Bakken housing boom continues, Page 2.
Sandpiper pipeline project, Page 8.
Busy times at Manitou, Page 10.
Minot Daily News
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015
Oil & Gas Production
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Several apartment buildings have sprung up in Tioga during a surge in growth in that community. A number of housing projects are under way or in the planning stages.
Riding the oil wave Oil production boosts Tioga By KIM FUNDINGSLAND Staff Writer kfundingsland @minotdailynews.com TIOGA — If lower oil prices have led to less production, it would be difficult to tell by visiting this region. Tioga continues to be a community on the move with building and improvement projects designed to meet the demands of the oil industry and its accompanying workforce. “We’re at about 3,500 population now and should be close to 7,000 in 10 to 15 years,” said Drake McClelland, president of the Tioga city commission. “We were about 1,200 when it started.” Tioga, known as the oil capital of North Dakota, is living up to that billing. Several major players in the oil patch have their main offices in Tioga. “Basically we’re in the middle of the Bakken, the heartbeat,” said McClellan. Tioga has responded to the demand for additional housing, businesses, health care, schoolrooms and infrastructure. A vital Main Street project, made possible with “surge” dollars available through the state, is due to get under way this summer. “The water and sewer lines underneath Main
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Tioga’s clinic and hospital are undergoing extensive improvements, including upgrading emergency services. Street are to the point now that they are continuously having breaks. They are in dire need of replacement,” said Tarie Bunner, city audi-
tor. The Main Street project will serve several purposes. New sewer and water lines are needed to better serve
expansion, particularly on the north side of Tioga. Main Street itself is full of potholes that have filled numerous times. The pending project
includes a badly needed McClelland. “We need to new surface for Tioga’s Main renovate Main Street.” “You go from 1,200 and Street. “We’re running at max See TIOGA — Page 4 capacity,” explained
Page 2
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
The Glen at Hunter’s Run consists of multiple apartment buildings designed to meet the needs of the fastest growing community in North Dakota. Several builders are involved in the project that has the capacity to house more than double Watford City’s population of a few years ago.
Bakken housing boom continues By KIM FUNDINGSLAND Staff Writer kfundingsland @minotdailynews.com WATFORD CITY – All throughout the booming Bakken oil basin there has been an ongoing need for places to house workers. The hastily constructed
mancamps that initially served emergency housing needs have begun to give way to more permanent structures. Perhaps no where in the Bakken is that more evident than in Watford City. Located in McKenzie County in the heart of the Bakken shale play, Watford City has experienced
unprecedented growth for several years running. The population of Watford City has exploded from about 1,500 in 2006 to an estimated 15,000 today, according to one source, and the growth continues. With more people comes more demand for housing, and Watford City has seen a large influx of developers willing to help
meet the need. Large housing developments in Watford City include Hunter’s Run, Fox Hills Village, The Highlands, Prairie Heights and Emerald Court. Construction has been completed on many homes and apartments. Many more residential units are under construction or soon will be. The sheer size of the developments is nothing short of amazing, and
necessary. “Hunter’s Run alone doubles the size of what the city was,” said Gene Veeder, executive director of the McKenzie County Development Authority. “We had maybe 1,600 people in the city and there’s 2,000 or more units out there. We have no actual count.” Several builders have constructed a variety of structures designed to
house both families and temporary workers at Hunter’s Run. Jessica Anderson handles leasing and sales for American Landmark Homes located within the Hunter’s Run development. Recently she was showing a model twinhome. “Each bedroom has its own bathroom and also has a full-sized washer and See BAKKEN — Page 6
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
This interior view of an American Landmark Homes twin home in Hunter’s Run shows the modern conveniences designed to meet the needs of families or workforce housing.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Page 3
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Eloise Ogden/MDN
Kathy Neset, president of Neset Consulting in Tioga, says North Dakota is quite young in the development of the Bakken. She is shown here Feb. 17 when she spoke to the Minot Kiwanis Club.
