St James

Data from our friends at Genscape indicates that an average 150 Mb/d of Bakken crude is being unloaded at the Plains All American and NuStar Energy partners rail terminals at St. James, LA. That is down from 250 Mb/d just two years ago (April 2013) but still represents a substantial target for pipeline developers to aim for. The first significant project to offer pipeline service from North Dakota to St. James is being developed by Energy Transfer and Phillips 66. Today we review the project details.

Two weeks ago (August 21, 2014) Plains All American announced their proposed “Diamond” crude pipeline project from Cushing, OK to Memphis, TN that will feed the Valero Memphis refinery starting in late 2016. The new pipeline will provide more direct access from Cushing to supplies of the light sweet crude this refinery processes that are being produced these days in the Williston, Denver Julesburg, Permian and Anadarko basins. Presumably the Diamond pipeline will replace existing arrangements where crude is shipped up the Capline pipeline to Memphis. That development looks to be another nail in the coffin for the northbound Capline crude trunk route between St James and Patoka, IL. Today we discuss the proposal and its consequences for Capline.

The latest North Dakota Pipeline Authority (NDPA) data for April 2014 shows crude production in that State finally crossing the 1 MMb/d mark. That threshold was finally crossed after producers recovered from a harsh winter that shut in production and constrained new drilling. But while production continues to grow and is expected to reach 1.7 MMb/d by the end of 2019, producer crude takeaway preferences appear to be changing. NDPA data shows an 8 percent reduction in rail shipments out of North Dakota since November 2013. Today we investigate the shift away from rail transportation.

The potential for the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) tight-oil play to become the next big thing in U.S. oil production is attracting exploration and production companies willing to put some money at risk in the hope of big payoffs. The TMS seems to have a lot going for it. The play in central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi is said to have seven billion barrels of oil in place deep below ground but only a stone’s throw from the pipeline networks, terminals and refineries of the Gulf Coast. But succeeding in TMS requires overcoming the play’s challenging characteristics through nuanced drilling techniques and completion formulas. Today in the second part of our series on TMS we examine what the E&P pioneers have accomplished so far in drilling and production, what they’re learning from their experience, and what it would take to turn TMS’s potential into reality.

With the crude to natural gas price ratio (crude in $/Bbl divided by gas in $/MMbtu) continuing in historically high territory many energy companies are looking for more opportunities to shift from producing cheap gas to producing premium-price oil. For that reason, one tight-oil play long in the background—the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi—is attracting new attention; particularly from drillers who think they’ve figured out how to deal with TMS’s challenging characteristics. But is TMS all its fracked up to be? Today we begin a new series on TMS with a primer on this 6.6 million-acre shale play that’s said to have seven billion barrels of oil in place deep below ground but only a stone’s throw from the pipeline networks and refineries of the Gulf Coast.

The Houston crude oil distribution system is gearing up to handle a flood of new supplies from over 1.7 MMb/d of pipeline capacity delivering into the region by the end of Q2 2014. A trading market is also developing for producers and shippers selling that crude to Gulf Coast refiners. New grades of both light and heavy crude are showing up – principally from the Eagle Ford, the Permian Basin, North Dakota and Western Canada. Will a new crude trading market develop in Houston to rival those at Cushing, OK and St. James, LA? Today we look at the evolving Houston crude market.

Two separate companies launched open seasons for complimentary pipelines last week (June 5, 2013) that would offer at least 420 Mb/d of capacity to ship heavy Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast by early 2016. Energy Transfer Partners proposes to reverse part of the Trunkline natural gas pipeline to ship crude. Enbridge propose to build a pipeline to link the Trunkline reversal directly to their Lakehead system. Today we explore the rationale behind these projects.

Data from Genscape showing rail terminal loading volumes in North Dakota and pipeline receipts into the Enbridge North Dakota pipeline suggest that shippers are switching barrels from rail back to pipeline this month (May 2013). The apparent switching follows a narrowing of crude price differentials between coastal destinations and the Midwest from $17/Bbl in April to less than $9/Bbl last week.  Today we ask whether narrowing differentials are driving a reduction in crude by rail shipments.

Houston is getting swamped with crude that isn’t being consumed by area refineries. Light sweet crude prices are being discounted by up to $6/Bbl versus St James, LA. There is no pipeline capacity to move crude from Houston to Louisiana so it can only go by barge. The reconfiguration of terminalling and storage capacity on the Texas Gulf Coast to handle rising volumes of incoming crude more smoothly is underway but far from finished. Enterprise Product Partners (EPP) announced their latest expansion plans for their ECHO terminal earlier this month. Today we review progress on the Enterprise Texas crude network.

Last week the latest set of Bakken crude production numbers showed another big increase to reach 728 Mb/d. The challenge all along for this prolific land locked basin has been one of finding a ready market for growing production.