Color Me Embarrassed -- Two "Big" Stories I Missed This Past Week -- December 15, 2019

First things first: the Weber Vortex.

First story I somehow missed this past week: Harold Hamm steps down as CLR CEO; Washington Post. I somehow missed it. Geoff Simon probably mentioned it but I had not read his note for the week.

Harold Hamm is stepping down as chief executive of Continental Resources Inc. to serve as executive chairman, company officials said.

Beginning Jan. 1, Continental board member William Berry will take over as CEO for the Oklahoma City-headquartered company. Jack Stark, Continental Resources’ president, will also serve as its chief operating officer.

Hamm, the highest-paid CEO in Oklahoma in 2018, will remain active as chairman, founder and majority shareholder with about 77% of the company’s stock.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Hamm, who pioneered the use of fracking that was used to tap a massive domestic oil play in the Bakken formation in North Dakota. “I’m an oil finder and geologist at heart.

Berry has more than four decades of oil and gas experience. As an executive at ConocoPhillips, Berry oversaw its global operations, managing more than 10,000 employees and more than $12 billion in capital outlays.

Second story that I don't recall posting. Maybe I did but don't recall. Company statement:

Enbridge has paid dividends for over 64 years to its shareholders. In December 2018, we announced a 10% increase to our dividend per share, increasing the quarterly dividend to $0.738. This translates into $2.952 dividend per share on an annualized basis for 2019. Payable on March 1, 2019, to shareholders of record on February 14, 2020.

New story: popularity of bourbon booming -- WSJ. I'll come back to this later, perhaps.

New story: how Enbridge plans to grow in era of pipeline opposition -- Financial Times. Three low-risk projects:

• joint venture with EPD to build a deep-water port near Houston; the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT)
• joint venture with EPD to expand the Seaway Pipeline by 200,000 bbls per day
• will build a new 15-million-bbls crude oil storage terminal near SPOT