Breaking News -- Via Twitter -- June 20, 2017

SAUDI ROYAL DECREE RELIEVES MOAHMMED BIN NAYEF AS CROWN PRINCE, REPLACES HIM WITH MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN.

From wiki:  The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is the second most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the king, and is his designated successor.

From NBC News:

Saudi Arabia named Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, the king's son, as crown prince by royal decree on Wednesday, the official Saudi Press Agency announced.

Prince Mohammed, 31, replaces Muhammad bin Nayef as the heir-apparent to King Salman, 81, who assumed the throne in January 2015. Bin Nayef, a nephew of the king's, was also removed as deputy premier and interior minister.

Prince Mohammed will remain defense minister.

No reason for the replacement was immediately announced, but Prince Mohammed, not Bin Nayef, was tapped to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in March, a meeting that was widely hailed as a success in Saudi Arabia. 

No reason given, but perhaps the Russians interfered with this, just as they interfered with the 2016 US elections depriving Ms Hillary Clinton her god-given right to be POTUS.

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A World Of Our Own

A World Of Our Own, The Seekers

Welcome Back, Old Friend -- June 22, 2017

This well has been off-line since December, 2014. It is now back on-line. It produced all of 375 bbls of oil over 14 days in 4/17:

• 17727, 975, EOG, Fertile 5-04H (1 sec), Parshall, t8/09; cum 159K 12/14; off-line as of 12/14; back online as of 4/17; 

Don't Forget To Remember Me, The Bee Gees

US Now Surpasses Saudi Arabia In Crude Oil + Petroleum Liquids -- June 20, 2017

Reposting.

I originally posted this story as one of several stories 'cause I thought it had simply to do with Saudi Arabia. In fact, it was a story on global reserves.

What I find amazing, is that very few folks in America will even learn that the US now surpasses Saudi Arabia in crude oil and liquid petroleum:

Saudi Arabia's reserves grow, from Platts, data points:

• due to the kingdom lowering tax rates for state producer Saudi Aramco
• recoverable oil resources grew by 73 billion bbls this year
• the new number: 276 billion bbls in reserves
• Saudi re-claims the global top spot for oil resources
• tax rate for Saudi Aramco cut to 50% from 85% as part of moves to attract private investors ahead of the planned IPO in 2018
• only other countries to increase their reserves last year were Kazakhstan and the US
• US: the increase was 13 billion bbls; new total: 263 billion bbls (in same ballpark as Saudi Arabia)
• if NGLs were included in the total, the US would surpass Saudi Arabia by 50 billion bbls
• globally: world's total recoverable resources have rise 29 billion bbls since 2016; total stands at 2.2 trillion bbls now; or 73x the current annual production rate
• as much as 40% of the recoverable oil requires oil prices higher than $80/bbl

This is all due to the Bakken. Period. Dot.

Memo to self: remember to send note to Jane Nielson.

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Melancholy Vs Depression

This was the BeeGee's first #1 single.

1971.

The year I met the love of my life.

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, The Bee Gees

US Surpasses Saudi In Crude Oil, Liquids Recoverable Reserves; Britain's Energy Needs At A Crossroads -- June 20, 2017

Britain's reliance on imported gas to jump; giant storage site axed -- Reuters. Data points:

• Rough facility
• Britain will lose its largest natural gas storage site
• with closure of Rough, Britain loses about 70% of its storage capacity
• reliance on imported natural gas will increase
• wholesale gas prices will become more volatile; more vulnerable to price spikes
• Britain already imports half its natural gas from Norway, continental Europe, Qatar (LNG)
• winter requirements particularly noteworthy; Rough provided 10% of Britain's peak winter demand
• European utilities are losing billions of euros on gas storage, triggering site closures, and divestments

Australian shortage? Can Elon Musk help? Australia will restrict natural gas exports due to domestic shortage. Say what? PennEnergy, data points:

• restrictions to begin next year
• will take action in an effort to contain soaring energy prices in the domestic market
• Australia is about to overtake Qatar as the world's largest exporter of LNG
• problem: no new coal-fired power stations are being built to replace aging generators that will soon be decommissioned
• "...Australia will not tolerate customers in Japan paying less for Australian gas than some Australian businesses are charged." -- Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
• regulations will be issued July 1, 2017; constraints take effect, January 1, 2018
• political divide is likely contributing to the problem
• Elon Musk has said he could solve the problem in 100 days if Australia requested his help
• see also this post, April 20, 2017 
• see also this post, March 10, 2017
• see also this post, also on March 10, 2017

Saudi Arabia's reserves grow, from Platts, data points:

• due to the kingdom lowering tax rates for state producer Saudi Aramco
• recoverable oil resources grew by 73 billion bbls this year
• the new number: 276 billion bbls in reserves
• Saudi re-claims the global top spot for oil resources
• tax rate for Saudi Aramco cut to 50% from 85% as part of moves to attract private investors ahead of the planned IPO in 2018
• only other countries to increase their reserves last year were Kazakhstan and the US
• US: the increase was 13 billion bbls; new total: 263 billion bbls (in same ballpark as Saudi Arabia)
• if NGLs were included in the total, the US would surpass Saudi Arabia by 50 billion bbls
• globally: world's total recoverable resources have rise 29 billion bbls since 2016; total stands at 2.2 trillion bbls now; or 73x the current annual production rate
• as much as 40% of the recoverable oil requires oil prices higher than $80/bbl

ND rigs: at $43, the number of active rigs in ND may decrease; pace of rig count growth may slow in the Permian; other issues -- Chron. 

Wow, That's A Surprise -- Active Rigs Up To 59 -- June 20, 2017

Active rigs:

$43.34	6/20/2017	06/20/2016	06/20/2015	06/20/2014	06/20/2013
Active Rigs	59	29	77	189	187

Re-posting: connecting the dots -- Hess sells NM Permian assets; considers ND Bakken its core. If the price of oil fails to come off recent lows and trend back toward $60, it is very likely that the number of active rigs in North Dakota will fall once again. However, one theme of the blog has been that the Bakken is actually better for some operators than others, and that was validated to some extend by the news that Hess sold its Permian assets in New Mexico ($600 million) to focus on the Bakken and two off-shore plays. These are the advantages I see for the Bakken right now vs the Permian:

• the Bakken has an incredible infrastructure in place
• the geology of the middle Bakken is extremely well understood
• the Bakken is oil rich, about 94% of recoverable petroleum production is crude oil; the Permian has a fair amount of natural gas
• DAPL

Amazon: disruptive. This comes on the heels of my long meandering note about Amazon earlier today; and, also this long meandering note on Amazon.

Five (5) new permits:

• Operators: Oasis (4), MRO
• Fields: Sanish (Mountrail), Reunion Bay (Mountrail)
• Comments: the Oasis permits are for a 4-well pad in SWSW 11-153-93 (see graphic below)

Twenty-four (24) permits renewed:

• EOG (10): ten Riverview permits, McKenzie County 
• Whiting (6): one Pronghorn permit, Billings County; and, three Moccasin Creek permits, Dunn County; two Two Shields Butte permits, Dunn County
• HRC (5): five Fort Berthold permits, McKenzie County
• Slawson (2): two Nightmaker permits, Mountrail County
• Petroshale: one Petroshale US permit, McKenzie County

Dry hole:

• 32152, dry, CLR, Bohmbach 5PA, Elm Tree; from the sundry form received June 21, 2017: 

".... landing the curve on target in the Three Forks 2 interval on 6/9/2017. During trip out of hole prior to running intermediate casing, it was determined that the 9-5/8" surface casing had parted. Due to the location and severity of the part, it was determined the most prudent course of action was to P&A the well." Original permit: Bohmbach 5-26H2, Three Forks, second bench, 2560-acre spacing; 

Four-well pad proposed by Oasis (see above):

Other wells of interest (note #24166 is a Three Forks well):

• 17582, 1,019, Oasis, Mimir Uran 11-11H, t11/109; cum 189K 4/17;
• 24194, 3,518, Oasis, Lite 5393 11-11B, t6/13; cum 217K 4/17;
• 24166, 3,188, Oasis, Travel 5393 14-12T, t5/13; cum 252K 4/17;