For Investors Only: For Those Interested In Investing In The Lodgepole

For those interested in investing in the Lodgepole (think: Oil for America), check out the first comment at this posting, click here.

Bottom line: there are some of us who think the Lodgepole may be a bigger story than the Bakken (for newbies: remember, I am irrationally exuberant about the Bakken and my enthusiasm often gets the best of me).

But some folks are willing to pay upwards of $12,000 / acre for mineral rights in the area where the Lodgepole is of interest.

If for some reason you can't reach the comment at the above link, let me know. That comment has an e-mail address for additional information. Apparently someone is looking for investors to partner with other Lodgepole enthusiasts.

What Green Energy Really Costs -- Not a Bakken Story

I travel a lot and spend a fair amount of time across the freeway from the Port of Los Angeles / Long Beach, the nation's busiest port, so I am always interested in stories about the port.

Here's another story -- how "green energy" affects the working, blue collar, lower middle class.

The link is broken, sorry. I will try to find another source. For now, this link is as good as any. Bottom line: environmental elitists have destroyed the American dream for blue collar workers.

The great Central Valley of California has never been an easy place. Dry and almost uninhabitable by nature, the state's engineering marvels brought water down from the north and the high Sierra, turning semi-desert into some of the richest farmland in the world.

Yet today, amid drought conditions, large parcels of the valley – particularly on its west side – are returning to desert; and in the process, an entire economy based on large-scale, high-tech agriculture is being brought to its knees. You can see this reality in the increasingly impoverished rural towns scattered along this region, places like Mendota and Avenal, Coalinga and Lost Hills.

In some towns, unemployment is now running close to 40%. Overall, the water-related farming cutbacks could affect up to 300,000 acres and could cost up to 80,000 jobs.
However, the depression conditions in the great valley reflect more than a mere water shortage. They are the direct result of conscious actions by environmental activists to usher in a new era of scarcity.

Drilling Process in the Bakken -- for Newbies -- North Dakota, USA

Bakken wells are drilled with two rigs.

The first rig is a truck-mounted rig that drills down 2,000 feet, past the water table. This takes about three days.

Then, the "big rig" comes in generally one to three weeks later and drills to depth, about 9,000 feet down and 4,000 feet laterally for a short lateral and 9,000 feet for a long lateral. That takes about twenty-four days, +/- a half-dozen days or so, I believe.

Click here for chatter about same and scroll down to December 11, 2010.

Hotel-Style "Man-Camp" Opens North of Williston -- Heart of the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is really, really, cool.

I would love to see some photos. Again, note: service in Williston is first-rate. I would not have expected less. Operated by ATCO.

Update: ask and you shall receive. A photograph of a man-camp here, as another man-camp opens in Williston. 

Give Me a Break! -- Not a Bakken Story -- And Completely Non-Political

Current proposal: estate tax deal: first $5 million tax-free to heirs; rest at 35% maximum rate
Alternate proposal:  estate tax deal: first $3.5 million tax-free to heirs; rest at 45% maximum rate

And THIS is what could be a deal breaker for those upset about the bill. The estate tax.

Give me a break.

Note: in 2010 -- all estates, no matter how big, have zero federal tax applied. Zero. Nada. Nil. Zilch. 

In exchange for the current estate tax proposal, "we" all get:

• Extension of tax breaks for all Americans, including small businesses, farmers, small independent oil companies, small renewable energy companies
• Extension of renewable energy credits (automobiles, ethanol, etc)
• 2.5% break on social security withholding for all workers for one year ($5,000/month = $125/month)
• Unemployment extension for another 13 months -- that's one more month than a full year
• Congress goes into Christmas recess on time, sparing us the histrionics

And all of these goodies for only $885 billion more in debt (that's less than a trillion dollars).

And the estate tax issue is the deal breaker -- the deal breaker -- for at least one congressman/senator.

Give me a break. There must be a lot of congressmen with an estate worth $3.5 to $4.9 million, who expect to  pass it on this year, and can't afford lawyers and accountants to find loopholes.

Aerial Photos of Your Bakken Wells

These are really, really cool.  The photos in the Killdeer Mountains are awesome. And just in time for Christmas. (I have no financial interest in Rigphotos.)

Aerial photos of your Bakken wells.

Photo locations of Bakken wells.

Here's a photo of Major 41 during North Dakota blizzard, February 4, 2010:

.

.

.

__

____

 -- photo, courtesy of Sven Olson

There is no copyright on this photograph, so feel free to pass it on.

Lodgepole -- It Just Keeps Getting More Exciting

Lodgepole Land Services LLC, based in Bozeman, MT, just paid $11,600/acre for acreage in Billings County, SD, held by the Federal government.

I just did a google search for Billings County in South Dakota; it doesn't exist. That must have been a typo. There is a Billings County in North Dakota and there is, all of a sudden, lots of interest in the Lodgepole.

For those who want to see a map of the BLM parcels up for bid, click here.

For those who want to see what "they" paid for these leases, click here.  For newbies: the important column is "bonus/acre."  You need to scroll down to page 6 to see the $8 million bonus paid by Lodgepole Land Services for parcel 141:

Parcel 141
LODGEPOLE LAND SERVICES, 1763 MOFFIT GULCH RD, BOZEMAN, MT 59715
720 acres
Advance rental: $1,080.00
Bonus/acre: $11,600.00 (Four words: In.cred.i.ble.)
Total bonus bid: $8,352,000.00
Total price paid: $8,353,225.00

I guess my bid of $50/acre didn't make the cut.

I do believe $11,600 for any one acre bonus is the highest I have seen in the Bakken, and judging by the name of the bidder, this is not targeted toward the Bakken, but rather the Lodgepole.  The highest I have seen in the North Dakota Bakken is about $10,000.

Update: I did find a posting of mine earlier that talked about $12,500/acre.

For Investors Only -- Cash Positions of Energy Companies

For investors, from Rigzone, this is a great article on cash positions of energy companies. 

Chevron, one of only three companies in the S&P 500 Energy Sector, that has a positive net cash position (more case than long term debt).

Among energy companies, XOM no longer has the distinction of holding the most cash. That now belongs to National Oilwell Varco.

COP had the largest favorable swing in net cash, up $11.8 billion, but it still has more than $20 billion in long-term debt.

Newfield To Be Added to the S&P 500

Yesterday I posted the Bakken companies that excite me.

Today I learn that one of them, Newfield, will soon be added to the S&P 500.