Bakken basics By ELOISE OGDEN
North Dakota for more than works to recover the Bakken Technology has changed which is the fracking process and then the oil will 30 years, said she came to oil now and is such a neat recovering the Bakken. the state in 1979. Originally thing then how was it “You have to help it,” go back to the surface. All from New Jersey, she went missed all these years? Neset said. “Instead of hav- that had to come together. “The answer is we really ing 40 feet of middle Bakken Oil companies knew that to school in Rhode Island. When she talks to groups, didn’t miss it. We knew open vertically, we now they had something here. I North Dakota is quite young in developing the Neset said one of the ques- there were great shows in have 10,000 feet open hori- can assure you nobody zontally, then we crack it could foresee how big this Bakken and has a long way tions often asked is if this this Bakken,” she said. to go, says Kathy Neset, president of Neset Consulting in Tioga. Neset said North Dakota is extracting 7 percent of the oil in place. “That’s a very low number in oil field extraction rates. When you think about it that means conversely 93 percent of the oil in place is underground still.” She said the hardest part of finding an oil field is locating the oil. “We did that. Now we need the technology to draw it out,” she said. Neset, who is a geologist, spoke to members of the Minot Kiwanis Club Feb. 17. She said the other shale oil zones are the Eagle Ford in south Texas and the Woodford in Oklahoma. “These are primarily oil plays. You get gas along with them,” she said. But she said in the Marcellus-Utica located in northeast United States, they’re primarily drilling for gas and that’s a little bit different than the oil plays. • Wood Flooring • Remodeling Neset said the Bakken • Trim • Drywall • Siding Formation stretches up into • New Construction Saskatchewan, a little into Manitoba, in western North • Garages • Decks Dakota and eastern • Concrete Montana, and drapes into the northwest corner of Lic. & Ins. #43676 South Dakota. “The bull’s eye on the 1325 27th St SE #1 • Minot • 701-420-2743 map is the deepest part of the Basin,” she said, indicating a map of the Williston Basin. “So think of the Basin Serving the area for over 50 years as a funnel with the apex of • Auto • Home that funnel down around • Farm McKenzie County,” she said. • Mobile “We’re sitting here in Home • Renter Minot, North Dakota, and • Life we’re just on the fringes of • Health where the Bakken is present, • Long Term and where it is present it’s Care • Annuities & not thermally mature here Investments so we don’t believe that we Town & Country Center ~ 116 8th Ave. will be as much as we’d love NW Minot ~ 838-6245 to drill for oil here in Minot – maybe, maybe not. Maybe we’ll just take that part of the oil industry where we support them which is a very nice thing that Minot is doing right now,” she said. Showing a graphic of drilling rigs, she said, “This is western North Dakota. Each one of those little green trees represents a drilling rig, and just by looking at where the drilling activity is you know where the deepest part of the Basin and the heart of the Bakken is,” Neset said. Neset who has been in Regional Editor eogden @minotdailynews.com
Bakken was going to be.” She said people always ask how the drillers get the drill pipe to bend. “You go from a vertical well bore to drilling horizontally at 90 See NESET — Page 15
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Tioga Continued from Page 1
now servicing 3,500. It’s difficult to keep up,” added Bunner. “What our commissioners are trying to do, is get the city to have sustainable growth, longterm housing, so people will come here and stay here.” A few years ago Tioga had one small Super 8 hotel. Today it boasts a large Black Gold hotel, MainStay Suites and a Micro-Tel is nearing completion. A new outdoor swimming pool will be open this summer. Runways at the city airport will be lengthened this summer and runway aprons increased in size. Both the high school and elementary school have new additions and likely will have to build even more. A new waste water treatment plant is in the planning stages. The city’s police force has ballooned from two to eight. “We just now got a school resource officer in place,” said Bunner. “That’s a benefit for the community, a definite plus.” New businesses include Cashwise Food and Shopko. Pinnacle purchased the Cenex Travel Center on the city’s southside and caters to hundreds of oil field customers each
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on day. Various companies have either moved into available space or built new structures of their own. “We’re in the process of annexing more property, working on that,” said McClelland. “We’re almost to the point now where everything that is in the city limits has something on it.” On Tioga’s north side the hospital and clinic are undergoing renovation and expansion. According to McClelland, the clinic will be significantly upgrading its emergency services, something he says is much needed in the region. Also on the north side of the city are several apartment complexes and other housing developments in various stages of construction. Already completed is Tioga Square, an attractive facility that features apartments on the top two floors and business space at floor level. A new steakhouse is also nearing completion. “Our community is starting to get more self-sufficient,” explained McClelland. “We starting to fill in the gaps so it’s not just oil field jobs that Tioga was known for. We’re starting to get diversified with other businesses in here.” See TIOGA — Page 5
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Tioga Square is one of many new buildings within the city of Tioga. It is an apartment complex with room for retail and service businesses on the lower level.
