NDIC Hearing Dockets For March, 2022

Usual disclaimer applies: I do this quickly for my benefit. I do not expect readers to read this summary. There will be content and typographic errors. I used shorthand that may be confusing.  For all I know the links may not even be correct. I haven't checked them in quite awhile. In a long note like this there will be content and typographical errors. If this is important to you, go to the source.

Link here. 

Wednesday, January 1, 2022
Seven Pages

Cases, not permits.

 

Thursday, March 24, 2022, supplement:

• 29278, CLR, pooling, St Demetrius-Bakken

Thursday, March 24, 2022, supplement:

• 29268, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29269, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29270, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29271, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29272, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29273, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29274, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29275, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29276, McKenzie County Grazing Association: conversion to freshwater well;
• 29277, Sarah Short Sarbacker: conversion to freshwater well;

Thursday, March 24, 2022:

• 29251, True,NDIC, authorizing Samson Oil and Gas USA, Inc, temporary authority to rework and use the Mays #1-20H (file # 15646), section 28-150-102; McKenzie County, as a combined production/injection well for an enhanced oil recovery pilot operation in the Foreman Butte-Madison pool.
  
• 29252, CLR, St Demetrius-Bakken, amend field rules, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 36-142-99 and sections 1/12-141-99; four wells; Billings County
• 29253, CLR, St Demetrius-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 35-142-99 and sections 2/11-141-99; four wells, Billings County
• 29254, CLR, St Demetrius-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 34-142-99 and sections 3/10-141-99; four wells, Billings County;
• 29255, CLR, St Demetrius-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 33-142-99 and sections 4/9-141-99; four wells, Billings County
• 29256, CLR, Bullsnake-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 31-142-98 and sections 6/7-141-98; four wells; Billings County
• 29257, RimRock Oil & Gas, Twin Buttes-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1600-acre unit, E/2 of section 21 and all of sections 22/23-147-92; two wells, Dunn County
• 29258, Hunt, Zahl-Bakken, establish three overlapping 2560-acre units, 1) 1/12/13/24; 2) 2/11/14/23; and, 3) 3/10/15/22-159-101, ten wells on each unit, a total of 30 wells, illiams County;
• 29259, White Rock, Grassy Butte-Tyler, commingling
• 29260, CLR, pooling
• 29261, CLR, pooling
• 29262, CLR, pooling
• 29263, CLR, St Demetrius-Bakken, establish an overlapping 1920-acre unit, section 33-142-99 and sections 4/9-141-99; four wells, Billings County;
• 29264, CLR, pooling
• 29265, KODA Resources, SWD
• 29266, Ovintiv, commingling,
• 29267, Ovintiv, commingling,
  

Wednesday, March 23, 2022:

• 29230, True, spacing, Northern State well, file #37495, NWNE 36-148-102, McKenzie County
• 29231, MRO, Killdeer-Bakken, establish a 1600-acre unit; W/2-16/21, NW/4 sections 28, E/2 sections 17/20 and NE/4 of se tion 29-145-94; seven wells, Dunn County;
• 29232, Kraken, Oliver-Bakken, i) terminate an existing 2560-acre unit; establish an overlapping 3840-acre unit, sections 16/17/20/21/28/29-158-98; one well, Williams County
• 29233, Foundation Energy, Beaver Creek-Bakken, recompletion and production of one vertical well and two horizontal wells in a 640-acre unit, section 1-142-103; Golden Valley;
• 29234, Foundation Energy, Beaver Creek-Bakken, recompletion and production of one vertical well and two horizontal wells i a 640-acre unit, section 6-142-102, Billings County;
• 29235, Mimir Energy, a request to have 31 Operating be removed as operator of several wells in section 30-162-81, Bottineau County
• 29236, Prima Exploration, pooling, Divide County
• 29237, Prima Exploration, pooling, Divide County
• 29238, Hess, commingling,
• 29239, Hess, commingling,
• 29240, Grayson Mill (Equinor), commingling,
• 29241, Grayson Mill (Equinor), commingling,
• 29242, BR, commingling,
• 29243, Whiting, polling,
• 29244, Whiting, pooling,
• 29245, Whiting, pooling,
• 29246, Whiting, pooling,
• 29247, Whiting, pooling,
• 29248, Whiting, pooling,
• 29249, Ovintiv, Westberg-Bakken, two wells to be drilled on an overlapping 2560-acre unit, section 25/36-152-97; McKenzie County
• 29250, Hess, SWD
  

Tuesday, March 1, 2022:

• 29224, BR, Haystack Butte-Bakken, unitized management of the Haystack Butte-Bakken unit; McKenzie County;
  
• 29225, BR, agreement for managing the Haystack Butte-Bakken unitized unit.
  

