North Dakota's Oil Patch Continues to Lead Job Growth

DailyMarkets.com

Despite Challenges, Oil Patch Officials Remain Optimistic

Inforum

Tom Rolfstad, Williston Economic Development executive director.

North Dakota Vehicle Registrations Top 1 Million

Inforum/Jamestown Sun

For 684,000 North Dakotans, there are now 1 million vehicles.  North Dakota Transportation Department director Francis Ziegler reports Tuesday the agency registered more than 1 million vehicles last year. It's an all-time high.  The registration number includes all sorts of machines - cars, trucks, boats, trailers, motorcycles, buses, snowmobiles and motor homes.  Ziegler says it's a reflection of western North Dakota's booming oil-producing region and the robust economy statewide.  He says vehicle dealers across the state say they're doing good business.  See Entire Story.

Montana Oil and Gas Administrator Says Bakken Boom Expected to Last

News Release 

Tom Richmond, administrator of the Montana Board of Oil and Gas, was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Economic Outlook Seminar in Billings.

How long will the Bakken oil boom last?  Tom Richmond, administrator of the Montana Board of Oil and Gas, has been asked that question many times. Sure enough, it came up again Tuesday at the tail end of his detailed presentation on the state of Montana's oil and gas industry.  "There are always cycles in this industry," Richmond said, mentioning that Montana's first oil wells began producing about a century ago. "The safest thing I can say is that I expect the industry to be around a whole lot longer. There are a lot of reserves in the Bakken and certainly there are a lot of reserves in Montana," that will receive attention in years to come, he said.  See Entire Story.

Continental Increases Q4 Production by 57 Percent

News Release

The Company achieved a production exit rate of 78,260 Boepd for December 2011, a 52 percent increase over the December 2010 monthly average exit rate of 51,635 Boepd. January 2012 production continues to accelerate at more than 80,000 Boepd thus far in the month, the Company said. "Two years ago we announced a five-year plan to triple production and proved reserves by year-end 2014. Since December 2009, we've already doubled production," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We're clearly ahead of plan due to better well performance and increased operating efficiency." With the strong fourth quarter performance, full-year 2011 production totaled 22.6 MMBoe (million barrels of oil equivalent), a 43 percent increase over 2010 production of 15.8 MMBoe. Continental's 2011 production beat its guidance for the year.  See Entire Story.

Hess Generates Strong Growth in Bakken in Q4

Seeking Alpha

Last year, we continued to grow our portfolio of unconventional resources. In the Bakken oil shale play in North Dakota, we generated strong growth throughout the second half of the year and exited 2011 at a peak net rate of approximately 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. We maintain our 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day forecast for the Bakken in 2012.  See Entire Earnings Call Transcript.

Occidental Increases Williston Acreage in 2011

Seeking Alpha

In the Midcontinent and other operations, we plan to spend about 14% of our total capital. In the Williston, we have increased our acreage in 2011 from 204,000 acres to 277,000 acres. We expect that our rig count will be about 6 at the end of 2012. Additional capital that could reasonably be deployed here has been shifted to higher-return opportunities in California and the Permian. This may also encourage Bakken well costs to decline.  See Entire Earnings Call Transcript.

ConocoPhillips

Seeking Alpha

So if you just looked at Eagle Ford and the Bakken and the Permian, maybe those, our fourth quarter production from those areas was around 116,000 BOE per day, and that was right at 50,000 out of Eagle Ford, about 18,000 out of the Permian, and -- about 18,000 out of Bakken and 50,000 out of the Permian. We see that over time that those are going to grow to where they get to be in the 2013 to 2015 time period of over 250,000 to maybe 275,000 BOE per day. And it's going to just increase just fairly steadily over that time period. See Entire Earnings Call Transcript.

Seeking Alpha

In the Bakken Shale, we have 7 operated rigs developing roughly 400,000 net acres of leasehold. In 2011, we drilled and completed a total of 51 wells, including 18 in the fourth quarter. And notwithstanding severe weather in the first half of 2011 and increased downtime, our net Bakken liquids production increased 27% in 2011 versus 2010. In the fourth quarter alone, net Bakken liquids production increased 13% versus the third quarter 2011 and 41% versus the fourth quarter of 2010.   See Entire Earnings Report.