House/ New Town 13x15 FC PONY 77804 DO NOT PLACE HERE
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Tioga Continued from Page 4
Anabelle Housing was responsible for the initial building surge in Tioga but have since sold their interests to other developers. According to McClelland, the city hopes that new buildings aimed at attracting families does not exceed the demand. He says he is seeing the movement toward more singlefamily housing for those who wish to stay in Tioga indefinitely. Two mobile home parks that have sprung up within the city limits are helping alleviate congestion in man-camps. However, man-camps still exist within Tioga proper and McClelland says that will likely continue. “You can’t get rid of all the man-camps. There will always be that rush that needs to be done and there’s no places available,” said McClelland. “But the rules for them are getting a little more strict, too.” In regard to the recent decline of oil prices, McClelland says a slow down in activity wouldn’t be all bad. “We can get caught up again instead of rush, rush, rush,” said McClelland. “Once the oil starts again we can be at the top of the
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
wave instead of trying to climb up the wave. There’s a lot of drilling going on in Williams and McKenzie County. They are filling in the pads with more wells.” Part of the reason there are fewer people in man-camps, said McClelland, was that the region was catching up with important infrastructure. More pipelines has meant fewer trucks on area roads and highways and, consequently, less need for truckers. “A lot of people in this area work for the trucking companies hauling crude and saltwater. With more infrastructure we get the trucks off the street but, unfortunately, anything good comes with a backlash,” said McClelland. “For a while we didn’t see much happening, but then it was just like someone turned on a light switch.” Oil development has led to many improvements in Tioga and many more opportunities for area residents. There are some indicators that the growth may slow, at least until oil prices rebound, but enough building project are currently underway to indicate 2015 will be a very busy one in Tioga. “Oil prices are going to dictate what is going to happen,” McClelland said.
Page 5
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Hess Corporation has a headquarters facility in Tioga which has long had a major impact on the community.
House/ New Town 13x15 FC PONY 77804 DO NOT PLACE HERE
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
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Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Watford City’s Prairie Heights development was a Lutheran Social Services project. There is a lengthy waiting list of people wishing to reside at Prairie Heights.
Bakken Continued from Page 2
dryer for laundry,” said Anderson. “These units each have an over-sized two car garage so full-sized trucks can fit in there.” Full-sized pickups are a common mode of transportation for Bakken oil field workers. Having a garage to accommodate them is
a highly valued feature. The city brought water and sewer lines to Hunter’s Run. The developers were responsible for streets, curbs and sidewalks. Most of the lawns are scheduled to be seeded this spring. “It’s kind of a mess right now. It’s that time of year,” remarked Veeder. “But they are getting lights on and starting to fill those buildings up.” While construction continues
at Hunter’s Run, it also continues at nearly every other housing project in or near the city. At Fox Hills Village, where numerous apartments have been occupied for several months, construction continues on huge additional apartment buildings. The same can be said for multiple locations in Watford City as developers race to meet the demand. “There are 1,000 units being built right now and 1,400 units
permitted for this summer,” said Veeder. “We’re trying to get our arms around it. Even with everything that’s being built we still feel we’ll be 1,000 units short.” Mancamps still exist, even flourish, in the Watford City area. However, as more and more housing units become available, it is anticipated that many Bakken oil field workers will assess their housing options and decide to move into permanent
housing. A negative currently affecting Watford City’s housing market is believed to be price. A furnished twin-home can rent for as much as $4,000 per month, three bedroom apartments at $3,775 a month. Even a single bedroom, one bath apartment can cost as much as $3,125 a month. Single family home prices have risen too See BAKKEN — Page 7
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Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Page 7
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Apartment construction continues at Fox Hills Village where several other apartment units are completed and occupied. Construction is also under way at Watford City’s new high school located nearby.
