New Devon Energy Well South Of New Town, ND -- Three Forks -- Under The Water -- 75,000 Bbls Crude Oil In First 30 Days -- December 4, 2025

Locator: 49606B.

The wells:

• 35456, con-->drl/A, Oasis/QEP, MHA 5-29-30H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 5/21; t--; cum 302K 4/22; see production profile here; cum 549K 10/25;
• 35454, conf-->drl/A, Oasis/QEP, MHA 5-27-26H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 5/21; t--; cum 199K 4/22;
  
• 35451, conf-->loc/A, Oasis/QEP, MHA 4-29-30H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 5/21; t--; cum 342K 4/22; cum 686K 10/15; Three Forks, 50 stages; 328,865 bbls; 14,337,846 lbs of proppant -- compare to #40389 below.
• 35449, conf-->loc/A, Oasis/QEP, MHA 4-27-26H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 5/21; t--; cum 239K 4/22; cum 437K 10/25;

These wells led me to this relatively new 10-well pad: 

• 40394, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HUL, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 207K 10/25;
• 40393, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HD, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 245K 10/25;
• 40392, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HZ, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 274K 10/25;
• 40391, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HB, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 276K 10/25;
• 40390, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HX, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 301K 10/25;
• 40237, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HC, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 298K 10/25;
• 40389, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HW, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 303K 10/25;
• 40388, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HA, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 288K 10/25;
• 40387, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HY, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 269K 10/25;
• 40386, drl/A, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HIL, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 181K 10/25;

Example of production profile. Located 12.3 miles south of New Town, ND. Under the water. 

• 40389, drl/A/2,436, Devon Energy, Missouri River 25-26HW, Reunion Bay, t--; cum 303K 10/25; spud June 28, 2024; completed on July 9, 2025; the target stipulated by the Devon geologist was 20' below the top of the Three Forks; 34 stages; 116,658 bbls fluid; 8,460,270 lbs proppant (incredibly low amount of proppant); max treatment PSI: 9,425;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2025	30	9784	9800	7675	18331	18279	52
BAKKEN	9-2025	26	9661	9675	6678	27314	27278	36
BAKKEN	8-2025	31	13037	12969	8632	34854	34766	88
BAKKEN	7-2025	31	15034	15039	10990	33159	33142	17
BAKKEN	6-2025	30	18664	18650	13745	34445	34406	39
BAKKEN	5-2025	25	21906	21932	14388	26524	26499	25
BAKKEN	4-2025	30	35281	35254	21899	47019	46850	169
BAKKEN	3-2025	31	41476	41444	29862	42693	42684	9
BAKKEN	2-2025	27	23516	23602	21623	21475	21475	0
BAKKEN	1-2025	29	36721	36580	31250	31468	30715	753
BAKKEN	12-2024	4	3855	4055	3394	3277	3275	2
BAKKEN	11-2024	30	74479	74241	60427	65221	65208	13

Chart Of The Day -- The Copper Gap -- December 4, 2025

Locator: 49605COPPER.

Link here. 

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Chokepoints

Previously posted: 

Chatbot and LDC chokepoints:

• right now: access to blades; [adding memory (MU) -- December 4, 2025]
• the next twelve months: putting blades on-line; 
• Nvidia, AMD, copper, fiberoptics
• next few years with the large data center build-out: cooling;
• five to seven years: access to affordable electricity. 

Boring, Boring, Boring -- Ennui -- December 4, 2025

Locator: 49604AMAZON.

I woke up today absolutely bored with current events and the market. Not interested in blogging.

Then I saw this. This may be the biggest story today. And, of course, tonight, Amazon Prime's exclusive TNF tonight with the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. Whoo-hoo. 

But for the market, this may be the biggest story all day: Amazon -- taking a page from Apple's business model -- don't rely on third parties --

 

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META Tweaks Priorities

Zuckerberg plans deep cuts for metaverse -- report. Analysts continue to note that Meta is losing tons of money on those Ray-Ban glasses. META surges on news. See this post.

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The Worst Ad On CNBC Right Now

Has been running for months. Nuveen. 

Visuals awful. Fashion disaster. No message. 

Actually, I spoke too soon. The "SelectQuote" ad is even worse, much worse, but for other reasons. The ad perpetuates at least one meme and one racial stereotype. 

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Costco -- COST -- At A 52-Week Low 

Journalists' Naivete -- The New York Times -- December 4, 2025

Locator: 49603ARCHIVES.

Link here. 

Read that article at The New York Times and see if you see what I see with regard to the naivete of journalists and the immigrant story. At the link, scroll down to "Collective Blame."

This is simply amazing and very, very scary -- the naivete of journalists. 

