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North Dakota Re-Elects Agriculture Commissioner In Oil-Focused Race

WILLISTON, N.D., Nov 4 (Reuters) – North Dakota, the second-largest U.S. oil producer, re-elected Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring on Tuesday, as voters opted to retain the status quo for a position that helps regulate the state’s burgeoning energy industry. The state sits atop the prolific Bakken shale formation and produces more than 1.1 million barrels of oil a day, helping the United States reduce foreign imports of crude and sharply boosting North Dakota’s prominence on the international stage. Goehring, first appointed to the position in 2009 and elected in his own right in 2010, beat Ryan Taylor, the Democrat-NPL party’s candidate, by a surprisingly large margin for a race political scientists had considered too close to call. With roughly 90 percent of precincts reporting, Goehring received 57 percent of the vote to Taylor’s 43 percent. With a legislature that meets only every two years, North Dakota gives an unusual […]

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Marathon latest to take hit on low oil prices

Double digit shale growth from U.S. shale basins not enough to boost profits for Marathon Oil. UPI/Gary C. Caskey HOUSTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Marathon Oil said in its quarterly report double digit production growth from North American shale basins wasn’t enough of a buffer against low oil prices. In Oklahoma, Marathon reported third quarter shale production of 19,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 27 percent year-on-year. Its best well for the quarter was in the emerging South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, or SCOOP. In the Eagle Ford play in Texas, considered among the most prolific shale basins in the United States, production was up 43 percent year-on-year to 117,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. For Bakken, the North Dakota shale basin at the heart of the North American oil boom, production was 47 percent higher than third quarter 2013 to 56,000 barrels of […]

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GCA: Falling oil price to have uneven effect on US unconventional plays

HOUSTON, Nov. 4 11/04/2014 By Paula Dittrick OGJ Special Correspondent Falling oil prices will have an uneven effect across US unconventional plays based on the qualities of reservoirs within any given play, Gaffney Cline & Associates (GCA) said in a recent report, noting there exists a complex relationship between the pace of shale production and falling futures prices for light, sweet crude oil. “Oil prices in the low-to-mid $80/bbl range will allow a lot of US unconventional oil activity to continue, but a further drop could start to have a significant impact on the market and industries associated with it,” writes Bob George, GCA executive director and senior strategic advisor. In an article George wrote with Neil Abdalla, GCA senior geoscientist, they noted sliding oil prices have yet to reveal a direct negative effect on US unconventional oil and liquids production, which currently stands at 5 million b/d and […]

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Bakken Shale Rig Count Stays Flat at 191

Pipeline Construction | Click to Enlarge The  Bakken-Three Forks rig count  stayed flat at 191 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 193 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 20 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up. In recent Bakken news, Dallas, TX-based Energy Transfer Partners announced a joint venture with Houston-based Phillips 66 at the end of October, 2014, to build two pipelines that will move crude oil out of North Dakota’s Bakken Shale field. Energy Transfer Partners will have a 75% interest in the pipelines. Phillips 66 will have a 25% interest, and will pay a proportionate cost of the construction. Both the “Dakota Access Pipeline” and “Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline” are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016. Read more : Two New Bakken Crude Oil Pipelines Online by 2016 The U.S. […]

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Can American Indian Reformers Slow An Oil Boom?

NEW TOWN, N.D., Nov. 3 (Reuters) – A change in leadership at an American Indian reservation in North Dakota wouldn’t normally get a whole lot of attention. But come Tuesday, the oil industry will be watching this dusty area of the state as two reformers vie to become tribal chairman, an office with outsized power over the course of the state’s booming oil industry. That’s because the reservation’s Three Affiliated Tribes of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation control roughly a third of North Dakota’s oil output. In the past two years alone, production on the MHA Nation has jumped 145 percent, cementing the state’s role as the second-largest U.S. oil producer after Texas. The reformers, Damon Williams, the tribal attorney, and Mark Fox, the tax director, each propose tighter environmental regulations. They also promise to ensure more money goes directly to projects that improve life for the 12,000 […]

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Halliburton CEO Expects Shale to Reverse Oil Price Slump

Halliburton Co. (HAL) Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar is joining the chorus of oil executives who say they aren’t worried about falling oil prices, and expect them to climb next year. “Despite what people are thinking, demand is creeping up, albeit at a lower rate than it has been,” he said. The downward pressure on prices is mostly due to an oversupply, and Lesar said that will quickly prove self-correcting, especially when it comes to U.S. shale production. Unlike with conventional oil, shale wells peter out quickly and companies depend on constant new drilling to maintain production levels. This also makes shale more responsive to price movements. Lower prices will discourage new drilling, quickly removing the glut in crude supplies, Lesar said. As the the world’s biggest supplier of fracking services, Halliburton has perhaps the best perspective on what’s driving the U.S. shale boom. In an interview at the […]

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Gas capacity added to North Dakota shale

ONEOK partners adds new gas carrying capacity to North Dakota shale basin. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) Midstream operator ONEOK Partners said it completed a pipeline in North Dakota that will help shale developers reach regional markets. ONEOK, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, said an expansion of its Bakken NGL pipeline is completed, increasing the capacity by more than half to 135,000 barrels of unfractioned natural gas liquids, like butane and propane. "The expansion of the Bakken NGL Pipeline reflects our continuing commitment to provide NGL transportation capacity to producers actively developing shale plays within our operating footprint," President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Spencer said in a Thursday statement. North Dakota is among the top oil-producing states in the nation. Some of the natural gas associated with the shale oil deposits is burned off because of the lack of infrastructure needed to make it a commercial product. ONEOK added its Garden Creek […]

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Texas oil production tops 2.2 million bpd

Texas regulator says oil production up more than 20 percent year-on-year. UPI/Gary C. Caskey Crude oil production for Texas was up more than 20 percent year-on-year to just over 2.2 million barrels per day, a state regulator said. The Texas Railroad Commission released preliminary figures for August, saying Wednesday production of 2.23 million bpd was up 24 percent from August 2013. Total monthly production in August was 69.2 million barrels, up from the 55.6 million produced during August 2013. Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the United States. Texas hosts part of the Permian shale basin , which the U.S. Energy Department said is the most prolific with average production of around 1.3 million bpd. The Texas Railroad Commission adopted new shale rules , effective Nov. 17, meant to address disposal well operations in areas that may be prone to seismic activity. Hydraulic fracturing operations have been […]

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Shale Boom Redraws Oil Routes as Alaskans Ship to Korea

For signs of how the U.S. shale boom is transforming the global flow of oil, look halfway across the world at South Korea . The Asian nation, which relies on the Middle East for about 86 percent of its oil imports, is benefiting as new output from Texas to North Dakota displaces the crudes that fed U.S. refineries for decades. South Korea received this month a shipment of Alaskan oil for the first time in at least eight years and may buy more, the importing company said. The country was one of the first to receive a cargo of the ultralight U.S. oil known as condensate after export rules were eased. The U.S. shale revolution has driven oil output to the highest in more than three decades, reducing America’s need for overseas purchases and sinking global prices into a bear market . South Korea is seeking to reduce its […]

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