Montana Governor: Upset That Congress Didn't Pass Broad Energy Bill

Governor Brian Schweitzer says he is upset Congress did not pass a broad energy bill.

The governor says he is against "cap and trade."

But without an energy bill, the governor says, energy companies, especially coal companies, will not know how to factor potential "cap and trade" risks.

A couple of thoughts:

• Thank goodness for unanswered prayers. In this case, those praying for an energy bill to bring this issue to closure might be happy a bill was not passed.
• My hunch is that coal companies now know the worst that could affect them, and can plan accordingly. Anything less onerous, and the profits will drop to the bottom line.
• Utilities and "big oil" have already begun to sort this out: by buying "renewable" energy assets, they have more than enough assets to "cap and trade," making any future bill moot for them. Coal companies, if smart, will do the same. It's not that hard. Enbridge has seven wind farms and one solar farm (the largest in the world, by the way).
• Governor Schweitzer and Senator John Kerry seem to have a lot in common. That's just my take after spending lots of time in Boston this summer. 

Can you imagine a broad energy bill?

• Excessive cap and trade
• Ridiculous fracking regulations
• Taxes on oil companies to pay for health care
• Unlimited risk for clean-up expenses

Unanswered Prayers, Garth Brooks

*****

UPDATES

Update: July 31, 2010 -- I admit I'm wrong.  Congress is going to stay out of this.  Congress will let EPA step in, make the rules, and then individual Congressmen/women can talk to their constituents. Those in favor will say they support the EPA; those against what the EPA does will say Congress will have to take a look. Meanwhile, the damage will have been done. Other thoughts here.

EOG Opens Multi-Million Dollar Office in Stanley, ND (USA)

This is really an incredible story. Some data points, from the EOG/CEO:

• Expectation that the Bakken to produce four billion barrels of oil over the next few decades
• Suggests the Bakken will be one of the top five fields in the history of the US
• Estimates royalties to private individuals of $5 billion
• Estimates taxes to the state of $3.6 billion
• EOG expects to drill 78 new wells in calendar year 2010

This link is likely to break in about thirty days, requiring password (free or paid) to search archives.

Update on the the EOG - BNSF railroad oil loading facility: the facilty has been open since the beginning of the year. It was built to handle 100,000 bopd; it currently ships 30,000 bopd.

This link is also likely to break in about thirty days, requiring password (free or paid) to search archives.

USA 2D-3-1H Goes Past One Million Barrels

A well spudded early in the current Bakken boom surpassed the one million barrels of oil; this does not include a bit of natural gas. At $50/bbl, this well has produced ... oh, oh, my calculator won't go that high. Anyway, it's produced a lot. And it's my understanding it's a Three Forks Sanish well.

Note: in June, 2010, it was still producing 15,000 bbls/month; at $50/bbl = $750,000/month at the well head. And some folks think my exuberance over the Bakken is over-hyped.

The well was spudded in 2006. I track the well, file #16059, here. 

This well is in the Charlson oil field.

143

Another day in the Bakken, another record number of active oil rigs.

This Is Way, Way Off-Topic: ATT to the Bakken

This is way off topic but it is too good a story to resist.

Today, the Bismarck Tribune is reporting that ATT will soon provide wireless service in North Dakota. That is great news for those of us who travel with iPads.

However, that's not the point of this story.

If one is familiar with the current marketing war between ATT and Verizon, this story has a bit of irony.

Verizon started the controversial ad war by stating it covered much, much more of the continental United States, and true enough, when looking at the map of coverage, there are huge ATT gaps across fly-over country in the US.

ATT went to court suing Verizon over misleading ads. ATT lost.

ATT countered with a pretty good ad showing that (despite the gaps across fly-over country), ATT coverage reaches 97% of Americans.

I guess ATT is trying to fill in that fly-over gap by bringing wireless to North Dakota, one of the larger fly-over states.

But here's the irony: how ATT is entering this new territory. ATT has bought the Alltel network from Verizon wireless which covered North Dakota, and much of the other fly-over country.

It appears ATT's geographic coverage will increase at the expense of Verizon's. I doubt the change will move the needle with regard to actual subscribers. But it makes the iPad a more viable tablet in North Dakota.

I can't make this stuff up.

[Note: ATT and Verizon announced the sale of Alltel assets back in May, 2009, but the deal is finally completed. Lots of federal red tape to get through to close the deal.]


Telstar, The Tornados, 1962

Named for the ATT communications satellite, Telstar. The writer of this song received no royalties for this song. He was accused of plagiarism. The court finally ruled in his favor ... one year after his death. It is unlikely the composer ever heard the song he was accused of stealing --- that song was only released in France. This is the first single by a British band to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was also a number one hit in the UK.

Experienced Roughnecks From the Gulf Flying into the Bakken

The Oil Patch Hotline is reporting some interesting news:

• 139 active rigs now, another dozen are expected between now and the end of the year
• Critical shortage of roughnecks is forcing some operators to fly in workers from the Gulf
• New computer controlled rigs can cost $16 million to build; require experienced hands
• Day rates for these rigs: $16,000
• Roughnecks from Louisiana are in the Bakken for two weeks; then fly home for two weeks
• At $16,000 day rates, producers fleeing natural gas and moving to oil
• Five companies mention they will have more rigs in the Bakken by the end of the year

Source at the BakkenBlog; dated July 29, 2010; will be there for 30 days; then archived