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Montana Considers Drilling Buffer

Montana Considering Drilling Buffers Montana’s Board of Oil and Gas Conservation is considering a proposal that will require buffers zones around homes to protect them from oil and gas drilling. Related: Dakota Access Pipeline Concerns The board heard almost two hours of testimony last week from farmers, environmentalists and oil companies who all wanted a say in whether setbacks are necessary. Many raised concerns about wastewater dangers, noise and trash that from active wells pads. Dale Nelson told local news agency that “The toxic smoke that comes out with a fire, there’s nothing you can do with it,” Nelson said. “Do you want your grandkids around something like that?” The Northern Plains Resource Council is asking for a quarter-mile setback between well pads and inhabited buildings. This is much greater than the 500 feet required by neighboring states of North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Montana joins other local and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPA’s New Fracking Study: A Close Look at the Numbers Buried in the Fine Print

When EPA’s long-awaited draft assessment on fracking and drinking water supplies was released, the oil and gas industry triumphantly focused on a headline-making sentence: “We did not find evidence of widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.” But for fracking’s backers, a sense of victory may prove to be fleeting. EPA’s draft assessment made one thing clear: fracking has repeatedly contaminated drinking water supplies (a fact that the industry has long aggressively denied). Indeed, the federal government’s recognition that fracking can contaminate drinking water supplies may prove to have opened the floodgates, especially since EPA called attention to major gaps in the official record, due in part to gag orders for landowners who settle contamination claims and in part because there simply hasn’t been enough testing to know how widespread problems have become. And although it’s been less than a month since EPA’s draft assessment […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baker Hughes: US Weekly Oil Rig Count Decline Slows

June 26 (Reuters) – Energy firms pulled three rigs from U.S. oil fields this week, the smallest drop in five weeks, data showed on Friday, a sign the collapse in drilling is coming to an end as crude prices recovered after falling 60 percent from last June to March. It was the 29th straight weekly decline, bringing the total down to 628, the lowest since August 2010, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. In the latest week, drillers removed two rigs in the Permian, the biggest U.S. shale oil play in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, and three in the Bakken centered in North Dakota. Experts expect the rig count to bottom out soon. "We expect the rig count decline to remain lumpy in the coming weeks and expect to see a few weeks with some rig additions, offset by larger declines […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BHI: US rig count posts first increase in 29 weeks

Buoyed by respective rises in natural gas-directed and offshore rigs, the US drilling rig count gained 2 units during the week ended June 26 to reach 859 rigs working, marking its first increase in 29 weeks, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The last rise occurred during the week ended Dec. 5, 2014, and the count has since plunged 1,061 units ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). Since this week a year ago, the count is down 1,014 units. During the last 7 weeks, the count has averaged a decline of a mere 5 rigs/week. Analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. noted in an energy update this week that 1,030 new well permits were issued last week, representing the highest total since the first week of February. During the previous 18 weeks, the average number of permits issued each week was just 852. Utilizing a 4-week […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US oil operators make plans to add rigs, but will be disciplined: analysts

A long-awaited trough in the US rig count appears to be settling in after the severe drop in oil prices during late 2014, although analysts widely believe some exploration-and-production companies will selectively add rigs later this year. But experts say the adds will likely amount to a trickle rather than a deluge, as current oil prices around $60/barrel is enough to sustain current levels, but not enough to entice a widespread activity rebound. In fact, the Baker Hughes rig count rose Friday for the first time since early December, although the increase of two appeared to come from natural gas-prone areas outside the big shale plays, where rig counts continued to drop. "We do expect the rig count to rise minimally through the remainder of this year [at an estimated] small 3-5% increase through year-end, so maybe 25-40 incremental rigs," Robert W. Baird analyst Daniel Katzenberg told Platts. Baird […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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In bet on oil prices, WPX plans to add Bakken rigs