Kodiak Falls Short of Q4 Forecasts Due to Mechanical Problems

News Release

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. said recently that oil and natural gas production jumped more than fivefold in the fourth quarter, though it fell short of company forecasts because of mechanical problems at some of its wells.  The Denver energy company said its wells in the Williston Basin of North Dakota produced an average of 7,195 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the final three months of 2011. That's up from the 1,783 barrels produced in the same period of 2010, but down from company estimates of between 7,500 and 8,000 barrels per day.  See Entire Story.

Marathon Oil Encouraged About 30-Stage Fracs in Bakken

Seeking Alpha

The Bakken is obviously a very positive story in terms of leaving last year at 24,000. We've really been able to hold that rate through January. And we typically have some issues with weather up there because it can get pretty dodgy up there. I think one of the things that you'll see from us is we talk about having 6 rigs working, 1 that's doing recompletions and adding 1 more in the second quarter for a total of 8. And we're basically going to recast the rig that's doing re-fracs into straight-up drilling. So we're very excited about being able to continue the momentum in that play. And I would highlight one thing. As we've obviously gone to all 30-stage fracs, our early results are very good. We're very encouraged about it.  See Entire Story. 

Magnum Hunter's Q4 Production Increases More Than Four Times

News Release 

Magnum Hunter Resources said its fourth-quarter production rose more than four times and the oil and gas company increased its 2012 exit rate forecast, helped by stronger output at its Eagle Ford shale, Williston Basin and Marcellus shale.  "Current company-wide production rates now give us the confidence to increase our 2012 exit rate guidance to 15,000 boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day)," Chief Executive Gary Evans said in a statement.  In December, Houston-based Magnum Hunter had raised its 2012 exit production view to 14,500 boepd from 13,000 boepd that it had forecast earlier.  Fourth-quarter average production rose 455 percent to 9,166 boepd. Currently, the company produces more than 13,000 boepd, Magnum Hunter said.  See Entire Story.

MDU Sets Record Bakken Production in Q4

News Release

MDU Resources Group, Inc.'s oil production increased 12% in 4th quarter over a year ago, driven by record Bakken production.  See Entire Story.

Basin Electric Needs New Transmission Line in Northwestern North Dakota

News Release

Basin Electric has identified the need for additional electric transmission capacity in northwestern North Dakota as a result of increased demand, and to meet reliability and system stability requirements for the region. Investigations and analyses conducted for the overall power delivery systems found that without improvements, the flow of power along existing lines may result in local line overloads, especially in the vicinity of Williston, North Dakota.  To resolve these issues, Basin Electric is proposing to construct, own and operate a new 345-kV transmission line and associated supporting infrastructure.  See Entire Story.

Enbridge Seeks Permission to Build Pipeline Across Lake Sakakawea

Bismarck Tribune

A Canadian pipeline company plans to build a Bakken oil pipeline from one side of Lake Sakakawea to the other, but needs an environmental OK from several federal agencies to do it.  Enbridge - already a major transporter of North Dakota oil -wants to build a 36-mile line from east of Watford City, boring under the lake, to a point nine miles southeast of Tioga.  There, up to 100,000 barrels a day would go into a second east-west pipeline Enbridge is building alongside its original line over to Berthold and eventually to a distribution hub point in Clearwater, Minn.  Before it can build the line across the lake, the company must clear an Environmental Assessment being conducted now by the Bureau of Land Management. About three miles of federal land are involved in the proposal.  The agency is taking public comments on Enbridge's proposed Sanish line until Feb. 29.  See Entire Story.

Canadian Pacific's Energy Portfolio Grows by $60 Million in 2011

Seeking Alpha

Frederic J. Green  And from a market development side, the biggest opportunity for us, energy, is bearing fruit. We increased inbound shipments of products like aggregates and pipe by more than 40% in Q4, and we more than doubled outbound shipments of crude oil. On an annual basis, we grew our energy portfolio by approximately $60 million, and there's more to come. We achieved these milestones because our team's commitment to executing on our multi-year plan. Jane A. O'Hagan For energy, CP is the only carrier that serves all 3 of the North American energy plays, the oil sands, the Bakken, the Marcellus Shale, and we have delivered on our market development strategies with both CP and customer investment and infrastructure resulting in solid growth for inbound materials, outbound crude and byproducts.  See Entire Earnings Call Transcript.

