Housekeeping: Not Much New Information But East Fork Field Has Been Updated

Link here to East Fork field.

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Fine art in the way of Monet, from the younger granddaughter:

The original.

North Dakota Measure 2 -- Eliminate Property Tax -- Results: Fails To Pass -- NOT EVEN CLOSE!

The measure to end property tax in North Dakota fails.

At least I hope I'm interpreting the results correctly.

The legislature should tweak the property tax law but to completely eliminate it would have been a potential disaster on so many levels. 

Rangeland Ships First Bakken Crude From Rail Terminal

Link to Oil & Gas Journal.

Data points

• Sugar Land, TX, - based Rangeland Energy
• 120-car unit train from its COLT open-access crude oil  terminal in North Dakota
• COLT has a 21-mile bidirectional COLT Connector pipeline -- connects with Tesoro and Enbridge
• Enbridge: building an 80,000 bopd terminal at Berthold, ND (west of Minot); in-service 1Q13
• Rangeland to have total ND takeaway capacity of 475,000 bopd by 2013
• Rangeland's COLT is sited in Williams County, ND; can store 720,000 bbls of oil
• BNSF provides rail transportation; capacity 120,000 bopd
• in addition to site in Williams County, Rangeland has a tank at its Dry Fork terminal, near Tioga, ND, where its bidirectional pipeline connects with Tesoro and Enbridge

It seems like I first wrote about this planned terminal "years" ago -- it's amazing how much is happening and how much is yet to happen in the Bakken.

One operation (Rangeland) with 475,000 bopd takeaway capacity by end of next year. Hmmm.

Pickens on CNBC Today

For a few more hours you might be able to catch his interview at CNBC. If the video is still there, it will be in the upper right corner at the link.

If not, here were the high points:

1. Saudi doesn't have much spare capacity; they've hit 10.5 million three times in its history; not sustainable; supply and demand much tighter than folks realize

2. Very bullish on oil; of all the dozens of oil companies, he mentions only two; he mentions CLR first

3. Natural gas rigs down from 800 to 500 rigs over the past year

4. $3.00+ on natural gas next year.

5. Gasoline: 50% price advantage; natural gas 20% price advantage; oil 15% price advantage for the US -- if the US can't win with this hand ...

6. Completely out of Chesapeake; moved money elsewhere

7. XOM needs to increase dividend if it wants share price to move; discovering more oil doesn't move XOM's share price; the company is too big

8. Natural gas: utilities switching over; minor transortation uptick; production coming down fast

Daily Production In North Dakota Now Over 609,000 Barrels

A reader alerted me to new production figures released by NDIC at their website. I believe I have typed these numbers correctly, but they could be in error. Also, Carpe Diem has this story as well.

Month - daily average - number of wells - avg bbls/well/mo -- avg bbls/day/well

Feb - 558,585 - 6,447 -- 2,513 -- 87
Mar - 577,478 - 6,641 -- 2,696 -- 87
Apr - 609,373 - 6,734 -- 2,715 -- 90

Some of these numbers vary from previously reported numbers.

Delta, February --> March: 18,893 (3.3% increase)
Delta, March --> April: 31,895 (5.5% increase)

Thank goodness those feared April showers did not materialize to slow down production.

The last time North Dakota wells averaged more than 90 bbls/well/day was back in April, 1953, when there were 152 active wells in the state. There have been only 21 months in which production exceeded 90 bbls/well/day, and all before April, 1953, inclusive.

Production/well/day

• Through the '80s, the average daily production per well was around 40 bbls/day.
• Through the '90s, the average daily production per well was around 30 bbls/day.
• In 2009, the average daily production per well jumped to the mid-50s.
• In 2010, the avg daily production/well was in the mid-60s, hitting 70 bbls/day in November.
• In June, 2011, the average hit 70 again, at 73 bbls/well/day.
• In September, 2011: 80 bbls/well/day.
• And as noted above, April, 2012, 90 bbls/well/day.

For a graphic display, click here.