Martha McSally -- July 1, 2015

Looking for this, I ran across something very interesting for those with an interest in USAF.

Link here.

Many, many story lines. Maybe I will get back to this someday with a note for the granddaughters.

Chesapeake Sells Assets In Western Oklahoma For Almost $1 Billion -- July 1, 2015

Denver Business Journal is reporting:

FourPoint Energy LLC said Wednesday is has signed agreements to pay $840 million for assets owned by two subsidiaries of Chesapeake Energy Corp. — boosting the private Denver company’s position in Oklahoma’s Western Anadarko Basin.

The $840 million purchase price actually covers three transactions involving Denver’s FourPoint for the assets of Chesapeake Exploration LLC and CHK Cleveland Tonkawa LLC, two subsidiaries of Oklahoma City-basked Chesapeake Energy.

FourPoint will get interest in about 1,500 producing wells in western Oklahoma in the Cleveland, Tonkawa and Marmaton rock formations. The wells produce the equivalent of an average 21,500 barrels of oil per day, split between oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

The assets cover nearly 250,000 net acres of mineral rights, centered on Roger Mills and Ellis counties in western Oklahoma.

The acquisition boosts FourPoint’s footprint in the Western Anadarko Basin, an area in western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, to more than 400,000 net acres, about 4,600 wells, and a net production estimated at the equivalent of 260 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. About half the production will be crude oil and natural gas liquids.

In Some Places This Is Called Extortion -- July 1, 2015

It costs about one million dollars ($1 million) to lay one mile of crude oil pipeline in the Bakken.

See story at Bakken.com:

A second operator in the Bakken was granted a flaring exemption today due to a pipeline that Oneok was unable to complete due to right-of-way constraints.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission voted unanimously to “stay consistent” and allow Oxy USA to avoid penalties due to its flared gas on wells affected by Oneok’s cancelled gas pipeline project on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. In May, the commission granted a similar request from XTO Energy.

Oneok was forced to halt the proposed pipeline after it was unsuccessful in obtaining an easement from the Three Affiliated Tribes for a 1.8-mile section near Killdeer, despite Oneok’s offer to pay nearly $10 million a mile – 20 times the going rate.

“As opposed to a payment for use of the land,” Helms said, “they wanted a tariff on every mcf of gas that moved through that pipeline during the life of the pipeline, and that was just a no-go with the operators.”

Oneok’s plan B involved rerouting the pipeline across 4.8 miles of federal land but was again denied approval. It is now constructing a new gas plant in Dunn County off the reservation to handle the gas.

Though Oxy asked to avoid flaring penalties on its affected wells in Dunn County until the third quarter of 2016 when Oneok plans to have its gas plant constructed, the commission only granted relief for six months, believing that further construction within the Bakken this summer may provide other means of gas capture for the operator. The exemption only applies to wells that were in production when Oxy became aware of the cancelled pipeline in February.

The bottleneck caused by the failed pipeline project also affects Marathon, Continental Resources, ConocoPhillips (doing business in North Dakota as Burlington Resources) and Newfield Exploration.

The state’s Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms told the commission he expects to receive flaring exemption applications from these operators as well.

Twelve (12) New Permits; EOG With Another 54-Stage Frack; 13 Million Pounds Sand -- July 1, 2015

Active rigs:

	7/1/2015	07/01/2014	07/01/2013	07/01/2012	07/01/2011
Active Rigs	76	189	192	215	172

Four (4) wells coming off confidential list Thursday:

• 28316, 305, EOG, Parshall 147-1608H, Parshall, ICO, 1920-acre proposed, 54 stages, 13 million lbs, t1/15; cum 94K 5/15;
• 28763, drl, Hess, HA-Thompson-152-95-1720H-10, Hawkeye, no production data,
• 30112, drl, XTO, Raymond 21X-5FXG, Dollar Joe, no production data,
• 30314, SI/NC, EOG, Fertile 80-0905H, Parshall, no production data, 

Twelve (12) new permits --

• Operators: CLR (10), SM Energy, XTO
• Fields: Brooklyn (Williams), Banks (McKenzie), West Ambrose (Divide), North Fork (McKenzie)
• Comments: two more Brooklyn permits for CLR; looks like an 8-well pad (or two 4-well pads) for CLR in Banks 25-152-99); it appears these CLR permits for 25-152-99 "replace" permits in the same area that had been canceled;

One (1) producing well completed:

• 29107, 695, Hess, EN-Uran A-154-93-2215H-12, Robinson Lake, t5/15; cum 5K 5/15

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

28316, see above, EOG, Parshall 147-1608H, Parshall:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
5-2015	11737	8120
4-2015	16481	12265
3-2015	33852	15877
2-2015	26330	12921
1-2015	5818	454

Saudi Pays Surprise Visit To Russia -- July 1, 2015

Saudi pays Russia a surprise visit.

The news from the recent St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which took place from June 18 to 20, inspired a torrent of speculation on the future direction of energy prices.

But the real buzz at the conference was the unexpected but much publicized visit of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, as an emissary of the King. The Prince, who is also his country’s Defense Minister, carried the royal message of a direct invitation to President Putin to visit the King, which was immediately accepted and reciprocated, with the Prince accepting on behalf of his father.

It would be news enough that the unusually high level delegation from a long-time ally and protectorate of the U.S., like Saudi Arabia, was visiting a Russian sponsored economic conference, in a country sanctioned by the U.S.

Some saw this well publicized meeting as the first sign of an emerging partnership between the two greatest global oil producers. If the warmth of the meeting was any evidence, it seems likely that Russia, a non-OPEC producer, might come a lot closer to the fold.

That could mean that, at the very least, Russia would have a voice in the cartel’s policy decisions on production. And if so, it would be a voice on the side of stable but rising prices.

The great Indian journalist, M.K. Bhadrakumar (MKB), may have been the first to point out that there was plenty of reasons for the Saudis and Russians to come closer together. Among these are the U.S.’ diminishing dependence on Middle Eastern energy, due to the momentous development of shale resources. There’s also the over-riding goal of the U.S. to pivot toward the East, where a huge economic transformation is unfolding, while reducing the U.S. role in the Middle East. It’s clear that the Saudis are going to have to make new friends.

MKB also makes the point that although the Saudis are wildly opposed to any form of U.S. entente with Iran, the clear-eyed Kremlin understands that there are many temptations for its erstwhile ally, Iran, to move much closer to the west.

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

 

Before l left for the day, I left this link for readers -- talk about a lot of story line:

• US crude oil production jumps (despite all efforts to rein it in)
• about 50% of US crude oil production comes from shale; about a third of that comes from the Bakken
• US crude oil stores jump (unexpectedly; Reuters had predicted a decrease)
• refinery operations near capacity
• gasoline stores decrease

Disclaimer: I often have my facts wrong. I often make factual and typographical errors. If this information is important to you, go to the source.