This Will Be Fun To Watch: Utility Says Rate Payers Should Help Cover Cost Of Shutting Down Nuclear Plant

The Los Angeles Times is reporting:

Preparing for months of battle over who should pay the estimated $4.1-billion cost of permanently shutting down the San Onofre nuclear power plant, which closed in June, Southern California Edison has launched a public relations campaign suggesting that ratepayers pick up part of the cost.

Who pays — ratepayers, stockholders, equipment manufacturers or insurers — is expected to be a long and thorny dispute before state and federal regulatory agencies as well as in the courts.

On the eve of legislative hearings Tuesday on the issue, the utility offered its 4.9 million customers a preview of its point of view in an advertisement published in the Los Angeles Times.

Closing the power plant is in the "best interests" of customers, it said, and ratepayers should be prepared to pitch in. The company discovered that hundreds of new steam generating tubes were wearing out, and it determined that keeping the plant open till the problem was resolved would be too costly.

Five (5) Wells Coming Off Confidential List Tuesday

• 22441, 808, OXY USA, Binstock 1-34-27H-142-96, Russian Creek, t2/13; cum 17K 6/13;
• 22841, drl, Statoil, Rose 12-13-4TFH, Avoca, no data,
• 23636, 718, Fidelity, Bob 16-21H, Stanley, t2/13; cum 39K 6/13;
• 24148, 132, Legacy, Legacy Et Al Berge 8-11H, Red Rock, Spearfish, t4/13; cum 9K 6/13;
• 24607, drl, KOG, P Wood 154-98-2-27-34-16H3B, Truax, no data,

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The Legacy well:

• spud: February 13, 2013, 0400 hours
• kick-off point: 2,150 feet
• heel: 3,564 feet
• total depth: February 21, 2013, 2000 hours
• total depth: 7,240 feet
• 24 stages; 211,644 lbs of sand
• 320-acre spacing unit

Compare the data points for the recent Corinthian well reported with this Legacy well (not the production, but just the drilling data points: how few days it takes to drill; the very little sand used in fracking; how shallow these wells are).

Twenty-Three (23) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; Seven (7) Producing Wells Completed; Big Day For The NDIC

Active rigs: 184

Wells coming off the confidential list today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Twenty-three (23) new permits --

• Operators: WPX (11), Whiting (4), (Statoil (4), BR (2), Corinthian Exploration (2)
  Fields: Sanish (Mountrail), Hawkeye (McKenzie), Reunion Bay (Dunn), Banks (McKenzie), Zenith (Stark), Van Hook (Mountrail)
• Comments: Corinthian has permits for two wildcats; both in Bottineau County; one in Haram oil field, the other not specified

Producing wells completed:

• 24356, 816, Hess, EN-Hermanson 154-93-0235H-2, Robinson Lake, t7/13; cum --
• 24369, 1,240, Hess, EN-Weyrauch A-154-93-1720H-4, Robinson Lake, t7/13; cum --
• 22884, 335, Hess, LK-Dukart 145-97-0310H-4, Little Knife, t7/13; cum --
• 22570, 418, Hunt, Antelope 1-36-25H, Antelope Creek, t7/13; cum --
• 21274, 1,389, Enerplus, Chord 148-93-18D-07-3H, McGregory Buttes, t7/13; cum --
• 21275, 1,082, Enerplus, Music 148-93-18D-0704H TF, McGregory Buttes, t7/13; cum --

In addition, nine (9) permits were renewed, including seven (7) by WPX -- the Martin Fox wells in Mandaree oil field, Dunn County.

The Daily Activity Report Summary Will Be Delayed Due To Swimming Lessons

I just sent a note to Don:

 I don't think I will be able to complete the daily activity post before I have to sign off the net -- taking the girls to their swimming lesson, but I do not recall ever seeing two pages of new permits.

Even at almost 20 permits they could squeeze them into one page; today they went into a second page: 23 permits. (It's possible, early on, when I first started blogging, I saw some daily activity reports with two pages of new permits -- but it's been a long time.)

Also, 7 producing wells completed. A year ago, we saw one or two producing wells completed each day; recently it's been getting up to 6 pretty common; I don't recall as many as 7 in one day. All due to pad drilling.

So, I will complete the report later. It looks like WPX has about 11 new permits; Statoil several, and then, my current favorite, Corinthian Exploration. I will be off the net for several hours. Good luck to all.

Another CBR Terminal Near Edmonton, Alberta

And yet another CBR facility in the west Canadian oil sands.

The Oil & Gas Journal is providing the following data points:

• joint venture between Keyera Corp and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP
• cost: $65 million
• anchor: 5-year agreement with major refiner
• CBR facility at Edmonton, Alberta -- the Alberta Crude Terminal
• destination: North American refineries
• collocated with Keyera's Alberta Diluent Terminal
• 20 loading bays; total 40,000 bopd into tank cars
• Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway
• eyeing possible expansion of up to 125,000 bopd of additional crude loading capacity AND the addition of a diluent recovery unit
• additional modifications to pipeline and facilities (unrelated to new project)

Two comments:

• the "CBR laboratory" has its genesis in the Bakken, specifically EOG's terminal at Stanley, ND
• the diluent will most likely come up from the Eagle Ford in Texas, and possible from the Bakken

Again, killing the Keystone XL may have been the gift that keeps on giving.

I am waiting for the president's announcement that with regard to the Keystone XL 3.0 application, the determination has been made that no determination is necessary.