North Dakota – Page 8 – Outrun Change

Megapads in Bakken

Check out all those wells. That is a huge pad. Photo by James Ulvog.

One thing that struck me during my September 2015 visit to Williston is the number of well pads with lots of pumps. Two years ago I was impressed by two or four pumps on one site. This trip, I noticed a lot of pads with 6 working pumps and lots of pads that were far too large for the one or two pumps in place. Obviously there are plans to put more wells on each of those pads.

The most amazing sight for me was a pad with 15 wells. Yes, 15. There are three in a row on the west side of the pad, six in a middle row, and six more in a row on the east. Will have several more shots of the site included in this post. The pad is at the end of a private road so all the pictures I have were taken from the nearby public roads.

Continue reading “Megapads in Bakken”

Fines for killing eagles are a (trivial) cost of doing business

The fine for one on these monstrosities…

…taking out one of those critters…

..is trivially small.

(photos courtesty of DollarPhotoClub.com)

Yet another slice-and-dice operation is moving toward approval in North Dakota. Interesting tidbits in the middle of articles about the project point out the infinitesimal fines for killing a bald or golden eagle. Conversation in two articles helps me understand why the potential fines for offing eagles aren’t stopping any wind turbine projects.

Why will the possible fines not stop any wind farm?

The cost is trivial, and that is assuming you even get caught and assuming you get prosecuted and assuming you actually get convicted.

11/18 – Bismarck Tribune – Rolette County wind farm approved – ND Public Service Commission approved the Rolette Power Development LLC to construct up to 59 slice-and-dicers with theoretical capacity of 100 MW at estimated cost of $175M. That is about $1.75M per turbine and an average 1.7MW per tower.

Continue reading “Fines for killing eagles are a (trivial) cost of doing business”

More November data on North Dakota oil production

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUQZc4ilyuo]

Here are a few more graphs on crude production in North Dakota as released by the state on 11/13/15. First the fracklog and then the number of working rigs.

Fracklog for September is 1,091. That is the estimated number of wells waiting to be completed. They are drilled to depth, temporarily closed, and only need to be fracked in order to start producing.

$fracklog 9-15$

Continue reading “More November data on North Dakota oil production”

North Dakota oil production drops 2.1% in September, to 1.16 million barrels a day

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZYVN_7PG_M]

The September production was 1,162,253 BOPD, which is down 2.14% for the month. That is down 5.3% from the peak of 1,227,329 in December 2014.

Here are a few production graphs.

Statewide and Bakken/Three Forks production since 2008:

Monthly average production since 1990:

Continue reading “North Dakota oil production drops 2.1% in September, to 1.16 million barrels a day”

Update on wind and solar power (#35)

Photo taken at altitude while flying over North Dakota. Look closely to see strings of wind turbines, visible at 20,000 feet. Photo by James Ulvog. — Photo taken at altitude while flying over North Dakota. Look closely to see strings of wind turbines scarring the land, visible at 20,000 feet. Photo by James Ulvog.

Between some vacation, talking about things I learned in North Dakota, and following the trial of now-convicted human trafficker Keith Graves, I’ve not been talking about the devastation caused by wind and solar power for quite a while. Not to worry, there is a long backlog of articles on the destructive power of wing toasters and slice-and-dicers on my list of things to discuss.

Here are a few articles on dilute and intermittent wind power that caught my eye. Update on solar to follow in a few days.

7/31 – Million Dollar Way – Wind Energy Unable to Meet California’s EV Demands – Continue reading “Update on wind and solar power (#35)”

Bakken update – 10/20

Two drilling rigs, both running 'round the clock. Photo by James Ulvog. — Two drilling rigs, both running ’round the clock. Photo by James Ulvog.

A few more articles of interest from the Bakken.

10/14 – byline Amy Dalrymple of Forum News Service at Bismarck Tribune – State celebrates $150 million solution to Williston traffic woes – Four lane truck bypass around Williston is complete. This is expected to reroute a lot of the truck traffic that would otherwise be going through town. Construction was still underway when I was in town in September, so I’ve not been on the road yet.