Bakken Continued from Page 6
from what Watford City residents had become accustomed to. “I think we’ve hit a peak with our real estate prices,” said Veeder. “There’s $350,000 houses but you have to have the right people to buy them. You are still talking 20 percent down. Not too
many people have that kind of cash. We know that until prices come down people will still live in temporary units.” The Prairie Heights development in the southwest section of Watford City was a project of Lutheran Social Services. Forty of the apartments in that development are classified as affordable housing with a rent of $700 per month. About 700 people are on
the waiting list to occupy those units if and when they become available. Oil plays are known for boom and bust and there has been a wide swing downward in oil prices in recent months. Although the existing wells in the Watford City region will require a considerable maintenance force, the recent slump in oil prices has not brought a stop to drilling
either. In fact, the demand for housing continues to grow as more and more people begin to put their roots down in the region. “What workers want is a stable job, until then they rent,” concluded Veeder. “It’s a much bigger rental market than even we anticipated. For houses it’s a matter of who builds the houses that are the most sellable. Some have a rentto-own product. That goes pretty
well.” If oil prices stay low and companies continue to cut back on per diem housing allowances, which can be of critical importance to Bakken oil field workers, it is expected those decreases will be reflected in rental and housing prices in Watford City. In the meantime, the 2015 building season is expected to be the most extensive in Watford City history.
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Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Kim Fundingsland/MDN
These sections of pipe are destined for the Sandpiper pipeline project. The photograph was taken at a pipe storage yard south of Palermo.
The Sandpiper pipeline project By KIM FUNDINGSLAND Staff Writer kfundingsland @minotdailynews.com Canadian-based Enbridge is seeking approval for the Sandpiper pipeline project. The Sandpiper would carry crude oil from North
Dakota’s Bakken oil field to an Enbridge terminal at Superior, Wis. Specifically, the interstate crude oil pipeline would begin at Enbridge’s Beaver Lodge Station south of Tioga and carry Bakken crude to Clearbook, Minn., where it would be transported by pipeline to Superior.
Katie Haarsager, Enbridge, recently made a presentation on the proposed Sandpiper pipeline project to a committee of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce. Haarsager explained that the permitting process is nearly complete in North Dakota and has made great progress in Minnesota and
Wisconsin. “The project itself is waiting regulatory approval from the Public Service Commission in North Dakota,” said Haarsager “We’re waiting on Minnesota and Wisconsin permitting. We expect to be able to do construction in 2016 and have an “in service” date
M OTO R S
of early 2017.” Haarsager explained that 96 percent of the necessary landowner agreements for land where the pipeline will run are in place in North Dakota. Haarsager said she expects Minnesota and Wisconsin See PIPE — Page 14
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Saturday, April 11, 2015
Page 9
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Responding to spills: Safety is No. 1 By ELOISE OGDEN Regional Editor eogden @minotdailynews.com NEW TOWN — When a major saltwater spill occurred on the Fort Berthold Reservation this past July, a tribal response team was quickly notified and assembled. The team was comprised of staff from several tribal agencies including the Three Affiliated Tribes’ Energy Division. The Energy Division has its own staff for spills. That department’s staff will go to a spill, make sure it is properly cleaned up, do a soil sampling and submit it to the State Soil Center, followed by making sure industry — the responsible operator — cleans up their spill,” said Carson Hood Jr., administrator of the Tribal Energy Division. “The very first thing is safety,” said Kenny Lyson, the safety officer, in an interview in July. “We don’t enter a site unless it’s safe to do so,” “The first thing we do is make sure everything on location is up to par — make sure the well is shut in and this type of thing. That’s the first thing. “Then we see what type of spill it was — was it a fire, was it a line break, flare upset — anything,” he said.
3 million gallon spill largest in state history
Who to call
embankment into a deep coulee filled with springs and beaver dams that is a natural tributary to the lake. Saltwater is an unwanted byproduct of oil and gas production. Crestwood/Arrow staff, their contractors and tribal agency staff worked to immediately contain the spill through berms, dikes and booms on land and around the water intake in Lake Sakakawea.The water intake plant was shut down until testing showed the water was not contaminated. Federal, state, tribal, county and pipeline representatives worked with the assessment and remediation planning, according to tribal information. In January of this year, nearly 3 million gallons of saltwater generated by oil drilling leaked from a pipeline, about 15 miles north of Williston. The Associated Press reported that spill was the largest such spill since the
Anyone who witnesses any spill or wrongful act in the oil and gas industry on Fort Berthold Reservation is asked to call the MHA Energy Department office at 627-5154 or check the Energy Division’s website for the emergency contact list. The website is located at mhanation.com/ mhaenergydivision.
