Even though oil production from North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has propelled the state to new production records there is still a backlog of wells to be fracked.
More at Bloomberg.Bakken Shale
Declining Royalty Payments from Natural Gas Wells
Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.
More at Geology.com.
North Dakota Oil Production Rising
Rising production from the Bakken Shale has propelled North Dakota up to the fourth largest oil producing state behind Texas, Alaska and California.
More at Energy Information Administration.
1/3 of Bakken Gas is Flared
The Energy Information Administration reports that about 1/3 of the natural gas produced from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota is flared instead of marketed because natural gas pipelines are not present in the production area or they can not accept…
More at Energy Information Administration.
Learning about Oil and Gas Leases
An article in the New York Times reviews some potential rewards and problems that occur when a landowner decides to lease his property for oil and and gas development.
Related: Mineral Rights [1]
[1] http://geology.com/articles/mineral-rights.shtml
More at New York Times.
North Dakota: Record Oil Production
There is still more than one month remaining in 2011, but oil production in North Dakota has broken the annual record set in 2010. The state is on-target to produce about 150 million barrels.
More at FuelFix.com.
Hiring Boom in North Dakota
Thousands of high-paying new jobs are unfilled in North Dakota where natural gas and oil are being produced from the Bakken Formation, the Niobrara Shale and other rock units.
More at MSNBC.
How Much Oil is in the Bakken?
Although the United States Geological Survey estimates that the Bakken Formation beneath parts of North Dakota, Montana and Canada might contain over 4 billion barrels of oil, Harold Hamm, believes that it might contain up to 24 billion barrels.
More at Wall Street Journal.
Oh No! Who Really Owns the Natural Gas in Shale?
Is natural gas part of the shale or is it a fugitive commodity that is not an integral part of any specific rock unit? Will a refined legal definition of natural gas in Pennsylvania overturn thousands of historic leases?
More at Business Week.
Oil Rig Count Exceeds Natural Gas Rig Count
The number of oil rigs drilling in the United States has surpassed the number of natural gas rigs for the first time in 18 years. Low natural gas prices discourage drilling and the discovery of oil in shale plays such as the Utica Shale, Bakken Shale and Eagle Ford Shale has attracted attention.
More in the Houston Chronicle.
Bakken Shale Oil Report from EPRINC
The Energy Policy Research Foundation has released a report titled: The Bakken Boom: An Introduction to North Dakota’s Shale Oil. Oil production from the Bakken could surpass 700,000 barrels per day within the next few years.
Shale Gas and U.S. National Security
The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University has published a report titled: “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security”. “This study assesses the impact of U.S. domestic shale gas development on energy security and U.S. national security, with emphasis on the geopolitical consequences of rising supplies of U.S. natural gas from shale and the implications for U.S. foreign policy.” Quoted from the report summary.
Bakken Formation Oil and Gas Reassessment
In the past three years oil and natural gas production from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana has increased dramatically causing the United States Geological Survey to launch an update of its last assessment that was completed just three years ago. More at UPI.com.
Chesapeake Energy: Land Acquisition Machine
A post on the Seeking Alpha blog details how successful Chesapeake Energy has been at rapidly leasing enormous acreages in all of the major natural gas shale plays in the United States. They author calls them a “land acquisition machine”.
Small, Successful Operators in the Bakken/Three Forks Are Take-Over Targets
According to a brief article in the Oil and Gas Journal, small successful operators in the Bakken Shale / Three Forks Shale play might be prime take-over targets.
How Much Oil is in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations?
Diverging estimates by three different organizations with significant expertise in oil and natural gas assessments leave one wondering how much oil really is in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations? Read the details on the Trib.com website.
Here are the estimates….
USGS…. 4.3 billion barrels
North Dakota Geological Survey…. 11 billion barrels
Continental Resources…. 20 billion barrels
North Dakota Oil Production May Surpass Alaska
Oil production in North Dakota has been rising rapidly over the past few years, driven by the success of the Bakken Shale. A “Chart of the Day” article on the Bloomberg.com website forecasts that the crude output of North Dakota is likely to surpass that of Alaska within the next couple of years.
Hess Corporation to Buy 167,000 Acres of Bakken Shale
Hess Corporation has agreed to purchase 167,000 acres of North Dakota Bakken Shale properties from TRZ Energy at a cost of $1.05 billion. That’s about $6300/acre. More at MarketWatch.
Williams to buy 85,000 Acres of Bakken Shale and Three Forks
Williams Exploration and Production is buying over 85,000 acres of land over the Bakken Shale and Upper Three Forks Formation. This follows their recent purchase of 100,000 acres of Marcellus Shale properties. More at TradingMarkets.com.
Marathon to Focus on Woodford Shale
Marathon Oil Corporation intends to move its attention from the Bakken Shale of North Dakota to the Woodford Shale of Oklahoma. They believe that the drilling the Woodford provides a better return. More at Reuters.
Bakken, Three Forks-Sanish Break North Dakota Records
North Dakota should set an all time record for oil production this year and account for more than 6% of total US crude production. Ninety-Five percent of the State’s drilling activity is in the Bakken Shale and the Three Forks-Sanish Formation. More at the StarTribune.com website.
Unconventional Oil in the Bakken and Cardium Shales
Here is an article that profiles Canada’s two important shale oil plays, the Bakken Shale and the Cardium Shale. However, it also does a good presentation of the term “unconventional oil”. More at InvestingDaily.com.
Bakken Formation Geochemical Maps
The North Dakota Geological Survey has a series of maps showing organic geochemical patterns in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota.
Data presented includes: well locations, structural contour, total organic carbon, hydrogen index, oil index and more. View maps.
Horizontal Well Production Data for Bakken / Three Forks Formation
The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division has an online query system that allows you to look-up production and location information for Bakken / Three Forks Horizontal wells by producing zone.
Oil from the Niobrara Shale: Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming
An article on the CNBC website reports that companies are working hard to get Niobrara Shale acres under lease in parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. They believe that horizontal drilling in the Niobrara will yield a bonanza of oil similar to the Bakken Shale of North Dakota.
Shale Country – ShaleCountry.com
Have you seen ShaleCountry.com, prepared by American Clean Skies Foundation?
“Given all the energy buzz about shale gas, as well as the environmental concerns, we wanted to find an engaging way to share the actual day-to-day experiences of people living in the areas where the gas is being produced – the Haynesville shale in Louisiana, the Fayetteville in Arkansas, and the Marcellus in New York and Pennsylvania.” Quote from the “About ShaleCountry.com” page.
Big Bakken Yields in Dunn County
The Oil and Gas Journal reports on a Bakken formation well that tested over 2000 barrels of oil per day and 3.7 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.
North Dakota Needs Pipelines
North Dakota has seen such an increase in natural gas and oil production – mainly from shales – that they don’t have the pipeline capacity to get it all to market. An article at BusinessWeek.com explores new pipeline projects for the state.
North Dakota Drilling and Production Records
North Dakota now has a record number of active oil and gas wells and is producing record volumes of oil and gas each day. The state will probably displace California as the #3 state for oil production. More in the Washington Post.
Shale Gas Drilling & Completions Conference
The agenda for the Shale Gas Drilling & Completions 2010 conference to be held May 26-27 is now online. The conference will “deliver key insight into applying cutting-edge drilling and completions techniques used throughout diverse shale projects in the US & Canada. Leading shale producers will share real life examples of their drilling and completions success and challenges – including experience from the Barnett, Haynesville, Horn River, Marcellus, Woodford and Fayetteville shale plays.”