Jobless Claims Come In Incredibly Low -- Hitting Recent Records -- Thursday -- December 4, 2025

Locator: 49602B.

Jobless claims: incredibly low. Completely unexpected. The numbers are incredibly low. Of course that moved the markets down.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $59.36.

New wells reporting:

• Friday, December 5, 2025: 12 for the month, 135 for the quarter, 719 for the year, 
• 41242, conf, Hess, GO-Bergstrom-156-98-2833H-7, 
• 41777, conf, CLR, Willey 7-3H, 
• Thursday, December 4, 2025: 10 for the month, 133 for the quarter, 717 for the year,
• 41776, conf, CLR, Willey 6-3H,

RBN Energy: Elliott affiliate Amber Energy gets green light to buy CITGO refineries. Archived.

A federal judge in Delaware on November 29 signed the sale agreement on a $5.9 billion cash bid from hedge fund Elliott Investment Management to purchase three coveted CITGO refineries, along with a number of associated midstream assets. This is the latest — and potentially last — turn in an eight-year legal fight over CITGO’s parent, PDV Holding, and names Elliott affiliate Amber Energy as the winning bidder for the plants, which have a combined refining capacity of more than 800 Mb/d. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss Amber’s plans for the CITGO refineries.

Let’s start with some background. As we detailed in I’ll Be Around, there’s been a primarily below-the-radar battle playing out in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware since 2017 about how best to help satisfy the claims of a dozen-plus creditors who collectively lost more than $20 billion when the government of Venezuela — the de facto owner of CITGO Petroleum and its parent company, PDV Holding (PDVH) — defaulted on its bonds. (In 2019, control of CITGO was transferred away from the ruling Maduro regime in Venezuela to the opposition “shadow” government, then led by Juan Guaidó.) In May 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Leonard P. Stark appointed Robert B. Pincus as a special master tasked with devising a plan to sell PDVH/CITGO to satisfy at least some portion of the outstanding claims. After a two-round bidding process that concluded in June 2024, Pincus recommended in September 2024 that the district court approve Amber Energy and its $7.3 billion bid for CITGO and its three refineries (Lake Charles, LA; Lemont, IL; and Corpus Christi, TX). However, instead of ending the drama, the court restarted the bidding from scratch in December 2024, citing issues with the auction process.

As a result of the new bidding round, the court in July recommended a $7.4 billion bid from Dalinar Energy, the U.S. subsidiary of Canadian miner Gold Reserve. But by August 30, that deal was overtaken by what the court described as a “superior” proposal from Amber Energy — even though its bid included less cash. (Amber’s offer included $5.86 billion in cash and $2.86 billion in strategic debt settlements; together with $105 million of break fees paid to writ holders, it equates to a total value of $8.821 billion.) Pincus approved Amber’s bid, saying that Dalinar’s proposal did not match or exceed it despite a last-minute attempt to improve the terms (Dalinar later raised its bid to $7.9 billion).

Earlier this fall, several parties were pushing to scrap the auction and start from scratch (again). Judge Stark heard testimony on October 21-22 from CITGO, PDVH and the Venezuelan government, which argued that Amber Energy’s bid was far too low. But on November 25, Stark dismissed the objections and gave Amber the green light, giving parties until November 28 to submit any remaining objections. Several entities filed objections, but the court entered a sale order on November 29 authorizing the transfer of PDVH’s shares to Amber. The transfer is subject to U.S. regulatory and Treasury Department approvals and could face appeals by Venezuela and other parties. The sale is expected to close next year, assuming the required approvals are obtained and any appeals do not result in a reversal. Then, proceeds will be distributed to Venezuela‑linked creditors in line with the court’s priority schedule.

Before we dive into Amber Energy’s plan, let’s briefly highlight each refinery. The 479-Mb/d Lake Charles Refinery in southwestern Louisiana (refinery icon at bottom of Figure 1 below) is the seventh-largest in the U.S. and CITGO’s most valuable asset. Using various criteria, RBN’s Refined Fuels Analytics (RFA) practice ranks it among the 10 most competitive refineries along the Gulf Coast. The Lake Charles facility is highly complex, with a broad range of downstream processing units, which allow it to profitably process a wide variety of crudes and other feedstocks into valuable refined products, including various grades of gasoline, jet fuel, ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), benzene, propylene and other products. Also, the refinery’s multiple processing trains give it significant additional operating flexibility, enhancing its ability to respond effectively to changing market conditions and crude and product differentials. CITGO completed a very cost-effective, 38-Mb/d expansion of the refinery in Q1 2023 and recently increased capacity by another 16 Mb/d in a similarly efficient way to reach its current level as it continues to invest in the facility to improve its capabilities, competitiveness and market responsiveness.