Seven New Permits; Five Permits Renewed; One DUC Reported As Completed -- August 18, 2026

Locator: 51448B.  

Briefly:

• Harold Hamm, merged his Domestic Energy Producers Alliance this summer with the much larger independent Petroleum Association of America.  

The move puts one of Trump’s biggest oil industry allies atop a trade group that employs 12 people to keep an adversarial eye on environmental regulations and promote a more parochial view of oil and gas production than Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other companies with a more international presence. It calls itself the oil industry’s “strongest presence in the nation’s capital.” Link here. The source states that Hamm is a "regular" at Mar-A-Lago when Trump is there.

• Diesel: margins are soaring. Valero and MPC stocks are winning. Link to Barron's. Americans are preoccupied with gasoline, but worldwide, diesel is a much bigger story.

• Five energy stocks cashing in on the new energy crunch: link to Alex Kimani -- you can almost guess them -- this is not rocket science --
  

• MPC: YTD returns -- 122%
• PSX: YTD returns -- 85%
• CVX: YTD returns -- 33% -- but it's just getting started ...
• VLO: YTD returns -- 113%
• BE (Bloom Energy): YTD returns -- 166%but the list could go on. The question is ... will this continue .. if it continues, how long will it continue ...

• Competing interest, for the investing dollar, of course -- the hyperscalers; the LCD infrastructure; the chips up and down the racks -- CPUs, GPUs, TPUs, NPUs, HBM. 

• Amazon: announced today it is increasing its Louisiana data center investment by 50% of $18 billion as it adds a third campus in Shreveport.

• The Mideast is unsettled ... really unsettled ...

• US bonds -- which I understand not at all -- are trending higher and higher... putting pressure on the AI story -- and more and more state governors are temporarily halting AI development (at least until the midterms are over) ... 

• The business stories are contradictory ... things seem more concerning, more unsettled than the business media is letting on ... 

• The META story is just beginning, will take a long time to play out, but META could be in very, very deep trouble ... 

• And, then on top of all of this, Apple announced some good news and its stock was one bright spot today for the tech stocks (AAPL is in consumer electronics, not tech) ...  but still way off its recent high -- but did get a new price target by a lone analyst ($400 vs $260 and a buy recommendation) ... 
  

• As the Chinese wag once said, may you live in interesting times. 

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Back to the Bakken 

WTI: $85.84. 

Active rigs in the Bakken: 34. Again, a new recent high.

Seven new permits, #43220 - #43226, inclusive --

• Operators: XTO (6); Wesco Operating
• Fields: Lost Bridge (Dunn County); Bicentennial (McKenzie County)
• Comments:
• Wesco Operating has a permit for a Federal well, NESE 20-145-103, 
• to be sited 1642 FSL and 1129 FEL;
• XTO has permits for six Hull Federal wells, SWNE 26-148-97, 
• to be sited 1821 / 1824 FNL and 1959 / 2134 FEL. 

Five permits renewed:

• Enerplus: five Fort Berthold permits in Eagle Nest, Dunn County.

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 42423, 1,165, Kraken, Bregman Le 6-7-18 1H, Briar Creek, Williams County. 
• a sister well on that two well pad is listed as active and the map shows that it has been drilled to depth, but no production data provided. The file report shows that it was stimulated / tested July 28, 2026, and had production of 1,389 bbls for the 24-hour test date; 431,435 bbls of fluid; 96 stages; 16,565,219 lbs proppant. Bregman 6-7-18 2H. 

  *********************************
  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 "K" Economy -- In Progress -- August 18, 2026

Locator: 51447K-ECONOMY.  

The "K" economy: 

• I doubt this ("the K economy")  means much to the average investor, except perhaps in certain sectors;
• isn't a "K" economy pretty much what we have always had?
• the importance of the "K" economy -- how thick the two "legs" are to the right
• if the upper leg is growing thicker that is way more important to the active investor than if the lower leg is growing thicker -- in fact, that leads to this: it would be helpful if we had a ratio -- the thickness of the top leg to the bottom leg -- I doubt the two legs are equal in thickness -- and what defines the economy or the two legs that the "K" economy is said to represent.  

Income brackets:

Who are the "real" investors? My hunch: it starts in the upper middle class but becomes almost 100% in upper class tier.

