Samson Oil and Gas Provides Operations Update in Stockyard Creek -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Interestingly, there was nothing in the press release that would merit an operations update, at least from my perspective:

• Earl 1-13H: still under flowback operations; same status since April 13
• Following completion of those flowback operations, the work over rig will move to Rodney 1-14H
• Drilling Everett 1-15H will be delayed due to weather conditions, thawing (muddy) roads, and need for repair work on the rig; drilling expected to comment the last week in April

No Love Lost Between Saudi Arabia and US

Aramco (Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company) signed a deal with PetroChina for a joint venture to build a 200,000 bopd refinery in Yunnan Province.

Aramco Overseas Co. BV and PetroChina Co. Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding for joint development of a 200,000-b/d grassroots refinery in Yunnan Province in far southwestern China.

One can only assume the memorandum of understanding includes a clause for Saudi Arabia to supply the crude oil to keep the refinery running at full capacity (or at levels requested by PetroChina).

I'm sure this is just business as usual, but one wonders about the timing, coming so soon after Egyptian president Mubarak was removed from office, and news stories that Saudi Arabia had sent emissaries to Russia and China soon thereafter. 

Some 'Splainin' To Do, Lucy -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The Parshall is a most prolific oil field, but these wells don't fit the mold, at least not compared to the earlier middle Bakken formation wells

• 19391, 42, EOG, Austin 117-08H, Parshall, Three Forks formation,
• 19542, 30, EOG, Austin 102-05H, Parshall, Bakken, Three Forks Formation, 13 stage frac

It will be interesting to see the production over the next couple of years for these wells. Hope, at least for me, springs eternal. Smile.

Tesoro Expanding Refinery at Bismarck, North Dakota -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

June 8, 2012: the expansion is almost complete. The refinery should be up and running by the end of June, 2012. 

Original Post

Link here.

Tesoro Corp. will expand crude capacity of its 58,000-b/d refinery at Mandan, ND, to 68,000 b/d to handle oil from the Bakken shale and elsewhere in the Williston basin.

This is a $35 million expansion project.

The press release did not provide any estimated date of completion.  

Note recent post regarding IPO for Tesoro Logistics, LP. 

Halliburton Reports Huge 1Q11 Profits

Halliburton reports soaring/record 1Q11 profits.

Halliburton reported first-quarter net income of $511 million, compared with $206 million for the same period last year.

A better link here. 

Flashback:

March 28, 2011: First hint that there may be some problems in the oil patch when 1Q11 earnings are reported. HAL is already reporting that weather-related issues and unrest in the Mideast will affect earnings. 

Comment: I wonder what their earnings would have been had there not been weather-related issues or unrest in the Mideast. Smile.