That Fertilizer Plant Talked About Earlier? Jamestown, North Dakota

A big "thank you" to a reader or readers for sending me several links regarding this story.

I posted this back in early July:

New billion-dollar fertilizer plant being proposed, from the Grand Forks Herald: 

The North Dakota Corn Growers Association announced Monday that a feasibility study has been completed for the plant, with the steering committee of corn growers and fertilizer industry consultants looking at building the facility in North Dakota, South Dakota or Minnesota. 

The North Dakota Corn Growers Association announced Monday that a feasibility study has been completed for the plant, with the steering committee of corn growers and fertilizer industry consultants looking at building the facility in North Dakota, South Dakota or Minnesota.

Plans are moving along for a $1 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant that could make use of the natural gas now being flared off in western North Dakota’s Oil Patch.

It looks like they might have chosen a site, data points:

• Jamestown, North Dakota; $1.3 billion fertilizer plant; using natural gas from the Bakken
• a capacity of 750,000 tons of anhydrous ammonia/year
• North Dakota Corn Growers Association spearheading the effort
• need to raise $300 million in equity from the farmers; minimum investment: $35 - $50,000/individual
• construction could begin in April, 2015; production a year later
• plant could be paid off in five years

For another interesting story about this site, read the comments below, and go to this link:

http://www.greatriverenergy.com/makingelectricity/newprojects/spiritwoodstation.html

Twelve (12) New Permits; XTO Has a Nice Well

Active rigs: 190

Twelve (12) new permits:

• Operators: BR (6), Hess (3), Whiting (2), and Liberty Resources
• Fields: Truax (Williams), Johnson Corner (McKenzie), Blue Buttes (McKenzie), Dutch Henry Butte (Stark)

Liberty Resources has a permit for a wildcat in McKenzie County. Folks might recognize Blue Buttes: it's just north of the Helis Grail.

Meanwhile, the following wells were released from the confidential list:

• 21567, 471, Hunt, Quill 2-10-3H, Bailey, t5/12; cum 25K 6/12;
• 22205, DRY, Ballard, Haskins 11-27, a Madison well, wildcat, completed 3/12;

And two producing wells were completed:

• 22263, 28, Crescent Point, CPEUSC McQuarters 14-23-158N-101W, Little Muddy, t4/12; 
• 20417, 1,730, XTO, FBIR Goeseverywhere 31X-11, Heart Butte, t5/12; cum 27K 6/12;

ONEOK Will Build a Fifth Natural Gas Processing Plant

Link here. Same size as others, it appears.

The ONEOK says the plant will cost $160 million and be able to process 100 million cubic feet of natural gas each day. Oneok is based in Tulsa, Okla. It already operates two natural gas processing factories in western North Dakota and is building two others.

The article does not say where, but on a ND PSC agenda Don sent me ONEOK has an application for "Garden Creek #2. If this is related, then maybe this fifth natural gas processing plant will be northeast of Watford City. 

For those keeping track:

• the first ONEOK natural gas processing plant: Grasslands
  the second: Garden Creek (#1) -- northeast of Watford City
• the third: Stateline #1 -- northwest of Williston
• the fourth: Stateline #2 -- northwest of Williston
• the fifth: Garden Creek #2 -- northeast of Watford City, most likely

Dickinson's New Fracking Water Plant ..

...or better known as a waste water plant.

Link here to The Bismarck Tribune.

Data points:

• $30 million project
• south of the Heart River
• water to be sold for industrial uses, including fracking and farming
• capacity to support a population of 35,000; Dickinson's current population estimated at 23,000
• two years to complete

Oasis Moving To Pad Drilling -- SeekingAlpha; In Support of Less Ceramics

Link here.

In particular, the company has sought to decrease the company's use of ceramic proppant, which tends to cost more than sand and doesn't necessarily produce superior results. Management estimates that a well with a 36-stage lateral that uses sand as a proppant costs about $0.8 million less to complete than a development than one that relies on a mix of sand and ceramic material. That being said, the firm continues to use a full load of proppant when targeting thicker formations that exhibit relatively low levels of water saturation.

The article is about "all" of Oasis, but I just wanted to pick out one point that I will be discussing later.