Sorry For The Delay in Responding To Comments

My filter moved all "anonymous" comments and comments from some regular readers over to the spam folder for some reason. I had the filter set to prevent that from happening, but apparently from the volume of comments being sent in, the filter thought the "anonymous" comments were spam. I will get to them now that I have found them.

Solar Technology Company To Shut Down in California -- Gravy Train for Lobbyists -- Even With Government Subsidies Can't Make It -- 1,000 California Jobs Lost Along With Half Billion Tax-Payer Dollars

Link here.  Cartoon of the day.

Solyndra, a major manufacturer of solar technology in Fremont, has shut its doors, according to employees at the campus.

Shortly after it opened a massive $700 million facility, it canceled plans for a public stock offering earlier this year and warned it would be in significant trouble if federal loan guarantees did not go through.

Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs. The President visited the facility in May of last year. 

The federal government offered $535 million in low cost loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. NBC Bay Area has contacted the White House asking for a statement.

I have nothing against solar energy. But the numbers simply don't work, even with massive government subsidies.

For those who write and tell me I'm all wrong on this, you may want to look at the list of lobbyists promoting this short-lived company:

In July, Solyndra retained the powerful Glover Park Group, where the company's lobbyists include top Max Baucus aide and Environment & Public Works Committee staffer Catherine Ransom, longtime Republican aide Alex Mistri, and Energy and Commerce staffer (and former John Kerry Legislative Director) Gregg Rothschild .... are just a few of the lobbyists ... more at the link. 

Construction West of Williston, North Dakota -- Bakken

Last night I walked six miles from where I am staying in Williston out to the four-mile corner to take photographs of the buildings of oil service companies west of Williston.  And six miles back, I walked at least 12 miles.

I started out at 6:30 p.m. and got back to where I am staying at 11:00 p.m. I stopped at the way home at a pub to get a drink. The pub, by the way, a bar and grill,  is without a doubt, the best sports bar west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, and I have visited sports bars across the country. But I digress.

Here's the new Schlumberger building west of town:

 

And then just west of the new Schlumberger site is this building (I do not know who will occupy this building):, which is where McCody Concrete will be going (see first comment below).

I started out walking in daylight; I didn't have a watch or cellphone, but based on "number of hands between sun and horizon" I figured I had two hours of sunlight. And I was about right; here it is right when I got back to Williston:

Drill, Baby, Drill -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Drill, Baby, Drill

Even Without the Keystone XL, That Canadian Oil Will Get to the US

Link here.

EnSys Energy & Systems Inc. and Navigistics Consulting concluded in a report issued as part of the US Department of State’s final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline that it is “almost impossible…to conceive of a situation” wherein the anticipated 1.4 million b/d growth in Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin crude could not be shipped to the US, even if Keystone XL is not approved.

The report, “Keystone XL Assessment—No Expansion Update,” examines three tiers of potential transportation: Tier 1, major new pipeline projects (Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada’s west coast); Tier 2, modification-expansion of existing pipelines; and Tier 3, rail, barge, and tanker transport. It notes that as options move from Tier 1 toward Tier 3 the capacity of individual projects drops and the $/bbl transport rate climbs. But it also notes that capital costs, scale of commitment, difficulty in permitting, and time to implement all drop, while available transport options expand.

The EnSys report describes rail alone as being able to provide the additional 1.25 million b/d in WCSB take-away capacity anticipated as necessary by 2030, subtracting 0.15 million b/d as upgraded-in-place. EnSys notes that the roughly 100,000 b/d/year expansion rate required is well below the current 250,000 b/d/year expansion rate currently undertaken in the Bakken shale, and equate to adding just 1-2 unit trains/day/year out of WCSB between 2016 and 2030.

I continue to post stories about the Keystone XL because I know folks are interested in the story, but for me, I've lost interest. The Keystone XL won't be built in my lifetime. If it is started, it won't be completed in my lifetime.

But that's not the reason for posting yet another story on the XL. The reason I posted the story is in the third paragraph. I am noticing that in almost every story that has to do with oil production in North America, the Bakken comes up in discussion.

