Monday, March 3, 2014

Tuesday, March 4, 2014 -- QEP Withdraws Proposal To Unitize Grail Field

QEP requests to withdraw its proposal to unitize the Grail oil field. The NDIC approves without prejudice. Case 21213; orders 23517, 24239. A "huge thank you" to a reader for sending me this. I believe NDIC orders are published/archived in "Premium Services" to which I do not subscribe.

Another month, another ObamaCare delay. The Hill is reporting:
The Obama administration is set to announce another major delay in implementing the Affordable Care Act, easing election pressure on Democrats.
As early as this week, according to two sources, the White House will announce a new directive allowing insurers to continue offering health plans that do not meet ObamaCare’s minimum coverage requirements.
Prolonging the “keep your plan” fix will avoid another wave of health policy cancellations otherwise expected this fall.
Active rigs in North Dakota:


3/4/201403/04/201303/04/201203/04/201103/04/2010
Active Rigs18918320717298

 RBN Energy: Jones Act vessels through the Panama Canal.
There are no crude pipelines running from the Gulf Coast refining region to the West Coast. A Kinder Morgan plan to build such a pipeline last year (2013) floundered on lack of shipper interest. Surging crude supplies at the Gulf Coast and downward pressure on prices in the absence of an end to the crude oil export ban raise the tantalizing possibility of moving crude East to West through the Panama Canal (or the Transpanama pipeline). Today we look at the economics of such shipments.
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The Wall Street Union

So much for the Crimean Crisis. It's over. That was easy.

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The glue that holds the grid together is a network of transformers, the hulking gray boxes of steel and copper that weigh up to 800,000 pounds and make it possible to move power long distances. Transformers were badly damaged in an attack on a California substation last year, and government reports have warned for years that saboteurs could cause sustained damage to the grid by targeting the massive machines.
Only a handful of companies build transformers in the U.S., and it can take weeks or months to ship transformers in from overseas. The manufacturing process itself can last more than a year, in part because a transformer can't be bought off the shelf but rather must be made to measure for its substation.  
There's actually a bigger story regarding transformers than terrorism, a story we've discussed before.

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Porsche Cars North America unit reports February sales increased 15% y/y to 3,232 vehicles.

Subaru of America reports February sales increased 24% y/y to 34,909 vehicles. 

Nine (9) Producing Wells Completed -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; EOG To Report Two Huge Parshall Wells Wednesday

Active rigs:


3/3/201403/03/201303/03/201203/03/201103/03/2010
Active Rigs18918420717096

No new permits issued today.

