ConocoPhillips To Hold Steady in Bakken

December 15, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

EOG Releases 2015 Q1 Report — ConocoPhillips Announces 2016 Spending

ConocoPhillips revealed 2016 plans for the Bakken in the midst of huge spending cuts.

ConocoPhillips announced its 2016 budget last week, revealing they will continue to operate four drilling rigs in the Bakken next year. The $2.6 billion earmarked for the lower 48 operations is nearly 30% less than it had previously planned for earlier this year. The company says the funding reductions come mainly from lower major project spending, deflation capture and efficiency improvements.

“Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said that overall production by the company in 2016 will grow by one to three percent and added, “We’re setting an operating plan for 2016 that recognizes the current environment, which remains challenging. We are significantly reducing capital and operating costs, while maintaining our commitment to safety and asset integrity.”

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said that overall production by the company in 2016 will grow by one to three percent and added, “We’re setting an operating plan for 2016 that recognizes the current environment, which remains challenging. We are significantly reducing capital and operating costs, while maintaining our commitment to safety and asset integrity.

Other Highlights

Total 2016 capital budget is $7.7 billion
Capital spending will focus predominantly on the unconventional plays including six rigs in the Eagle Ford, four in the Bakken and three in the Permian Basin.
Operational efficiencies have the company confident in the low oil price environment.
In the past year, drill rig spud-to-total depth times have decreased by 25 percent in both the Bakken and Eagle Ford.
Third quarter production was 551 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOED), an increase of 8 MBOED compared with the same period in 2014.
The Eagle Ford and Bakken collectively delivered 234 MBOED for the quarter, a 10 percent increase compared with the third quarter of 2014.
Lower 48 crude production grew 12 percent year over year.

Williston Votes to Evict Man Camps

December 8, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Bakken 'man-camps' are fighting for their existence after Williston City voted to let them die.

Man camps provide temporary employee housing to oilfield workers and have been a prominent feature dotting the landscape since the oil boom brought an influx of people to the Bakken region. But many have emptied in recent months due to the downturn and at least one local government wants to ban them altogether.

Last month, the Williston City Commission approved of an ordinance that would deny man-camps occupancy permit extensions beyond July 2016. This marks the first time that a community has evicted a man camp, though other communities in Texas and North Dakota have blocked their arrival or expansion.

Williston leaders want oilfield workers to plant permanent roots or use existing hotels when they must stay for extended periods. They say that there is already plenty of housing in the city.

Williston mayor Howard Klug told Reuters that “The man camp industry should understand we allowed them to come here on a temporary basis.”

As expected, providers of temporary housing have pushed back against the ordinance, warning that this will mean layoffs for up to 200 workers and a loss of revenue and donations for the community. They also are afraid that this might set a precedence for other communities who are considering pushing out man-camps.

The November 24th meeting was expected to be a non-event, but the an official 11th-hour protest to the ordinance caused a disruption in the proceedings. The ordinance passed by a 3-2 vote, but the mayor promised that the the city will be working on an amendment that might may include allowing some of the city’s crew camps to remain open.

OPEC's Plan to Kill Shale: One Year Later

December 1, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

It's been one year since OPEC tried to force the hand of U.S. shale oil by announcing they would not decrease production in order to curb the falling price of crude. Related: OPEC Challenges Shale Oil Drillers

OPEC initiated this Thanksgiving Day game of ‘chicken’ in order to force U.S. shale drillers to fold in the face of falling profits.

Oil Prices Plummet

Immediate response to OPEC’s announcement included plunging energy stocks and crude oil prices and a resolve from U.S. producers to dig in and ride it out. Oil prices have remained unstable all year and have remained at less than 45% of their peak value of June 2014. Today, Bloomberg reported that WTI crude was at $41.55, while Brent crude stood at $44.24, down from $107.26 for WTI and $115.06 for Brent in June 2014.

Oil & Gas Producers Struggle

The prolonged slump in oil prices continues to take its toll. U.S. shale oil producers have reported steep improvements in the productivity of the rigs they use and the wells they drill, but even this cannot save them from the financial constraints they face.

Investment in new oil projects plunged with $200 billion of investments in new oil projects being deferred this year, and upward of $1.5 trillion in future projects at risk of not being developed due to challenged economics at current oil prices.
In the first half of 2015, U.S. shale producers lost more than $30 billion
Lower prices have forced many oil companies to cut their workforces. Employment in the oil and gas sector has fallen by 5% in since November 2014, in stark contrast to the 5.1% improvement in total U.S. employment. Swift Worldwide Resources reports that more than 200,000 workers in the global oil and gas industry may now have lost their jobs following the collapse in crude prices.
Bankruptcies and restructuring are on the rise with almost two dozen oil & gas companies filing this year.
The EIA reported that U.S. oil production fell in May and June, with some analyst predicting continued drops, as companies are unable to pay for more drilling and well completions.

Is Shale Dead?

The year has been brutal, but shale is hardly dead. While it appears that OPEC's plan may be working, some analysts believe that these events have made the shale energy stronger, citing improved technology and innovation.

According to the Motley Fool analysts, "Another important development over the past year has been the dramatic uptick in well performances thanks to increased sand volumes being pumped into wells. Bakken shale driller Whiting Petroleum for example, has experienced a 44% improvement in its average 30-day production rate over wells completed in the prior quarter. This was after Whiting Petroleum shifted to an enhanced completion technique whereby it increased its average sand volume per well from 3 million pounds to 5.2 million pounds.

Bakken Production Down 4.6% Over 2014

November 17, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

For the first time in more than a decade, Bakken's oil production is showing a year-over-year decline.

Thanks to the shale oil boom, the Bakken region has experienced years of unprecedented growth with each year dwarfing the year before. But things have changed since oil prices crashed one year ago.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released their latest drilling productivity report showing production across all the shale basins are in decline. The report estimates that in October 2015, the Bakken Shale produced 1.16 MMbpd (million barrels per day) of crude oil—1.8% less than the production levels in September 2015 and 4.6% lower than production was one year previously. This is the first time in over a decade that the production trends have gone backward. have reversed.

Total oil output from major U.S. shale regions is expected to fall by 118,000 barrels a day to about 4.95 million barrels a day in December. State data shows that North Dakota produced 1.11 million barrels a day in September, down 1.1 percent from the same month a year ago.

To stay afloat, oil and gas producers release have had to scale back drilling operations and delay completing new wells. The full impact is being seen as companies release third quarter financial results this month that show huge losses, layoffs and budget cuts for many.

For more information go to eia.gov