Analysis: Harsh Dakota winters bring new risk to Bakken oil markets, peak 475,000 bpd in October

Reuters via Calgary Herald ^ | November 15, 2011 | Slam Gebrekidan

[Recon Dad]

LMAO!

[thackney]

Hydraulic fracturing is done on most wells.

Here is an example from Pioneer this year for the planned activities in the year for the Alaskan North Slope.

Note the hydraulic fracturing scheduled from January to mid April, page 2.

http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Permitting/Documents/POO_PNRA_Nuna_Exploration_Program_20110919.pdf

[PJ-Comix]

Thanx. I’ll pass the info along to him. In North Dakota they were offering $45 per hour for expert welders PLUS free room and meals.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The coldest day of m life was the day I helped load 75,000 gallons of hot oil aboard the ore carrier Masabi Miner at Taconite Harbor, MN.
I think it was 25 below zero with a brisk 30 mile per hour breeze coming off the big lake.

[Mark17]

Back when I lived in North Dakota, we always had a saying that ‘40 below was occasionally necessary to keep the riffraff out.’

I was born and raised in Grand Forks, but left when I joined the USAF.

[spokeshave]

OK ...thanks...my oil shale map does not cover Alaska or Hawaii (LOL)

[Big Horn]

The roads are not very good.

[thackney]

I got to experience -48°F (no wind) in Alpine and wind chill of -72°F at Deadhorse, both Alaskan North Slope.

The -72 I stepped off the plane with my jacket open and no gloves. I hadn’t check the expected temperatures when leaving Anchorage.

[thackney]

Hydraulic fracturing is used in a lot more wells than just shale formations. Over a million wells have been hydraulicly fractured.

http://www.api.org/policy/exploration/hydraulicfracturing/

[SoldierDad]

Fierce winters — where temperatures drop as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit . . . .

When I lived in Minot, ND from 1978 to 1983 I had the "pleasure" of experiencing a windchill temperature of -115. When the wind blows in ND in the winter, there is NO way to keep warm.

[blueunicorn6]

From a Canadian newspaper. Wonder if they would have an agenda?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wife and I did the reserve a couple of times.
We got on the airplane at Mpls at -20. Three hours later, we got off in Zihuatanejo and it was 80 F.

[HereInTheHeartland]

Cold weather in North Dakota?
Bet they didn't even think of that!!

[thackney]

I have found the Calagy Herald to be one of the best sources of oil & gas news articles. I have read their energy section for many years.

This article was sourced from Reuters. Most of Calgary Herald energy articles are from their own staff.

[thackney]

Ouch!!! The -72 hurt, mostly because I wasn’t prepared for it. I was outside less than a minute. I was in the -48 for several hours but we went in and out of several buildings for breaks while gathering information.

[Docbarleypop]

grew up in Bismarck, but the coldest i have ever been was in the north Pacific while in the Navy, no idea what the temp was, ice on the water, no wind, just cold to my very core

[Vigilanteman]

Gee, what a waste. The USAF could have transferred you to that big air base just 15 miles away.

Several of my co-workers (USAF veterans) spent part of their enlistment there. I get the definite idea that it was not considered a plum assignment.

[Vigilanteman]

FWIW, when I was an elementary school boy, two favorite winter diversions were:

1. Distance spitting contests to see if it would freeze before it hit the ground. You could actually tell if it did by the shape of the indentation.

2. Tunneling and trenching. My best friend lived on the opposite side of the block. If the snow was deep enough, you could tunnel right between our back doors. This was especially fun as we would take the snow in the house and dump it in the toilet or shower to melt-- much to the chagrin of our mothers. If it wasn't deep enough, you could still dig a trench deep enough to allow us boys to crawl or even walk between the two houses without exposing your head to the wind.

[SoldierDad]

THE longest night of my life was the graveyard shift I worked while in the Air Force at Minot AFB during one particulary bad winter - I was a walking sentry (Security Police) on the parking ramp for what would normally have been the B-52 Alert pad (nuke loaded). But, the area was under re-mod (yes, in the winter), and all the elecricity was out (including the perimeter security alarms). They placed the KC-135’s on this pad, and the B-52’s were on the KC-135 pad. I was one of two walking sentries posted in this area, and neither of us had any heat. The temperature dipped down to -68 (with windchill). The only shelter was a glass phone booth like enclosure, which was not much shelter. I received three breaks during the night; a half hour lunch break, and two 10 minute periods of sitting in a patrol truck to get warm. Other than that, it was all in the elements. I still have bad dreams of that night.

[SoldierDad]

LOL - winter fun.