Union Pacific's Petroleum Business up 46% in Q4

Seeking Alpha

Union Pacific's chemical business continued the strength we saw throughout the year with volume up 10%, which along with a 7% improvement in average revenue per car, produced an 18% increase in revenue. Petroleum volume increased 46%, driven primarily by increased crude oil shipments from the Bakken and Eagle Ford Shale regions. Supporting that growth was our strong delivery network that combines geographic reach with flexible service options. John J. Koraleski.  See Entire Earnings Transcript.

Halliburton Sets New Revenue Record in Q4

News Release

"Our results in North America in 2011 were truly outstanding, with each quarter setting a new record for revenue. Fourth quarter revenue was up 6% sequentially, compared to United States rig count growth of 3%. Operating income declined slightly from the third quarter due to merger and acquisition related costs from recent acquisitions, normal seasonal factors, cost inflation, logistical challenges, and equipment and crew relocations from natural gas to liquids-rich basins," said Dave Lesar, Halliburton chairman, president and chief executive officer.  See Entire Story.  See Entire Earnings Call Transcript.

Baker Hughes Introduces New Fracking Techniques

Seeking Alpha

Martin Craighead, Baker Hughes Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Operating Officer and Director talked about the new sliding sleeves in January's Earnings Report.  Craighead says, "The product development folks have been just incredible in terms of continually upgrading these. And we introduced it. We have the lion's share of the positions, particularly in the Bakken. We've taken it to the next level with the DirectConnect, teleport type of technology. In this particular case, 32-stage capability. But within each stage, 10 sleeves open, more than twice the nearest competitor. So I wouldn't want to say that you got 300-some fracs on their capability, but a lot of initiation frontage in that reservoir phase. It's just really incredible technology."   See Entire Earnings Transcript.

How Eagle Ford Compares to Bakken

Seeking Alpha

Michael Filloon

There are some very large differences between the Bakken and Eagle Ford. First, the Bakken has greater total recoverable resource at 18-24 billion barrels -- a Continental (CLR) estimate -- while the Eagle Ford is estimated to have 3 billion. The Bakken is currently producing 510000 barrels/day, which is more than the Eagle Ford's total potential output of 420,000 barrels/day. The Eagle Ford is 400 miles long and 50 miles wide. It has an average thickness of 250 feet, and is at depths of 4,000 to 12,000 feet. The Bakken covers 200,000 square miles, and reaches a thickness of 130 feet.  See Entire Story.

McKenzie County EURs Compared With Initial Production

Seeking Alpha

Michael Filloon

Analyzing well locations can be a daunting task. There are so many variables that can have an effect on the total resource in either a positive or negative fashion... The best areas seem to be to the east, west and south of the Nesson Anticline. It seems the closer a location is to the anticline, the better the production and EURs. This has been seen in some of the Bakken fields to the east of this area.  See Entire Story.

Southwest Mountrail County IP Rates Correspond To Higher EURs

Seeking Alpha

Michael Filloon

Southwest Mountrail County continues to be some of the best acreage in the Williston Basin. The oil producers on this list had 2011 24 hour and 90-day IP rate averages of:

1. Marathon: 1018 Bo/d and 462 Bo/d
2. Oasis: 1970 Bo/d and 515 Bo/d
3. QEP Resources: 1388 Bo/d and 498 Bo/d
4. MDU: 1012 Bo/d and 596 Bo/d
5. Continental: 500 Bo/d and 395 Bo/d
6. Whiting: 1819 Bo/d and 494 Bo/d
7. EOG Resources: 555 Bo/d and 407 Bo/d

The 24 hour IP rates vary considerably when compared to the 90-day rates. I cannot stress how important this is. Although there are several wells with IP rates north of 3000 Bo/d. These wells do not have the highest 90-day IP rate. Hill 31-30H provided the highest 90-day IP rate of 993 Bo/d and achieved this with a 24 hour IP rate of 1319 Bo/d. So be careful when assessing a well based on just a day or weeks production, as several variables can effect EURs in the shorter term.  See Entire Story.