What we're going to do next is come up with a definition of the two legs to the right on the "K" and figure out a way to assign a single number to each and then be able to track the ratio over time. But we will save that for later.

In fact, there is a single number that economists use to define the upper leg and the lower leg. We might get to that later but you can certainly tease out that number by yourself by reading any Economics 101 book or talking with a chatbot.

So, bottom line, how does one look at the "K-economy" overall. One thesis:  

The optimal environment for traditional equity investing is a stable, widening K-economy where capital efficiently captures the gains of technology and automation.

Cramer's First Hour -- August 18, 2026

Locator: 51446CRAMER  

 ****************************
Half-Time Report

WTI: $85.57. 

Bonds: the amount of time these talking head spend on bonds is quite amazing, and not once do they mention great alternatives like EPD, ENB, CVX, PSC, COP, etc. or the top ten holdings in SCHD: ABT, AMGN, MRK, KO, HD, UNH, CVX, VZ, PG, and COP. 

Vaneck Semiconductor (SMH): is the action taking place today, profit taking that may only be a 72-hour blip, or is the semiconductor sector resetting for the rest of the year, or even longer? In other words, if you want to invest in semiconductors is the window of opportunity very short, or do you have plenty of time?

Investing then and investing now: in the old days, I could buy 100 shares of XYZ for $1,000. Now I can buy one, two, or three shares of SEMI. 

A trusted analyst: with regard to META, she is not at all concerned with the California trial starting today. If you are concerned, she says replace some/most/all META with AMZN. AMZN has a market cap of almost 3x META but whereas AMZN pays no dividend, META pays about 0.3%. 

***************************
Cramer's First Hour 

WTI: at $85.17. 

Jim Cramer continues to second quess the president on the Strait of Hormuz / Iran War

• he admits he is not the president (well, that's good)
• he knows not much more than what the rest of us know
• he most likely knows less than what the chatbots know
• he's completely missing the bigger story: how things have changed worldwide 
• the US is the big winner on so many levels
• at a minimum, we are rebuilding our arms stockpile 

Apple opened higher; still positive but off its highs.

JNJ: leading the Dow; up $6; treading at $268 (a defensive stock) 

Robots: link here. 

*********************************
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.  

CLR's Oakdale Wells and Ryden Wells In Jim Creek Oil Field, The Bakken, North Dakota -- Production Data Updated -- August 18, 2026

Locator: 51445OAKDALE. 

Last updated August 18, 2026: only production data has been updated. All other data has been left unchanged.  

The CLR Oakdale wells in Jim Creek oil field:

• 32809, 1,086/AB/IAW/IA, CLR, Oakdale 10-13H1, Jim Creek, a nice well; Three Forks B2; four sections; 63 stages; 14.1 million lbs;  t1/18; cum 216K 2/19; offline as of 2/19; remains off line 12/20; one day of production, 4/21; cum 216K 2/19; remains off line 9/21; cum 218K  2/19;
• 32808, 1,464, CLR, Oakdale 9-13H, Jim Creek, 4 sections, 61 stages; 14.2 million lbs, a nice well; t1/18; cum 175K 12/20; cum 195K 9/21; cum 283K 6/26;
• 32807, 1,448, CLR, Ryden 7-24H2, Jim Creek, 4 sections, Three Forks B2; 71 stages; 10.7 million lbs, a very nice well; t12/17; cum 240K 12/20; cum 256K 9/21; cum 338K 6/26;
• 32806, 1,068, CLR, Oakdale 8-13H2, 13-146-96, t1/18; cum 263K 12/20; cum 272K 9/21; cum 351K 6/26;
• 32803, 1,360, CLR, Oakdale 7-13H, 13-146-96, t1/18; cum 390K 12/20; cum 404K 9/21; cum 507K 6/26;
• 32802, 2,230, CLR, Oakdale 6-13H1, 13-146-96, t1/18; cum 300K 12/20; cum 320K 9/21; cum 400K 6/26;
• 26951, 527, CLR, Oakdale 2-13H1, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 410K 12/20; cum 435K 9/21; cum 578K 6/26;
• 26950, 726, CLR, Oakdale 3-13H, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 439K 12/20; cum 460K 9/21; cum 578K 6/26; no huge jump, just simply steady production;
• 26949, 391, CLR, Oakdale 4-13H1, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 294K 12/20; cum 314K 9/21; cum 406K 6/26;
• 26948, 531, CLR, Oakdale 5-13H, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t8/15; cum 319K 12/20; cum 334K 9/21; cum 386K 6/26;
• 16698, IA/AB-->IA/369-->A-->IA-->IAW-->AB, CLR, Oakdale 11-12H, 12-146-96, 2 sections; t12/07; cum 244K 12/19; remains off line 5/21; back on line 6/21; cum 246K 9/21; cum 279K 6/26;