NDIC Hearing Dockets For February, 2022

Usual disclaimer applies: I do this quickly for my benefit. I do not expect readers to read this summary. There will be content and typographic errors. I used shorthand that may be confusing.  For all I know the links may not even be correct. I haven't checked them in quite awhile. In a long note like this there will be content and typographical errors. If this is important to you, go to the source.

Link here.  

Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Nine Pages

The cases:

• 29187, Whiting, Ryder Olson 31-1H, #38541, rules to abandon this well; Williams County.
  
• 29188, Whiting, Middle Creek and/or Foreman Butte-Bakken, three overlapping standup 1920-acre units; sections 2/11/14; sections 3/10/15; and sections 4/9/16, all in 150-103; after terminating six 1280-acre units; five wells each of the three 1920-acre units; 15 wells total; McKenzie County;
  
• 29189, Whiting, Foreman Butte-Bakken; terminate four 1280-acre units; establish three overlapping 1920-acre units: 21/28/33; 22/27/34; and, 23/26/35-150-103; five wells each; 15 wells; and a 1920-acre unit; 1/12/13-150-103; four wells; 19 wells total; McKenzie County;
  
• 29190, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, establish a laydown 1920-acre unit; sections 16/17/18-157-92;  six wells; Mountrail County;
  
• 29191, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken; establish a stand-up 1920-acre unit; sections 19/30/31-157-92; six wells; Mountrail County;
  
• 29192, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, establish a stand-up 1920-acre unit; sections 20/29/32-157-92; six wells; Mountrail County;
  
• 29193, Kraken, Burg-Bakken, pooling, Williams,
  
• 29194, Kraken, Burg-Bakken, pooling, Williams,
  
• 29195, Kraken, Burg-Bakken, pooling, Williams,
  
• 29196, Kraken, Ellisville-Bakken, pooling, Williams,
  
• 29197, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, pooling, Mountrail,
  
• 29198, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, pooling, Mountrail,
  
• 29199, Oasis, Cottonwood-Bakken, pooling, Mountrail,
  
• 29200, Grayson Mill, Catwalk-Bakken, pooling, McKenzie, Williams
  
• 29201, Whiting, commingling, Mountrail,
  
• 29202, Whiting, commingling, Mountrail,
  
• 29203, Whiting, commingling, Mountrail,
  
• 29204, Whiting, commingling, Mountrail,
  
• 29205, Ovintiv, commingling, McKenzie,
  
• 29206, Ovintiv, Ranch Coulee-Bakken, pooling, McKenzie,
  
• 29207, MRO, commingling, Dunn
  
• 29208, MRO, commingling, Dunn
  
• 29209, MRO, commingling, Dunn,
  
• 29210, MRO, commingling, Dunn,
  
• 29211, MRO, Bailey-Bakken, pooling,
  
• 29212, Scout Management, commingling, Dunn
  

Thursday, February 17, 2022
Four Pages

The cases:

• 29213, NDIC; consider termination of the Bear Creek Duperow Unit, Dunn County, operated by XTO;
  
• 29214, CLR, Jim Creek-Bakken, establish two overlapping 2560-acre units; 25/36-146-96; and sections 30/31-146-95; and sections 1/12-145-96 and sections 6/7-145-95; two wells on each; total of four wells; Dunn County.
  
• 29215, CLR, Long Creek-Bakken, setback rules for the LCU Ralph 12-27H1, #36954, Williams;
  
• 29216, Ballard Petroleum; asking NDIC to certify the Chatfield-Madison Unit, as a qualifying secondary recovery project for eligibility for tax exemptions; Bottineau;
  
• 29217, Mercury Resources, Briar Creek-Madison, drill an increase density well on a 640-acre unit, section 23-152-104; and establish an overlapping 1280-acre unit, section 22/23-152-104, one well; Williams and McKenzie County;
  
• 29218, Enerplus, Lost Bridge and/or Big Gulch-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit; sections 36-148-97; section 31-148-96; section 1-147-97; and section 6-147-96; and one well; Dunn.
  