US Labor Department Singles Out North Dakota for Its Low Unemployment Rate

Link here (regional links break early).

First paragraph of this AP story:

Bismarck has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, according to information released today.
Unemployment rates fell in a majority of U.S. cities in July, despite a weak economy that is producing few jobs.

And then this:

The biggest monthly decrease was in Morgantown, W.Va. The unemployment rate there fell from 6.6 percent in June to 5 percent in July, mostly because people stopped looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively seeking work. 

And finally:

Bismarck had the nation's lowest rate, at 3 percent. It was followed by Fargo at 3.7 percent, and Lincoln, Neb., at 3.8 percent. Eight of the 10 metro areas with unemployment rates less than 5 percent were in the upper Midwest. North Dakota, in particular, has been helped by a boom in its oil drilling industry.

It should be noted that Fargo is on the eastern side of the state and has no oil industry. Fargo benefits from the low tax rate on the west side of the river, compared to high-tax state, Minnesota, on the east. Bismarck has some oil-related growth, but it, too, is not in the Bakken. 

Sixteen (16) New Permits -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, August 31, 2011 --

Operators:  KOG (4), Samson Resources (3) Slawson (2), Dakota-3 (WMB), OXY USA, Oasis, Whiting, Helis, MRO True Oil

Fields: Buffalo Wallow, Big Bend, Reunion Bay, Grail, Sanish, Pembroke, Candak, Squaw Creek, Juno, Vanville, and one wildcat

Oasis has the wildcat in Williams County

KOG has a 4-well pad in Pembroke (at least all four wells are in SESW 21-149N-98W); and, Slawson has a 2-well pad in Big Bend.

Twelve wells were reported as "plugged or producing," and there are "no" dry holes in the Bakken.  Four of them were Whiting wells; no CLR wells.

Whiting has a permit in its cash cow, the Sanish

Auto Sales Surge; ATT - T-Mobile Story -- Idle Rambling -- Not a Bakken Story

Updates

May 11, 2012: No link; from print edition, Wall Street Journal, page B5.

T-Mobile said it lost more than a half million of the most lucrative customers in the first quarter, casting doubt on whether the company can regain momentum after regulators blocked its sale to ATT.

Predicted. This, as noted below, was a win-win for ATT. At best they would have gotten T-Mobile all to themselves. At worse, ATT and Verizon would split the spoils as T-Mobile sort of just withers away. This happened some years ago when regulators refused to let two video rental chains merge. One of the two eventually disappeared (going through bankruptcy first?). The other? I don't know if it's still around.

Later: I posted the stories below earlier today.

For the first time this afternoon I have finally had an opportunity to check the news, and this is the story that caught my eye:

Headline: T-Mobile customers fleeing

See my post below, predicting that this would happen.

Original Post

Idle rambling.

Connecting two disconnected dots.

First dot: auto sales surge.

U.S. factory orders rose strongly in July on the biggest jump in demand for autos in more than eight years and a surge in commercial airplane orders.

The Commerce Department says factory orders climbed 2.4 percent, the largest increase since March. Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 9.8 percent, the largest one-month gain since January 2003.

Second dot: housing sales down.

The already-struggling housing market has another 15% decline in home prices already priced in for homebuilder stocks, according to Stifel Nicolaus analyst Michael Widner.

According to a talking head on CNBC this a.m. the government has made it easier for banks to get out from under their mass of foreclosed homes prior to 2011. However, the relaxation was not extended to new home sales going forward. For any number of reasons, the new rules imposed on banks for home financing have become much more onerous. This is one explanation for disappointing home sales according to the talking head on CNBC.

It's hard to argue with that logic in light of the surge in auto sales. The surge in auto sales suggests that folks have the money to make large purchases, but a) are still scared of the housing market; and, b) unable to get financing due to onerous banking requirements.

