The monthly market value of oil produced in the state has increased more than five-fold in the last four years.
Check out the economic output of oil from North Dakota, by month:
Category: Energy
Update on solar and wind power – solar #33
More on the economic, environmental, and ecological devastation caused by solar and wind power. This post discusses flaws in the master plan to develop wind and solar in the California desert.
Update 11/18: Chris Clarke informs us that You Have More Time to Comment on That Desert Energy Plan. The deadline for comment has been extended from January 9 to February 23, which is an additional six weeks. He points out you better get started. At 8,000 pages, you need to get through 800 pages a day to make sure your comment is thorough and responsive enough that the regulators can’t just throw away your letter.
10/23 – ReWire – California’s Renewable Energy Plan Misses the Point of Renewable Energy – Chris Clarke shreds what logic and rational thought went into the plans to develop the California desert into a massive solar and wind farm.
The 6,000+ page Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is essentially an EIR to develop the desert starting from east of LA and San Diego all the way to the Nevada border. Previously mentioned this plan here.
Mr. Clarke explains the goal of the plan is to develop 20,000 MW of renewable energy in the desert by 2020.
Mr. Clarke says that is equivalent to an additional Continue reading “Update on solar and wind power – solar #33”
Crude price is still above the prices that generated the current boom
The Director’s Cut report from the NDIC Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division has lots of good info every month. I’ve been reading that for quite some time.
One piece of information included is the average sweet crude price. That is a usable benchmark for oil production. My understanding is there may be a discount for Bakken oil to allow for transport. The number in the reports are a reference point.
I accumulated the price mentioned in the reports going back to January 2010, which is the oldest report available online.
Current month Director’s Cut can be found here. Previous reports can be found here.
Here’s what I found:
Notice something?
Continue reading “Crude price is still above the prices that generated the current boom”
Near term prediction for oil production in North Dakota
Million Dollar Way thinks we will see the monthly production drop in November. Might still see one more record in October before the drop for winter.
Mr. Oksol’s comments from his post, New All-Time North Dakota Oil Production Record… Continue reading “Near term prediction for oil production in North Dakota”
Another month of record production in North Dakota – up 4.6% for the month
(Photo by James Ulvog)
Oil production in North Dakota increased to average of 1,184,635 bopd in September, up 4.63% from August. Bakken only production was 1,120,031 bopd average.
That is a 26.8% increase from 9/13 to 9/14. Very cool.
Flared percentage was down to 24% from 28% in August and 26% in July.
Here are some updated graphs:
Bakken and state-wide production since ’08:
More graphs –
Statewide since 2004: Continue reading “Another month of record production in North Dakota – up 4.6% for the month”
More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/13
Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news from the Bakken that I won’t cover in a separate post.
Hard work, determination, and perseverance will produce superb results in Bakken. With those skills in California, you are underemployed. And that assumes you can even find a job.
Here is one more in a non-ending string of stories of people who find success in the oil patch of North Dakota:
Ivanpah update – solar #32
The huge collecting solar power plant in the California desert near the Nevada border, Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, is in distress as an energy producer and as a business deal.
Output in the first eight months of operation is about one-third of what was expected.
Project negotiated a delay of its first two loan payments and is requesting federal grants to pick up the tab for those payments plus one more.
In the accounting world when a borrower doesn’t make payments in accordance with the original loan agreement it is called a troubled debt restructuring. In finance that is called a workout. In banking that is an impaired loan. In politics and the media world we call that a bailout.
9/23 – Wall Street Journal – Ivanpah Solar Project Owners Delay Repaying Loans, Documents Say – NRG, Google, BrightSource Said to Delay Paying Back Loans – Project was built with a $1.6B guaranteed loan as part of the total reported price tag of $2.2B.
About those dropping oil prices – 3
A global game of chicken is underway. Will falling oil prices slow or shut down the rapid expansion in shale oil production in the US before the budgets of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia are devastated? Which will happen first?
I think it isn’t a smart bet to go against the human ingenuity that has driven the shale revolution.
10/30 – American Interest – OPEC Makes Shaky Bet on Fragility of US Shale Boom – Article quotes a Bloomberg report which in turn quotes the OPEC Secretary General saying that 50% of tight oil (read shale in US) is uneconomical at current prices. That means he believes a lot of projects will get shut down at current pricing. AI article calls that a game of chicken. I agree.
