New Jet Service Dickinson/Denver; Construction Update on Dickinson Bypass

The Dickinson Press reports:

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) announced Monday that United Airlines will begin offering twice-daily nonstop service from TRRA to Denver on June 6. The airline will use 50-seat United Express regional jet planes, a step up from the smaller aircraft used by Great Lakes Airlines for its routes to and from the same two cities.

The newspaper also reports construction on a bypass around Dickinson could begin as early as this summer:

Construction for a bypass around Dickinson may begin as soon as this summer, drawing travelers wishing to move from Interstate 94 to Highway 22 north away from the city and Third Avenue West.

The Dickinson City Commission voted to endorse a bypass route that travels along 33rd Street Southwest where it meets with Highway 22 until it meets with 116th Avenue where it meets Interstate 94, with an intermediate connection at 113th Avenue Southwest at its regular meeting Monday evening at City Hall.

With regard to the bypass, a reader notes three points (see Google maps, "116th Ave SW & 33rd St SW, Dickinson North, Stark, North Dakota 58601" also):

1) currently there is no connection between 116th Avenue and the interstate, suggesting a cloverleaf off the interstate will have to be built
2) further south on 116th Avenue, south of the interstate, northwest of the lake, is a large circular railroad track -- crude-by-rail loading terminal -- just a bit to the southeast of this "116th Ave SW & 37th St SW, Dickinson North, Stark, North Dakota 58601" on google maps
3) and, the reader thought he had recalled that it was the land directly west of this CBR facility where the MDU-Calumet diesel refinery is to be built

This story provides the general location for the new MDU-Calumet diesel refinery:

MDU and Calumet Specialty Products Partners of Indianapolis have scouted a 200-acre plot of land about five miles southwest of Dickinson on 116th Avenue Southwest.

Tuesday Morning Links

Active rigs: 182

Wells coming off the confidential list today have been posted; not particularly remarkable.

Carpe Diem: Energy Sector's Job Creation -- Staggering; The comments suggest that some people still don't get it; they're missing a lot of opportunities.

WSJ Links

Section D (Personal Journal): another long story on Lance.

Section C (Money & Investing):

Money funds beset by excess

Section B (Marketplace):

787 fires still a mystery

Section A:

The story of Richard III's bones has become quite a big deal. Years ago I was in my Shakespeare and English history phase. I was thrilled when Brenda James told me the real story of William Shakespeare. The front page of today's WSJ has three photos related to the bones, and the story is on page A10.

Op-ed: Michigan Union Tell-All

This is the memo sent to union members in Michigan: "Members who indicate they wish to resign in March, or whenever, will be told they can do so in August. We will use any legal means at our disposal to collect the dues owed under signed membership forms from any members who withhold dues prior to terminating their membership in August for the following fiscal year." Wow. Speaking of Richard III's bones above, maybe this will spur new interest in looking for Jimmy's bones.

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ATT data usage surges during Super Bowl: quite incredible, the stats

Lost Bridge Oil Field Has Been Updated

Some minor updates at the Lost Bridge oil field; nothing particularly interesting.

Bakken Strengthens With Shipment to Delaware; It Looks Like One Unit Train/Day From The Bakken; Another East Coast Refinery Railing in Bakken Oil

Link to Bloomberg.

Earlier today I noted that the spread between WTI/Bakken had narrowed to $3.15 at Clearbrook, MN. Note this article regarding pricing:

Bakken oil on the spot market strengthened to its narrowest discount to the U.S. benchmark crude in six weeks as PBF Energy Inc. expects to receive its first rail shipment from North Dakota at its Delaware refinery.

PBF finished construction on the second train unloading terminal at its 182,800-barrel-a-day Delaware City refinery, the company said in a statement. PBF expects to unload its first unit train of Bakken oil this week, with 17 more scheduled to arrive in the next two weeks.

Bakken oil priced in Clearbrook, Minnesota, narrowed its discount to West Texas Intermediate in Cushing, Oklahoma, by 15 cents, to $3.10 a barrel at 12:13 p.m. New York time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The spread between the two oils changed for the first time in two weeks and is the smallest since Dec. 20. 

Meanwhile, at the linked article, Western Canada Select (WCS), a mixture of heavy crudes from Alberta, is selling at a $30 discount to WTI. 

The article says that the Seaway expanded to 400,000 bbls/day but I thought that had been delayed until 4Q13; more to follow.

The spread began growing last week after Bill Ordemann, a vice president for Enterprise Product Partners LP, said restrictions at the Seaway pipeline’s Jones Creek terminal in Texas would last until a new pipeline lateral is finished in late 2013. 

Light Louisiana Sweet oil is selling at a premium of about $20 to WTI.

Another Oil Play That Could Be Bigger Than The Bakken: The Canol

Updates

May 28, 2015: first assessment.  

The first assessment of the unconventional resource potential of two shales in the Canadian Northwest Territories has shown large amounts of petroleum resources. The assessment of the Bluefish and the Canol Shales, carried out jointly by The National Energy Board (NEB) and Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS) assessed the resources at an impressive 191 billion barrels.

The assessment of the two shales, carried out jointly by The National Energy Board  and Northwest Territories Geological Survey showed that the volume of oil-in-place for the Canol Shale is estimated to be 145 billion barrels; the thinner Bluefish Shale is expected to contain 46 billion barrels of oil-in-place.

The amount of recoverable oil was not estimated because well-test results are not yet publicly available and there is still uncertainty about whether the shales are capable of production. However, if only one percent of the in-place resource was recovered from the Canol Shale, it would represent a marketable resource of 1.45 billion barrels.

So, it appears they are suggesting about 200 billion bbls OOIP with a recovery rate of 1% providing about 1.45 billion bbls. To put that in perspective, most "everyone" agrees that the Williston Basin Bakken boasts 500 billion bbls OOIP and operators are currently easily getting 3% recovery, and maybe much more. Of course, the official surveys (USGS) do not agree with 500 billion bbls OOIP in the Williston Basin, so it's possible that the Canol Shale / Bluefish Shale is similar in size to the Williston Bakken. 

June 3, 2014: update. Includes notes on the Bluefish in the same play. 

February 5, 2013: MGM Energy spuds exploratory well in the Canol. 

Original Post

From SeekingAlpha.com, an update on the Canol Basin, in the far north of Canada. The writer posted an introduction to the Canol oil shale last month.

The emerging Canol oil shale is poised to challenge the Bakken and Eagle Ford plays as one of North America's largest oil shale deposits when the super majors unveil their significant positions this winter. The Canol is a high quality shale reservoir which covers a larger area than the Eagle Ford and has better reservoir parameters than either of its southern rivals. This oil play in Canada's North West Territories (NWT) offers risk tolerant investors the possibility of a high impact investment opportunity which has not shown up on investors' radar screens because the majors who control the play are not as prone to self promotion as junior and mid-sized companies. As a result, the potential value of the play may not be reflected in their stock prices.

Today, the update: 

This play potentially exceeds the Bakken and Eagle Ford, but is unusual in that it is controlled by the major oil companies with only one small company involved. Very little information has been released to base an evaluation upon as companies were competing to accumulate land positions. That is about to change, as the play is now in the de-risking stage of development with five wells presently being drilled and/or tested.