• 29219, Enerplus, South Fork-Bakken, establish an overlapping 2560-acre unit, 3/4/910-148-103, one well; Dunn
  
• 29220, Liberty Resources, West Tioga-Bakken; legalese revoking a Murex permit, Williams;
  
• 29221, Grayson Mill, Todd-Bakken, pooling, Williams
  
• 29222, CLR, Jim Creek-Bakken, pooling, Dunn
  
• 29223, CLR, Jim Creek-Bakken, pooling, Dunn
  

Mixed Bag -- Whiting's Miller Wells In The Sanish

This Whiting section is a real mixed bag. But it encapsulates everything we've talked about with regard to the Bakken in the past ten years. I won't expand. 

This well is coming off confidential list today:

• 37336, conf, Whiting, Miller 44-10TFHU, Sanish, nice well, but not all that great for the Sanish; first production, 8/21; t--; cum 30K 11/21;
  

Graphic:

Let's look at the other wells in this two-section drilling unit, along with the section line wells (four-section drilling units)):

• 22127, 1,824, Whiting, Miller 41-10H, Sanish, t6/12; cum 233K 11/21; continuous work on this well resulted in a pretty good well but it took a lot of years;
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	1584	1489	2745	985	925	0
BAKKEN	10-2021	31	1173	1093	2397	947	860	25
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	628	662	2591	451	367	24
BAKKEN	8-2021	31	947	998	4082	399	394	5
BAKKEN	7-2021	31	2131	2085	7123	1274	1215	59

• 22126, PNC, Whiting, Miller 41-10PNC, Sanish; 
• 28971, replaced #22126, 497, Whiting, Miller 41-10TFH, Sanish, t10/14; cum 135K 11/21; a lousy well for the Sanish;
  

• 18743, 1,468, Whiting, Miller 43-10H, Sanish, t8/10 cum 393K 11/21; continuous work on this well resulted in a pretty good well but it took a lot of years;
  

• 21009, daughter well, 608, Whiting, Miller 43-10TFH, Sanish, t6/12; cum 145K 11/21; mediocre well at best;
  

• 17643, parent well, 1,038, Whiting, Andeson 44-10H, Snaish, t4/09; cum 271K 11/21; nice bump in production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	1379	1338	4094	1096	1036	0
BAKKEN	10-2021	31	1510	1455	4229	1298	1201	35
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	2357	2438	4249	1698	1536	102
BAKKEN	8-2021	31	2738	2605	5081	2430	2397	33
BAKKEN	7-2021	18	452	430	1737	692	660	32
BAKKEN	6-2021	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2021	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2021	5	63	93	60	108	108	0
BAKKEN	3-2021	31	466	486	299	910	848	0

• 37337, drl/A, Whiting, Miller 44-10HU, 33-061-04668, Sanish, t--; cum 75K 11/21;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	22457	22477	18504	26496	25701	711
BAKKEN	10-2021	31	21873	21856	20453	22157	21446	621
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	22013	22087	27922	20685	18218	2389
BAKKEN	8-2021	8	5634	5688	7087	4993	4650	322
BAKKEN	7-2021	18	3065	2753	16523	141	0	10

• 37336, drl, Whiting, Miller 44-10TFHU, 33-061-04667, Sanish, t--; cum 34K 11/21;
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	9603	9620	36743	11418	11076	306
BAKKEN	10-2021	31	10191	10186	37573	9555	9248	268
BAKKEN	9-2021	30	10601	10642	41967	11435	10071	1321
BAKKEN	8-2021	7	2840	2776	5905	3163	2946	204
BAKKEN	7-2021	20	652	586	12906	38	0	3

• 23568, AB, Whiting, Miller 44-10H, Sanish, t12/12; cum 170K 1/20; off line since 1/20; a lousy well for the Sanish;
• 37335, conf, Whiting, Miller 44-10-2H, Sanish, 33-061-04666, t--; cum 45K 11/21;
  

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
11-2021	16588	16046
10-2021	14066	13552
9-2021	14548	13433
8-2021	1232	1102

• 23569, AB, Whiting, Miller 44-10TFH, Sanish, t12/12; cum 118K 1/20; off line since 1/20; a lousy well for the Sanish;
  

Gasoline Demand: Are We Missing Something? January 21, 2022

Re-posting, from yesterday:

Link here.  

