The Closer, T+25 -- February 25, 2017

College hockey: Williston Tetons seeded #1 in ACHA Division II West region, heading to national tournament.

Rigs: Chesapeake will increase 2017 CAPEX budget to raise rig count from 10 to 17. Saudi Arabia take note.

Operations: I continue to find it amazing how much production can jump by simply taking a Bakken well off-line for a few months. See #18219, BR, Everlades at this post: went from 3,000 bbls/month to 16,000 bbls/month by just taking the well off-line for about six (6) months. Even when this well was initially fracked, it never went over 13,777 bbls/month. Truly amazing. They need to take all Bakken wells off-line for a few months every so often.

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Generation Z

Rigzone has an article talking about "Generation Z."

I had forgotten the "definition" of "Generation Z" but vaguely recalled blogging about it:

Definitions:

• iGen, generation Z, centennials: 1998 -- 
• younger millennials (part of generation Y, children of baby boomers): 1992 - 1997
• older millennials (part of generation Y, children of baby boomers): 1983 - 1991
• generation X: 1965 - 1982 (no precise dates, late baby boomers)
• baby boomers: 1946 - 1964  

Definitions (from this site)

• iGen, generation Z, centennials: 1996 --
• millennials or generation Y: 1977 - 1995 (18-year span)
• generation X: 1965 - 1976 (11-year span)
• baby boomers: 1946 - 1964 (18-year span)
• traditionalists or silent generation: born 1945 and before 

In the linked Rigzone article, Generation Z was defined as born in 1998 or later. The challenge:

“This is the generation who grew up with an iPhone in their crib … who never knew the world without the Internet,” said Newhouse. “How are we going to ask these kids to go work for 28 days in a remote oilfield and not be connected for 24 hours a day? That’s a real challenge.”

The value proposition for this group of workers has to include technology, flexible working options and green energy, Newhouse said.

And the approach may need to change, too.

“My 13-year-old and my 11-year-old are both being recruited now by professional gaming groups, but my kids have never once seen a Shell or BP commercial on TV because they don’t watch TV. They watch YouTube,” said Murphy. “We have to change our strategy a little bit if we want to attract these young men and women into our industry.”

Comment: things are moving way too quickly.  We have three granddaughters, born in 2014, 2006, and 2003. The two that were born in 2003 and 2006 are very similar and meet the criteria of the iGen as noted above, but there is no question that the third granddaughter, born in 2014, is clearly already in the next generation, for now, I guess, it would be called the "post-iGen generation." All three granddaughters may have been born with an iPhone in their crib, but clearly the iPhone our 3-year-old uses is a "whole-different animal" than the iPhones the older granddaughters grew up with. For one thing, the older granddaughters did not have Siri telling them "goodnight."

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A Valentine's Card From The DAPL Protesters

Native American Respect For Their Sacred Land At Standing Rock

Published today, Valentine's Day, February 14, 2017
For more, see this post.

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The Market

Futures mean squat. The Dow has had an incredible run over the past few days. By all measures, one would have thought the market would have been down today, but it was up again. So, what are futures doing now? Up slightly, about 7 points (Dow Jones Industrials).

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

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Politics

After a day like today -- the "Flynn episode" -- this helps calm my nerves --

Wheels, The String-A-Longs

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Maine and Solar Energy

Net Metering

Talk about a lot of hot air.

First this headline: Governor seeking new utility regulator, slams solar rules.

Then this story: Maine PUC issues final ruling on net-metering compromise.

Based on the "intensity" of the argument, one would assume solar energy accounts for a lot of energy in Maine. Yup:  1%:

Yesterday’s ruling brings to an end a year-long conversation about how to modify net metering rules in Maine.

In January 2016, Central Maine Power Co. informed the commission that solar generation made up approximately 1.04% of its annual peak demand.

When I see "0.04%" tacked on to 1%, it tells me that someone is trying to obfuscate the issue. Give me a break: 1.04%.

"Approximately 1.04%." Wow, how much more exact can one get? 1.0358574%?

[Reminds me of " 99 ⁴⁴⁄₁₀₀% Pure" -- the slogan for Ivory soap.]

Worse, after 20 years of doing this (advocating, protesting, tax breaks, tax credits, hoaxes, etc), the state of Maine has finally broken through the 1% threshold.

To infinity and beyond.