By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com
MANDAREE — When it occurred in July 2014, a pipeline spill near Mandaree was considered one of the largest oilfield spills in state history. Six months later, a spill north of Williston would top the Mandaree spill in amount of estimated product leaked. The saltwater spill on Fort Berthold Reservation occurred near the Bear Den Water Intake Station in the west segment of the reservation. Mandaree is the “hot zone” for the oil and gas development on the reservation. According to Three Affiliated Tribes’ information, an estimated 1 million gallons, or 25,000 barrels, of saltwater spilled as the result of a leak in a pipeline owned and operated by Arrow/Crestwood LLC. The saltwater ran down an “We go and identify a situation and then find the best protocol to remedy the situation — remediate it,” Lyson said. If a company does not
have a representative at the site, the Energy Department staff calls them immediately “and make sure they’re there,” Lyson said. “We work together basi-
state’s current oil boom began in 2006 and nearly three times worse than any previous spill. Two creeks were affected, but the full environmental effect might not be clear for months, the AP said. Operator Summit Midstream Partners LLC detected the pipeline spill on Jan. 6. The January spill in the Williston area is almost three times larger than one that occurred near Mandaree in July. Another million-gallon saltwater spill in 2006, near Alexander, is still being cleaned up nearly a decade later, The Associated Press reported. In total in North Dakota, as of March 31, 638 spills have been reported since the beginning of 2015. Last year (2014) there were 2596 spills reported, said Karl Rockeman, director of the North Dakota Health Department’s Division of Water Quality.
cally to make sure the best situation to remediate the spill,” Lyson said. Hood said one of the main things they consider when they go to a spill is if
it’s a critical or dangerous incident. “It’s life over structure, life over land. Our job is to secure the perimeter, notify homeowners in the area if it
was a loss of wellhead control or if there was a fire on location or if there was a fire at a compression station. That’s one of our duties — to control traffic, secure perimeter and identify the outside homeowners,” he said. “Basically, safety is number one. We want to make sure nothing happens,” Lyson said. He said many of the calls are minor. “But you have to respond because you never know. Even a minor situation could turn into something major. We show up,” he said.
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Minot Daily News PROGRESS
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Saturday, April 11, 2015
Busy times at Manitou By KIM FUNDINGSLAND Staff Writer kfundingsland @minotdailynews.com MANITOU — With the last of its residents gone and its name carried only by a crumbling, aging and abandoned schoolhouse, this ghost town on the plains proved to be an ideal location for one of the busiest rail terminals in the Bakken oil field. Plains All American constructed the impressive terminal just north of old Manitou, not far from where playground equipment long ago was used by students from the area. Manitou, where a short train known locally as the “dinky” used to haul milk, cream and butter from Minot to Williston each day, was nothing more than a forgotten spot in North Dakota until the decision was made that the area was ideal for shipping crude oil from the Bakken. Manitou is located a few miles west and north of Stanley. Today railroad tank cars are lined up by the hundreds to be filled with Bakken crude. Many of them are bound for a refinery at St. James, La. The facility essentially is a pipeline on wheels. It is there that Bakken crude flows into unit trains virtually non-stop. The facility was constructed to have the ability to move 65,000 barrels of crude per day. Two 150,000-barrel storage tanks are located at the Manitou terminal. Natural gas and natural gas liquids are also shipped from that location. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. operates a similar oil loading facility at Van Hook and recently announced the purchase of another crude oil terminal under construction near Johnson’s Corner, east of Watford City. The Johnson’s Corner terminal is expected to be in operation as soon as July of this year. It is permitted for up to two million barrels of crude oil storage, eight pipeline interconnects and 12 truck unloading stations.
¨ Railroad tank cars await filling and departure at the Manitou terminal. The terminal was constructed to facilitate moving Bakken crude oil out of the region for processing. ¬ The Plains All American crude rail terminal at Manitou sprang up not far from the long-ago abandoned Manitou schoolhouse. The terminal has the capability of loading railcars for direct shipment to the NuStar terminal at St. James, La.
