More good stuff on the Bakken – 9/10

Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news that I won’t cover in a separate post.

Here is an early estimate for the July numbers. On 8/25, Bentek Energy issued a press release: Production from Bakken, Eagle Ford Rose 3.4% in July. Their prediction is

Crude oil production in the North Dakota section of the Bakken shale formation of the Williston Basin averaged nearly 1.2 million b/d in July, according to Bentek.

For Texas, their prediction is:

Oil production from the Eagle Ford formation averaged 1.5 million b/d last month, up 411,000 b/d from July 2013.

On a typical basis, the July results would be released by the ND regulators on about September 15. Bentek released their estimate on August 25.

8/14 – Bismarck Tribune – Williston airport shut down, reopened after ‘suspicious’ device found – In addition to describing a security scare that closed the airport for about 5 hours due to a suspected bomb, article gives an interesting tidbit.

Annual passenger departures from Sloulin field in Williston:

• 8,500 – 2007 passengers
• 186,000 – 2013

That is about a 22 fold increase.

8/19 – Dickinson Press – Williston gets first direct flight from Houston: Airport working for expansion – In addition to covering the first flight from Houston, the article mentions some stats for passenger count at Williston:

Year to date boardings at Williston are 62,682 which is an increase of over 10,000 from prior year

July boardings of 9,323 are three times the total boardings for all of 2005. As a rough figure, that means boardings are currently running 36 times higher than they were in 2005.

8/30 – Bismarck Tribune – North Dakota surplus continues to grow – I don’t understand the ND state budget process, but here are a few tidbits that show the impact of oil development:

• general fund surplus for the current bienniem is projected to be $614M, on the two-year fiscal year ending 2015 of $4.9B.
• Oil Extraction Tax and Gross Production Tax revenue is expected to increase to $9.78M in the two years ending 2017 from expected $7.48B in two years ending 2015.
• 30% of the oil tax goes into a Legacy fund
• check out how smart the savings plan is for oil money: it can’t be spent until 2017; any spending requires a 2/3rds vote; and only 15% can be spent in any one year

Downside of a million barrels a day

9/4 – The Atlantic – What If Your Small Town Suddenly Got Huge? – Watford City is about an hour southeast of Williston, about half-way between Williston and Dickinson. The city has seen a dramatic expansion in population due to the oil boom. Many people are living in their cars or recently appearing RV parks. As with Williston, the infrastructure has not kept up with rapid growth in population. Article focuses on downside of the disruptions from growth.