10/16 – AP at Bakken.com – Williston moves toward closing the last of the crew camps – Continue reading “Bakken update – 10/20”

Initial reaction to soap opera allegedly set in Bakken. Viewership collapses by third episode.

Not a mountain to be seen during flight across North Dakota. Photo by James Ulvog.

ABC has a new prime-time soap opera supposedly set in northwest North Dakota. Akin to the old show “Dallas”, the drama is set in the context of the oil industry, this time the booming Bakken region.

Initial reports make me wonder if the writers and producers have even been to North Dakota, let alone set foot inside the northwest part of the state in the last seven years.

Dickinson Press reports on 9/28 that ABC’s ‘Blood and Oil’ gets modest ratings in premiere. First show drew a mere 1.4 rating/4 share. I’m guessing that is good enough to keep the show alive for the moment.

A Reuters article, also in the Dickinson Press on 9/28 reports on the unintended comedic angle: Snow-capped peaks of ‘Blood & Oil’ get panned by North Dakotans. Mountains showing up in the background on a regular basis prompts some viewers to make the show a drinking game. Every time you see a geological farce, like snow-capped mountains common in a reeeeealy flat state, you take a drink. Continue reading “Initial reaction to soap opera allegedly set in Bakken. Viewership collapses by third episode.”

A few more news articles from Bakken

There are six wells on that pad ready to start pumping soon. Enough room for maybe another half dozen. Photo by James Ulvog. — There are six wells on that pad ready to start pumping soon. Enough room to the right of the current pumps for maybe another half-dozen wells or more to be drilled. Check out the storage tanks. I calculate there are 42 tanks! There are six rows of seven tanks. That is a huge amount of on-site storage. I count three wind socks. Photo by James Ulvog.

Here are a few more articles I read while on vacation in North Dakota during September.

9/27 – Grand Forks Herald – Two years after Tioga, N.D., spill, dirty pile still dwarfs clean pile – Cleanup of the big leak north of Tioga has been underway for two years. Somewhere between one-third and one-half of the contaminated dirt had been treated.

Cost so far is about $42M.

The final consensus of how the leak happened is a lighting strike broke through the soil and ruptured the line.

The state is holding off on assessing a fine until they see how the cleanup is resolved.

Continue reading “A few more news articles from Bakken”

More October data on North Dakota oil production

Notice the large amount of empty space on that pad? There will be a lot more wells there eventually. Photo by James Ulvog.

Here are a few more graphs on crude production in North Dakota:

Here is the rig count info:

The count of rigs is not a big as deal today as it was a few years ago because the rig productivity has increased so much. Looking at the last 6 or 8 months seems sort of like a plateau. A slight downward trend but not a dropoff.

Here is the crude price by month: Continue reading “More October data on North Dakota oil production”

Articles on flaring in Bakken and the new airport in Williston

One of the few wells I noticed with flaring during our September trip to North Dakota. Photo by James Ulvog. — One of the wells I noticed with flaring during our September trip to North Dakota. Seems to me there is a lot less flaring visible now compared to a year ago and two years ago. There is a drilling rig barely visible to the right of the left-most pump. I can pick out two other well sites in this wide view several miles off to the horizon. Photo by James Ulvog.

Here are a few more articles I read during our September vacation in Williston plus another article I’ve been holding since before vacation.

9/25 – Dickinson Press – Environmental group that bashed enforcement of N.D. gas capture policy withdraws analysis – An advocacy group incorrectly stated as a fact that 30 percent of North Dakota wells were non-compliant with flaring rules and the state wasn’t bothering to enforce the law.

The group withdrew their analysis because they did not understand either the flaring rules or the data and therefore reached incorrect conclusions.

State says that all wells required to have a gas capture plan do have one. Thus the actual non-compliance rate is zero.

Continue reading “Articles on flaring in Bakken and the new airport in Williston”

A job slump in Williston would be a boom time in California.

Sign outside Williston Walmart on 9/20/15. Defacto minimum wage in town is still $17 an hour. Photo by James Ulvog. — Sign outside Williston Walmart on 9/20/15. That is the starting rate. Defacto minimum wage in town still looks to be $17 an hour. Photo by James Ulvog.