Wells coming off confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Nine (9) producing wells completed:
  • 20916, 2,361, HRC, Fort Berthold 151-94-34C-27-2H, Antelope, t1/14; cum 9K 12/13;
  • 24414, 2,856, Statoil, Garmann 19-18 4TFH, Banks, t2/13;  cum --
  • 24752, 1,377, ERF, Bobcat 150-94-04A-09H, Spotted Horn, t1/14; cum 16K 12/13;
  • 24784, 891, Hess, LK-Bice-147-97-1201H-3, Big Gulch, t2/14; cum 10K 12/13;
  • 24839, 758, CLR, Dolezal 3-5H, Chimney Butte, t2/14; cum --
  • 25312, 939, Hess, EN-WEyrauch A 154-93-1720H-8, Robinson Lake, t1/14; cum 10K 12/13;
  • 25422, 2,757, XTO, Alice 44X-34D, Siverston, t2/14; cum --
  • 25423, 2,798, XTO, Alice 44X-34H, Siverston, t2/14; cum --  
  • 25426, 996, Hess, EN-Nelson 155-94-3328H-3, Alkali Creek, t1/14; cum 14K 12/13;
Wells coming off the confidential list Tuesday:
  • 25335, drl, XTO, Martin Federal 21X-33B, Cedar Coulee, no production data,
  • 25541, drl, XTO, Clarence Federal 34X-7B, Haystack Butte, no production data,
  • 25802, drl, KOG, Koala Wold 153-97-1-5-9-15H, Banks, no production data,
  • 25896, 116, Denbury Onshore, CHSU 31B-27SHR 15, Cedar Hills, South Red River B, t10/13; cum 16K 12/13;
  • 25920, drl, Emerald, Hot Rod 4-27-26H, Boxcar Butte, 31K as of 12/13;
  • 26012, drl, Hess, HA-Chapin 152-95-3239H-4, Hawkeye, no production data,
Wells coming off the confidential list Wednesday:
  • 21529, 2,015, Newfield, Pittsburgh Federal 153-96-3-2H, Sand Creek, t11/13; cum 37K 12/13;
  • 21530, 2,058, Newfield, Pittsburgh Federal 153-96-3-3H, Sand Creek, t11/13; cum 26K 12/13;
  • 24076, 1.096, EOG, Austin 31-2919H, Parshall, a huge well; 175K in less than five months; t9/13; cum 175K 12/13;
  • 25526, drl, HRC, Fort Berthold 152-94-11B-14-7H, Antelope, no production data,
  • 25527, drl, Zavanna, Sylvester 32-29 3TFH, Springbrook, no production data,
  • 25651, 1,179, EOG, Austin 36-0532H, Parshall, t9/13; cum 96K 12/13;
  • 25676, 15, Whiting, Davidson 44-31H, Beach, a Red River well, t11/13; cum -- 
  • 25729, 570, Fidelity, Cindy 14-23H, Dickinson, t9/13; cum 32K 12/13;
  • 25803, drl, KOG, Koala Wold 153-97-1-5-8-15H3, Banks, no production data,
  • 25999, drl, Oasis, Kelter 7-1HTF3, Eightmile, no production data,
  • 26053, drl, CLR, Winston 5-12H1, Long Creek, no production data,
  • 26054, 768, Hess, BW-Thelma 150-99-3031H-2, South Tobacco Garden, t2/14; cum 10K 1/14;
  • 26255, 100, Legacy, Legacy Et Al Bernstein 12-7 2H, Red Rock, a Spearfish well, t9/13; cum 1/14;

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24076, see above, EOG, Austin 31-2919H, Parshall:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
1-20143235423014
12-20134609230704
11-20134734922334
10-2013392550
9-201399990

25651, see above, EOG, Austin 36-0532H, Parshall:

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
1-2014194844781
12-20131144531
11-2013340337951
10-2013248710
9-201355470

Bakken Pipeline Analysis -- Update -- Oil & Gas Journal

Updates

March 3, 2014: the WSJ had an almost identical article. It seems I've read it before; I don't know. Regardless, here is the WSJ article -- rail trumps pipeline in North Dakota

Original Post

This is a very, very good analysis of the Bakken pipeline, sent in by a reader. It is at The Oil & Gas Journal and may require a log-in. If it does and you don't have a subscription, take a phrase and google it. It's a very, very good page to save to your computer for archival purposes if interested in this stuff. Some data points:
More than 760,000 b/d, or 71%, of Williston basin production is leaving North Dakota by rail. This number dipped slightly as the WTI-Brent spread narrowed, but the spread between North Dakota light sweet and Brent was still wide enough to warrant prudent crude-by-rail shipments.
The majority of crude oil moving by rail within the US and Canada is from the Bakken. EPRINC estimates that of the 1.4-million b/d of crude oil and petroleum products moving via rail in the US alone, roughly 900,000 b/d is crude oil. Of the 700,000 b/d of crude oil and petroleum product moving via rail in Canada, about 160,000 b/d is crude oil. Together, 1-million b/d of crude is moving via rail in the US and Canada, 780,000 b/d of which is Bakken crude.
An additional 100,000 b/d is likely moving from other plays within the US (the Niobrara and Anadarko formations). Roughly 160,000 b/d is moving out of Canada to refineries within Canada, along the US East Coast, and increasingly to the Gulf Coast. And roughly 600,000 b/d of ethanol bound for the gasoline supply is also moved via rail.
Canadian railroads have not moved as quickly as US railroads to accommodate growing, discounted production in their backyard. Origin terminals are being planned and rapidly built in Canada, but only a few sites are currently available to unload and process heavy bitumen via rail. The most likely method for shipping bitumen via rail would be heated cars, avoiding diluent or condensate use, each of which add cost. Without the diluent, however, proper unloading of the rail cars requires heating, which in turn requires the necessary infrastructure at the unloading facility.
The story includes several graphics and spreadsheets. A very good source, again, for those interested in this stuff.

