Saturday, August 18, 2012

Some Amazing North Dakota Oil Facts

1. North Dakota drillers produced almost 20 million barrels of oil in June from a record number of 7,352 wells, which is more than double the state's oil output in February 2011.

2. There are about 35,000 wells yet to be drilled in western North Dakota’s oil patch, almost five times the number of existing wells, so we can expect the current exponential increases in Bakken oil output to continue in the future. 

3. Oil companies are increasingly making inroads with advanced drilling technologies, and drillers are finishing new wells at a rate of eight per day, up from less than one a day five years ago.   

4. The time needed to drill a well has dropped by two-thirds since 2007 from 60 to 20 days, as the industry continues to fine-tune cutting through dense rock to the oil trapped nearly two miles beneath the surface.  This significant increase in efficiency is due in part to the increased use of diamond-tipped bits and the growing number of "walking drill rigs," which can be moved between well sites on hydraulic feet without having to be disassembled.

5. Besides the 161 increase in producing wells added during the month of June, there were an additional 350 wells that were completed and awaiting hydraulic fracturing services.

6. State and industry officials are reporting that 99 percent of rigs in the Bakken and Three Forks formations hit oil, while nine of 10 rigs are profitable.

7. A typical well drilled in North Dakota will produce about 540,000 barrels of oil during its 29-year lifespan, which would have a market of value of $40.5 million at $75 per barrel and $54 million at $100 per barrel.    

8. It will take at least 15 more years to complete drilling in the Bakken formation.

Bottom Line: North Dakota's future looks very, very bright and its status as the "economic miracle state" will continue for decades.

Sources: Jamestown Sun and the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

Peak what?

9 Comments:

At 8/19/2012 12:26 AM, Blogger Che is dead said...

“We could use up all of the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.” -- Jimmy Carter in a televised speech in 1977

 
At 8/19/2012 8:24 AM, Blogger PeakTrader said...

Although, North Dakota oil output and advances in technology are impressive, they may not catch-up to economic growth over the next decade.

High oil prices will be a constraint on global growth.

If the U.S. recovery was a little stronger, gasoline would be over $5 a gallon, and living standards lower.

This Decade Was Just A Preview For The Oil Crisis Of The 21st Century
March 26, 2012

"In 2010, the IEA abruptly announced that the peak of conventional oil production was reached in 2006.

Since giant and super giant oil fields dominate current production, they are good indicators for the point of peak production. There is now broad agreement among analysts that the decline in existing production is between 4-8% annually.

In terms of capacity, this means that roughly a new North Sea (~5 Mb/d) has to come on stream every year just to keep the present output constant."

 
At 8/19/2012 8:58 AM, Blogger PeakTrader said...

If gasoline rose to over $5 a gallon, in the U.S., that would likely trigger a recession.

 
At 8/19/2012 9:16 AM, Blogger VangelV said...

Although, North Dakota oil output and advances in technology are impressive, they may not catch-up to economic growth over the next decade.

High growth? You have massive unemployment, huge deficits, unfunded liabilities that can never be made good on, and a demographic and regulatory mine field that cannot be navigated in the present two-party monopoly based political system.

High oil prices will be a constraint on global growth.

If the U.S. recovery was a little stronger, gasoline would be over $5 a gallon, and living standards lower.


Actually, it should be much higher given the trouble with the fiat currency. But things don't happen according to specified timetables. They will take place in in their own time. When the US bond market turns and the currency begins to decline post Euro you will see an explosion in the price of essentials even as many financial assets fall sharply in price.

 
At 8/19/2012 3:39 PM, Blogger bart said...

Peak what?

Peak cheap oil is alive and well.

Brent is about $117 now, gas is $3.72 and up about 3% from the same time last year.

Even natural gas is up over 25% (10 week average) from last year.





 
At 8/19/2012 3:47 PM, Blogger bart said...

Che is dead said...
“We could use up all of the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.” -- Jimmy Carter in a televised speech in 1977


He was incorrect.

Hubbert was correct. World conventional oil production, per the EIA itself, peaked during 2005-10 as predicted.

 
At 8/20/2012 1:53 AM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

The private sector does more for less every year.

The public sector, including the military, does less for more every year.

Remember these fundamentals.

 
At 8/20/2012 7:15 AM, Blogger VangelV said...

He was incorrect.

Hubbert was correct. World conventional oil production, per the EIA itself, peaked during 2005-10 as predicted.


Most Peak Oil deniers don't want to know what the Peak Oil debate is about. They would rather argue about trivia and faith instead. But such ignorance is necessary if someone wishes to profit from mispriced markets.

 
At 8/20/2012 10:07 AM, Blogger bart said...

VangelV said...

Most Peak Oil deniers don't want to know what the Peak Oil debate is about. They would rather argue about trivia and faith instead. But such ignorance is necessary if someone wishes to profit from mispriced markets.


Indeed.

Ideologies, including pervasive optimism regardless, can easily be dangerous to one's health, wealth and abilities to make correct decisions about what's ahead.

The bottom line that's most interesting to me though is that the peak (conventional) oil deniers didn't even try. They know that the facts actually do show that Hubbert was correct. World conventional oil production, per the EIA itself, peaked during 2005-10 as predicted.

 

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