Photos by Kim Fundingsland/MDN
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Saturday, April 11, 2015
Minot Daily News PROGRESS
Oil & G as Prod u ct i on
Page 11
Eloise Ogden/MDN
Oil production, as well as gas production, in the North Dakota oil patch has increased several times since 2010.
Production up sixfold since 2010 State’s oil, gas increases show similar growth By ELOISE OGDEN Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com North Dakota’s oil production is nearly six times higher than it was five years ago. Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, reported: In January 2015, the state pro-
duced 1,190,490 barrels a day or 36,905,179 barrels. The preliminary all-time high was December 2014, when the state produced 1,227,482 barrels a day. ® 1,128,707 barrels per day or 95 percent is from Bakken or Three Forks. ® 61,783 barrels per day or 5 percent is from legacy conventional pools.
In January 2010, the state produced 235,925 barrels a day or 7,310,457 barrels. Gas production also has increased extensively, from 254,686 MCF (million cubic feet) a day or 7,894,018 MCF in January 2010 to 1,472,904 MCF a day or 45,660,015 MCF in January 2015. The preliminary all-time high
was in December 2014 when 1,570,858 MCF a day of gas was produced. Following are other comparisons: Producing wells – January 2010: 4,628; January 2015: 12,181, a preliminary new alltime high. See OIL — Page 14
Oil production January 2010 – 235,925 barrels a day January 2015 – 1,190,490 barrels a day Gas production January 2010 – 254,686 MCF a day January 2015 – 1,472,904 MCF a day Producing wells January 2010 – 4,628 January 2015 – 12,181
House/ Places to Stay 13x21.5 FCDT 77548 DO NOT PLACE HERE
House/ Places to Stay 13x21.5 FCDT 77548 DO NOT PLACE HERE
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Pipe Continued from Page 8
to approve the project by the end of this year. “The process is so much more than determining point A and point B and drawing a line in between,” said Haarsager. “You have to make sure you have commitments from producers. As you move into development on the project you need approval from the Public Service Commission on routing, the Corps of Engineers for water permits, to work with landowners on acquiring right of way or easements, work with communities to see where they are developing and shift your route
accordingly.” Enbridge has been working on the pipeline design and approval process for nearly two years. The 600-mile, 24-inch pipeline is a massive project that would carry an estimated 225,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude at four to five miles per hour. Additionally, says Haarsager, it is a safer way to transport crude than relying on aboveground transportation. “Pipelines are definitely still the best option for a safe option,” said Haarsager, “It’ll take trucks off the road. When it comes to pipelines themselves, they are really a very safe alternative to other transportation. It’s just so important to be able to move Bakken crude in the most safe and efficient way, to
reduce the amount of people on the roads and help reduce rail traffic, which can help move grain commodities through the state.” The Sandpiper would be in addition to Enbridge’s existing pipeline systems that deliver 355,000 barrels of oil per day, making the daily total of Bakken crude moved through Enbridge pipelines to 580,000 barrels per day. According to Enbridge, immediate project benefits of the Sandpiper pipeline include providing temporary jobs, increasing tax revenues and supporting businesses through the purchase of local goods and services, lodging, food, supplies and equipment during construction.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Katie Haarsager, Enbridge. Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Eloise Ogden/MDN
Oil production, as well as gas production, in the North Dakota oil patch has increased several times since 2010.
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® 9,027 wells or 74 percent are now unconventional Bakken-Three Forks wells; 3,154 wells or 26 percent produce from legacy conventional pools. Permitting – January 2010: 101 drilling (0 shallow gas) and 3 seismic; January 2015: 246 drilling and 0 seismic. Sweet crude price – January 2010: $68.57 a barrel; January 2015: 31.41 a barrel. Rig count – January 2010: 81; January 2015: 160. The all-time high was 218 on May 29, 2012. The statewide rig count was down 49 percent from the high and in the five most active counties rig count was as follows as of
March 12, 2015: ® Divide - 69 percent (high was March 2013). ® Dunn - 58 percent (high was June 2012). ® McKenzie - 32 percent (high was January 2014). ® Mountrail - 49 percent (high was June 2011). ® Williams - 63 percent (high was October 2014). The number of rigs actively drilling on federal surface in the Dakota Prairie Grasslands was unchanged at 0 in Helm’s March 12, 2015 report. Activity on the Fort Berthold Reservation was as follows, as of the March 12, 2015, report: ® 18 drilling rigs (6 on fee lands and 12 on trust lands). ® 375,158 barrels of oil per day (152,208 from trust lands and 222,951 from fee lands).
