The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: The Bakken -- Bigger and Better

Link here.

This story published back in March. Nice update of the Fed's feeling about the Bakken.

With additional formations below the Bakken that will produce oil, the Fed sees "at least an additional ten to twenty years of intense drilling and development, followed by several more decades of continued petroleum production.”

Remember: the "Basic Analysis of the Bakken" foresees intensive drilling through 2030 and then continued production through 2100. The "Basic Analysis" is linked at the sidebar on the right. 

Talk of Oil Industry Returning to Ohio: Just Talk?

This is not the type of article I expect to find at Rigzone. This is very, very interesting.

Most of northwest Ohio's oil is in a geological area known as the Lima-Indiana Field, characterized by Trenton limestone. The first major field discovered in North America, it runs from almost Toledo to Indianapolis.

Few people today may realize Ohio was America's leading oil-producing state from 1895 to 1903.

John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in the world in 1895, got his start in the Cleveland area with Standard Oil Co. in 1870. Ohio moved past its neighbor Pennsylvania, where Col. Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first commercially successful oil well, at Titusville, on Aug. 27, 1859.

Meridian, a subsidiary of Burlington Resources, was successful in bringing up more oil from that formation using horizontal hydraulic fracking in 1994, but not enough to make it economical. Meridian is a familiar name to those who follow the Bakken in North Dakota.

Updates

September 20, 2017: the linked Rigzone article above is no longer available, but the story is also here.  

Baker Hughes Beats Expectations -- 1Q11

Beats expectations, 87 cents vs 78 cents.

Earnings Central here. 

Petro Harvester LLC Enters The Bakken -- North Dakota, USA -- CEO, Founder/Former CEO of Denbury

Petro Harvester was listed in today's NDIC daily activity report assuming Sagebrush wells in Renville County, North Dakota. It is my impression that the wells are all Madison wells.

Petro Harvester LLC was launched in October, 2010.

HOUSTON - October 13, 2010 - TPG Capital ("TPG"), a leading global private investment firm, said today it has formed a new venture, Petro Harvester Oil & Gas, LLC, to invest in oil and gas producing properties in North America. TPG expects the company will acquire substantial exploration and production ("E&P") assets over the next several years. Petro Harvester Oil & Gas ("Harvester") will initially focus on conventional E&P assets where it believes there are opportunities to drive increased production through operational focus.

In February, 2011, Petro Harvester LLC acquired Sagebrush assets in Renville County, North Dakota. Renville County is west of Bottineau County (think Spearfish formation) and north of Williams and Mountrail Counties; it borders the Canadian border.

HOUSTON - February 14, 2011 - Petro Harvester Oil & Gas, LLC, an exploration and production company formed by TPG Capital to acquire mature oil and gas producing assets, today announced that it has acquired long-life oil properties located in the Williston Basin of North Dakota from a private seller. The acquisition includes 170 wells in 24 producing fields and approximately 35,000 gross acres. Petro Harvester also announced it will open an office in Denver, Colorado.

Here are a few data points about Petro Harvester LLC:

• The CEO: Gareth Roberts, the former co-chairman and CEO of Denbury Resources, the firm he founded in 1990. Mr. Roberts has more than 30 years of experience in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties with Texaco, Inc., Murphy Oil Corporation and Coho Resources, Inc.
• COO: Jim Sinclair. Mr Sinclair served as Vice President of Exploration and Geosciences at Denbury Resources.
• Their operations are located in two regions: along the Gulf Coast (where they have most of their experience) and Williston Basin.

This is from their website regarding their operations in Williston Basin:

In January 2011, Petro Harvester acquired a package of producing properties in the Williston Basin. The assets include production and acreage in over 20 fields with most of the current value in four concentrated areas where we have high working interests and operational controls. The acquisition includes interest in 145 wells that produce from depths of 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet. Current production is approximately 2,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Identified opportunities include infill drilling, new water flood and enhancement of existing floods, and multilateral drilling. Additional upside potential includes deeper tests, enhanced fracturing techniques, and field extension through 3-D seismic.

The Sagebrush acquisition appears to be all Madison wells in Renville County.

Credo Petroleum Ups Its Working Interest in Bakken Wells -- North Dakota, USA

From its press release:

The Company has recently added five new horizontal Bakken wells to its growing list of Bakken producers on the Fort Berthold Reservation, bringing the total to eight wells.

• While Credo's working interests in the new wells are small, ranging from 1% to 3%, its share of initial production from the four wells is about 140 BOEPD (barrels of oil equivalent per day). 
• Three of the five wells have been completed and had excellent initial production rates of over 1,500 boepd. 
• The fourth new producer, the Enerplus Ethan Hall, reported an initial production rate of 3,732 boepd.
• This marks the highest initial rate of any Credo Bakken well drilled to date and ranks among the highest rates among all Bakken wells. In addition to the four new producers, one new well is in its final stages of completion for production.

Working interest will increase

Credo's 2011 North Dakota Bakken drilling schedule includes six wells where its interest will range from 12% to 20%.

These wells will be drilled in the same area as the Company's small working interest Bakken producers and are expected to achieve similar results. They will be operated by large independents and a major oil company.

[The major oil company in this part of the Bakken is XOM -- when it acquired XTO. KOG also calls XOM it's partner. Maybe the Bakken oil companies need a Facebook account to keep track of all their "friends." Smile.]