Hess Midstream said during its earnings call May 4 that it expected to reduce its capital expenditures to $100 million in 2026, about one-third less than its previous guidance, reflecting Chevron’s move to longer laterals in the Bakken and the completion of a second compressor station that is now online.
In their Q4 2025 earnings call, Kinder Morgan (KMI) had a lot to say about their upcoming projects, the potential of taking an equity position in an LNG facility as well as record-breaking Haynesville gas gathering throughput.
Three-quarters of the Bakken's top-tier well sites may have already been drilled and the remaining inventory may be less than stellar, but a new AI-based analysis suggests the quality of the rock held by the shale play’s top producers varies widely.
A new analysis suggests about 75% of the Bakken’s top-quartile locations have been drilled and only 6,100 well sites would generate a good return at the prices we’ve seen the past couple of years.
Hess Midstream expects its oil volumes to plateau while natural gas volumes increase into at least 2027, a function of Chevron reducing its Bakken rig count from four to three in Q4 2025 and higher gas-to-oil (GOR) ratios in the producing wells, according to the company’s quarterly earnings call on November 3.
Kinder Morgan’s ongoing conversion of the Double H Pipeline to NGL service is only part of a larger plan by the midstream giant to move Bakken-sourced Y-grade from North Dakota to fractionation centers in Kansas and Texas. The Double H, which until recently transported crude oil, runs only to eastern Wyoming, so how will NGLs on the pipeline — renamed Hiland Express — get from there to Conway, KS; Mont Belvieu, TX; and maybe Sweeny, TX, too? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the possibilities.
In the U.S., crude oil trading hubs like Houston, Midland and Cushing get the lion’s share of the market’s attention. But travel a bit further north and you can find one of the more unusual and liquid crude markets in the country — Guernsey, WY — a focal point for producers in Western Canada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Over the last few months, Guernsey differentials have tightened significantly, finally flipping to a premium to Cushing. We have seen this phenomenon occur before, most notably seven years ago after the startup of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the recent movement in Guernsey differentials and what the future could hold for the often-overlooked sales point.
The Bakken Shale needs more natural gas takeaway capacity, North Dakota wants to encourage more in-state consumption of Bakken-sourced gas, and two entities — WBI Energy and a combo of Intensity Infrastructure Partners and Rainbow Energy Center — have each proposed similar (but not identical) cross-state pipelines that would help achieve those aims. But, assuming that two new pipelines would be overkill, which of the two proposals is the more likely to advance to a final investment decision (FID), construction and operation? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the two competitors and the state of North Dakota’s impending decision on which pipeline project to support.
Associated gas production in the Bakken Shale continues to increase and, with more NGL pipeline capacity coming online and a new option on the horizon, there’s a gunfight brewing between two of the U.S.’s largest midstreamers. At one end of a dusty Wild West street stands the sheriff in town, ONEOK, which recently completed an expansion of its Elk Creek NGL Pipeline. At the other is a renowned midstreamer from Texas, Kinder Morgan, which is staking a claim in the Rockies by converting its Double H crude oil pipeline to NGL service — renaming it Hiland Express when it does — and planning an NGL header pipeline. As we discuss in today’s RBN blog, Kinder is the first to challenge ONEOK in this space.
