The iPad -- Not a Bakken Story -- But Surprising News, Nontheless

I have never owned a non-Apple personal computer. My first desktop computer was an Apple -- bought back in 1984 or thereabouts (I forget the exact year) and my daughters, starting at age two and six years of age, have grown up with them.

I bought an Apple iPad the first day the 3G (wireless) model became available (April 30, 2010), and I have found it incredible.

My wife and I live in various locations around the US (Boston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Williston [North Dakota]) following our grandchildren around, and could not afford to have wireless / internet cable in each of those locations. The iPad is perfect for our situation. In addition, while traveling, we are guaranteed wireless access wherever we end up. It truly is remarkable.

I didn't have the iPad yesterday while traveling because my wife had it in Los Angeles, where I am now.

This morning, without getting out of bed, I was able to catch up on all my e-mail, and update my blog using the iPad. I minimized my comments due to fact I was using the virtual keyboard, but now I'm up and about, and the iPad is in its dock with the not-so-miniature keyboard, and I can type to my heart's content.

I do not own stock in Apple, Inc. (Another mistake I made.) But not owning stock in Apple, Inc., I feel comfortable recommending one for a family member or yourself for a Christmas gift.

The second generation iPad is likely to be released in about two months, February, 2011. It will have at least one camera, maybe two (front-facing, and rear-facing) as well as a USB slot. I can only assume the price will go up if these add-ons are included. I have no need for either the camera or the USB slot. It's very possible the price of the first generation iPad will go down if the model is discontinued when the new model comes out. But even if it isn't, I am likely to get a second first-generation model, if only so my wife can keep hers (which I bought for her) and I will have one while traveling. They really are magical.

The 250 megabyte download on a monthly basis for $25 cannot be beat. If one doesn't download movies, the 250 megabytes is more than enough for e-mail and routine internet surfing.

Wow, wow, wow --- I just checked ATT iPad plans to make sure I was correct on the pricing, and wow, am I surprised! ATT has now lowered the monthly rate to $14.99.

That's incredible. The competition for wireless access must be huge.

Update: see comments below regarding ATT 3G coverage in North Dakota. Here's the link regarding ATT coverage: http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/06/23/atandt-seals-deal-on-verizons-divested-alltel-marhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2010/06/23/atandt-seals-deal-on-verizons-divested-alltel-markets/kets/.

Comment: I got a kick out of this requirement that Verizon sell Alltel wireless; it was a huge gift to ATT as far as I can see. What a great country. ATT, by the way, raised its dividend and is considering a 300 million share buyback.

Cape Wind -- AP Sees the (F)utility -- Not a Bakken Story

At 19.5 cents/unit of electricity, this is about 3.5 times what folks in North Dakota pay for electricity. And the rate for Cape Wind will go up 3.5 percent each year (guaranteed by contract), while price of natural gas continues to remain flat for the foreseeable future.

Already trial balloons are being floated: the huge off-shore Nantucket Sound wind energy project will probably only be able to put in half the originally planned number of turbines.

And so it goes.

Here's the link.

Or Was It 1,111 Dollar Coins?

I was an elementary student once. I would check the pockets of some of those students, starting with the nerdy-looking ones that I resembled at that age. Laughing.

Just joking.

Here's the link.

Heart of the Bakken Lowers Sales Tax

Here's the link.

Good News: Supreme Court Business Friendly -- Not a Bakken Story

Here's the link.

More Bullish News For Oil Investors

Finally, oil outperforms when the growth impulse broadens to the U.S. This is what appears to be currently underway: Recent economic releases suggest that the recovery is becoming more sustainable. Moreover, physical demand is starting to draw down inventories, even though several OPEC countries have been producing well above quota.

Here's the link.

Well, Duh, Do You Think? -- Not a Bakken Story

The country leading the charge on global warming is rethinking the "what-if"?

Britain's Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said he had asked the government's chief scientific adviser to assess whether the country was experiencing a "step change" in weather patterns due to climate change and if it needed to spend more money on winter preparations.

Britain traditionally experiences mild winters, but last year's was the coldest for 30 years and this December is likely to be its coldest since 1910.

Here's the link.

The Brits can now go back to open-air ice skating.

Washington's Worst Nightmare

Hundred dollar oil and ten percent unemployment.

It's gonna make the moratoria on drilling in the Gulf, off the west coast, off the east coast, off Alaska, and the moratorium on fracking in New York State look pretty .......

Here's the link.

Meanwhile, the Chinese keep acquiring oil assets around the world, including south Texas.

Just saying.

Not Ready For Prime Time

ND carbon capture program scrapped ... er, shelved.

More Than Enough Water For Fracking

Metric: water being released from Garrison Dam. Dynamic link. 