11/3 – Wall Street Journal – Saudi Price Cut Upends Oil Market – Saudi Arabia dropped the price they are asking for crude oil shipped to the U.S. and increased their asking price for oil shipped to Asia.
A graph in the article helps explain why.
More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/8
Here are a few articles of what’s going on in North Dakota. Focus for this post is infrastructure and employment.
11/7 – Al Jazeera – From the wars of West Africa to the oil boom of North Dakota – Yes, my first link to Al Jazeera.
This is a superb story – in-depth view of the life of two immigrants from Africa (him Sierra Leone, her Liberia) who are making a combined $30 an hour Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/8”
Concentration of Wells
Here are some more photos to show how dense the well sites are in the Bakken.
Following photos by James Ulvog taken from air in October 2014 when landing from the east into Williston.
Check out the number of pads in that short section of road. Probably less than one mile:
Another batch of pads: Continue reading “Concentration of Wells”
About those dropping oil prices – 2
(Photo by James Ulvog; five more reasons why gas prices are going down.)
This is second of several posts on the drop in oil prices. Not to worry – human ingenuity will kick in again as prices drop.
10/31 – Bakken.com – Fracking is saving Americans billions of dollars – The American Petroleum Institute estimates that without fracking, crude oil prices would be somewhere between $12 and $40 a barrel higher. That means Americans would otherwise be paying around $250 billion a year more in energy costs.
10/30 – Wall Street Journal – Energy Boom Can Withstand Steeper Oil-Price Drop – Some drillers in the U.S. will have trouble as prices drop and some locations may not be economical, but there are huge numbers of drillers who own huge numbers of sites that will be profitable at lower prices that we see today.
Check out the range at which drilling is still profitable; data from the article and a cool chart: Continue reading “About those dropping oil prices – 2”
Update on a short term production prediction
(Photo by James Ulvog – 2 pump jacks in operation, 2 more being assembled, 1 workover rig, 1 drilling rig – That site will hold an investment of around $54M or $60M when finished and will produce somewhere between 3 million and 6 million barrels of oil during its useful life.)
Oil production in North Dakota set another record in August 2014. Total production in the state averaged 1,132,331 barrels per day. Production in Bakken only was 1,068,609 bopd. That is a 1.61% increase statewide and 1.70% in Bakken-only.
Very cool.
On 9/23, I described the prediction from Bentek: Another short term production prediction for Bakken. Time to see how that turned out.
Continue reading “Update on a short term production prediction”
About those dropping oil prices – 1
(Photo by James Ulvog; 4 teeny tiny slivers of explanation for why gas prices are going down.)
This is first of several posts on the drop in oil prices. What will that do to U.S. production? Amount of new drilling?
10/9 – The Feed – When Should U.S. Shale Producers Worry? –
More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/28
Wide open frontiers: energy production and one-man documentary production company.
Worlds far away I’ll never visit – Film production
One of the worlds I can only observe from a distance is making a feature documentary. I’ve been watching Jesse Moss as he produced and then marketed his documentary The Overnighters. That is a story of a Lutheran church in Williston that opened its doors to (predominantly) men working in the Bakken but arrived without a place to stay.
I’ll start to mention some of the coverage of the movie that is most helpful for me as I learn about that world.
10/10 – Tribeca – Jesse Moss Talks “The Overnighters’ and Morality in the Heartland – Interview with Mr. Moss goes into detail about how the documentary was recorded. Interesting tidbits are how he had to re-edit the footage to tell the story differently when the final dramatic event changed the whole story.
Since I haven’t mentioned anything about the movie before, that may not make sense.
I’m looking forward to seeing the movie because I know something about Williston, the church involved, and the overnighter program.
One fascinating part of this story is that Mr. Moss found sources, conducted interviews, recorded video, and generally developed this documentary by himself. Post-production work involved a very small team, but until that time, he was the entire crew.
For this month, he is in a different town every few days appearing at theaters where the documentary is being aired.
Energy
10/21 – The Feed – North Dakota Races to Frack Better – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/28”
More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/25
A few of the articles on the open frontiers of energy, education, and technology that caught my interest.
Technology
10/6 – The Freeman – Who’s Afraid of the Workers’ Revolution – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/25”