Should Oil Firms Be Held Liable in Earthquake Lawsuits?
Earthquake damage in Sparks, Okla., in 2011. The number of quakes in Oklahoma has soared. In 2011, a string of powerful earthquakes struck near the town of Prague, Okla., part of a surge in seismic activity in the state. Geologists eventually linked the quakes to increased oil and natural-gas production in the area—specifically, to the practice of injecting wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, into wells deep underground. Sandra Ladra, a Prague resident who was injured in the most severe of the quakes, brought a lawsuit against New Dominion LLC and other oil and gas companies that operate injection wells in the region, accusing the companies of engaging in “ultrahazardous activities” that led to her injuries. In July, the Oklahoma Supreme Court allowed the case to go forward. So now it’s up to the courts to decide whether oil and gas drillers should be held liable for the damages […]
Bakken Big Decline in September
The NDIC has published their monthly update for Bakken Oil Productin and all North Dakota Oil Production . Bakken & North Dakota Bakken production was down 24,424 barrels per day while all North Dakota was down 25,378 bpd. Bakken & ND Amplified Here is an amplified version of the last 15 months of North Dakota production. September 2015 production is now below September 2014 production so the 12 month average has now turned negative. ND & Bakken BPW Even though producing rigs in North Dakota declined in September, barrels per day per well declined also from 94 to 92. Bakken bpd per well declined from 112 to 109. This is a long term view of Bakken and North Dakota barrels per well. Bakken year over year percent growth has finally gone negative. August Producing Wells = 13,031 September Producing Wells = 13,025 10,228 wells or 78% are now unconventional […]
North Dakota oil well backlog eclipses 1,000 for first time
The number of oil wells in North Dakota that have been drilled but not fracked eclipsed 1,000 for the first time in September, as producers delayed turning them on in hopes crude prices will soon recover. The milestone, which was widely expected around the second-largest oil producing state, highlights the immense cost pressure companies have come under in the past year as crude prices have dropped more than 50 percent. Fracking alone can account for nearly two-thirds of a well’s cost. Today more than 8 percent of oil wells in the state are sitting idle, storing their crude and natural gas in rock miles underground until prices rise. The delay harms the industry’s ability to grow production, a metric closely watched by investors. Daily output in the state fell 2 percent in September. "That’s sending a definite signal to the market that oil and gas operators are not willing […]
Chesapeake Lenders Flee Debt as Oil Rout Pummels Reserves Value
Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s bonds have plunged to half their face value as lenders fret that tumbling energy prices are hurting their chances of getting paid on borrowings that are three times the current worth of the company’s oil and gas fields. The producer’s $1.5 billion of 4.875 percent notes due in April 2022 dropped 9.625 cents this week to 50.375 cents on the dollar, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The Oklahoma City-based company estimates the discounted value of its proven oil-and-gas reserves will fall to about $4.2 billion by the end of the year down from $22 billion last December. Chesapeake shares have been the worst performer among their peers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this year, plunging 73 percent. The downturn in oil markets has been especially painful for the driller because it happened just as the company […]
North Dakota natural gas flaring targets challenged by rapid production growth
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, with data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission Increases in North Dakota’s crude oil production have resulted in increased associated natural gas production from oil reservoirs, especially in the Bakken region. Because of insufficient infrastructure to collect, gather, and transport this natural gas, about one-fifth of North Dakota’s natural gas production is flared rather than marketed. North Dakota’s Industrial Commission (NDIC) has established natural gas capture targets in an effort to reduce the amount of flared gas, and they recently issued a revision to the flaring targets in response to faster-than-expected gas production growth in the Bakken region. North Dakota’s current target is to capture and sell at least 78% of total natural gas gross withdrawals, or flare just 22% of the state’s natural gas output. Based on the targets established in April 2014, the percentage of flared gas was set to fall to […]
U.S. shale oil output will be less resilient than gas: Kemp
U.S. natural gas production hit a new record in August, despite the deepening slump in gas prices and a fall in the number of rigs targeting gas formations. The failure of gas production to respond to lower prices and a falling rig count has left many analysts wondering if it heralds the same problem in the oil market – worsening oversupply. The number of rigs drilling for oil has plunged almost two-thirds over the last 12 months, but crude production is unchanged since October 2014 and down by less than 5 percent compared with its peak in April. Like shale gas producers, shale oil drillers have managed to raise output while cutting costs by concentrating on the best-known and most productive formations and areas. They have also standardized and accelerated the drilling process, drilled longer horizontal wells with more fracking stages, and employed more horsepower to fracture larger areas […]
STEO: Annual non-OPEC oil production to decline in 2016 – Oil & Gas Journal
Oil supplies from countries outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is forecast to decline by 300,000 b/d in 2016, after an increase of 1.1 million b/d in 2015, according Continue Reading
U.S. shale oil basins to decline
Federal review expects most of the lucrative shale basins in the United States are expected to post declines in crude oil production. File photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) — Only the Permian shale basin in the southern United States is expected to record a year-on-year increase in oil production, federal data show. The U.S. Energy Information Administration in a monthly report on drilling productivity found most of the seven inland shale basins that account for nearly all of the domestic oil production growth between 2011-14 are now in decline. Energy companies are spending less on exploration and production because lower crude oil prices translate to less capital available for investments. The trend in spending is reflected in the decline in the number of rigs deployed across North America. Oil field services company Weatherford said in its report for the third quarter it trimmed capital spending […]
EIA: US shale oil output to plunge 118,000 b/d in December
Crude oil production in December from seven major US shale plays is expected to drop 118,000 b/d to 4.95 million b/d, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s latest Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The agency projected a 93,000-b/d decline for November ( OGJ Online, Oct. 13, 2015 ). The DPR focuses on the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara, Permian, and Utica, which altogether accounted for 95% of US oil production increases and all US natural gas production increases during 2011-13. The Eagle Ford has represented a bulk of the projected oil output losses since EIA began anticipating monthly declines from US shale during the spring. For December, EIA expects Eagle Ford production to fall 78,000 b/d to 1.28 million b/d. The Bakken is projected to drop 27,000 b/d to 1.11 million b/d, and the Niobrara is projected to fall 22,000 b/d to 356,000 b/d. Continued growth is seen […]