Another 3-Well Pad Permit for Hess; Update on Another Stroh Well (Anschutz)

Today's daily activity report had two interesting data points.

First, Hess was awarded three permits for a multi-well pad:

• EN-Reitch-157-94-3229H-1
• EN-Reitch-157-94-3229H-2
• EN-Reitch-157-94-3229H-3
• All three located in section 32-157-94. 

These are in the Pleasant Valley oil field which I know little about. Time for a bit of research,  I guess.  Okay, here it is. Hess has a six-well multi-well pad in Pleasant Valley oil field just one section north of these three new permits. Of the six (they are the EN-Dolan and EN-Fisher wells; one has been completed and is on the confidential list (a long lateral) and one has a rig on site (September 21, 2010). Something tells me Hess must have hit something very, very nice with 18776, EN-Dolan-157-94-2833H-1, to request three more wells in the immediate area.

By the way, "EN" means East Nesson, which is in the Sanish. For other Hess nomenclature in the Bakken click here. 

The six-well multi-pads are a wonder to behold. The pads are huge, and rectangular; in this case (Dolan and Fisher) running east-west. The rig literally just moves from site to site, in this case, again from east to west. In a six-well multi-pad, three horizontal wells will run directly north and three will run directly south. They will target the Bakken formation and the Three Forks Sanish formation (both in the Bakken pool). 

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The second data point was Anschutz well, file #18424, Kenneth Stroh 1-12-1H-143-97, which came off the confidential list. The only data provided was that the well reached its total depth (TD) at 19,867 feet (a long lateral). However, we know that the IP of this well was 2,409 from another source. Click here to see that source and why the Kenneth Stroh has my interest.



Walk, Don't Run, The Ventures

By the way, I am thrilled with the stock quote gadget on the sidebar at the right. Of the ones listed in the sidebar widget, I accumulate CLR and NOG. I recently opened a small position in EOG and will be adding to that position. I trade in and out of WHX for the dividend. I accumulate ENB, and although EEP is a relatively new holding, it is likely that it will become a long-term holding, again, for its dividend.

Monthly Unemployment Numbers -- Not Getting Better (August, 2010)

The job picture got worse in 27 states -- this is a worse report than last month. In fact it's much worse considering the recession ended last June (2009), and considering the number of states whose unemployment actually worsened.

A total of 27 states reported higher unemployment rates in August, nearly double the 14 that saw increases in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly report on state unemployment Tuesday.

North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska continue to report the lowest unemployment among the states.

And two of these three states have no oil.

And one of these three states has much less productive farmland than the other two. And no oil.

Getting back to the unemployment report: thirteen states now belong to the "10% club." Last month it was "only" eleven states.  The two new states to join the "10% or greater unemployment" are Kentucky and Georgia.

Nevada, Michigan, and California are #1, #2, and #3, respectively.

With regard to the "recession ending in June of last year, I am pretty much convinced, that within the strict definition of a recession (a decline in two or more consecutive quarters) we are headed for a second recession in the very near future or we are already back in a recession. Even if we don't hit the mark exactly (a decline in two or more consecutive quarters) the growth is going to be so anemic that for all practical purposes, it would be considered a recession by most folks. The GDP is reported out to tenth or hundredth percentage; I don't feel a change of a few tenths or hundredths of a percent is statistically significant nor reproducible. It's hard to convince me that the recession ended last June when GDP is graphed with inflation taken into account: this graph suggests an obvious downturn for the past two quarters. [Update, September 23, 2010: I must be in good company. Warren Buffett agrees -- we are still in a recession. And Congress deciding not to vote on extending tax cuts tells me the recession will get worse. It's as much psychological as anything, and businesses are very, very nervous; they won't hire.]

Politically, would it have been better for the recession not to have ended last June? To me, going forward, incumbents are faced with two equally bad situations: a) explaining to their constituents why 15% still don't have jobs when we are no longer in a recession; of, b) explaining why they let the US economy slip into another recession so soon after the most recent recession (the so-called "double dip").

Connecting the Anschutz/Stroh Dots in the Cabernet Oil Field (Bakken, North Dakota, USA)

This is a complicated note; if you have a second screen, put up the NDIC GIS map server as you connect these dots about some incredible Anschutz wells in the Cabernet and Fayette oil fields. 

Coming off the confidential list today, Anschutz reported a great well in the Cabernet oil field:

• 18424, 2,409, Anschutz, Kenneth Stroh 1-12-1H-143-97, Cabernet, Bakken  
• There is a second well on this pad, 18423, the Raphael Stroh 1-13--24H-143-97

Last month, in the August 13, 2010, daily activity report:

• 18395, 2,207, Anschutz, Kathleen Stroh 1-20-17H-143-95, Murphy Creek, but right on the border with the Cabernet oil field, Bakken

So, Anschutz reports two nice wells in (or right on the border of) the Cabernet oil field.