A third factor that folks don't talk about: unintended consequences. At their last meeting, the "Fed" announced that it was keeping borrowing rates (or whatever they are called) at their current record low rates for the next two years, which for all practical purposes is zero percent. Until now, the "Fed" has always been vague about its intentions. That means for folks sitting on the fence, trying to make a decision to buy a new home, they can now procrastinate, knowing that rates may not change all that much over the next two years. Yes, I know the two rates are not directly connected; if home buying starts to pick up, mortgage rates can increase. But, in the big scheme of things, to be told that the "Fed" plans to keep rates this low for two years, folks will naturally procrastinate.

****************

On another note, the Obama administration has filed to block the proposed buyout of T-Mobile by ATT. This is really bad news for T-Mobile; great news for Verizon, and maybe Sprint; and so-so news for ATT. Common sense tells me that T-Mobile was ready to shut their operations down when they agreed to be bought out by ATT, and common sense tells me that psyscologcally, at least, that process has begun. Regardless, how many folks are signing up for T-Mobile not knowing who their new service provider might be. So, this is not good news for T-Mobile.

I'm not sure this is the worse news for ATT or its shareholders. This was going to be a huge chunk of change all at one time. Now, if the buyout is stopped by the Justice Department, the Verizon, ATT, and Sprint folks will simply divide the spoils as T-Mobile implodes from lack of growth. Obviously if the Justice Department nixes ATT, it should also nix Verizon buying T-Mobile, but it's always possible Sprint-T-Mobile will find a way to get together. I used to follow the various systems (e.g., CDMA) the different providers used, but have long given up on that. It turns out the providers have ways of making any combination work, it seems.

Re-Look at MDU - Fidelity Plans For Ten (10) Rigs By End of Next Year -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

See link posted a few minutes earlier.

Think about that. Perhaps MDU/Fidelity won't be putting all ten (10) rigs in the North Dakota Bakken, but one has to assume most of them will end up here. MDU/Fidelity has a relatively small footprint in North Dakota: 90,000 acres.

By comparison, Continental Resources has almost a million acres, and even "tiny" Oasis which got its start by buying Fidelity's Cottonwood oil field acreage, has over 300,000 acres.

Even with that relatively small footprint, Fidelity will be moving to 10 rigs. And maybe they will stop with three or four in the Bakken and deploy the rest in such areas as the Niobrara. But right now, the Niobrara does not appear as active as the Bakken.

Eagle Ford News -- Not the Bakken

Link here.

Halliburton and Schlumberger seek sites near San Antonio.

The story caught my eye 'cause San Antonio is my home.

Fresh off Thursday's revelation that Halliburton Co. is looking to build a "supersite" in the San Antonio area, a county official disclosed that another heavy hitter in oil services wants a piece of the action. Schlumberger, the world's largest oil field services company, with offices in Houston, Paris and The Hague, Netherlands, is proposing to establish a site in south Bexar County, said David Marquez, executive director of Bexar County's economic development department. He said Schlumberger's operation would not be as large as what Halliburton is considering, "but it's still significant and still in the southern part of the county."

Baker Hughes in August said it plans to build a $30 million operations center and administrative headquarters in southeast Bexar County [San Antonio] to support drilling in the Eagle Ford shale. The company said the center, to be built on 64 acres at Interstate 37 and U.S. 181, eventually will employ 400. Switzerland-based Weatherford International said in June that it will build a facility on the northwest quadrant of Loop 1604 and I-37, according to a company official. The structure will include offices and bays to house and service the company's hydraulic fracturing equipment, a company spokeswoman said. Halliburton, though, appears to be the big fish.

If BHI plans to build a $30 million operations center but HAL is considered the "big fish," one can only imagine the size of their "supersite."

Exciting.

Does The Bakken Extend to Minot, North Dakota -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I've been getting several queries lately on whether the Bakken will extend as far east as Minot, North Dakota.

There's a great slide on the extent of the Bakken at the recent MDU/Fidelity corporate presentation, slide 15. It's a long PDF file and it may take a moment to load; the lower left of your browser might say "Done" and you might not see any activity; wait a few more moments, and the PDF file will eventully pop up. I have a fast link today and it still took a moment for it to download.

While at the presentation, take a look at the number of rigs MDU/Fidelity will eventually have in the Bakken, going from three or four now to ten (10) rigs by the end of next year (2012).