CLR Back In The Bakken -- It Never Left -- Simply Paused Drilling -- September 24, 2026

Locator: 51813CLR.
Locator: 51813B.

WTI: has jumped to $94.38, and trending upward.  Later: $96.62. Mid-day, Thursday, September 24, 2026.

First, this flashback:

Yesterday from the daily activity report:

From a reader this morning concerning those CLR Nielsen permits: 

The Nielsen wells are significant to mineral owners in the Wildrose Field because they appear to be the first tangible step in Continental Resources’ planned redevelopment of this older Bakken acreage using new long horizontal and section-line wells. 

Continental already operates the original Nielsen 1-12H in T160N-R97W, and its 2026 NDIC filings establish large overlapping spacing and pooling units across the Wildrose-Bakken Pool—including Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23 and 24 and adjoining units—specifically to allow additional development and section-line wells. 

For mineral owners, therefore, the importance goes well beyond the Nielsen well itself: actual Nielsen permitting provides evidence that Continental is moving from regulatory planning toward drilling, and if this development pattern expands across the approved Wildrose spacing units, owners whose minerals fall within those units could potentially participate in multiple new wells and receive substantial new royalty production. 

The permits do not guarantee that every approved Wildrose unit will be drilled, but they materially strengthen the case that Continental intends additional development in this area. It suggests that Nielsen 2-24HSL may genuinely be the first permit Continental has taken under this particular seven-well section-line development plan.

CLR permitting in calendar year, 2026, prior to the four new Nielsen permits yesterday:

The Fed: Current And Former Members -- Group Speak -- September 24, 2026

Locator: 51812INVESTING.

The market: incredible opportunities developing. See disclaimer. 

TXSE: I'm still "testing" the TXSE -- this a.m. buying additional shares in existing position before NYSE opens. So far, I have not been impressed with buying / selling shares in extended hours. I've talked to Gemini about this --- it's hard to believe acceptance of extended hour trading after opening of TXSE has been so poor. At least from this vantage point. 

AI company to watch with increasing Fed tightening: Oracle.  [Later: holy mackerel -- I wrote that about ten minutes ago -- 8:00 a.m. and now 8:10, Oracle declares a "force majeure" on a large data center to shield itself from lawsuits. Being reported by Bloomberg now. Oracle responds by saying their LDC Jupiter in New Mexico "remains on Oracle's calendar." But not necessarily on Oracle's previously planned time line. ]

Apple: renews partnership with QCOM. QCOM dividend in my portfolio account today.

Amazon: ended its relationship with operator whose recent Miami flight 171 diverted off the runway, killing five people on the ground. Two of my recent orders from Amazon have already been delayed. 

Trump-Xi: state dinner. Looks like President Trump is simply starting the process of saying goodbye to all his friends over the years. I don't expect a state dinner for Vladimir Putin. Netanyahu? Probably not. If so, will the Trump-Xi state dinner go down as Trump's last state dinner.  

Rick Santelli: I already miss him. Supposedly his last day at CNBC is October 2, 2026, but he prides himself for having seldom missed reporting major US economic data. He was absent this morning for the jobs report, and Steve Liesman and Kelly Evans did the honors, stepping in for Rick Santelli. Disappointing. Flat.

Personal note: I have bought my last automobile ever. I will now close out my car-buying days by leasing. I'm really excited about this.  

********************************
Disclaimer

Briefly: 

I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.

I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.

If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 

And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution. 

I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom. Now, I've added Amazon. And QCOM.

Longer version here.

The Obama Doctrine: Flashback -- Let's Cede The Arct To Russia, Et Al -- September 24, 2026

Locator: 51811ARCTIC.

Years ago, the Obama doctrine ceded the Arctic to everyone but America.

Today: Russia starts exports from Arctic Vostok Oil project boost to long-term production. Link here. 

From March 12, 2019, link here. This is from 2019. What a great blog. LOL.

Indians Are Taking A Bigger Bite Of The Apple -- September 23, 2026

Locator: 51810APPLE.

Tag: Apple AAPL 

Link here. 

For Tomorrow Morning -- Posted September 23, 2026

Locator: 51809B.

WTI: $91.55 -- at close last night; overnight, at the open this morning -- $93.69. Okay. 

New wells reporting: 

• Friday, September 25, 2026: 49 for the month, 129 for the quarter, 486 for the year,
• 41769, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust A-157-94-2734H-5, 
• 41533, conf, Devon Energy, Borsheim 33-28 4H, 
• Thursday, September 24, 2026: 47 for the month, 127 for the quarter, 484 for the year, 
• None.

RBN Energy: variations in crude oil quality make on-spec delivery critical for global refiners. Link here. Archived.

As anyone who has ever bought a used car knows, appearances can be deceiving. Two vehicles may look nearly identical from the outside, but what’s under the hood can make all the difference in performance, reliability and value. The same principle applies to crude oil, as barrels that meet the same basic specifications can still behave very differently once they reach a refinery. In today’s RBN blog, we conclude our look at crude quality by examining why maintaining consistent specifications has become more challenging as Permian production has grown, blending practices have evolved, and WTI Midland has become a cornerstone of global crude pricing.

As discussed in Part 1, crude oil is not a uniform commodity; each stream has a unique chemical composition that affects its value and how it performs throughout the supply chain. The two primary measures of crude quality are API gravity (density) and sulfur content. In general, crude oils above about 35 degrees (°) API are considered light (blue-shaded rows in Figure 1 below); those between roughly 25° and 35° API fall into the medium category (pink-shaded rows); and anything lower than 25° is heavy (green-shaded rows). Sweet crude has relatively little sulfur, typically less than about 0.5%, while sour crude contains more than that. Light, sweet crudes generally produce higher yields of valuable products like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel with less refining, while heavier or more sulfur-rich crudes require additional processing and involve higher costs. Other quality factors — including distillation characteristics, molecular composition, carbon residue, acidity, metals and mercaptans — also influence refinery efficiency, equipment reliability, catalyst performance and overall market value.