"They" Really Are Stupid -- February 29, 2016

Senator Marco "GO8" Rubio is still campaigning to lift the US ban on oil. He apparently does not realize that ban has been lifted, and in fact, three ocean-going tankers have already taken US crude oil to Europe under terms of the lifted ban.

For almost three months the U.S. has been able to legally export crude oil, but Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio is still campaigning on lifting the ban.

Rubio told supporters he would lift the ban as president at a private fundraiser in Texas Friday, and his campaign website has an entire page devoted to the need to lift the ban. “I would also allow American oil producers to be able to export,” Rubio said, when asked what he would do about poor oil prices as president. “Right now we’re not allowed to export.”

Congress lifted the ban in December as part of the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill it passed. “Oil companies rush to exploit end of U.S. crude export ban,” reported Reuters in the wake of the vote that ended a 40-year ban on crude oil exports.

A subsection of Rubio’s energy policy on his website echoes his remarks. “So how can we usher in a 21st Century energy agenda? We can start by eliminating government-imposed barriers to energy production and economic growth,” the page reads, which is titled: “It’s Time To Lift The Crude Oil Export Ban.”

Folks may recall that Senator Rubio has good reason to be unaware of this. He has not been back in the Senate for record number of weeks.

And they call Trump a buffoon.

Marco Rubio has been added to the list of nominees for the 2016 Geico Rock Award. 

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Massachusetts Democrats Fleeing Party

Independents Can Vote In Either Democrat or GOP Primary

From a message board the day before Super Tuesday:

Two Things unrelated to each other, the second not worthy of a separate thread because there isn't much info yet.

One:

"Nearly 20,000 Bay State Democrats have fled the party this winter, with thousands doing so to join the Republican ranks, according to the state’s top elections official.

Secretary of State William Galvin said more than 16,300 Democrats have shed their party affiliation and become independent voters since January 1, 2016, while nearly 3,500 more shifted to the MassGOP ahead of tomorrow’s “Super Tuesday” presidential primary....

Galvin said the state could see as many as 700,000 voting in tomorrow’s Republican primary, a significant number given just 468,000 people are actually registered Republicans. In Massachusetts, unenrolled — otherwise known as independent — voters can cast a ballot in the primary of any party."

Two:

"Donald Trump has added a press conference at his Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Super Tuesday, fueling speculations of another high-profile endorsement. The billionaire will host separate campaign rallies in Ohio and Kentucky during the day Tuesday, before arriving in Florida. Some speculate that Florida Gov. Rick Scott could announce his support of Trump at the press conference, which is scheduled two weeks before Florida's Republican primary."

March, 2016, NDIC Hearing Dockets -- Highlights

I track the dockets here.

The NDIC index for the agendas for the hearing dockets is here. 

For newbies: during the boom, there were usually two to three days of hearing, and the agenda for each day was as many as 20 pages long. The March, 2016, hearings: two days; 6 pages of agenda for the first day, and 7 pages of agenda for the second day. Most of them are continued cases or pooling cases.

It is very, very quiet with regard to the dockets right now.

Highlights

Wednesday, March 23, 2016: six pages.

• 24899, MRO, McGregory Buttes-Bakken, a) allow up to 21 wells on a 2560-acre unit (sections 14/15/22/23 - 147-94; b) establish a 2560-acre overlapping unit with one well; Dunn County
• 24907, BR, Dimmick Lake-Bakken, 14 wells on a stand-up 2560-acre unit, as well as two more wells in an overlapping 2560-acre unit; McKenzie County

Thursday, March 24, 2016: seven pages. 

• 24951, Liberty Resources, Capa-Bakken, 12 wells on an existing 1280-acre unit, Williams County

The full summary will be provided later if I don't forget. 

New Post-Boom Low For Active Rigs In North Dakota: 35; Ten (10) New Permits; Five More DUCs Tuesday -- February 29, 2016

Active rigs:

	2/29/2016	02/29/2012	02/29/2008
Active Rigs	35	204	62

Ten (10) new permits:

• Operator: EOG
• Field: Antelope (McKenzie)
• Comment: see this post. 

