Bakken Shale News

Resolute Energy Bakken Operations Update – Planning Sale

R.T. Dukes — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:04:36 +0000

Resolute Energy Operating Areas | Click to Enlarge

Resolute Energy plans to sell its Bakken properties in 2013 to fund development of other assets, but the Bakken does account for 8% of the company’s production. Production was down slightly in the first quarter, but is expected to rebound in the next few months.

The company cited weather related delays for lower production, but expects the Bakken will rebound to between 1,100-1,200 boe/d in the second quarter. Spring break up could delay production in the quarter, but four wells are clear and waiting on pumping units. There should be room for production to outperform expectations.

Read the company’s full press release at resolutenaturalresources.com

Residential Apartment Rates Almost Triple In The Past Two Years

R.T. Dukes — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:39:46 +0000

Apartments In Williston, ND

It’s no secret rental rates have skyrocketed over the past two years in Western North Dakota.

In Williston, residents of a two bedroom apartment have seen their rent go from $850 per month to $2,000 per month.

Almost 500 new units have been permitted, so the hope is prices will come down. Currently, “Fair Market Rent” is considered $1,000 for a two bedroom apartment.

Expensive rent has also driven the low income status range for a single person to $36,000.

Read the full article at kumv.com

Williston Basin Rig Count at 190 on May 17, 2013

R.T. Dukes — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:39:58 +0000

Bakken Crude Rail Costs | Click to Enlarge

The Williston Basin rig count is up five rigs to 190 rigs running since the end of April.

Activity should be strong throughout the rest of the year.

News from this week was highlighted by our time at Bentek’s annual Benposium Conference. We came away with several Bakken highlights.

One of those is that rail is likely here to stay. Oil will begin moving back onto pipelines, but it will be a dog fight and pipeline operators will have to offer competitive prices.

It was also noted that oil production has grown nearly twice as fast as many analyst predicted.

Natural gas prices were up a little to more than $4 again at $4.06/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. It has been a mild May, so having a $4 price and not a $2 price is a nice gift for natural gas producers.

WTI futures were almost unchanged from the past two weeks at $96/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin sweet crude traded at $83.69/bbl on May 17th.

Other Bakken related news from the past week includes:

Paradigm Midstream Planning Bakken Pipeline In Dunn & McKenzie Counties

R.T. Dukes — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:31:41 +0000

Paradigm Midstream is planning a 70-mile, 12-inch pipeline that will move as much as 120,000 b/d out of McKenzie and Dunn counties to various receipt points.

“Logistical constraints and capacity issues associated with transporting crude and NGLs have long been a detriment to pricing for producers throughout the region,” said Brian Manion , Paradigm Midstream Founder. “The Paradigm Midstream pipeline connects the two most prolific areas of the Bakken and offers the most optionality of any outbound infrastructure to date.”

Enbridge Bakken System Map | Click to Enlarge

The pipeline will provide the following connections:

Canadian Pacific Rail through the Pioneer Rail Facility in New Town
BNSF Rail through Enbridge’s Berthold Rail Facility
Pipeline interconnects with Enbridge’s Bakken System

The proposed pipeline uniquely provides producers with access to East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast rail markets, as well as multiple pipeline and refinery markets at Clearbrook, the Upper Great Lakes, Cushing, the Midwest and the Gulf Coast.

Construction is set to start at the end of 2013 and the pipeline will be in service in 2014.

Dakota Plains and Paradigm Midstream area also pursuing a new NGL transloading solution at the Pioneer facility.

Read the full press release at prnewswire.com

Rail Is Here To Stay In The Bakken – Bentek

R.T. Dukes — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:39:05 +0000

Bakken Crude Rail Costs | Click to Enlarge

Moving crude oil by rail is here to stay for the foreseeable future. That was the message delivered multiple times at Bentek’s annual Benposium conference in Houston.

Wide spreads in WTI and waterborne oil prices have made rail receipts attractive on the East and West Coasts. Once oil is committed to rail, it’s there to stay.

“When barrels are committed to rail terminals, rail wins” state Rusty Braziel of RBN Energy at Bentek’s Benposium conference.

Well, at least for some period oil will utilize rail. Many rail terminals have very short paybacks that make developing the facilities attractive even if they are only utilized for 1-2 years.

Over 50% of the crude oil produced from the Bakken is being moved by rail and all indications point to that being the case for some time. Prices are better at rail delivery points. The Gulf Coast is seeing growing production from the Eagle Ford and Permian, which only puts more pressure on prices to the South.

Over time oil will begin moving back onto pipes, but its going to be a fight. Pipelines will always be the most efficient way to move crude, but they’ll have to be competitive on pricing and be able to deliver crude into competitive markets.

It’s not surprising, but Bentek also noted that Bakken production has grown twice as fast as anyone thought in 2011. Current production is approximately what analyst were predicting for 2016. The play is just three years ahead of schedule!

Bentek’s Benposium conference is held in Houston each Spring.

Bakken Job Fair Planned In Minot on June 26, 2013

R.T. Dukes — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:08:59 +0000

Bakken Job Fair | Click to Enlarge

Rigzone is hosting a Bakken Oil & Gas Career Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at the Grand International Hotel in Minot, North Dakota.

Oil and gas professionals will be able to speak with recruiting representatives from industry leading companies.

Pre-registration is recommended at www.dicecareerfairs.com where attendees will be able to find a list of participating companies in the weeks leading up to the event.

Admission is free and the Grand International Hotel is located at 1505 North Broadway in Minot, North Dakota.