Be Wary of Internet/Facebook Hearsay

Williston Herald

There has been a list circulating online recently detailing more than 30 examples of how the oil boom is impacting western North Dakota. The list, which we have seen on facebook and in email chain letters, begins something like this:  "A meeting was held of the ND Sheriff's & Deputies Association in Bismarck, as part of this meeting we had an opportunity to sit down with Law Enforcement from western ND to discuss what they are going through with oil impact."  The list appeared on legitimate news websites such as KFGO, "The Mighty 790."  The problem is the list is mighty wrong in a lot of ways, although there is a good bit of truth to it, too.  See Entire Story.

The Winter that Wasn't

The 2011-2012 Snowfall Season Lowest in Record-Keeping History

National Weather Service

The Snowfall Season of 2011-2012 remains on pace to be the driest (regarding snowfall) in record-keeping history at the Bismarck airport. The same can be said across much of West and Central North Dakota. See the tables below for the Top 10 lowest seasonal snowfall totals at Bismarck.

  See Entire Story.

CNBC to Air Show on Williston's Oil Rush February 6

CNBC

The epicenter of an oil rush is in Williston, North Dakota. CNBC's Brian Shactman is on the ground for an inside-look at a town like no other in America, overflowing with growth, jobs and opportunity. The once quiet town sits on top of one of the largest oil deposits ever found in North America and the process known as fracking is turning that enormous oil reserve into cold hard cash.  CNBC cameras capture both incredible growth and the serious growing pains that come with it, exposing a small town bursting at the seams. Boomtown is under immense pressure, crushed by truck traffic, plagued by lagging infrastructure, and shocked by a surge in violent crimes. But the biggest threat is the controversy surrounding what goes on underground.  See Entire Story.

02/02                6th Annual Midstream Summit 2012
Houston, TX. 6th Annual Midstream Summit.

02/02                "It's Coming Down The Pipe" Town Meeting

Belle Fourche, SD. http://chamber.bellefourchechamber.org/Events/details/it-s-coming-down-the-pipe-town-meeting

02/06                Safety Corner

The next Safety Committee Lunch & Learn is tentatively scheduled for Monday, February 6 at the Bismarck Civic Center in conjunction with the North Dakota Safety Council's annual Safety & Health Conference. Additional details to follow. If your company is interested in sponsoring a future Lunch & Learn, please e-mail kwald@ndoil.org.

02/09                Introduction to Oil and Gas Operations

Holiday Inn Express, Dickinson, ND. Introduction to Oil and Gas Operations.

02/22-24          NAPE Expo 2012

Houston, TX.  http://www.wynjade.com/nape12/

02/29-03/01   North American Crude Marketing Conference

Houston, TX.  http://www.platts.com/ConferenceDetail/2012/pc214/index

03/04                North Dakota Petroleum Council Spring Social

Brown Palace, Denver, CO.

03/16                Opportunities in North Dakota

Golden Valley, MN. http://mrej.associationsonline.com/site_event_detail.cfm?pk_association_event=4980

 03/19               Introduction to Oil and Gas Operations.

Kelly Inn, Bismarck, ND. Introduction to Oil and Gas Operations.

03/29-30          Bakken Crude Oil Logistics Conference

Houstonian Hotel, Houston, TX.  http://www.crudeoillogistics.com/

04/02-04         Bakken Investor Conference

Minot, ND. http://www.bakkenconference.com/

04/03-04         Montana Energy 2012

Billings, MT.  www.montanaenergy.net

04/12-13         Platts 6th Annual Rockies Oil & Gas

Denver, CO.  http://www.platts.com/ConferenceDetail/2012/pc218/index

05/15-16        Bakken Housing Summit

Williston, ND.  http://www.bakkenhousingsummit.com/

05/22-24         20th Annual Williston Basin Petroleum Conference

Bismarck, ND. Reserve your hotel rooms early.  https://www.wbpcnd.org/

06/11-14        North Dakota Petroleum Council Teacher Seminar

Bismarck, ND.  Seminar is Full.  http://www.ndoil.org/?id=88

07/24-27        WEST! Event

Williston, ND.