UPDATES

April 26, 2013: The Dickinson Press is reporting that there could be a water shortage due to fracking. Long term readers know I completely disagree. See post of December 28, 2012.  The amount of water required to frack 2,000 wells in the Bakken represents about one-tenth of one percent:

Maximum water storage of Lake Sakakawea is 23,800,000 acre-feet. 30,000 acre-feet represents 0.1% (one-tenth of one percent) of the volume of Lake Sakakawea.

As usual, my disclaimer. The math could be wrong. But I've been posting these numbers since 2011, and no one has corrected me on them.

I doubt that any of the other regional papers (Montana, North Dakota, or South Dakota) have yet picked up on this story, and probably won't.

Golf courses use a whole lot more. I can't speak to water issues outside the Bakken but the concern about the Missouri seems ill-placed based on earlier analyses. Here's an excerpt from linked article:

A scathing report issued Thursday by the Western Organization of Research Councils says water used in the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is reaching a crisis point in Western states.The regional network of organizations’ 37-page report, titled “Gone for Good,” warns of continued diminished water supplies in areas that have been hit hard by drought in recent years. The report also states that the data currently available and processes used to track energy industry water used for fracking are not sufficient, and that the “current level of water use for oil and gas production simply cannot be sustained.

Let's compare amount of water used for agriculture in the west compare to the amount of water used for fracking. Something tells me we are going to see a lot of flooding stories in North Dakota this year, both in the Red River, and the Missouri River.

August 27, 2012: US Army Corps of Engineers' plan to charge for upstream water is criticized by South Dakota governor. Upstream folks pay for the water; downstream folks get flood protection for free. The Corps can't have it both ways. By the way, if the Corps says they own the water, they are then responsible for the 2010 spring flooding when they did not keep their water under control. Again the Corps cannot have it both ways. Much of the water in the North Dakota and South Dakota state reservoirs comes from run-off water from the state.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard argued that upstream states have the right to manage the river's natural flows, or water that would flow through the system without the reservoirs. States should continue to have authority to manage that water by granting water rights to users, he wrote in a letter read at a Corps of Engineers hearing in Pierre.

The corps' plan also appears to propose requiring contracts and payments from users who take water from the reservoirs, while people downstream of the dams would not pay anything while benefiting from flood control, water supplies and electricity generated by the dams, the governor said.

May 7, 2012: US Army Corps of Engineers wants to charge for water coming from Missouri River; same old story. My position hasn't changed. More than enough water. If the army wants to charge a storage fee, then the army should be held accountable for the water they failed to keep within their storage system last spring, 2011. 

May 7, 2011: There is so much water in the river, that the US Army Corps of Engineers is going to release more water. No word on where the plans stand for the Corps to charge storage fees to consumers of water from the river.  Meanwhile, there is so much water in northeastern South Dakota, it looks like the Everglades. This is making it difficult to get crops in the ground this spring.

James River Water Development District Manager Darrell Raschke says if you fly over Brown County, it looks like the Everglades.

The Agricultural Statistics Service says that as of May 1, only 22 percent of the spring wheat crop had been planted statewide, compared to 68 percent on a five-year average.

April 30, 2011: Rise in water level of Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea one of the highest on record. US Army Corps of Engineers releasing water at twice the rate. Still, Missouri River at Mandan/Bismarck will rise five (5) feet this spring and remain at that level all summer. 

March 25, 2011: The issue of water from Lake Sakakawea is still unsettled. This article is full of subjective comments; this blog has the objective data. There is more than enough excess water in the reservoir to frack the wells. In fact, the US Army Corps of Engineers has released enough water for 10,000 wells/year FOR A FEE -- the legality of the fee is being contested. A record number of wells will be drilled in North Dakota this year; the estimate is 2,000. The water released is five to ten times more than needed. A Sierra Club representative made unsubstantiated comments with no scientific background related to waste water.

February 2, 2011: North Dakota state official says the US Army Corps of Engineers plan to charge fees for use/storage of water from the river is "illegal."

February 2, 2011: Background: first the US Army Corps of Engineers said there was not enough water in the river to meet the needs of the ND oil industry. I was one of the first to point out that was incredibly wrong. Subsequently, the Corps agreed there is much more water than necessary to meet those needs, but they would charge for the "use" of that water. The state noted that much of the water that runs in the Missouri River comes from North Dakota run-off, and thus the state residents should have access to that water based on North Dakota rules, regulations, and fees (in this case: free).

ORIGINAL POST

Incredible story. I was one of the first to point out that Missouri River had more than enough water for fracking ... over a year ago.

Enough water set aside for 10,000 wells a year.

Here's my original post regarding the water in the Missouri River regarding fracking. The amount of water needed by the oil industry in North Dakota is estimated to represent about two-tenths of one percent of the Missouri River flow. That's flow. The river is not a static body of water.

This is not rocket science. Two-tenths of one-percent, and at one time the US Army Corps of Engineers wanted to prohibit any water from coming out of the river for fracking.

As I said then, anything to destroy the domestic oil industry.