Minnesota Supreme Court Won't Take Up Pipeline Challenge -- September 18, 2019

Impossible to keep up. Will do the best I can.

Mexico-Sempra: smajor Mexico gas pipeline at cent of dispute begins operations. Sempra flirts with all-time highs.

Oil prices continue to fall: "Saudi quickly restores output, API reports rising stockpiles." Data points:

• "Alfalfa" says Saudi will be back to normal by end of September
• will produce an average of almost 10 million bopd by end of September
• which, by the say, is well down from the 12 million bopd they once said they could product
• but then, "Alfalfa" said production would be at full capacity of 12 million bopd -- sounds like they will flood the market with crude oil to regain market share
• meanwhile, API data even before the attack: US crude oil inventory rose by 600,000 bopd (which is "flat" or unchanged in the big scheme of things

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

Tea leaves: price of oil could plummet by end of year if:

• you believe "Alfalfa"
• hostilities end in the Mideast

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Enbridge

Apparently this took place yesterday, September 17, 2019.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by opponents regarding the environmental impact statement for Enbridge's proposed $2.9 billion pipeline - setting the stage for state utility regulators to fix the flawed document.

While the high court's decision restarts an oft-stalled process, it could still take several months before Enbridge gains the go-ahead with its controversial plan to replace the aging and corroding Line 3 across northern Minnesota.

In June, the Minnesota Court of Appeals shot down utility regulators' approval of the environmental impact statement, or EIS, for the project, putting the long-delayed project in further limbo.

More to follow. Enbridge is my favorite pipeline company (not as an investment, as an enterprise to simply follow. Long, long story.)

From Reuters; Bloomberg; and wcfcourier:

From a reader:

I find it very interesting that the normal sources for USA Indian news have not a single word on this. Were they not expecting a decision this soon, or were they not expecting this decision? 

I like to look at the actual court orders/rulings, but no luck with the Minnesota Supreme Court site. I was able to search it, and their Opinions are current, but what I wanted to see was this order declining to hear the case. That section hasn't been updated since August.

Enbridge shares: up a bit yesterday. It will be interesting to see what it does today. Enbridge has been a "doggy" stock for quite some time, but pays over 6%.

Back to the case. It's still confusing.

• some time ago Enbridge got the permit from state regulators. Opponents challenged.
• appellate court says the permit was faulty (or more accurately, some part of the EIA were faulty); apparently the appellate court implies that if the EIS is "corrected," the company can go ahead 
• the Minnesota Supreme Court supported the appellate court even though opponents wanted the permit thrown out completely, saying that the EIS was not the only issue
• I assume the state regulators will determine if the EIS is adequately corrected, but at that point opponents could take it to the appellate court again arguing that the EIS is still inadequate
• one would assume that the appellate court and the regulators would work together to make sure the new EIS is adequate
• so three years?

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Guyana

More on this later, but this looks to be as big a story as the attack on Saudi Arabia, except Guyana is playing out a big more slowly.

Will drive "peak oilers" bonkers.