frontier is open – Page 5

March oil production in North Dakota increases 12K bopd

The preliminary March production info is in – average daily production increased to 1,190,538 bopd from a very slightly revised 1,170,082 bopd in February. That increase of 12,501 bopd essentially offsets the decrease of 13,116 bopd in February.

Here is a graph of current production on a long-term perspective:

The peak in December 2014 was 1,227,529 bopd. March 2015 production is a drop of 36,946 bopd.

Last few months look kinda’ sorta’ like a plateau, doesn’t it?

Take a look at the following production graph. Do you suppose that is the change that OPEC wanted to see when they decided to maintain production in order to crush the American shale sector?

Continue reading “March oil production in North Dakota increases 12K bopd”

More good stuff on the open space and technology frontiers – 5/12

Several fun articles on space and one on self-driving trucks

4/18 – Commented previously that SpaceX’s third try to recover a Falcon booster rocket failed. It came down too fast, was unstable, and exploded. SpaceX already knows the problem. Elon Musk sent a tweet on 4/18 that said

Cause of hard rocket landing confirmed as due to slower than expected throttle valve response. Next attempt in 2 months.

Problem identified. I am sure the solution will be implemented 5 or 6 weeks before the next launch.

Very cool.

5/6 – Spaceflight Now – Video: Dragon test articles flies pad abort profile – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open space and technology frontiers – 5/12”

The source of wealth, as explained by two musicians.

Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan explain where jobs, growth, prosperity, and wealth come from.

Hint: it isn’t from government.

“A Business Lesson by Frank Zappa”

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWXUatVuxQg&feature=player_detailpage]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWXUatVuxQg]

(Title: A Business Lesson By Frank Zappa – youtube name in case link fails: TWXUatVuxQg )

(Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWXUatVuxQg )

He puts out $250,000 of his own money to get a tour ready. He takes all that risk expecting it will pay off later. Here’s the deal: Continue reading “The source of wealth, as explained by two musicians.”

More good stuff on the open frontier of technology – 2/18

A few articles on the amazing things going on the in wide open tech frontier. Video of building an airplane. Potential for blockchain (which is the tech behind Bitcoin), we are all moving toward being entrepreneurs, and FAA’s draft rules on drone use.

1/7 – BBC – The world’s biggest ship – for 53 days – The Globe can carry 19,100 of the standard 20 foot containers. That’s equal to 4,550 of the usual container you see pulled on a big rig on the freeway. It is the largest cargo ship on the sea. It weighs in at 186,000 gross tons.

It only takes a crew of 23 to operate this ship, which shows how automated it is. The engine is so efficient that this ship uses 20% less fuel per container than a ship that can hold 10,000 TEU (I think that is the abbreviation).

Boeing – Time lapse video of airplane construction – hattip BehindTheBlack blog.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&x-yt-cl=84838260&v=SE71NJl-naY&x-yt-ts=1422327029]

1/22 – TechVibes – How Technology Behind Bitcoin Could Transform Accounting As We Know It – Great article providing background on blockchain, which is the core technology behind Bitcoin. Good brain stretcher on where blockchain could go.

Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontier of technology – 2/18”

2 graphs of annual oil production in North Dakota through 2014

Here is are two pictures of the production of crude oil in the state. The monthly production is multiplied by the state’s calculation of average price with the monthly amounts aggregated.

Dollar value of production, in billions:

Amount of production, in millions of barrels:

Continue reading “2 graphs of annual oil production in North Dakota through 2014”

Oil production in N.D. hits record in December ‘14, breaking 1.2M bopd

Oil production averaged 1,227,344 in December, up from a slightly revised 1,188,258 in November, a 3.29% increase. Only passed the 1M bopd mark in April, eight months ago. Up 22% in eight months.

Rig count is dropping rapidly. Prices as well. More on that here.

Update before the graphs: A few tidbits from the Department of mineral Resources director Lynn Helms on the information released Friday, as mentioned in the Bismarck Tribune’s article, Daily oil production passes 1.2 million barrels. He mentioned with oil prices starting to recover, there is a “renewed confidence” that the big trigger of oil tax reductions will not take place.

Article says, as I’ve mentioned previously, that the little trigger was pulled effective the first of February.

Flaring targets

Flaring dropped to 24% in December. He expects the January target to be met.

Targets for flaring, per the article:

26% – 10/1/14
23% – 1/1/15
15% – two years
10% – six years

Now to the graphs. Here is some statistical data to show the story better than my words can tell:

For a longer term perspective:

Continue reading “Oil production in N.D. hits record in December ‘14, breaking 1.2M bopd”

More good stuff on the open frontiers – 1/6

More articles on the open frontiers of technology and private space flight. But first, some downsides of tech misuse and letting the world pass you by.

Downside of tech revolution and change

Not everything is getting better. There is abuse of technology along with quantitative and qualitative decay:

1/2 – Schneier on Security – Doxing as an Attack – New terms you didn’t want to know, but really ought to: doxing –

Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 1/6”

More good stuff on the open frontiers – 12/12

There are wonderful things going on in the tech world. Also some not so great things in education and publishing. Here’s a few articles on the good and not-so-good stuff.

Technology

12/8 – Economist – Free the drones / Drones have immense commercial potential—so long as regulators don’t try to tether them to the ground

Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 12/12”

The visual appearance of a million barrel a day oil field

(All photos by James Ulvog. Above view of 4 pads, with a pair of flares visible in the middle and workover rig on pad in lower left.)

Following post was written on October 18, when my wife and I flew out of Williston:

We took a 6:25 a.m. flight, so it was still dark. The view on departure was fabulous.

I wish I had the camera equipment (and the skill) to show what I saw.

Words will have to suffice, along with photos taken during daylight.

Sky was clear until several minutes from the airport, then clouds slowly built up.

Drilling rigs are quite visible, what with those tall metal superstructures and the working deck all lit up. Sorta’ like an all white Christmas tree.

Continue reading “The visual appearance of a million barrel a day oil field”

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 – 11/8

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”

Space travel is rocket science

Two disasters in one week naturally leads us to wondering if private space exploration is safe.

Well, no.

It is rocket science.

And it isn’t safe.

But it is wonderful and will be safe enough soon enough.

11/1 – Marginal Revolution – Space Tourism Still Not Ready for Flight – Continue reading “Space travel *is* rocket science”

Tough week in the open frontier of private space travel

Well, that was a rough week for private space exploration. First, an Orbital Sciences rocket exploded seconds after liftoff. Then Virgin Galactic lost a space ship along with one crew member and another injured.

10/31 – Los Angeles Times – ‘Tough day’ for space travel as Virgin Galactic’s spaceship crashes – Continue reading “Tough week in the open frontier of private space travel”

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”