I wish we had news this terrible in Southern California.

9/23 – Williston Herald – ‘Looking for work? Job fair boasts 400 job openings in sold-out show’ (paper edition so no link) – Two day job fair has 400 jobs or more. There are a dozen companies on the waiting list to get a table at the job fair.

Continue reading “A job slump in Williston would be a boom time in California.”

Oil field housing in North Dakota is in another transition. Oh, every transition is a frightening crisis.

While in Williston a week ago, I saw massive amounts of housing under construction and a lot that had been completed since my last trip there in February 2015. The amount of apartments and houses that have been built in the last two years is staggering.

A lot of new shopping is online too. I walked through the new Menards and Sportsman’s Warehouse. Both are huge, well stocked, and seem to have prices that aren’t ridiculous compared to Southern California. Both stores had crowded parking lots every time we drove by.

Huge, new Sportsmans' Warehouse store in WIlliston. Huge amount of apartments under construction behind the store. Photo by James Ulvog. — Huge, new Sportsman’s Warehouse store in Williston. Large number of apartment buildings are under construction behind the store. Photo by James Ulvog.

Sure do wish the sporting good stores in SoCal had the wide selection of guns along with the several-hundred dollar lower prices I saw at the Sportsman’s Warehouse. Wish there was as good a selection of ammo on the shelves here.

Read a few articles while in Williston on the long-expected transition from temporary housing to permanent housing.

Continue reading “Oil field housing in North Dakota is in another transition. Oh, every transition is a frightening crisis.”

Bald eagle in the wild

Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com. I'm nowhere near a good enough photograph to get a shot like that. — Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com. I’m nowhere near a good enough photograph to get a shot like that.

During my trip to Williston last week, I saw my first bald eagle in the wild. Awesome! Our one week vacation is why I’ve not been posting much. Have lots of posts planned and a few hundred new photos.

We were driving on a road about 13 miles north and 8 miles west of Williston taking pictures of wells and abandoned farm houses (yes, now that you mention it, I do in fact have some weird pastimes while on vacation).

I was surprised when a large bird took flight about 20 or 30 feet off the side of the road about 30 or 40 feet ahead of us. As it flew away to our front I realized how big it was and as it turned the white tail feathers and a white head showed.

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The oil boom in North Dakota has been a horrible, terrible, awful thing for government agencies in the state – part 2

Yesterday I started explaining how an article at McClatchy DC on 9/9, Oil boom a loser for North Dakota cities, counties, study finds, had enlightened my previous ignorance. I now realize the worst thing about the oil boom in North Dakota is that city and county governments have actually found themselves under fiscal pressure. I had not know that before reading this article. In fact, as I explained yesterday, I was not aware of any governmental agency anywhere at anytime that had not been able to fund all desired projects. Only in North Dakota and only because of the oil boom has that happened.

Sarcasm alert

Do I need to repeat my sarcasm alert from yesterday? If that would help, please read the opening paragraph.

Housing shortage hits local governments hardest

The article explains to us that Williams County government actually had to buy apartments in order to provide housing in order to get people to go to work for them.

Employer provided housing. In North Dakota. Wow. That is breaking news to me.

Continue reading “The oil boom in North Dakota has been a horrible, terrible, awful thing for government agencies in the state – part 2”

The oil boom in North Dakota has been a horrible, terrible, awful thing for government agencies in the state – part 1

(Sarcasm alert!!!! Sometimes ridicule is the only way to deal with foolishness. I dislike sarcasm because it is an unhealthy, corrosive humor. However, there are times when pointing and laughing out loud is the right way to call attention to slanted, agenda-filled bias. Think of all those Hitler-in-the-bunker videos.)

Okay, here we go with the sarcasm…

Ready?

…

I am so silly. Ever since I started paying attention to economics back in high school, I thought we wanted to see a booming economy in order to make life better for people. If we could grow the economy, everyone everywhere would have more money and enjoy a better standard of living. Work-a-day average Joes would have better health, more comfort, and a nicer life. I thought that was our goal.

I was so wrong.

Continue reading “The oil boom in North Dakota has been a horrible, terrible, awful thing for government agencies in the state – part 1”