RMP is 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in Michigan. We are committed to protecting fresh water resources by advocating for: sustainable energy production, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, remediating environmental pollution & rethinking waste management.
The MDEQ publishes full year numbers for hydrocarbon production about 4 to 5 months lagging behind calendar date. That means these 2016 full year numbers are a little late, but better late than never. The good news is 2017 results will be ready in May of this year so full year results for 2017 will be just around the corner.
Cars that burn gasoline and trucks that burn diesel go together with oil pipelines like a bow goes together with an arrow; without one the other is unnecessary or useless. How can you get rid of the oil if you don’t do anything about the very thing that gives oil its demand? This is an economics website and the dependency of oil and internal combustion engines is economics 101. I’m compelled to write about this issue again and again to call out my fellow environmentalists as absurd to protest oil pipelines without investing at least an equal amount of their time in supporting hydrogen fuel cell vehicles & the fueling infrastructure to support them. You cannot get rid of oil pipelines without getting rid of internal combustion engines.
The lead story in RMP’s December 2016 Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly is the MDEQ’s Office of Oil, Gas & Minerals (OOGM) funding woes. But first, it should be noted that the MDEQ announced plugging instructions for the Word of Faith 16-27 on December 19, 2016 which means the well does not look like it’s going to become a long term producer. RMP predicted last month the possible potential of the well producing oil for years to come but this latest bit of news dashes that prediction for the well to be an oil producer. RMP will file a Freedom of Information Act request for the initial production report to get the numbers as soon as they’re available. The public must wait 90 days subsequent to the completion of testing before requesting information. Now on to RMP’s lead story for December 2016…
RMP follows Michigan’s budget & legislative process very closely to understand where your tax dollars are going and why. RMP’s research philosophy is the same with energy as it is with everything else: follow the money.
The OOGM’s funding has taken a big hit in the past two years with the decline of oil & gas prices. The OOGM’s funding is a function of oil & gas sold to market in Michigan. We have seen entire countries whose funding is singularly tied to oil & gas production take massive Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – December 2016”
Jordan Development’s Word Of Faith 16-27 Niagaran oil well has been completed and is flow testing as of today November 8, 2016. By the size of that flare, it looks like this well will be a long term producer. The well was completed in October of 2016 which means the well completion report can be FOIA requested in January of 2017. RMP will get the initial production report and well completion reports as soon as they’re available to get the numbers, but I can tell you this much… based on that flare, this well is going to be a long term producer.
Check out the video below and let me know what you think? RMP feels pretty safe making the prediction this well will produce for the next 30 years and Keith Butler is going to make some $$$. Check back to RMP on November 30, 2016 when RMP publishes our Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly magazine. On November 30, 2016 RMP will have a report on what Southfield residents can expect to see happen over the next year and next 30 years with a Niagaran oil well in such a heavily populated area. RMP will post more pictures & videos of the Word of Faith 16-27 well on November 30, 2016 along with pictures of well pad equipment that you’re likely to see arriving in Southfield over the next couple of months if RMP speculation is correct.
2015 Michigan petroleum production numbers are approximately 98% reported as of today. RMP has always focused on the numbers as they are often greater than adjectives. Opinions are overrated. People want to hear the numbers and then decide for themselves. This is RMP’s fifth year studying, parsing, organizing, compiling, and reporting numbers related to Michigan petroleum production. The information RMP publishes will always be free access to the public. RMP has always followed three fundamental tenets as a research and reporting philosophy:
It’s all about the rock. Always respect the geology.
Follow the money. Money talks.
Follow the wastewater. Waste means inefficiency and problems. Inefficiency and problems mean additional costs. With regard to costs, see point #2.
The big story this month is the location of the Ensign #161 drilling rig. The lat/lon of Ensign #161 on the date of this post’s publication is 40.4293, -104.604 which is not a Michigan lat/lon. You can see a map of Ensign #161 along with 10 other active Ensign rigs in the same area of Colorado by clicking on this link (depending on when you read this, the location may have changed). With Ensign #161’s location in Greeley, Colorado, which is just north of Denver and just SE of Fort Collins, you might wonder: why is Ensign #161’s Colorado location the big story in Michigan in January of 2016?
This post is a retraction of a post published by RMP last Sunday January 17, 2016. RMP mistakenly posted a story about a gasoline spill at Holland West Middle School in Holland, Michigan. There was no gasoline spill by Wolverine Pipeline at West Middle School. The pictures RMP obtained of Terra Contracting Services remediating a petroleum sheen on surface waters on 12/31/2015 were not related to the excavation activity being performed by Wolverine Pipeline at West Middle School. Half of the photos RMP published were of West Middle School and half the pictures RMP posted were a different undetermined location. RMP mistakenly connected the two sets of photos as at the same location. Tom Shields from Wolverine Pipeline let RMP know the information that we published was erroneous and it was taken down immediately. RMP regrets any false sense of alarm caused by the publication and wanted to immediately issue this retraction.
The Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline runs from Superior Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario. Line 5 is a 30 inch diameter crude oil pipeline that is split into two 20 inch diameter pipelines at the North Straits Pump Station near St. Ignace. The two 20 inch diameter pipelines proceed under the Straits of Mackinac about 1,000 feet apart reaching depths of 200 feet before reemerging in the lower peninsula. The pipeline was commissioned in 1953 and has been in service for over 62 years. As of December 2013, Enbridge increased the capacity of Line 5 to pump 540,000 barrels of crude oil per day. This is 50,000 barrels of oil more per day than its previous capacity of 490,000 barrels of oil per day. RMP has created an interactive “Line 5” Google Map that is embedded at the very bottom of this post if you want to skip right to the map or click here.
The North Straits Pump Station is located about 100 yards from the Straits of Mackinac on the northern shore of Lake Michigan at Point La Barbe in the upper peninsula. The North Straits Pump Station is the last landmark of Line 5 before it dives into the Great Lakes freshwater system. Click any picture in this post to enlarge it and open a photogallery.
Enbridge Line 5 has recently been receiving more attention than it has in the past because the aging pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac present a major regional economic risk and an environmental risk to the Great Lakes freshwater system. Line 5 puts the Great Lakes freshwater system at risk of a cleanup that could potentially surpass the one billion dollar mark. Economic losses could also occur in Continue reading “Enbridge Line 5 Crude Oil Leak – North Straits Pump Station Near Lake Michigan Shoreline”
