Saturday, June 26, 2021

Week 25: June 20, 2021 -- June 26, 2021

Top story of the week:

  • Joe Biden is still president.
  • Kamala makes a stop-over along the border on way to fund-raiser in California.

Top international non-energy story:

Top international energy story:

Top national non-energy story:

Top national energy story:

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

Top North Dakota energy story:

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:

  • Update on Williams County TENORM.
  • Harold Hamm: Biden's policies could push oil toward $100/bbl.
  • DAPL suit dismissed; Judge Boasberg says tribe can file new suit over EIS
  • Land commissioner Jodi Smith re-appointed for four more years; has received some criticism from oil and gas industry for her handling of unpaid royalties
  • Hearing set for DGC CO2 pipeline; six geologic sequestration wells planned;
  • Bowman to re-hear wind farm hearing for 208 MW facility: 74 turbines; 42,144 acres; a few miles west of Bowman; $420 million;

Operators:

Operations:

Fracking:

Pipelines:

Bakken economy:

Commentary:

Notes From All Over -- Saturday Edition -- June 26, 2021

Tesla recall: locally-made Teslas recalled in China. Link to The WSJ. The recall is not the story. The story is that it is due to Tesla's "forte": the cruise-control system which could be accidentally activated. 

Nike: stock soars to record as US sales boom. Link: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/nike-stock-price-soars-to-record-us-sales-boom.

California autos, link here:

  • road use gradually moving toward pre-pandemic levels since the state lifted its Covid restrictions on June 11, 2021
  • well, that's a surprise. LOL.

Refiners, exemptions from renewable fuel obligations ruled "okay" by US Supreme Court; link here.

The Gartman note: Dennis Gartman turns bullish as the S&P hits the highest level in history. Link here

Say what? Americans are going back to work faster in states where benefits are being cut. Link here

Say what? New York and other northeast states see large drop in unemployment. Link here.

Closing The Loop On An Old Story -- June 26, 2021

I thought this was an "old" story. It was posted over at Yahoo!Finance more than a month ago, May 19, 2021: 7-Eleven, Inc., announces agreements to sell 293 Speedway and 7-Eleven stores.

But then, yesterday, June 25, 2021, over at Fox Business (https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/ftc-orders-7-eleven-marathon-to-divest-over-200-retail-fuel-outlets): FTC orders 7-Eleven, Marathon to divest over 200 fuel outlets. 

The stories post the same data.

Hydrogen -- North Dakota -- June 26, 2021

Updates

April 11, 2022: Rigzone update; Biden's $8 billion race. Inexplicably did not mention North Dakota.

March 3, 2022: new hydrogen plan announced for south Texas

Original Post

Blue hydrogen:

That was all previously posted. Now this from a reader, Globenewswire, June 2, 2021, news release, again this is from June 2, 2021, several weeks ago:

Bismarck, N.D. and Lake Mary, Fla., June 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bakken Energy, LLC, formerly Bakken Midstream Natural Gas, LLC, (Bakken Energy) and Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. (Mitsubishi Power) have signed a strategic partnership agreement to create a world-class clean hydrogen hub in North Dakota. This hub will be composed of facilities that produce, store, transport and consume clean hydrogen. It will be connected by pipeline to other clean hydrogen hubs being developed throughout North America.

Developing infrastructure for hydrogen enables decarbonization of sectors such as energy, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing that are targeting net zero carbon emissions. Hydrogen is a carbon-free energy carrier and a carbon-free fuel. The most common forms of clean hydrogen are green and blue. Green hydrogen is created from water using renewable energy and electrolysis. Blue hydrogen is derived from natural gas with the carbon dioxide emissions captured and sequestered. The hub in North Dakota will focus on blue hydrogen production.

The Bakken Energy partnership to create a clean hydrogen hub joins Mitsubishi Power’s portfolio of innovative partnerships and cross-sector teams accelerating hydrogen technology realization. Mitsubishi Power has been developing a hydrogen hub with Magnum Development in Utah to support the western U.S., and in May signed an agreement to develop hydrogen storage solutions with Texas Brine across the eastern U.S. The company also has numerous hydrogen projects and collaborations across North America.