About Rigzone

Rigzone, a Dice Holdings Inc. service, is a leading online resource for the oil and gas industry that delivers content, data, advertising and career services. Dedicated to bringing upstream oil and gas news and data, including in-depth information on exploration, drilling and production markets to organizations tackling the energy challenge, its online community of highly-skilled and experienced energy professionals is unmatched.

The article above was published through BakkenShale.com’s press release distribution service. Learn more about Bakken Advertising Here.

Continental Resources’ Bakken Production Surpasses 100,000 boe/d (Gross Operated)

R.T. Dukes — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:59:53 +0000

Continental Resources Bakken Shale Map | Click to Enlarge

Continental Resources’ first quarter production averaged 76,900 boe/d net or 63% of company-wide production.

Gross operated production surpassed a significant milestone at more than 100,000 boe/d.

The company is targeting well costs of $8.2 million by year-end 2013 and is well on its way to that goal after spending $8.3 million per well in the first quarter. Expanded use of pad drilling should continue to drive costs down.

W. F. “Rick” Bott, Continental’s President and Chief Operating Officer, added, “Our production growth remained strong despite seasonal challenges in the Bakken. We continue to monitor oil differentials and transportation costs to ensure we realize the most attractive pricing for our premium Bakken oil.”

Highlights from the quarter include:

Production growth of 14% over the fourth quarter of 2012 and 60% over the first quarter of 2012
80% of operated oil production moving by rail
Operated 22 rigs
Completed 162 gross (66 net) wells in the quarter
Have a 80 gross wells drilled and awaiting completion
Average initial production rates in ND were 1,125 boe/d (84% oil)
Estimated EURs remained unchanged at 630,000 boe in ND and 430,000 boe in MT
Successful Lower Three Forks completions in the quarter have expanded the aerial extent of the play.

Continental currently has six producing wells in the lower benches of the Three Forks with average initial production rates of approximately 1,170 Boe per day.

The number of wells drilled and awaiting completion will fluctuate as Continental expands its pad drilling operations.

Mr. Bott added, “Quarter after quarter, our Bakken operations continue to deliver impressive growth with highly attractive returns. On the exploration front, we are very excited about the continual success of our Lower Three Forks productivity tests. Our cost focus has put us ahead of target on reducing average drilling and completion well costs in the Bakken. Based on field estimates, we are down to approximately $8.3 million in April 2013.”

Read the full press release at clr.com

Thunder Butte Petroleum Services Refinery Ground Broken

R.T. Dukes — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:59:20 +0000

Thunder Butte Petroleum

Ground has been broken at the site of the Thunder Butte Petroleum Services Refinery southwest of Minot, ND. Three affiliated Indian tribes have joined together for the $450 million project that will be constructed on a 476-acre site.

This is the second refinery to break ground in the past two months. The Dakota Prairie Refinery Groundbreaking was held in March near Dickinson.

“It’s really an important time for our people. It’s exciting,” said tribal representative Ken Hall. “But we have to be mindful going forward to not lose our culture.”

Full-scale construction will start on the Thunder Butte Refinery in August and will be completed in phases over the next two years.

Once completed, the refinery will employee 100 people and refine 20,000 b/d of Bakken crude into diesel and other petroleum products.

You can read about the entire process at mharefinery.com

Oasis Petroleum Forms Bakken Midstream Subsidiary – Production Above 30,000 boe/d

R.T. Dukes — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:26:52 +0000

Oasis Petroleum Bakken Map | Click to Enlarge

Oasis Petroleum has realized significant cost savings through its Oasis Well Services (OWS) subsidiary and will be targeting savings on the midstream side through Oasis Midstream Services (OMS). Oasis formed the midstream venture when it transferred salt water disposal and other midstream assets to the subsidiary.

Creating subsidiaries for oilfield and midstream services allows the company to realize costs savings through vertical integration. Being split out as subsidiaries also makes them much easier to divest if the company chooses to do so in the future.

“The momentum of our operational success continued into the first quarter, as we again exceeded our production guidance and drove down our average capital cost per well by 5% to $8.4 million, excluding the impact of Oasis Well Services,” said Thomas B. Nusz, CEO.

The company saved an additional $0.3 million per well through OWS to lower total capital expenditures to $8.1 million per well.

Bakken production surpassed 30,000 boe/d in the quarter, but is expected to hold relatively flat in the second quarter as the company transitions to pad drilling. Full year production guidance has been increased to 31,000-34,000 boe/d.

Read the full press release at oasispetroleum.com

Marathon Oil’s Bakken Production Higher Than Planned

R.T. Dukes — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:46:34 +0000

Marathon Oil Bakken Shale Map | Click to Enlarge

Marathon Oil’s Bakken production is outpacing expectations. The company produced 37,000 net boe/d from the play in the first quarter and surpassed 38,000 net boe/d in April.

The company now expects 2013 production to average 40,000 net boe/d. That’s almost 15% higher than previous guidance.

A total of 18 gross Bakken wells were drilled in the first quarter and 22 were brought to production.

Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr., CEO, said “Our strong operational performance was a result of high levels of reliability in our base business along with continued growth in our Eagle Ford and Bakken shale plays.”

The average spud to spud drilling time continues to fall. Marathon was able to drill and move rigs in an average of 25 days in the first quarter.

Price realizations are also improving as the company moved 45% of its oil by rail in the quarter. Marathon realized an average price of almost $89/bbl in the Bakken in the first quarter compared to less than $80/bbl in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Read the full press release at marathonoil.com