Five (5) wells coming off confidential list Tuesday:

• 29684, SI/NC, Statoil, Cheryl 17-20 XW 1TFH, Banks, no production data,
• 31546, SI/NC, EOG, Austin 59-1509H, Parshall, no production data,
• 31550, SI/NC, SM Energy, Rufus 13B-9HN, West Ambrose, no production data,
• 31551, SI/NC, SM Energy, Russ 13-9HS, West Ambrose, no production data,
• 31828, SI/NC, EOG, Austin 463-1509H, Parshall, no production data,

Hess canceled three permits: three EN-Abrahamson wells, in Mountrail County.

One producing well completed:
30076, 1,082, BR, Elizabeth Stroh 44-7MBH, Cabernet, 4 sections, t2/16; cum -- 

• spud: August 17, 2015
• kick-off point: August 22, 2015
• TD: September 1, 2015
• target zone: 10 feet
• inside drilling target: 84%
• within target formation: 100%

Something For The Saudis To Think About This Week -- EOG With Ten (10) More Permits In The Hawkeye Oil Field -- February 29, 2016

The ten (10) new permits as of today:

29 Feb 16	32563	EOG	Hawkeye 112-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 542 FWL
29 Feb 16	32564	EOG	Hawkeye 115-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 692 FWL
29 Feb 16	32565	EOG	Hawkeye 118-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 842 FWL
29 Feb 16	32566	EOG	Hawkeye 152-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 892 FWL
29 Feb 16	32567	EOG	Hawkeye 153-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 942 FWL
29 Feb 16	32568	EOG	Hawkeye 154-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 992 FWL
29 Feb 16	32569	EOG	Hawkeye 155-2413H	Antelope	SWSW 24-152-95 250 FSL 1042 FWL
29 Feb 16	32570	EOG	Hawkeye 156-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 250 FSL 1092 FWL
29 Feb 16	32571	EOG	Hawkeye 11-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 300FSL 702 FWL
29 Feb 16	32572	EOG	Hawkeye 12-2413H	Antelope	Lot 4 24-152-95 300 FSL 752 FWL

The new pad will be located in this general area:

For newbies: in the better Bakken, we are starting to see upwards of 24 wells sited in one drilling unit, generally 1280- or 2560-acre units.

We will eventually see 48 wells in some of these drilling unit.

These permits were requested / issued during the Saudi Surge/Slump of 2014 - 2016 with no end to the glut seen until 2017, at the earliest.

Random Update Of Recently Completed Zavanna DUC -- February 29, 2016

This well is still shown as a DUC at the NDIC site, but FracFocus says it was fracked 9/11-24/2015:

• 28432, SI/NC, Zavanna, Tomahawk 10-3 3H, East Fork, 11.7 million gallons of water; 5.7% by weight of sand; no test date, cum 36K 12/15:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	12-2015	27	14846	14320	20077	14999	14282	315
BAKKEN	11-2015	26	21518	19820	32286	22851	17257	5207
BAKKEN	10-2015	2	0	0	3396	310	0	280

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Notes to the Granddaughters

I keep a list of words that I come across in my reading to share with Arianna, in preparation for the tests she will be taking a few years from now. Two things happen, and I think the first happens to everyone. When one discovers a new word, the word seems to start popping up everywhere.

Years ago, I first came across the word flaneur at a time in my adult life when I was doing lots of walking. I mean lots of walking. I was in northern England, single or at least alone, and I had nothing to do for long stretches at time, except to read and walk. I remember starting my walk some days at 7:30 a.m. and not returning home until 8:00 p.m. Some evenings, I honestly felt I could not walk another step and I had a real fear I would not make it home, falling from exhaustion. I honestly did not think one could become exhausted by simply walking, but one most assuredly can. I associate a flaneur with an urban walker, especially one who walks, not as a tourist, but as lifelong resident of a large city, like Paris, for example. Today while reading Sue Roe's The Private Lives of The Impressionists I was reminded (if I ever knew before, I can't recall) that Edouard Manet was a wealthy painter who loved to walk the streets of Paris. He was a flaneur.

The second thing that happens is I come across words that I use in everyday speech or grew up using but words that I never really stopped to think about.

Butte, for example.

I don't think I ever thought about the etiology of the word butte.

In that same book, just a few pages later:

He lunched every day at Tortini's on the boulevard des Italiens....and appeared again in the Café de Bade. This district, at the foot of the Butte -- hillside -- of Montmartre was where for half a century writers and artists, diplomats and financiers had gathered.

I never realized butte was a French word, but perhaps I was the only one. Whatever. Merriam-Webster spells the french word with one "t": bute.