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.
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.
In June of 2015, the MPSC was challenged to determine the appropriate regulatory response to applications filed pursuant to R 460.867 (Rule 17) for operation of Antrim Shale Formation (ASF) wells under vacuum on Michigan Public Service Commission Case# U-16230. RMP wrote about this story in our August 2015 MOGM. Prior to June 2015, battles had been fought over the issue of operating ASF wells on a vacuum for years. Administrative Law Judge Mark D. Eyster held a pre-hearing on June 15, 2010 to officially get the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2016”
It’s that time of year again to report production numbers in Michigan for oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for the first six months of 2016. As stated many times here, the production data lags behind real time so we have to wait until just about this time of year to get all of the data from January to June. After compiling the data for the first six months of 2016 we see a couple of Continue reading “2016 Michigan Hydrocarbon Production Results January – June”
Each month respectmyplanet.org (RMP) recaps oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin right here in our Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) magazine. RMP is a Michigan based 501(c)3 non-profit organization. If you want to know what’s going on with oil & gas development in Michigan, you should follow this publication each month by liking us on facebook or following @respectmyplanet on Twitter so you don’t miss a publication.
This is a screen shot from Bill Harrison’s paper linked in this article about the location of three of the “J-style” Antrim wells targeting the Upper Devonian Lachine, Paxton, and Norwood layers of the Antrim Shale. Delta Oil’s ACOWS targeting the same formation with multiple horizontal drainholes are closer to the county line of Montmorency & Alpena Counties. Click image to enlarge on your screen.
In September, we saw some interesting activity in the Michigan Basin that we will keep our eyes on as it unfolds. Delta Oil out of Oak Brook, Illinois filed numerous ACOWS to drill multiple horizontals off of their State Avery D1-32 well (PN45601) & off of their State Albert A4-1 well (PN53617). The ACOWS calls for a horizontal drainhole (HD) targeting the Upper Devonian Lachine formation. The other ACOWS calls for an HD targeting the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – September 2016”
In this month’s cover photo a buzzard flies past the flare stack at the Wessel et Al 2-6A oil well in Hillsdale, Michigan (PN#58992). Buzzards seem to love to congregate around oil wells as they await their next meal’s demise. A buzzard circling a Michigan oil well is a fitting analogy for the June 2016 edition of RMP’s MOGM as we have seen few vital signs in Michigan’s oil economy so far this year. RMP wrote throughout the year in 2015 how it turned out to be the slowest year in Michigan’s history for oil & gas well permitting. RMP also wrote in 2014 that the forecast of activity in the coming years for oil production in Michigan was bleak; and that’s when prices were over $100/bbl. As it turns out, the numbers continue to Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – June 2016”
The big news in oil & gas this month was the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of Houston, Texas based Linn Energy and Los Angeles, California based Breitburn Energy Partners. Linn energy was the 3rd largest hydrocarbon producer in Michigan in 2015 bringing in approximately $45.1 million worth of Michigan petroleum revenue. Breitburn was Michigan’s 5th biggest producer in 2015 bringing in approximately $44.0 million. Now, the questions will come about how the Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructurings will impact these companies along with their Michigan assets. RMP published a summary of the 2015 top 25 producers in the Michigan Basin last month, you can read it here. Less than a month after publishing the top 25 producers, we learn that two of Michigan’s top five producers are bankrupt.
North American oil & gas bankruptcies filed in May of 2016. There have been 35 oil & gas companies filing for bankruptcy protection so far in 2016. Linn Energy is the largest by debt at $8.3 billion to file this year. Linn Energy was the 3rd largest operator by revenue in Michigan in 2015 selling about $45.1 million of mostly dry Michigan natural gas from Michigan’s Antrim Formation. (photo source: Haynes & Boone)
Each month, RMP publishes a detailed recap of oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin. This edition marks our 14th since our inaugural monthly edition was published in January of 2015. It’s time to follow up on a couple things we reported in 2015. One of the hot topics in our hometown Detroit newspapers and on our Detroit radio stations is the application for the Word of Faith 16-27 well targeting Michigan’s Silurian age Niagaran Reef. Jordan Development out of Traverse City, Michigan filed the application in October of 2015.
This is an example of the bolierplate used by many of the people who submitted a comment in favor of the Word of Faith 16-27 well being permitted for drilling. Click to enlarge.
What makes the Word of Faith 16-27 oil well different than many other potential Michigan wells is that it’s within the city limits of Southfield, which has a population of nearly 75,000 people. Often times when an application is received for a well in a heavily populated Metro Detroit city, the MDEQ’s OOGM will extend the application review process to hear comments from the public. The MDEQ has sole legal authority to permit any Michigan oil well regardless of symbolic gestures like a moratorium enacted by the Southfield City Council in effect until April 28, 2016. Only a court ordered injunction via lawsuit can Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – February 2016”
Michigan has issued 104 permits so far this year through November 20, 2015 and continues its streak of the slowest 6 years in a row ever for oil & gas activity. 14 of the permits issued thus far in 2015 are for pilot & horizontal combinations and should really only count as one. The numbers through 2015 continue to support RMP’s forecasts and analysis of Michigan oil & gas activity. With only 104 permits issued in November, it’s still very likely 2015 will be the slowest year in Michigan oil & gas history. 1931 currently holds the record as the slowest year for permitting in Michigan history at 111 permits issued.
According to the US Census Bureau, petroleum as a percentage of the US trade deficit is still at 13.7% even with major production increases in oil production due to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
Michigan produces less than 5% of the refined oil products purchased by Michigan consumers. Michigan is ranked 19th in crude oil production in the United States out of 31 producing states. Collective US production of oil from all 31 producing states supplies about only half of the crude products US consumers purchase. The US only holds 2.2% of world crude oil reserves. Recent increases in US production of crude because of technological advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are certainly remarkable and have made a large dent in imported petroleum, but we still only produce about half of the crude oil processed in US refineries. Oil as an energy source is simply not sustainable even at the currently boosted levels of production. The USA will perpetually remain in a Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – November 2015”
The featured image above (Photo Credit: Neo), is of the flare stack at the Milford Sand & Gravel 1-32 well. West Bay Exploration filed a petition with the Assistant Supervisor of Wells for an exception to Michigan No Flare Order Provisions of Special Order No. 3-71 to flare up to 100,000 scf of natural gas a day from the flare stack shown in the featured image of our October MOGM. Harold Fitch, the Assistant Supervisor of Wells, signed the Notice of Hearing for this petition on October 9, 2015. The gas flared at the Sand & Gravel pit comes from two other wells also: the Kensington Metroparks 1-31 and the Kensington Metroparks 2-32. The flowlines from the Kensington Metropark wells flow across Kent Lake over to the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2015”
