Director's Cut -- April, 2021, Data -- Richard Branson In Space -- Notes From Everywhere -- Including The Bakken -- July 11, 2021

Success: Richard Branson in space.

• Sir Richard Branson, after nearly 17 years of Virgin Galactic development, achieved his dream and reached space on Sunday.
• The company’s spacecraft VSS Unity launched above the skies of New Mexico on Sunday, with two pilots guiding the vehicle carrying the billionaire founder and three Virgin Galactic employees.
• Branson is the first of the billionaire space company founders to ride his own spacecraft.
• Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci flew Unity. Alongside Branson in the spacecraft’s cabin was chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett, and VP of government affairs Sirisha Bandla. Both Mackay and Masucci have previously flown to space, as well as Moses and pilots C.J. Sturckow and Mark Stucky.
• • The U.S. officially considers pilots who have flown above 80 kilometers (or about 262,000 feet) to be astronauts.
  • VSS Unity is designed to hold up to six passengers along with the two pilots. The company has about 600 reservations for tickets on future flights, sold at prices between $200,000 and $250,000 each.

Was there any ever any doubt: Biden's plans to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy are losing momentum. The argument that is carrying the day: why ruin a good thing? LOL. 

California: this is a long story -- short but sweet -- go to the links to sort it out --

• California recently enacted new regulations forcing berthing ships to switch to shore-based electric power;
• berthing ships must shut off diesel engines while in port; purpose: eliminate "emissions"
• no sooner did the regulations go into effect (conflicting dates here) when Governor Newsom had to suspend them temporarily
• California needs all the electricity it can get this summer
• now, huge Oregon wildfire threatens three separate transmission lines into California; link here;
  
• think about that: the supply/demand picture for California electricity is so close, regulations affecting berthing ships can impact entire grid
  
• links here:
• the regulation, August 27, 2020;
• FAQs, the regulation, undated;
• op-ed, undated?
• the story:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Saturday to free up additional energy capacity for the power grid during the heat wave and growing fire threat. The order allows ships berthed at California ports to use auxiliary engines rather than shore power to relieve pressure on the electricity system.

California: Shell to bow out of California joint venture with Exxon.  

Shell is reportedly planning to quit its California-based joint venture with fellow oil supermajor ExxonMobil as it looks to accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels. 

Four sources told Reuters that the FTSE blue chip had informed Exxon that it intended to exit subsidiary Aera Energy, in which it holds a 52 percent stake. The firm did not respond to a request for comment. 

 If it does so, it will be the latest in a number of divestments the Anglo-Dutch giant has made this year amid growing pressure to up its climate commitments. Shell has already sold refineries in Washington State and Houston, and is also mulling getting rid of its assets on shale shelf the Permian Basin.

[Aera was mentioned at the blog once before, April 25, 2021.]

Director's Cut, April 2021:

• I keep hearing that Bakken production is falling;
• had to review April's data (had forgotten it);
• turns out I had posted the Director's Cut but never posted the usual data;
• a combination of ennui, exhaustion, nothing remarkable in the report;
• so, here's the April, 2021, data: production increased month-over-month
• link here (pdf);

Director's Cut, May 2021:

• the NDIC recently postponed the date for the May, 2021, Director's Cut release;
• now scheduled for July 20, 2021;
• normally released by the 15th of each, this is the latest, I believe, that the Director's Cut has ever been released
• I can think of any number of reasons why the report is delayed
• link here (pdf).

Iraq: will stumble through 2021, but $70-oil is not enough to stabilize Iraq for the long term;
link to one of the best, Charles Kennedy;

• in addition, western companies moving out -- being politically correct, it appears;
• allows Russia, China, Iran to move in
• wonder if this is part of the current administration's long-term plan? LOL.

WTI: when we last checked, WTI was up 2.22%, up $1.62; and trading at $74.56.

The Saudi model: maybe Joe Biden could take a page from Saudi Arabia -- cap gasoline prices at the pump. 

Investing: a contrarian approach. Link to Alex Kimani. Nothing necessarily new but does provide a pretty nice wrap-up of current events regarding US shale, hedging, and the OPEC+ "spat."

Diamondbacks at Dodgers: slugfest; final two-run homer broke unwritten rule in baseball. Is nothing sacred any more? 

Haters will hate: and there's a lot of hate for California. Over at ZeroHedge but I believe the source is Instragram, for what that's worth. But probably more credible than The New York Times. Just saying. Be sure to read the comments. Of the fifty states, there's only one state that hates itself more than any other state. Other data points to note:

• North Dakota folks hate South Dakota
• South Dakota: the feeling is mutual
• practically the entire west hates California
• Texas hates Oklahoma (must be football, and the casinos)
• most of New England hates Massachusetts
• guess who New Jersey hates

Domino chain: the perfect chain doesn't exist. Link here.

Well said, but there are many, many more examples. Link here. Note who posted this.

Don't make a threat you "can't" keep. Apple threatens to "leave" Great Britain if court rules that Apple needs to pay taxes/fees on technology it uses. 

Green energy: the US south shipping wood chips to Europe. What a deal. What is surprising about the story? It's being reported by CNN.