Hold that thought. 

Back on August 5, 2010, I wrote that one of the best blogs ever posted regarding the Bakken referenced the Anschutz in the Cabernet field and was posted by "Teegue", dated September 17, 2009. I linked that posting from the very beginning.

In August, one year after Teegue posted his note about Anschutz in the Cabernet, Anschutz reported a great well, a well that had produced 40,000 barrels before it was even fracked (I don't have an update regarding production to date and whether it has been fracked):

• 18644, State 1-25-36H-144-97X, Cabernet, 24-144-97, 3,294, 40k in 40 days, un-fracked

Now, back to that thought I asked to you to hold: in the immediate area, but in the Fayette oil field, Anschutz has four more permits:

• 18611: DRL, OXY USA, Evelyn Stroh 1-17-20H-143-96, Dunn
• 18610: DRL, OXY USA, Harry Stroh 1-8-5H-143-96, Dunn
• 18503: PNC, Burlington Resources, Cecilia Stroh 1-18-19H-143-96, Dunn
• 18463: PNC, Burlington Resources, Elizabeth Stroh 1-7-6H-143-96, Dunn

BR contested these Anschutz permits and went to the NDIC in August, 2010, to have these permits permits revoked. With such great wells, I can understand why. I discussed that at Gun Fight at the OK Corral. I have not heard the results of that hearing but until told otherwise, I will assume these are still Anschutz wells.

Now, add this to the mix (all of the following are in the  Fayette oil field) and they are all Anschutz wells:

• 18822, 1,304, State 1-16-21H-143-96, Dennis Kadrmas 1-9-4H-143-96; s 6/10; t 1/11; 76K 6/11
• 18823, 906, State 1-16-21H-143-96; spud 6/10; tested 4/11; 70K as of 6/11

and in the last few weeks, Anschutz has obtained permits for two more wells just to the east of these wells:

• 19422, DRL, OXY USA, Beatrice Kubischta 1-15-22H-143-96
• 19423, DRL, OXY USA, Elroy Kadmas 1-10-3H-143-96

and a bit earlier, Anschutz had obtained permits for two more wells in the Fayette oil field:

• 18772, spud 11/3/10, confidential, Leiss 1-23-26H-143-96
• 18773, spud 11/1/10, confidential, William Kubischta 1-14-11H-143-96

18822 and 18823 are on the same pad; 19422 and 19423 are on the same pad; 18772 and 18773 are on the same pad. 

It's taken a bit of time, but it's starting to come together. These Anschutz wells are about as far southeast in the Bakken as one gets. One wonders if the Williston Basin, at one time being one huge sea or lake, if this area was more shallow, and maybe a thicker formation. I am not a geologist and if I had the time, I suppose one could go back to all the geological links at this site, but that's more than I care to do right now.

Regardless how it all plays out, it appears that (where the Cabernet, Fayette, and Murphy Creek come together in the southeast area of the Bakken) there is another "hot spot" in the Bakken.  It looks like it's "owned" by Anschutz. By the way, just as the Bakken tends to end to the southeast (in this area), the TFS formation continues south and east.

Montana's Drought Advisory Committee Canceled Due To Rain

I really, really apologize for posting this on the "All the Bakken All the Time" blog but it helps explain why I am so anti-government on some issues, and anti-government on all issues where the government is just plain dumb, as seen here. 

Montana state's Drought Advisory Committee is required to meet, but the committee canceled its September meeting due to rain.

"Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger, the committee's chairman, said Monday that the state's water resources have finally recovered after a decade of drought and near-drought conditions.

Bohlinger says the committee will hold its mandatory October meeting to summarize the year's good news and look ahead to the fall and winter."

I can't make this stuff up.

One wonders how much taxpayer's money is misspent on such craziness. Worse, when these committees meet, they feel the need to do something, which eventually results in higher costs somewhere down the road. Multiply this very small amount to an incredible amount at the federal level and one starts to see why I sometimes get upset.

Thank you for letting me rant one more time today.

How about those Chicago Cubs?

Administration's Unemployment Policies Continue to Work (Daily Rant -- Nothing To Do With The Bakken)

The president's admonition to corporations to think twice about holding conventions in Las Vegas appears to have worked.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the unemployment rate increased during the month of August, from 14.3 percent in July, to 14.4 percent, the highest in the nation. It was 13 percent last year July, 2009, about the time corporations were admonished to watch their spending.

What makes this number even worse is the fact that at least 10,000 Nevadans left the labor pool in August. They have given up; they are no longer looking for work in Nevada.

My rant for the day.

I can't make this stuff up.

(Imagine where this economy would be if we had a pro-growth, pro-business administration, and a shorter leash on regulators, particularly the EPA. On the other hand, for investors, a great opportunity to accumulate shares in some great companies.)