IP30

There’s a lot to like about the Uinta Basin’s waxy crude, but ramping up its production and use in refinery feedstock slates will require multimillion-dollar investments in rail terminals, special rail cars, heated storage, refinery equipment and other midstream and downstream infrastructure. A natural concern for E&Ps, midstreamers, and refiners is whether the basin has sufficient long-term staying power to justify the upfront costs and commitments. As we discuss in today’s RBN blog, a machine-learning-based analysis can provide many of the answers by assessing the basin’s long-term outlook under various scenarios. 

In just a few years, the Uinta Basin has morphed from a quirky, waxy-crude curiosity to a burgeoning shale play with production north of 170 Mb/d and initial production (IP) rates that compare favorably with the best wells in the Permian. Still, there are a host of logistical challenges associated with transporting waxy crude out of the basin and questions have remained about the Uinta’s potential for growth and its staying power. In today’s RBN blog, we begin an in-depth look at the basin — with an assist from our friends at Novi Labs, whose innovative use of AI and machine learning provides valuable insights.