Bakken

Bankruptcies in the North American oil patch “have substantially picked up pace” so far in 2020, due largely to the impact of Covid-19 on prices and demand, according to a new report published Tuesday by Haynes and Boone LLP. The Dallas-based international corporate law firm has been tracking bankruptcy filings in the exploration and production…

Marathon Oil Corp. said stabilization in commodity prices enabled the company to raise its full-year oil production outlook even as it keeps costs in check and further lowers its capital expenditure (capex) plans. Houston-based Marathon — which works in Oklahoma, the Delaware Basin and the Bakken and Eagle Ford shales — raised slightly its 2020…

MDU Resources Group Inc.’s utility operations, spread across eight states, as well as a pipeline business serving the the Rockies and Bakken Shale, reported increased profits during the second quarter from a year ago, beating back Covid-19’s negative impacts by using geographic diversity and a mid-size market focus. CEO David Goodin said the Bismarck, ND-based…

After curtailing production in the second quarter amid the extraordinary disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Continental Resources Inc. (CLR) expects to boost cash flow at $40/bbl West Texas Intermediate (WTI) pricing as it looks to ramp up output through the end of the year, management said. The Oklahoma City-based independent in its 2Q2020 earnings…

Crestwood Equity Partners LP is taking a three-pronged approach to ensuring its Bakken Shale customers are able to move their crude oil volumes to market in the event that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) shuts down, either temporarily or permanently. On the second quarter earnings call held Tuesday, CEO Bob Phillips said the commercial and…

It’s now a waiting game for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) after both sides in the oil pipeline’s ongoing legal battle have had their say regarding the motion to stay a lower court’s order to temporarily shut and empty the system. In a filing Thursday (July 23) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…

The double whammy of Covid-19 and an oil market downturn resulted in stinging declines on the Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) pipeline network, but the midstream giant reported a fair share of green shoots during a second quarter earnings call. Houston-based KMI on Wednesday reported higher natural gas transport volumes year/year and said nearly all of…

Federal regulators have concluded that rules for transporting oil preempt a state of Washington rule for screening interstate crude-by-rail shipments from North Dakota and Montana. The Department of Transportation’s U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said the applicable federal law preempts Washington’s vapor pressure limit for oil loaded or unloaded from rail tank…

The number of oil and natural gas wells likely to be drilled around the world this year is forecast to hit its lowest level since at least the early 2000s, with North America the most impacted from slumping demand in the age of Covid-19. An analysis by Rystad Energy issued on Tuesday pegged the number…