Bakken Energy, supported by Mitsubishi Power, is currently working with Basin Electric Power Cooperative and its subsidiary Dakota Gasification Company on the potential acquisition and redevelopment of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant located near Beulah, North Dakota. The redevelopment would make the facility the largest producer of clean hydrogen in North America. The project is in due diligence, and specific details are confidential until that phase is complete.

Renewable Energy -- Is The Fad Over In Germany? June 26, 2021

Updates

Later, from another reader who follows this very, very closely

It is not only Europe, but worldwide, as well. 
The massive Sergipe CCGT plant in Brazil will be dwarfed by the GNA operation outside of Rio when it becomes operational. 
Vietnam is in the process of building new CCGT capacity comparable to what New England consumes - in total - on a daily basis. 
Both the Amazon basin and southern Brazil are on track for new plants.

Just as your reader noted that Germany's CCGT  buildout will happen due to new Nordstream supplies, the above mentioned projects will derive their natgas fuel in the form of LNG. 
Indeed, the eye glazing speed in the advances of LNG innovations is one of the unheralded stories of recent years.

From tiny southern Baha, to far flung islands in the Philippines archipelago, to the mountainous hinterlands of Argentina, to remote Fairbanks, the widespread adoption of natgas continues to grow with relentless drive. 
Ten years out, people will be astonished to have recognized just how profound a shift will have taken place.

Original Post

From Zeit online, "Clean Energy Wire":

In its last session before the summer recess, the German parliament passed a bill that amends the federal Climate Action Law. The new law brings forward the deadline for achieving climate neutrality by five years to 2045 and tightens the interim target for greenhouse gas emission reduction from 55 to 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. For 2040, a new interim target of 88 percent reduction applies. ....yakety, yake, blah blah.....

From the reader who sent the above note:

As for renewable energy, the government has not been able to agree on higher expansion targets for the next years.

Note: without saying it, they will reduce greenhouse gases with CCGT's from the new Nord Stream II gas line from Russia, not wind.

They installed more wind in 2017, then 2018, 19, 20, 21 combined. Rural Germany hates wind. Protesting in the streets and the courts.

More from the reader:

Renewables account for about 70% of the total 37.9 gigawatts (GW) of new generating capacity under construction in 2021.

CF wind 35%, solar 25%, say 30%, 38 GW *0.70 market share =26.6 gw*0.30= RE 8 GW net conventional 85%CF 38*0.3=11.4GW*0.85 CF= 9.8 GW net This is about the same as the rest of the world, little more CCGT than RE.

Don't make the MSM mistake!

My recent note regarding Germany didn't include any numbers for RE in their new energy bill? For two years I've been saying Germany will be going long on CCGT and short on RE beginning in 2023. They're taking down their 20 year old small units faster than they're replacing with new larger ones. They won't admit it, but RE in Germany has peaked.

In the meantime Germany built so much wind and solar that they over saturated their neighbors grids, with RE so there isn't room for anymore. Now Germany can buy natural gas from Russia via Nord Stream II and sell it to their neighbors who essentially haven't done anything about adding grid capacity for decades (Spain dabbled a little).
CCGT is the EU future not RE.

Crumbl For Breakfast -- Saturday, June 26, 2021

Crumbl. Link here. The story is not that Crumbl cookies cost $3.48 apiece in Midland, they cost that much everywhere. The story is that Crumbl has made it to Midland.

Sanctions being lifted on everyone but Canada, link here:
in a joint statement, EU, US and Canada open the door to lift sanctions on Venezuela:
sanctions already lifted on Russia / NordStream 2
sanctions lifted on Iran?

ERCOT: grid holds; meets record June demand. Link here to Charles Kennedy. But, of course, it begs the question? What about August?

US LNG exports: surging. Link to Tsvetana Paraskova. And the world hasn't even begun to open up. Globally, less than 5% have been vaccinated. In the US, less than 60% and vaccination program has hit a wall. 

Infrastructure bill. this post from yesterday. And, here it is from Tsvetana Paraskova: $6 billion from the SPR to help pay for the one-trillion-dollar infrastructure program. They must be using critical monetary theory inspired by Brian Williams and the NY Times editorial staff. The numbers are truly insane on so many levels.

Still my favorite video, "really bad math." I think this is priceless. [This will be removed by YouTube.]