® 1,420 active wells (1,095 on trust lands and 325 on fee lands). ® 120 wells waiting on completion. ® 390 approved drilling permits (227 on trust lands and 132 on fee lands). ® 1,948 additional potential future wells (1,173 on trust lands and 775 on fee lands). Trust lands are lands held in trust by the federal government. Fee lands are lands not federally held in trust. The number of rigs actively drilling in the North Dakota oil field was 94 on April 2, 2015, according to the North Dakota Oil and Gas Division, a division of the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources. More than 98 percent of the drilling targets the Bakken and Three Forks Formations.
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Kim Fundingsland/MDN
These pumping units are in the Tioga area. The photo was taken March 27. Kathy Neset, president of Neset Consulting in Tioga, says North Dakota is extracting only 7 percent of the oil in place and 93 percent of the oil is still underground.
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degrees.” “How do you get that bend and how does the pipe bend through it? It’s really technology, it’s just amazing. The key part is this mud motor and of that the component called the bed sub... By steering it in the direction you want to go, the oil companies can drill with these mud motors and design these curves,” she said. As a geologist, she said she will collect the drill cuttings – the
ground up rock. They also measure the amount of gas coming out of the formation called liberated gas or gas from the rock that’s ground up. Produced gas is gas that seeps into the well bore from the formation, she said. “Those types of things are all indications that we’re in the right zone,” she said. “The way a well is drilled is it is drilled down through these fresh waters – just like a water well you would drill,” she said. “You stop drilling 100 feet into the first confining shale which is called the Pierre Formation, and
they stop and they set a 9 5/8 -inch surface casing. Then they cement it back up – up the backside between the rock and the casing that has to be totally full of cement so that is secure and we don’t take any chance of contaminating those waters,” she said. The state of North Dakota monitors the cementing. “They have to securely cement that so you have two layers of protection – cement and 9 5/8 inch casing,” she said. “Drill down vertically with a 8 3/4-inch bit to kick off point, curve, land in the Middle Bakken, stop drilling and bring all the drill pipe
back out again, and put a 7-inch casing in. That casing goes all the way back up to surface and cement that one in place. That gives you four layers of protection between the center of the well bore and the rock,” she said. “Then we drill horizontally 2 miles in the Middle Bakken and run a 4 1/2-inch liner,” she said. “As you count up the layers, you now have five layers of protection – three layers of steel pipe, two layers of cement between the center of the well bore and those surface aquifers. You can’t – it’s just absolutely, double , triple, quadru-
ple – five times the security that we can’t have contamination from the center of the well bore to the outside and 10,000 feet is our zone, 2,000 is our water. We can’t frack through 8,000 feet. North Dakota’s geology is absolutely special in that way – the depth and the makeup of it,” Neset said. Neset said the Bakken has a long way to go in its development. “There’s lots more ideas and things that the younger group of engineers and geologists will sort out for us. There’s a lot of work here,” she said.
Parshall,
For a list of events go to www.parshallnd.com
Michael Orvik Certified Public Accountant www.michaelorvikcpa.com
2010 4th Ave. NW Suite 101 Minot, ND 58703 701-852-8850 701-852-8851 Fax
14 N. Main St. P.O. Box 40 Parshall, ND 58770 701-862-3349 701-862-3309 Fax
Parshall Plant 743-4451 862-3136
Garrison Store 337-5498
Parshall Motor Inn
205 North Main Street Parshall, ND 58770 877-862-0372 (701) 862-3127
New Town • Parshall Plaza • Stanley
(701) 627-4293
PARSHALL Open 8am-8pm Mon-Sat 17 Main Street, Parshall, ND 58770 Phone: 862-3125 • Fax: 862-3406
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative
www.mwec.com 627-3550 • Main Street
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Saturday, April 11, 2015