 From a reader who follows this very, very, very closely: 

The gasoline inventory increase of 23,962,000 barrels over the past 3 weeks appears to be the largest in any three week period on record, and even exceeded the 4 week inventory increase of 23,952,000 barrels that we saw at the outset of the pandemic lockdowns from mid-March to mid April of 2020.

Repeat:

The gasoline inventory increase of 23,962,000 barrels over the past 3 weeks appears to be the largest in any three week period on record, and even exceeded the 4 week inventory increase of 23,952,000 barrels that we saw at the outset of the pandemic lockdowns from mid-March to mid April of 2020.

Demand destruction?

One Well Coming Off Confidential List; WTI Steps Back A Bit; Gasoline Demand Plunging (?) -- January 21, 2022

Wow, wow, wow: about a week ago I mentioned the only way upstream companies could grow. LOL. Now, validated. See RBN Energy below. Wow.  

Fight of his life: he's been through worse, but right now Jim Cramer looks like he could be very, very vulnerable. Jim coined "FANG." He says he is now trying to get the "N" out of there. CNBC now shows chart of F.A.A.N.G. New mantra:

Buy real companies making real money on real profits.

NFLX: in free fall. Pre-market suggests it could fall another 20% today. But, the fact remains: NFLX is way ahead of what the other streaming companies are doing. NFLX is cash flow positive and it will be years before other streaming companies will be cash flow positive. At the open, drops $126; drops 25%; now trading well below $400. Salvation:

• pivot to metaverse 
• (on a side note: hate him or love him, Zuckerberg's pivot seems to have been incredibly prescient)
  
• buy a huge gaming company

Bitcoin: it got much worse overnight; early in the evening last night, down 5% in after market trading; this morning, pre-market trading, trending toward down 10%.  

INTC: to build $20 billion chip factory in Ohio.

Investors: time to average down? Buffett's advice? Memo to self: google Buffett quote greedy fearful. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Gasoline demand: is anyone paying attention? See this post.

*********************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$84.97	1/21/2022	01/21/2021	01/21/2020	01/21/2019	01/21/2018
Active Rigs	28	12	53	67	58

Friday, January 21, 2022: 35 for the month, 35 for the quarter, 35 for the year

• 37336, conf, Whiting, Miller 44-10TFHU, Sanish, nice well, but not all that great for the Sanish; first production, 8/21; t--; cum 30K 11/21; see this post.
  

RBN Energy: upstream consolidation surges on drive to maximize cash flow. Archived. 

In March 2020, the collapse of the OPEC-plus coalition, the initiation of COVID-19 lockdowns, and other factors pushed the U.S. E&P sector to the brink of insolvency. Crude oil prices had crashed to $20/bbl — one-third their level at the start of that fateful year — and producers had shifted to survival mode, slashing capex, cancelling infrastructure projects, and eyeing new, more dire worst-case scenarios. Who would have thought that only 22 months later E&Ps would be winning back investors and enjoying sky-high share prices? Of course, the recovery in commodity prices played a major role in this reversal. But another driver has been an unexpected wave of corporate consolidation that has allowed many E&Ps to boost their inventories of high-margin assets, accelerate free cash flow generation, and grow shareholder returns while slashing capital and corporate expenditures. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the forces behind — and the implications of — the most important surge of corporate upstream deals in two decades.

In the past 18 months, the value of announced U.S. corporate transactions in the E&P space soared to $82 billion, more than eight times the total of the previous 12 months. Most significantly, these deals involving publicly traded companies accounted for three-quarters of total M&A transaction value and included more than 20 transactions valued at over $400 million. Concurrently, several major private equity firms have been merging their portfolio companies into a single entity — or “smash-co,” to use the industry term.