We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Fully developing the oil field in North Dakota may take another 16 to 18 years. That is the comment from Lynn Helms in an interview on “Platts Energy Week”.
North Dakota’s oil/gas boom to get even bigger, official says is the article that discusses the interview.
Other interesting comments-
Let’s put the water needs of fracking a well into perspective.
The water needed to drill the wells in North Dakota is equal to two minutes of each day’s volume of water in the Missouri river flowing past Bismarck.
My source is a Bismarck Tribune from two years ago: Hoeven, delegation upset with corps’ plans for Lake Sakakawea.
“The amounts of water at issue are miniscule,” the delegation said in the letter to Darcy. “High-end estimates are that full development of the state’s oil fields would require 1,800 new wells drilled per year, at a total of 4 million gallons of water each.”This totals about 60 acre-feet of water per day, compared to the approximately 40,000 acre-feet of Missouri River water that passes through Bismarck-Mandan each day.
Let’s work with that.
Proved U.S. oil reserves, without condensate, increased to 23.3 billion barrels at the end of 2010, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration. The full report is here. The report and discussion on the ‘net is focused on 25.2 billion, which includes crude oil and lease condensate.
In 2009, proven reserves increased by twice the amount of oil we pulled out of the ground. In 2010, proven reserves increased by 2.5 times what we produced.
How can this be?
It is a mystery. Or magic must be involved. Or the oil fields are having babies, breeding like rabbits.
Continue reading “Must be magic. Proven reserves mysteriously increasing. Peak Oil #9”
… we are turning corn into gasoline.
The problem explained in one cartoon:
http://news.investors.com/editorialcartoons/cartoon.aspx?id=620674
(h/t Carpe Diem)
208 – Bakken – from the current active drilling rig list at the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources website on 8-2-12.
270 – Eagle Ford – from EagleFordShale blog.
That is down 7 and down 8 since my June 30 post.
Don’t worry about the drop in rig count, which went from 493 in my last post to 478 now.
Eagle Ford Shale blog reports the number of permits issued by Texas RRC:
Since May 14 when the RRC last updated the data points on its map, the commission has issued 367 permits. That’s more than 7 permits per day over a period of 50 days.
Adjust that count for the number of days and it is the rate of 220 per 30 days (367 / 50 *30).
How does that compare to Bakken?
Continue reading “New drilling permits in Bakken and Eagle Ford – May and June 2012”
That is the forecast by Bentek Energy LLC. I’ve been pointing out forecasts for Bakken production and this is the longest forecast I’ve seen.
The Dickinson Press picks up the AP report in their article Study: ND oil output may jump threefold by 2025. The opening paragraph:
Continue reading “Bakken oil output 2 million bopd by 2025?”
IHS Global Insights has a new study out comparing the productivity of Bakken and Eagle Ford wells. Looks like the wells in Eagle Ford are pumping out more oil. The announcement of the study is at Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Results Compare favorable with Bakken, Says IHS.
Check out this comment on comparative productivity:
Continue reading “Productivity of Bakken and Eagle Ford wells”
Does oil just magically appear in a tapped out field or do the oil people learn how large the field really is, locate more oil, and develop new ways to get the oil out of the ground?
If you’ve read this blog for long, you know what I think the answer is.
Look at the monthly production data for the Bakken field, exclusive of wells elsewhere in North Dakota. You can find the data here. This data is for the Bakken, Sanish, Three Forks, and Bakken/Three Forks pools only.
The backlog of wells in North Dakota that have been drilled but waiting to be fracked has increased in the last six months.
Last June, I mentioned there were 248 wells waiting for fracking crews.
In the July 2012 Director’s Cut report, Lynn Helms reports there is a backlog of 336 wells.
While that is an increase in numbers, that represents a decrease in the number of months worth of new wells. Let me explain.
I’ve read that it takes millions of gallons of water and perhaps 2,000 visits from a truck in order to drill a well. Finally came across something that puts that in perspective.
Let’s look at the water used to drill a well in terms of tradeoff. What else could we do with the water we use to drill and frack a well?
Looking only at the water input, with the same amount of water we could:
The Economist has a 14 page special report on natural gas in their July 14 edition: An unconventional bonanza. I discussed that previously here.
The article Sorting frack from fiction, puts the water and truck traffic in perspective.
Consider this for water: Continue reading “Tradeoffs in using water – keep 57 golf courses green for a year or produce 2 billion barrels of oil”
I’ve read that it takes millions of gallons of water and perhaps 2,000 visits from a truck in order to drill a well.
Finally came across something that puts that in perspective.
I’ll start with truck traffic. Will discuss the water needs next.
Continue reading “Some perspective on how much truck traffic it takes to drill and frack a well”
I am rapidly getting educated on the revolution in oil that is underway. Haven’t dug into the natural gas revolution that has been going on a long time.
The Economist has a 14 page special report on natural gas in their July 14 edition: An unconventional bonanza.
If you are reading my posts on energy, you will want to check out their articles.
A few of the things I learned is that natural gas is very difficult to transport. As a result, there is a limited international market. That means that most gas is sold and used in the country where it is produced. That would be why prices in the US have dropped so radically but stayed stable elsewhere.
The technology is evolving rapidly. This also means the costs to drill are dropping and will probably continue to drop:
The two biggest factors driving the tremendous expansion of shale oil and shale gas production are first, hydraulic fracturing and second, horizontal drilling.
There are two more major factors that have allowed this boom to take place, as pointed out by The Wall Street Journal in their editorial, The Shale Gas Secret (behind paywall).
Previous posts here and here covered some of the info from a presentation by Mr. Lynn Helms, North Dakota’s Director of Mineral Resources, at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference on May 25, 2012.
The presentation had more information on the dollar impact of a typical well in Bakken. The additional info allowed me to rearrange the data into an income statement. I am an accountant after all.
I previously discussed this in another post. I’ll refine that analysis in this post.
Here is the income statement for a typical well over a full lifetime of production, based on the data in the presentation. Continue reading “Lifetime financial data for a typical well in Bakken – revised”