Another Month, Another ObamaCare Deadline; "1099-Jobs"; Another Derailment

US News & World Report is reporting:
Consumers can expect a relatively smooth experience on the site now, though the administration has admitted that issues still persist. In December, the White House completed a series of fixes that allows the site to handle up to 50,000 users at once, and the system was working 90 percent of the time, according to a Health and Human Services report.  
And that about says it all. I imagine Amazon, Google, Apple, and a few other Fortune 500 companies would be going broke if their on-line services were working 90 percent of the time. Can you imagine if your smartphone worked only 90% of the time?

And you know it is human nature to round up to make the numbers look better. If "they" say it works 90% of the time, one can assume it might be working 75% to 85% of the time.

Regardless of what side of the issue one is on with regard to ObamaCare, a website working 90% of the time isn't exactly reassuring.

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Wow, again, now folks at CashWise, Williston, the heart of the Bakken, again talking about ObamaCare hurting them. This is a young, slow-talking out-of-stater up here looking for a job. Huge complaints about ObamaCare. The older Willistonite retiree says young folks (like the one he is talking to) will be paying for the health care of old retirees like him. The older retiree is telling the younger worker he will end up on welfare. I honestly didn't think folks were all that concerned about ObamaCare here in the booming oil patch. They also talk about "1099-jobs" and that workers are being surprised by how much they owe the government. I've heard that more than once: folks not wanting to take "1099-jobs." That's the first I had heard of "1099-jobs" anywhere in the country. Interesting. A million stories in the Bakken.

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Derailment

By the way, there was another BNSF derailment yesterday: eastern Montana, empty coal cars. It turns out that, unlike highly flammable Bakken crude oil, empty coal cars do not burst into flame.

The Best Sports Restaurant Ever?

Dad treated us to another wonderful meal at the Williston Brewing Company yesterday, which made it two days in a row. It's an incredible sports restaurant. A few photos will be posted down at the bottom.

I tasted the two Williston brewed beers (I believe they are actually brewed in Bismarck, but that's close enough): the Williston Brewing Co Liquid Gold Seasonal and the Williston Brewing Co 1280 Ale. Of the two, the 1280 has much more flavor. Both are nice. I think if I lived in Williston, I would make it a goal to try 34 of the 40 beers on tap.

I think one could watch, on the big screens, any sport that might be playing somewhere -- in fact, I think, I recall seeing a soccer game.

But, not one screen was showing the NASCAR race. I understand the "traditional northwestern North Dakotan" might not be interested in NASCAR but there are a lot of folks from the south up here, and they might appreciate NASCAR.  I see Harvick won. They had the golf tournament; I see Tiger Woods pulled out of the final round due to back spasms at the 13th hole. It was good to see Russell Henley win the Honda Classic; tough match for Rory McIlroy. And then this about Tiger:
Tiger Woods' health -- He walked off the golf course on Sunday with back issues, adding another wrinkle to a long line of issues he's had with his knees, Achilles, back and various other parts of his body. Woods is a fighter, a guy that grinds out every round and hopes to improve it by one or two shots, so he isn't one to quit on a round, so this health thing is really becoming an issue for the No. 1 player in the world. Can you remember another top-notch golfer that had to deal with this many random injuries over his career?
How does one spell psychosomatic?

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Bathrooms At The American Brewing Company



Yes, I had the same thought.