Public Service Announcement -- Federal Taxes

Federal taxes for 2013 will include a new tax that could affect a fair number of North Dakotans: the 3.8% investment tax.

• joint filers with income >$250,000 (singles >$200,000)
• an additional 3.8% tax on interest, dividends, and capital gains IN ADDITION to all other taxes due on this income

The WSJ is reporting:

The tax, which took effect January 1, applies to the "net investment income" of married joint filers who have more than $250,000 of income (or $200,000 for singles). Only investment income—such as dividends, interest and capital gains—above the thresholds is taxed. The rate is a flat 3.8% in addition to other taxes owed.

"Affluent investors who ignore this tax will be in for a total shock next April 15," says David Lifson, a certified public accountant specializing in tax at Crowe Horwath in New York. Such income is typically not subject to withholding, and people won't be factoring it into their estimated taxes. Lower-bracket taxpayers who receive a windfall large enough to owe the tax will also be in for a surprise.

The linked story goes into much more detail. 

Six (6) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs: 187

Six (6) new permits --

• Operators: QEP (4), Statoil, American Eagle
• Fields: Grail (McKenzie), Colgan (Divide), Briar Creek (McKenzie)
• Comments: QEP has permits for four (4) more wells in the "Helis Grail"

Again, second day in a row, NDIC did not release initial production numbers for wells coming off the confidential list.

Producing wells completed:

• 21419, 535, CLR, Lovdahl 3-16H,  Sauk, 4-section spacing;  t4/13; cum --
• 24730, 578, Whiting, Finsaas 31-16-2H, Hay, t3/13; cum cum --
• 24728, 1,461, Whiting, Lacey 12-12H, Sanish, spacing is ICO,  t3/13; cum --
• 22406, 737, Oasis, Mitbo Federal 6092 42-14H, Cottonwood, t3/13; cum --
• 24557, 890, Whiting, Ogden 12-3-2H, Sanish, t4/13; cu --
• 23810, 825, Whiting, Tank 31-18H, Dollar Joe, t3/13; cum --

Note: Sauk oil field is pretty much 4-section spacing.

Random Update Of Chevy Volt Sales: Tesla Cannibalizing Chevy Volt Sales

Last October 2, 2012 (updated from the original January 5, 2012 post): August and September have been great months for auto sales, including the Volt:

With 2,831 sold, August was a good month for sales of the Chevrolet Volt. In fact, it was the most Volts sold in the U.S. in a single month, ever. Critics questioned whether those sales were legitimate, but there's no question the Volt is on a roll. Could Chevy orchestrate a repeat? September has answered that question with a resounding yes, and then some: GM sold 2,851 Volts last month. In September 2011, Chevy sold 723 Volts. With 210,245 vehicles sold across all brands, GM says that this was the best September, U.S. sales-wise, since 2008. [2,851 / 210,245 --> 1.3%. Pretty impressive.]

So, last autumn, GM sold about 5,700 Chevy Volts in two months.

How did GM do in 1Q13?

In an article comparing 1Q13 Tesla sales with the Chevy Volt and the Leaf, Bloomberg is reporting: 

Tesla expects to report at least 4,750 deliveries of the electric Model S in the U.S. and Canada when it releases first- quarter results on May 8, said Shanna Hendriks, a company spokeswoman, reiterating a March 31 estimate. That compares with 4,421 Volt sales in North America and 3,695 deliveries of Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf, based on data provided by the carmakers.

So, 5,700 Volts in two months last autumn; 4,400 Volts in the past three months, albeit slow months for car sales.

TransCanada Pushes Back In-Service Date for the Keystone XL As Late As End Of 2015

The Oil & Gas Journal is reporting:

TransCanada Corp. is pushing back the in-service date for its Keystone XL pipeline from late-2014 or early-2015 to second-half 2015.

The move follows on-going delays in issuing the US Presidential Permit for the project and comes just days after Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver remarked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, that stopping Keystone XL construction would not keep Alberta’s oil sands resources “in the ground.”

Hope springs eternal.

24 Wells On One Pad May Be Coming; Three Orders Have Been Signed For 18 Wells Per Pad

The other day I had a piece on what we would be discussing this summer. One of the things mentioned was up to 24 wells on one 2560-acre spacing unit and 12 wells on one pad. I had not seen that in any specific article, but I was simply projecting based on what I was seeing in the NDIC hearing dockets.

Then the Williston Wire, today, linked an article from Petroleum News Bakken:

In terms of well density per pad, Helms said the largest number of wells on a single pad thus far is 14, although not all of those 14 wells are yet on production. But he added that three orders have been signed approving 18 wells per pad, which is the highest number approved to date.

In addition, Helms said he knows of some proposals that will be submitted in coming months to attempt several 24-well pads. “It is a positive thing,” he said, “because it decreases the footprint, increases the production and allows us to recover more of the Bakken and Three Forks oil.”

"Three orders for 18 wells/pad." I don't know if that is three separate orders for six wells each on the same pad (a total of 18 wells on that one pad), or if it is three separate 18-well pads (56 total wells).

Time for a new poll.

But first the results of the current two polls:

First poll: Where will the next natural gas processing plant be located:

• northeast McKenzie County, in Watford City area: 36%
• on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation: 12%
• just off the reservation, to the west: 10%
• western Mountrail County, in the Stanley area: 24% (MDW voted this choice)
• in Whiting's Pronghorn Prospect, Stark County: 17%

Second poll: On the morning of August 14, 2013, how many active rigs will there be in North Dakota as reported by the NDIC?

• 190 or fewer: 25%
• 191 - 200: 31%
• 201 or more: 44%

******************

Now the new poll:

Lynn Helms recently said: "three orders have been signed approving 18 wells per pad, which is the highest number approved to date."

Who will be the first to drill 18 wells on one pad (the choices will be placed in reverse alphabetical order):

• CLR
• EOG
• Hess
• Slawson
• QEP
• XTO 

[Note: some readers may have noted I did not include one of the five in the original poll a few minutes ago. I consciously did not include one of the five first time around, but a reader alerted me to the fact that I was wrong to have left one out.]