Bakken Technology Taken Worldwide

Elsewhere I have posted that technology developed in the Bakken is being used worldwide.

Yes, among all the other "stuff" about the Bakken, one of the little known facts is that drillers first learned how to exploit shale oil by work in the Bakken. First, they went horizontally. Later, someone came up with the idea of fracturing.

I haven't kept track of all the stories where "Bakken technology" is now being used around the world, but perhaps I should start. What better place than to start with a story about Hess, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, who drilled the Iverson well in 1951 (they started drilling in September, 1950), which started the oil industry in North Dakota.

Hess will join China's largest oil company in exploring for oil in China according to Bloomberg.

Hess and PetroChina will work with dense rock in the Daqing oil field, a formation that’s similar to the Bakken basin in North Dakota, where Hess is already exploring, according to a Hess spokesman.

Also, according to the Bloomberg story:

Hess produces more than 16,000 barrels of oil a day in the Bakken formation. The company has similar exploration operations in tight rocks in a basin near Paris and plans to start drilling in France in the first quarter of next year, according to the Hess spokesman.

Something tells me if the EPA shuts down fracturing in the US, China and France  will keep pressing forward. Sort of like what's happening n the coal energy arena and the global warming story.

Week 37: September 14 - September 20, 2010

Things On My Mind, Six Months Later

Elk Oil Field

Where Do We Stand in the Bakken, After a Particularly Tough Week (on the stock market)

North Dakota Oil Production Hits New Record

Five Whiting Wells in One Section

One Million Barrels/Day by 2020? TransCanada Commits to Carrying Bakken Oil

Link to a Most Poignant Post on Another Board

A huge "thank you" to "Bradaz" and "Billoutwest" over on the Teague "Bakken Shale Discussion Group" for their posts of September 24, 2010.

Their posts are most poignant. I found myself having to "time-out" to reflect before pressing on.

None of us will ever forget.

Quiet in the Oil Patch

There's a nice article on oil "supply and demand" in a general sense over at Street Watch.com. I tried to find a better place to link the article, but nothing seemed to work, so the link will get a stand-along post.

The author says things are relatively quiet on the surface in the oil patch, but behind the scenes a lot is going on. I agree completely, and I hope my multiple postings suggest that. Outside of technology, I think the two biggest things going on in the oil patch: 1) scramble to raise money to expedite drilling programs; and, b) merger and acquisition activity (XOM/XTO; DNR/ENC; CHK/SSN; Anschutz/TBD; HES/AEZ; ERF/FBIR).

Most interesting is the author's contention that "supply and demand" is fairly well balanced. Perhaps it is in the big scheme of things when compared to wars and OPEC embargoes, but there are many analysts suggesting there is a lot of oil sloshing around out there, waiting for the global economy to take off.

Enerplus -- Deja Vu All Over Again

I love it when the Motley Fool sees the same thing I do (a rare event, yes, I know).

One or two days ago I pointed out that Enerplus just paid $10,000/acre in the Bakken for some acreage in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Today, there's an article at the Motley Foot site that hgihlights that same data point. The Fool says that data point helps one determine the value of other Bakken players, such as BEXP and NOG.