The Spanish Solar Crisis -- Actions Have Consequences -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken

Tomorrow we are going to start hearing that the Greek banking run has moved to Spain. Some time ago there were stories that Spain got into financial trouble because of its bet on solar energy. My hunch is this: that little inconvenient truth won't be mentioned even once on CNBC tomorrow in the discussion on Spain. 

Three solar dots to connect:

1. This week the US places heavy tariffs on solar panels coming from China -- week of May 17, 2012
2. Banking crisis in Spain rocks Europe -- Thursday, May 17, 2012 (today)
3. Flashback: bankrupt Spanish solar program -- 2010 -- to what extent is this related to the Spanish banking crisis? The failed solar program cost the Spanish government a whopping 126 billion Euros....

From the Spanish solar program linked article, the second linked article:

Spain stands as a lesson to other aspiring green-energy nations, including China and the U.S., by showing how difficult it is to build an alternative energy industry even with billions of euros in subsidies, ....

“The government totally overshot with the tariff,” de la Sota says. “Now they have a huge bill to pay --

U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted solar energy as part of his plan to create green jobs this month with a decision to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the White House....

From the same linked article:

Power from the most-efficient photovoltaic plants costs utilities about $275 per megawatt-hour to produce compared with about $60 for a coal-fired plant, according to Bloomberg. 

Random Example of Low IP; Nice Production; Re-Entry Well, Madison -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

This is an example of how a well with a low IP can still turn out to be a nice well:

• 12605, 32 (no typo), SM Energy, Elkhorn Ranch 22-35HR, Elkhorn Ranch, Madison pool, t1989; R-2006; cum 242K, 3/12;

From the geologist's report, some paraphrasing; typed in haste; typos may be present; omissions:

"On February 16, 2006, the Nance Petroleum....Elkhorn Ranch 22-35HR was successfully kicked off and later landed for horizontal penetration of the Upper Buckhorn Porosity in the Mississippian Mission Canyon Formation. ... The original horizontal well was drilled in 1989 by Meridian Oil Corporation and abandoned uncompleted after losing the drill string in the Bakken Shale. The Elkhorn Ranch 22-35H as re-entered and subsequently completed in the Upper Buckhorn Porosity zone."

"This single lateral well required 9 days to drill ... Lateral #2 remains un-drilled at this time."

This well is still producing 1,000 bbls / month. Over the lifetime of this well monthly production has been fairly consistent, with a very small decline compared to Bakken wells.

Good News for Russian Natural Gas -- Czech Joins Others to Stop Fracking

Link here to Rigzone.

Czech will ban fracking for a couple of years while they try to sort things out. They join France, Bulgaria, and Romania in banning fracking.

Czech gets 70 percent of its natural gas from Russia. Russia has been concerned about a potential glut of natural gas in western Europe similar to what the US is experiencing. This is welcome news for Mr Putin.

This also tells me that despite all those stories coming out of Europe about how expensive energy is ($16 for natural gas; $8 for gasoline), the Europeans are fairly content with these prices. And they don't mind importing natural gas from Russia, nor oil from the Mideast.

Stockyard Creek Has Been Updated -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

If I were home in the Bakken tonight, I would take a drive out east of Williston. About five miles east of Williston, up and down some rolling hills, one drives through the middle of the Stockyard Creek. This is a small field, only about 34 sections. I have just updated the field. I count about 38 locations and the wells are very, very good wells.

Five (5) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, May 17, 2012 --

Operators: American Eagle (2), Zavanna (2), Fidelity
Fields: Colgan (Divide), Stockyard Creek (Williams), Dutch Henry Butte (Stark)

Five wells released from "tight hole" status:

21008, 279, EOG, Hardscrabble 9-0508H,
21064, 1,939, KOG, Skunk creek 9-2-3-5H,
21135, DRL, Decker 26-138-97 A 1H,
21762, DRL, Fram Operating, Donovan Funke 3,
21765, 182, MRO, Black Hawk USA 31-16H,