The CLR Ryden wells in Jim Creek oil field:

• 32811 1,874, CLR, Ryden 9-24H1, 13-146-96, t12/17; cum 255K 12/20; cum 269K 9/21; cum 341K 6/26;
• 32810, 1,899, CLR, Ryden 8-24H, 13-146-96, t12/17; cum 283K 12/20; cum 293K 9/21; cum 360K /26;
• 32807, 1,448, CLR, Ryden 7-24H2, Jim Creek, 4 sections, Three Forks B2; 71 stages; 10.7 million lbs, a very nice well; t12/17; cum 240K 12/20; cum 256K 9/21; cum 338K 6/26;
• 32805 2,225, CLR, Ryden 6-24H, 13-146-96, t12/17; cum 290K 12/20; cum 307K 9/21; cum 351K 6/26; just came back online after being offline for the past five months;
• 32804, 1,723, CLR, Ryden 5-24H1, 13-146-96, t12/17; cum 311K 12/20; cum 333K 9/21; cum 430K 6/26;
• 26954, 1,307, CLR, Ryden 2-24AH1, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 270K 12/20; cum 290K 9/21; cum 347K 6/26;
• 26953, 1,577, CLR, Ryden 3-24H, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 343K 12/20; cum 361K 9/21; cum 470K 6/26; 
• 26952, 790, CLR, Ryden 4-24H1, 24-146-96, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 320K 12/20; huge jump 10/17; cum 338K 9/21; cum 431K 6/26;
• 22810, PNC, CLR, Ryden 2-24H, 24-146-96,
• 16646, IA/257, CLR, Ryden 21-24H, 24-146-96, 2 sections, t7/07; cum 287K 12/20; off line as of 5/17 suggesting ready to frack); back on line as of 2/18; small increase in production but not re-fracked; cum 294K 9/21; cum 329K/ 5/26;
• 16563, PNC, CLR, Ryden 14-24H, 24-146-96,

MRO's Nanette Strommen Pad In Killdeer Field -- Production Has Been Updated -- August 18, 2026

Locator: 51444B.

Original material has been unchanged. Only the production data has been update.
 
Locator: 46352B.

See this post for the daily activity report when first noted.

The permits/wells on that 9-well pad, sited west to east, with four horizontals appearing to run north, and four horizontals running south; it appears a horizontal is yet to be drilled for #40231, but I could be wrong:

• 17509, runs south (definite), conf, MRO, Nanette Strommen 41-13H, Killdeer,
• 2023: being re-entered to run sidtrack #2 --huge jump in production, from 500 bopm to 34,000 bopm; cum 412K 6/26; this well was first drilled in February, 2009;
• 40288, runs south (?), conf, MRO, Bowers 31-13H, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 245K 6/26; 
• 40290, runs south (?), conf, MRO, Grayson 441-13TFH, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 261K 6/26; 
• 40289, runs south (?), conf, MRO, Maadsen 41-13H, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 261K 6/26; 
• 40287, runs north (?); rig on site, conf, MRO, Serum 34-12H, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 279K 6/26; 
• 40231, north (?), conf, MRO, Lillebridge 44-12H, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 307K 6/26; 
• 40286, runs north (?), conf, MRO, Noreen 44-12TFH, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 272K 6/26; 
• 40285, runs north (?), conf, MRO, Muggli 44-12H, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 300K 6/26; 
• 40284, runs north (?), conf-->drl/A, MRO, Kellogg 14-7TFH, Killdeer, t4/24; cum 308K 6/26; 

Maps:

MRO Strommen wells in Killdeer field are tracked here (not sure if all Strommen wells are accounted for).