Monday, June 22, 2026

Project Kilby -- Massive New LDC -- To Be Built In West Texas -- Reeves County -- Pecos -- I Love Seeing "Massive, Texas" In Same Sentence -- June 22, 2026

Locator: 51031LDC. 

Microsoft and Chevron's proposed "Project Kilby" data center and its co-located power plant will be built on a 2,000-acre site in Reeves County, Texas. This location is near the city of Pecos, right in the heart of the Permian Basin oil and gas field. 

The massive 2.7-gigawatt project will be a "behind-the-meter" campus, meaning the power infrastructure will be built directly on-site and the data center will bypass the traditional regional grid entirely. The facility will be fueled by Chevron's local natural gas production and is slated to deliver its first power by 2028.

Project Kilby is not part of the massive 5-LDC "Stargate" initiative previously announced. I believe one of of the five Stargate projects is in Abilene, TX, not associated with Project Kilby.


 Stargate is tracked here.

Monday -- June 22, 2026

Locator: 51030B.

Politics: UK PM Starmer resigns as Britain faces its seventh leader in 10 years. This is why Starmer failed according to Gemini:

Investing / market: this market is so crazy, this is the best I can do at the moment -- futures, Monday morning -- 

Movies: Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

The movie will be a blockbuster or a disaster, depending on word-of-mouth / critical reviews within 72 hours of its release July 17, 2026. The definition of blockbuster / disaster will be based on financial success / failure. It will not be based "on the film itself." That will take years.
My hunch: its all-star cast will save the movie financially, but the movie won't have legs. It will be a must-see movie ... but just once. It's not a movie that will generate a following like the great movies of the past. 
There's going to be a lot of articles on this movie between now and July 20, 2026. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will be a movie version of The Kardashians. The movie will be "famous" for being "famous." The movie will be a "must-see" because of the "must-see" hype. I have no desire to see it. My wife does. 
Matt Damon doesn't have the gravitas to play Odysseus. 
If the movie fails, it will be compared to David Lynch's Dune
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey cost a reported $250 million to produce. Industry estimates suggest Universal Pictures added an additional $100 million to $150 million for global marketing. Together, the film's total estimated budget, including production and marketing, is between $350 and $400 million. The first movie in the Star Wars franchise, cost $11 million with an additional $26 million spent by 20th Century Fox for prints, negatives and advertising. 

*********************************** 
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $75.40. Already volatile, it's going to be even more volatile this week. 

New wells reporting:

  • Tuesday, June 23, 2026: 27 for the month, 183 for the quarter, 340 for the year,
    • 41682, conf, Devon Energy, Johnson 27-34 8H, 
  • Monday, June 22, 2026: 26 for the month, 182 for the quarter, 339 for the year,
    • 41610, conf, Hess, BL-Mortenson-LE-156-95-2234H-1, 
  • Sunday, June 21, 2026: 25 for the month, 181 for the quarter, 338 for the year,
    • None.
  • Saturday, June 20, 2026: 25 for the month, 181 for the quarter, 338 for the year,
    • None.

RBN Energy: key step can help gas pipelines boost regulatory certainty, limit court challenges. Link here. Archived.

Open seasons are a key part of marketing capacity for gas pipeline and storage projects, but they can also raise several regulatory questions. It starts with determining whether an open season is legally required or is simply an expected part of the process, and extends to the nuts and bolts of how it should all be designed and run. And the answers depend on what kind of open season it is. In today’s RBN blog, we take a deep dive into the ins and outs of a gas project open season.

This is our second blog in a three-part series on open seasons. As we covered in Part 1, an open season is essentially a competitive bidding process in which any qualified shipper can compete for firm pipeline capacity. That capacity might be on a brand-new pipeline, an expansion of an existing system, or space that’s opened up because current shippers decided to give some back or it was simply unsubscribed. The rules and customs vary depending on the situation, and there are big differences in how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates natural gas and liquids (crude oil, refined products and NGLs) pipelines. Things get even looser with intrastate pipelines and gathering systems, where there are no federal rules to worry about — just state rules and commercial norms. In this series, we're focusing on the interstate world, where open seasons are pretty formalized and can carry real consequences.

Today, we’re zeroing in on natural gas, including how open seasons connect to precedent agreements and certificate proceedings. (A precedent agreement is a binding commercial contract in which a shipper commits to reserve and pay for transportation capacity, usually contingent on the pipeline project being built or expanded. The agreement outlines key terms such as volume commitments, contract length, rates, receipt and delivery points, and conditions required for the project to proceed.) In Part 3, we'll tackle services by crude oil, refined products and NGL pipelines, where the common-carrier model — with all its quirks like proration, committed versus uncommitted service, and contract terms — affects the need and terms for open seasons. It’s a dense regulatory topic, but we’ll break it down in a way that we hope can keep you awake.

[There's a huge photo at the link above, but it's not worth including. It's simply a photograph of a pipeline under construction.]

Sunday, June 21, 2026

A Musical Interlude -- June 21, 2026

Locator: 51029MUSIC

Investing: link here

  • Kinetic Holdings (KNTK)
  • SLB (SLB)
  • IBM (IBM)

************************************
A Musical Interlude

I've often said that 1969 was the best year ever for music. I have a blog devoted to music released in 1969. 

I was surprised to find this on YouTube recently, perhaps my favorite secondary musical theme for  the James Bond film series, for the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Link here. 

The Enerplus (Chord) Crying Tree Wells In Little Knife, McKenzie County -- June 21, 2026

Locator: 51028ENERPLUS.

This is kind of a disjointed post -- but I think you can figure it out. 

Disclaimer: in a long note like this, there will be typographical and content errors.  

The Bakken never fails to amaze me. See disclaimer.  I count 15 wells on this pad. 

Recently fracked Enerplus (now part of Chord) wells on an existing pad, near Killdeer, McKenzie County, sent to me by a reader. Thank you very much. I noted  these wells recently but failed to post a stand-alone note. Just too much stuff to cover, but when a reader notes them, I try to make sure they get extra attention. 

From the reader:

Notice the nomenclature of 41407. It’s quite clever, as it’s literally on the edge of HELL. Ha! Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-9H-ELL.

The actual well site is breathtaking.  The pad of ~15 wells is on a tight pad on the very edge of the bluff that begins the Badlands to the west. It’s really something. 


 The Devils Canyon wells and Crying Tree wells:

The Enerplus Devils Canyon wells, completed back in 2024, on the northeast side of the pad, currently offline due to Crying Tree activity to the southeast, the wells:

The Enerplus Crying Tree wells, recently completed, on the southeast side of the pad
:

  • 40464, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-2H-WLL, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 227K 9/25;
  • 40102, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-3H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 202K 8/25;
  • 40103, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-4H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 199K 8/25;
  • 40104, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-5H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 209K 10/25;
  • 40105, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-6H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 217K 10/25;
  • 40106, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-7H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 200K 8/25;
  • 40107, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-8H, Lone Butte, t5/24; cum 179K 9/25;
  • 40108, drl/IA, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-9H-ELL, Little Knife, t5/24; cum 222K 10/25;

The Enerplus Crying Tree wells, recently completed, on the southeast side of the pad:

  • 41470, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-3H, Little Knife, 
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-2026861314965
  • 41471, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-4H, Little Knife, 
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202671929963
  • 41472, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-5H, Little Knife, 
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20261130915410
  • 41473, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-6H, Little Knife, 
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-2026777311438
  • 41474, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-7H, Little Knife,  
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20261074814673
  • 41475, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-8H, Little Knife,  
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202660408193
  • 41407, conf/recently fracked, Enerplus, Crying Tree 147-97-8-5-9H-ELL, Little Knife,  
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202665168425

**************************************
The Maps

Again, the incredible Killdeer Mountains area. 


End-Of-Day Rambling -- June 21, 2026

Locator: 51027ARCHIVES.

Some days it just seems I can't keep up. Today is another one of those days. 

Sports today: both the NASCAR race on Naval Base Coronado (San Diego) and PGA's US Open tournament on Long Island were absolutely incredible. 

The Wyndham Clark story is / was amazing. The Jay Busbee analysis is must-read. Link here. The article was posted at 6:49 a.m. CDT before the fourth and final round had begun. I'm reading the article now, after the tournament is over. Wow, incredible writing and an incredible golf tournament. It will be interesting if Mr Busbee follows this up with an article on some of the vocal and boorish spectators.

Most disappointing: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth. Probably others but I'm not following the PGA very closely any more. Speaking of which, Rolex needs to move on; quit with the stills of Tiger Woods. Speaking of which, Brandel Chamblee has a new piece out regarding Tiger Woods this weekend, link here. I haven't read more than the headline and part of the first paragraph; not sure if I will read any more of it.

The NASCAR race -- one of the best ever. I've said that before, but this was a great race on so many levels. Michael Jordan came close to seeing his team take the 1-2-3 top spots. 

Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing team had a dominant, historic 1-2 finish at the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series street race at Naval Base Coronado. 
Part-time driver Corey Heim won the race in the No. 67 Toyota, and his 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace finished second. 
The race was highly dramatic in its closing laps. Heim seized the lead from his other 23XI teammate, Tyler Reddick, with just two laps remaining. Reddick subsequently suffered a flat tire and finished 25th, leaving the top two spots for Heim and Wallace. 

***************************
Back to the Bakken

Earlier today I posted a note regarding some great Enerplus wells coming off the confidential list in the next week or so. A reader sent me a note on another set of Enerplus wells. I will post his note later after I get a chance to spend some time looking at the wells.

***************************
The Mideast

The Mideast kerfuffel may not be over. That's not surprising. Conflicts have pretty much gone on non-stop for 2,000 years.  

The Arab nations with interests in the Persian Gulf (i.e, OPEC for the most part) may want to get out an old classic by the Brothers Grimm. The Arab nations are about to lose their "Golden Goose" if they're not careful.  

 *************************
Taxes

The story making the rounds right now: North Dakota may join Florida and Texas as being the most tax-friendly states among Obama's 57 states (links everywhere).