Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news that I won’t cover in a separate post.
3/25 – Alberta Oil Magazine – Here We Go Again – The second wave of the horizontal revolution is on its way – A few companies are already experimenting with Enhanced Oil Recover (EOR). Those are the secondary production techniques to get more oil flowing when it slows down. First indications are doubling production at the five year point. Guesses at this point are doubling the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR). The payoff will be huge. Consider the experimental vertical wells are paying for themselves by recovering enough oil from primary production. The primary horizontal well has already been drilled and cost recovered. The injected natural gas will mostly be recovered at the wellhead. That rocket-ship-like production graph will continue, but without the $10M cost of the first well. Astounding.
2/24 – Dickinson Press – Helms: Well site footprints changing – Surface impact from drilling is shrinking due to multi-pad drilling. Surface recovery after a well is dry is improving also. Speaking at a conference, Lynn Helms, the director of the Department of Mineral Resources, also said it will take a generation to drill all the wells that can be drilled in the state. He has talked to most of the exploration companies. One company only has a 7 year inventory of wells to drill. Most companies will be drilling for 17 to 27 years to complete all the wells on their leaseholds.
That is staggering. Another 20 plus years of the current level of drilling.
2/28 – Million Dollar Way – How Cold Was It In The Bakken in January? So Cold, The Diesel Froze – December was bitterly cold and January saw many days of high wind that interfered with fracking. Sorta’ hard to get stuff done when the diesel fuel freezes.
3/11 – Million Dollar Way – Fracking Is Turning US Into Bigger Oil Producer Than Saudi Arabia – A few tidbits – US oil production in 2013 reached 7.4 million BOPD. Projection is 8.3M in 2014. The ’13 amount is a 15% increase from ’12. Crude by Rail? 9,500 car loads in ’08. 400,000 in ’13. Amazing.
3/11 – Dickinson Press – Stocking Waste: Hundreds of filter socks discovered in Noonan – Another illegal dump of filter “socks” were found in an abandoned, ready-to-fall-down gas station. The socks filter water returning to the surface during drilling to pull out naturally occurring radioactive materials. The risk is low enough that a piece of paper or clothing will provide protection from the radiation, according to a state official. The risk is high enough that it needs to be properly disposed of at a site that can properly handle it. Authorities are investigating.
4/2 – Wall Street Journal – Oil Boomtown Williston, ND, Looks for a Stable Future – Not much new here if you’ve been reading my blog and nothing new to me. Article does mention that housing is starting to show some very early signs of stabilizing. The wonderful thing though is this article was in the Wall Street Journal and was on page A3, with several nice color photos. Very nice placement.