Bakken

While continuing to cash in on the robust oil and natural growth in its home-based Bakken Shale play, Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group’s exploration/production (E&P) unit looks to expand elsewhere with its increased activity in Utah’s Paradox Basin and an as-yet-unspecified third major oil play.

Federal safety investigators said Tuesday they have completed their on-site work regarding the twin oil tank rail derailments on Dec. 30 in Casselton, ND, and will continue their probe in Washington, DC.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on Thursday issued a safety alert on Bakken crude oil, warning emergency responders, the public and others that the light, sweet crude may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil.

Against the backdrop of Monday’s rail accident in North Dakota, an Indiana company has proposed building and operating a dock on Lake Superior to load barges with crude oil from western Canada and the Bakken Shale for shipment to refineries elsewhere.

A group of small natural gas-related firms seeking to displace diesel use in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale oilfield operations and transportation have launched an effort to gauge the interest of operators in switching to compressed (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) applications.

Marathon Oil Corp. will spend more than half of its global capital next year in North American resource shale plays, with the rig count in both the Eagle Ford and Bakken shales increasing by 20%, and twice as many rigs working Oklahoma’s Woodford Shale.

A recent study sponsored by two anti-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) organizations calls into question the bullish estimates for California’s Monterey Shale. “Drilling California: A Reality Check on the Monterey Shale” is an analysis of previously released bullish production estimates of 15.4 billion bbl (see Shale Daily, Sept. 13, 2011).

Sparked by a 20,000 bbl leak from a Tesoro Logistics LP pipeline that went unreported in September by state officials for days, North Dakota is redefining its policy for handling oil and natural gas releases, resulting in a series of reports of small incidents in recent weeks. Longer term, state officials are working on a new set of guidelines affecting both the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) Oil/Gas Division and the Department of Health.

Bakken Hunter LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., has filed an application seeking FERC authorization and a presidential permit to build and operate border-crossing facilities to import natural gas from Canada to North Dakota for processing.