Week 11: March 14, 2021 -- March 20, 2021

Top story of the week:

• Joe Biden is still president; although he does refer to his VP as the "president of the United States"
• EOG ends new drilling / fracking in the Bakken
  

Most under-reported story of the week:

• Southern border crisis;
• Something fishy going on with Brent?

Anticipation:

• Saudi Aramco reports full year results on Sunday, March 21, 2021;
  

Bakken graphic of the day:

• An eleven-pad well;

Top international non-energy story:

• Tokyo Invitational: will ban foreign spectators from summer Olympics;

Top international energy story:

• Something fishy going on with Brent?; and, here;
  
• WTI/Brent: worse week since the recovery began; here; here; here;
• US overtakes Saudi Arabia as India's second highest crude oil importer in February, 2021;

Top national non-energy story:

• Record snowfall in Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wyoming, Texas;
• Federal tax filing deadline for tax year 2020 delayed for one month; two months for Texas;
• US retail sales surged in January, 2021;

Top national energy story:

• Biden flip-flops -- allows leasing on federal land; apologists: 60-day moratorium ends;
• Gasoline demand data diverging;
• Those $7,000 Texas utility bills "wiped out";
• Price of gasoline spiking;

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

Top North Dakota energy story:

• Nine Point Energy files for bankruptcy;

Geoff Simon's Top ND Energy stories:

• mostly legislative stories
  
• Quick links;

Operators:

• EOG ends drilling / fracking operations in the Bakken;

Operations:

• Monthly dashboards posted;

Wells:

• Jump in production, an Ovintiv Bernice well;
• A Zavanna George well in Stockyard Creek goes over 500K bbls crude oil;
• 17144: nice jump in production;
• A RimRock Moccasin Creek well goes over 500K bbls crude oil;
• Nice jump in production: a Zavanna Panther well;

DUCs:

• Ovintiv reports seven nice DUCs completed;
• Basins updated;

Fracking:

• Jump in frack spread;
  

Pipeline:

• Flashback: is the Bakken at risk for a pipeline overbuild?

NG:

• Two-month low as summer supply outlook turns bearish;
• US LNG feedgas demand sets another record;
• despite 100-year Texas freeze, natural gas barely drops below 5-year average before recovering;
• less than two weeks of fossil fuel loss, and huge plastics shortage; are you kidding me?
  

Bakken economy:

• Fourth consecutive month of increasing Legacy Fund deposits;

Miscellaneous:

• Oh, lordy, this house of cards is starting to fall;

Commentary:

• Indian oil consumption to double by 2030;
• Why explorers are not targeting more natural gas on the way to hydrogen;
• This is what the Bakken is all about;
• Gasoline demand data not encouraging;
• Another Bakken meme: daughter wells don't produce as much as parent wells;
• US braces for expensive gasoline this summer;
• 2021 economy looking good; and, here;
• Gasoline demand surging;
• Privately-held shale drillers could create havoc for OPEC;

Sunday night quickies:

• Drew Brees retirees ... Griddy heading for bankruptcy ... AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, a big mess ...
• More crude oil was produced in Texas than any other state or region in 2020, accounting for 43% of the national total;
• Crestwood's Bakken system looking good; China making no shift from coal in five-year plan;
• Chevron aspires to pump one million bopd from the Permian;