WILLISTON, N.D. Drilling rigs are coming back to North Dakota. WPX Energy Inc, a small oil producer in the No. 2 U.S. crude state, said on Thursday it will add two rigs this year, becoming the first since the crude price downturn to announce concrete steps to boost output. Though only the 11th-largest North Dakota oil producer, trailing Whiting Petroleum Corp and others, WPX has effectively staked out a leadership position in the state’s Bakken shale formation by saying it will add rigs, slash well completion costs and target a 20 percent boost in output by 2016. Half a dozen other companies in the crowded U.S. shale industry have talked about adding rigs but have so far balked at making definite moves. Executives say they face a dilemma: they want to drill more to capture a recent upturn in prices, but worry widespread new rig deployments would cause prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IHS examines next big deal in U.S. shale

IHS finds emerging shale basin straddling border between Texas and New Mexico doing well despite the downturn in the crude oil market. Photo by Christopher Halloran/Shutterstock HOUSTON, June 24 (UPI) — The Wolfcamp Delaware basin, a shale play straddling the Texas border with New Mexico, could be the next big deal, analysis published Wednesday from IHS found. "The Wolfcamp Delaware has promise, but right now, it is considered an adolescent in terms of its maturity," Reed Olmstead, manager of the North American analytics at IHS Energy, said in an emailed statement. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a drilling productivity report output from key shale basins is expected to dip lower starting in July. Low crude oil prices leaves companies with less money to spend on exploration and production and many key shale states are feeling the impact. North Dakota’s rig count is hovering near all-time lows and […]

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Two Saltwater Leaks in North Dakota

Health Department Investigating Impact on Wetland Spill Threatens Wetland Two separate saltwater spills in North Dakota this week have health officials scrambling to assess the damage and monitor the environmental impact of nearby wetlands. News agencies from across the state reported that 50 barrels of brine were spilled at a site in Burke County owned by Petro Harvester Operating Company in Burke County. Company officials also indicated they believe that the damage might not have been an accident. Karl Rockeman, head of the NDDoH division of water quality said “The company believes someone damaged the pump jack at the well head. They’re alleging that it was intentional.” A second unrelated spill was reported by Condor Petroleum, Inc. in Divide COunty and involved one barrel of oil and 39 barrels of brine were spilled. NDDoH officials are evaluating a nearby wetland for water quality impacts. Health department officials report that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Judge’s order delays BLM’s implementation of fracing regulations

A federal district judge in Wyoming temporarily delayed the US Bureau of Land Management’s implementation of its recently issued hydraulic fracturing regulations. Judge Scott W. Skavdahl issued a stay on June 23 to give the US Department of the Interior agency until July 22 to submit a full administrative record in legal challenges by four states and two independent oil and gas producers’ associations. The regulations, which were scheduled to take effect on June 24, effectively have been delayed until early August. BLM is consulting with the US Department of Justice about Skavdahl’s decision, a Washington spokesman told OGJ. “While the matter is being resolved, BLM will follow the court’s order and will continue to process applications for permits to drill and inspect well sites under its preexisting regulations,” he said. DOI issued its final rule for fracing regulations on onshore public and Indian tribal lands earlier this year […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota’s Oil Rig Count Appears To Have Hit Bottom

WILLISTON, N.D., June 23 (Reuters) – The drilling rig count in North Dakota’s oil patch, a closely watched metric through which many attempt to divine future crude production, appears to have hit a bottom. For the past three weeks the count has hovered between 76 and 79, after sliding only slightly from 80 at the end of May. On June 12, the count hit 76, the lowest level since 2009. The count bobbed slightly in the ensuing days, hitting 77 on Tuesday. It has, in short, been the longest period since oil prices started to slide last fall that the rig count has stayed in the same range, offering many in and near the No. 2 U.S. crude-producing state’s energy industry a bit of solace that a nadir has been reached. In early March, for example, the count was at 113. The apparent stabilization has produced a palpable sigh […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple