WTI Just Went Over $92 -- 11:25 P.M. CT -- September 3, 2026

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WTI: $92.08.  

Looks like refiners could open significantly higher tomorrow. 

 One year:

My Favorite Chart -- MMFs -- New Record Set -- Posted Thursday, September 3, 2026

Locator: 51649MMF.

TAG: MMF MMFs 

Link here. 

Climbing slowly, very slowly. 

Up by only $45 billion but now stands at $7.98 trillion. That's up from $7.93 trillion and trending even closer to $8 trillion.  

For Friday Morning -- Dominion Energy / NextEra Merger Approved By Shareholders -- Posted Thursday, September 3, 2026

Locator: 51647B.

Irrelevant: for quite some time, I've been saying the strait is irrelevant. 

In fact, now, the entire war is irrelevant. Trump is considering declaring the "kinetic war" over -- the blockade will continue; the oil will continue to flow; China will switch to non-oil energy sources. That's their choice.

Merger approval: Dominion Energy and NextEra -- merger approved by shareholders. Links everywhere. I'll wait for RBN Energy's analysis. 

Iran: something's in the air tonight. Link here.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $91.91. Looks suspiciously close to $92.

New wells reporting:

• Sunday, September 6, 2026: 13 for the month, 110 for the quarter, 450 for the year,
• 42335, conf, XTP, GBU Artemis Federal 32X-13H-N, 
• 42334, conf, XTO, GBU Artemis 32X-13C-N,
• 41994, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust C-157-94-2215H-4, 
• Saturday, September 5, 2026: 10 for the month, 108 for the quarter, 447 for the year,
• 41995, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust C-157-94-2215H-5, 
• 41884, conf, XTO, GBU Artemis 32X-13D-S
• Friday, September 4, 2026: 8 for the month, 106 for the quarter, 445 for the year,
• 41970, conf, Devon Energy, Thunderbolt 10-12 1H, 
• 41883, conf, XTO, GBU Artemis 32X-13H-S, 

RBN Energy: pipeline expansions add breathing room for Permian crude moving to Corpus Christi. Link here. Archived.

The crude oil pipelines from the Permian to Corpus Christi have been maxed out since Q2 but two recent projects are expanding flows by nearly 200 Mb/d. Gray Oak wrapped up a two-part, 120-Mb/d expansion in May, and Plains All American just completed its 75-Mb/d expansion of Cactus III (formerly EPIC), providing a bit more breathing room for Permian production. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss how the added capacity could impact flows to the critical export hub.

There are four major pipelines that move crude from the Permian to Corpus Christi: Cactus I, Cactus II, Cactus III and Gray Oak. The quartet now provides 2.805 MMb/d of combined capacity. Let’s look at them one by one.

Gray Oak (green line in Figure 1 below) is an 850-mile system that moves crude from multiple West Texas receipt points to Corpus Christi and nearby Ingleside. It entered service shortly before the pandemic with a capacity of 900 Mb/d and has long operated at high utilization rates. Continued Permian supply growth prompted Enbridge to expand the line by 120 Mb/d in two phases (see I Want to Break Free). The first, an 80-Mb/d expansion from Crane to Corpus Christi and Ingleside, entered service in May 2025. The second, 40-Mb/d phase was completed in May 2026, bringing Gray Oak’s capacity to 1.02 MMb/d.

Most Interesting -- White House Press Secretary Announced On August 12, 2026, That She Would Step Down By The End Of The Month (August); Mary Bartiromo Says Her Last Live-Airing On Fox News Was August 9, 2026 -- Her Last Day At Fox Was Today, Effective Immediately, No Explanation Given -- Posted September 3, 2026

Locator: 51646POLITICS.

Way too coincidental!

Way too convenient! 

Over a three day period, Mary Bartiromo aired her last live show for Fox News and White House Press Secretary abruptly announced she would be stepping down by the end of the month of August, 2026.

For Mary Bartiromo, August 9, 2026, was a Sunday. For Ms Karoline Leavitt, August 12, 2026, was a Wednesday, so literally less than three full weekdays. Two-and-a-half work days? 

Now, get this, President Trump has named neither a temporary nor a permanent new White House press secretary. My hunch: the White House Press Secretary's office phones have been busy, busy, busy this past month (August). 

Folks may want to discuss this with ChatGPT or Gemini. I have; it's quite interesting. What's at stake here? The mid-terms. Just to start.

Daily Activity Report -- No New Permits -- Four Permits Renewed -- September 3, 2026

Locator: 51645B.

WTI: $91.74. Still holds above a threshold I never thought I would see again. 

Active rigs: 35.

No new permits.

Four permits renewed:

• True Oil: four Michigan Federal permits, lot 3, section 6-147-101, McKenzie County.