Shale Boom Shines Light on Natural-Gas Liquids
An unsung byproduct of oil and natural-gas production is getting more attention from hedge funds and investors as they seek new ways to bet on the U.S. shale boom. Natural-gas Continue Reading
Energy Boom Can Withstand Steeper Oil-Price Drop
Oil prices would need to fall at least another $20 a barrel to choke off the U.S. energy boom, industry experts say, though some smaller American producers would face serious Continue Reading
Texas RRC Issues New Regulations on Fracking Disposal Wells
New regulations covering disposal wells from fracking operations go into effect in Texas beginning in November 2014. The new regulations by the Texas Railroad Commission (Texas RRC, or Commission), the state’s regulating entity for oil and gas, are centered on the possible linkage between seismic activity and disposing wells. There are four main components of the new regulations: Applicants for disposal wells must conduct a search on the U.S. Geological Survey seismic database to determine if there is a history of earthquakes within a 100-square-mile area around the site of the proposed disposal well Clarify that the Commission will have the authority to suspend or terminate a disposal well permit if there is any indication from scientific data that seismic activity in the area could occur due to the disposal well Under the new regulations, disposal well operators will have to disclose annual reported volumes and pressures more frequently […]
Bakken Production Surge Boosts Hess Quarterly Profit
Oct 29 (Reuters) – Oil and gas producer Hess Corp posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as production jumped and costs fell in North Dakota’s booming Bakken shale formation. The company, which also produces oil in Norway, Ohio and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, said it was watching oil prices closely and may change its operations if prices fall further, though no decision has been made. The price of Brent crude has fallen about 21 percent in recent months, prompting concern that drilling could slow. Hess bases its budget on Brent prices around $100 per barrel, though the commodity traded at about $87 on Wednesday. If prices fall too low, oil companies tend to stop drilling new wells and slow existing production in an effort to cut costs. Hess didn’t announce any steps like that on Wednesday, but said it is watching the situation closely. "We are reviewing […]
Five-Year Outlook: North Dakota Oil Production to Grow Steadily
On average, North Dakota oil production, which surged past the 1 million b/d mark earlier this year, will continue to grow steadily at a rate of about 18,000 b/d each month through 2019, according to a study completed in September for the state legislature. Commissioned last year by state lawmakers (see Shale Daily , Oct. 14, 2013 ), Bismarck-based engineering/planning firm Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson (KLJ) completed the work in partnership with North Dakota State University, concluding that daily production could hit the 2 million b/d level during the period. KLJ and the university used three approaches to forecast the sustainability of oil and gas production: economic analysis of the Bakken/Three Forks shale formation; projections on population, employment and housing needs; and potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The study showed that even at $70/bbl oil prices, economic payback times can be kept relatively short (four years and under) […]
ONEOK lays foundation in Permian shale
ONEOK buys shale pipeline assets from Chevron affiliates to lay foundation in Texas basin. (UPI/Shutterstock/smereka) Oklahoma-based shale company ONEOK Partners said it gained a solid footprint in the Permian shale basin after buying pipeline and other assets from Chevron. ONEOK Partners paid around $800 million to acquire roughly 2,600 miles of gas pipelines extending from the Permian basin in southeastern New Mexico and East Texas from Chevron Corp. affiliates. ONEOK President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Spencer said the acquisition establishes his company as one of the prime players in the Permian shale . "We are adding another rapidly growing producing region to our operating footprint," he said in a Monday statement. ONEOK describes the Permian basin as the largest shale oil and natural gas basin of its kind in the United States, three times larger than the Bakken formation in North Dakota.
Continental Resource’s Harold Hamm on Falling Oil Prices – Videos
Continental Resources, the Bakken’s second largest producer, will not change its course on new drilling immediately due to falling oil prices, according to its CEO Harold Hamm. In a Platt’s Energy Week interview on Sunday, Hamm said prices would have to fall another 20% before Continental would significantly cut back its operations. Hamm has been making the rounds on TV, also appearing on CNBC, talking about what he believes are some of the reasons behind the drop in oil prices. Hamm points the finger sharply at OPEC, accusing the Saudi’s of using rhetoric to dictate price. Since June of this year, oil prices have been falling, and the reasons why have to do with supply v. demand. The shale oil boom, for instance, has increased the supply of oil worldwide, and demand has gone down in China, the world’s second largest oil consumer. But the main reason oil prices have dropped can […]
Kemp: Divided By Shale, Only Some US States Win
John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Thanks to shale, energy-producing states have been the strongest economic performers in the United States over the past decade, sharply improving their position compared with the energy-consuming states. Only 13 of the 50 states produced more energy than they consumed in 2010, the latest year for which comprehensive data is available, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The other 37 were all net energy consumers, relying on some combination of interstate commerce or imports to meet the shortfall. The shale revolution and the renaissance in U.S. oil and gas production have resulted in a stark contrast between the fortunes of the two groups. Eight of the 13 energy-producing states improved their relative position between 2003 and 2013 when ranked by per capita gross domestic product. They accounted for almost […]
Revealed: EIA’s forecasts for individual tight oil plays (part 1)
This is a Frack Lab exclusive. The EIA gave me their long-term forecasts—previously unpublished—for oil production from individual tight plays, including the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, Spraberry and more, out to 2040. There are the areas wholly responsible for the U.S. oil boom of the past several years, so I’d think there would be wide interest in EIA’s forecasts for particular plays. Yet the EIA has not released these forecasts themselves. I’m posting the data here—freely available—for anyone who is interested. First I’ll show the data, then list links for downloading this data set and some other related data. Finally I’ll tell more about how I got the data, and put it in context. If you find this data useful, please go to the end of this post and click “worth it” to help me earn a bonus—which helps me continue doing this work. Data set downloads […]
Bakken Shale Rig Count Decreases By One to 191
QEP Midstream Operations Map | Click to Enlarge The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by one to 191 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 194 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 13 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up. In recent Bakken news, San Antonio, TX-based Tesoro Logistics LP agreed to buy Denver, CO-based QEP Resources Inc.’s natural gas pipeline and processing business, QEP Field Services, for 2.5-billion in late October of 2014. The deal also includes a 58% ownership in QEP Midstream Partners. The acquired assets operate over 2,000 miles of natural gas and crude oil gathering and transmission pipeline, with locations in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale and the Rocky Mountain region. The assets have have a combined 2.9 billion cf/d of natural gas and 54,000 b/d of crude oil throughput capacity. Read more : Tesoro Buys QEP’s Bakken […]