interest to those looking for an update.

So how does Hiway work?

Hodenfield, who grew up in North Dakota where the Bakken field is at the centre of the U.S. shale gas boom, brightens at the opportunity to explain a process that adds a proprietary fiber to the traditional sand and fluid mix, and uses a "pulsing" system to send globs of the fiber in between each injection.

The dissolvable fiber globs create more effective channels for the gas to flow, and the pulsing rhythm can be made to match the geological structure of the rock, also pushing the sand deeper into the cracks and resulting in more effective openings that conduct gas better for every liter pumped in.
Hiway is not the only new technique on the scene as oil companies look to use fracking to reach more lucrative oil as well as gas.

Schlumberger and other innovators are also using sophisticated seismic techniques, combined with data from pilot wells, to reduce the number of fracks along a drill pipe and target only the "sweet spots" in the field.

This is one of the better articles on fracking I have seen in a long, long time, updating the technology now being used, in a language I can understand.

Go to the link; there's a lot more information there.

A huge "thank you" to a reader for sending me this link.

Australian Government Suspends Fracking -- "Moratorium" Is The Exact Word Used

Link here to Oil and Gas Journal.

The Victorian government imposed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing pending legislative changes to implement new standards for the oil and gas industry.

The ban is not expected to impact any current leaseholders.

Victorian Resources Minister Michael O’Brien said the hold would remain effective until implementation of a national regulatory framework for regulating coal seam gas and fracing.

The ban is not expected to impact any current leaseholders. We are from the federal government. We are here to help.