An Update On Slawson's Torpedo Pad -- August 24, 2018

Original link here.

Now, from The Bismarck Tribune --

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior as the tribe continues to challenge oil wells that tribal leaders say were drilled too close to Lake Sakakawea.

The tribe is exhausting its appeals after the Bureau of Land Management approved oil wells that are closer to the lake than tribal regulations allow, MHA Chairman Mark Fox said in an interview on Wednesday.

“We’re doing our best to battle and protect our land and our reservation,” said Fox, who is running for a second term as chairman. “We have a lot to protect.”

Slawson Exploration Co. has completed drilling 12 oil wells near the Van Hook arm of Lake Sakakawea near New Town and has plans to begin hydraulic fracturing on Oct. 1, said Eric Sundberg, the company’s vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs.

From the news story:

Slawson’s well pad, known as the Torpedo Federal pad, was originally sited for 600 feet from the lake but was pushed back to about 800 feet from the lakeshore during the regulatory review, Sundberg said. The wells are more than 1,000 feet from the lake, he said. A U.S. Air Force missile cable prevented the pad from being located farther north, Sundberg said.

Something tells me there have been a lot of surveyors (and others) out in that area stepping off the distance.

Whiting Bucks Trend: Reducing Proppant In The Bakken; Bakken Holds On To Top Spot Among IRRs -- Platts -- August 24, 2018

If I had time to read only one Bakken story today, this would be it. A huge thanks to Geoff Simon for spotting it and sending it on.

Link here. Data points:

• Whiting reduces frack sand by 30% per well
• reduces capex by about $400K per well
• Bakken holds on to top spot among IRRs -- "So, what don't you want." Link here.
  

But, wow, look at this:

Whiting is one of the largest producers in North Dakota's Bakken Shale where it holds more than 400,000 acres. In the company's Hidden Bench play, located in the core of the Bakken in McKenzie County, it has been able to reduce proppant by about 50% and still maintain similar rates of production. It discovered that it could achieve the same production levels on new wells using 7.3 million pounds of sand as it did with 15.2 million pounds.

If the only thing you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

If you "work smart," you may not need a hammer.

This is an incredibly good article. Archived. 

Geoff Simon's Top North Dakota Energy Stories This Past Week -- August 24, 2018

Bakken longevity study: decades to go. If oil prices remain around the $60 per barrel mark, North Dakota can expect drilling activity to continue a few more decades based on today's drilling economics. If you click on this link, a PDF will download on your desktop. The numbers are quite staggering.

Production surge this fall -- Lynn Helms. It's all about natural gas.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Click here and advance to the 28:30 mark to listen to the full interview with Lynn Helms. At this link, go to the "audio" and click on the "go arrow" and "manually" advance to the 28:30 mark.

Bakken gas production to keep growing. he rich natural gas from Three Forks and Bakken plays is producing substantial investment in natural gas production and processing plants in western North Dakota. 

Processed gas produced in the Bakken yields a bounty of natural gas liquids, amounting to 400,000 barrels of NGLs per day.

“There's a lot of value in Bakken and Three Forks natural gas -- it's better quality," said ND Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad. "It takes years to develop the system. Investments in technology (over the last several years) are one reason midstream companies are coming on line this year.”

Kringstad said two plants are coming on line in 2018, and four more will be completed next year. And he said "in 2020 we may see more development.”

Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said production and processing will continue to grow as obstacles on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation are solved.

Click here to read about steady rig numbers in US natural gas plays.

Click here to see the Energy Information Administration charts on August Bakken oil and gas.

Regional chool enrollment takes big jump.

• Williston:
• more than 250 new students joined the school district this fall
• preliminary figures show about 4,370 students are enrolled in this fall
• last spring: 4,100 students
• Watford City
• this fall: 1,813 students
• last spring: 1,531 students
• Alexander:
• student enrollment jumped nearly 10%
• this fall: 257
• last spring: 238
• biggest increase in the elementary grades
• Killdeer:
• this fall: 558
• last spring: 485

Whiting With Three New Permits -- August 24, 2018

Active rigs:

$68.63↑	8/24/2018	08/24/2017	08/24/2016	08/24/2015	08/24/2014
Active Rigs	62	54	31	74	192

Three new permits:

• Operator: Whiting, Windridge (first mentioned on the blog June 30, 2017)
• Field: Pembroke (McKenzie); Portal (Burke)
• Comments: Whiting has permits for another 3-well Knut Berg Trust pad in NENE 28-149-98 (see graphic below); Windridge has permits for a 2-well Mallard pad (middle Bakken) in Lot 3/5-163-92;

Name change: this is interesting --

• #31249, EOG, was "West Clark 201-01SWD" is now West Clark 105-0136H; my hunch is that EOG wells in the 2xx series are SWD wells; in the 1xx series, Three Forks; this well was drilled/tested back in mid-2016; didn't produce much and taken off-line; this was given a waiver to lay idle while EOG decided what to do with the well; in a July 17, 2018, letter, the NDIC told EOG it had to come up with a detailed plan for this well by August 15, 2108, and the well must be brought into compliance by November 1, 2018, or the NDIC will begin proceedings to have this well P & A. Update, TA, no production.

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

General Location For Whiting's Proposed Knut Berg Trust Wells

Completed wells of interest in the area:

• 21443, 2,036, Whiting, Smokey 14-21-33-14H, Pembroke, t11/12; cum 216K 6/18;
• 21440, 1,404, Whiting, Smokey 14-21-33-14H3, Pembroke, t11/12; cum 139K 6/18;

• 20596, 101 (no typo), Whiting, Smokey 15-22-34-15H, Pembroke, t1/12; cum 233K 6/18;

• 20516: a failed frack the first time around (2011); a second lateral drilled and re-fracked (2013)

Williston's Weekly Economic Report -- August 24, 2018

Booming, from myndnow:

Oil and gas production is near record levels and the economy is showing impressive strength as well. 

Is this the dawn of a new oil boom in North Dakota? Jim Olson set out to find the answer in Williston.  "Things have definitely picked up for us," said John Lisle of S&B Drilling. "In 2015 we had three employees. In 2016 we had 12. And now we're up to 20 employees." It's the same story for Katie Kringen. 

"We turn two in the fall and we have 14 therapists here," said Kringen. That's up from 2016 when she started her pediatric therapy office as the only employee. 

Airport opening on track, from myndnow:

The new, quarter-billion dollar Willilston Basin International Airport is going to be open by the target date of October 10 of 2019. "It's difficult but we've got a good team and they're making good decisions and we've got good contractors that are working hard out there and we're not going to fail, we're going to get this project done," said Klug. The $230M to $250M project is being paid by federal (50%), state (25%), and local governments (25%).

NG plants: previously reported, but now from NPR:

More natural gas processing plants are coming on-line in the Bakken.

State pipeline authority director Justin Kringstad said two are being completed this year, and four others are scheduled next year. The two plants in 2018 are scheduled to come on-line in the September-October time frame," Kringstad said. "They will add 400 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas processing." Kringstad said the total investment in those two facilities is $300 million. "The additional four plants (in 2019) will bring that total to 965 mcf for all six plants," Kringstad said. "The total investment is $1.3 billion." 

Oil #1 in North Dakota, from 24/7 Wall Street:

Due to new horizontal drilling methods used in North Dakota's Bakken shale formation, the region has fueled historic economic growth in the state. In the last five years, North Dakota's oil and gas extraction industry has grown by over 150%. Over the same period, North Dakota's total GDP shot up 24.1%, the strongest economic growth of any state and more than double the GDP growth of 10.5% nationwide.