MondayLinks; SSN News; BEXP and KOG With Nice Wells; OXY Fail; Google's Motorola Division To Close One-Third of US Offices; Harold Hamm; CLR To Issue $2 Billion in Senior Notes

Samson Oil & Gas acquires 25% stake within Williston Basin: Co announces it has executed a definitive agreement to participate in the exploration of an area within the Williston Basin. Pursuant to this agreement, co will acquire a 25% interest in 23,700 acres at a price of $266 per acre, with the payment of $1.58 mln due at closing following normal due diligence on land title. The exploration opportunity is a conventional oil project that is adjacent to existing production from Mississippian aged reservoirs. The specific location of the project will remain undisclosed.

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Coming off confidential list, Monday:

• 21218, 463, WPX/Dakota-3, Good Bird 36-25H, Moccasin Creek, t7/12; cum --
• 21492, 460, Hess, GO-Walt Lewis 157-97-2017H-1, Ray, t7/12; cum 8K 6/12;
• 22017, 341, Oasis, Cathy Edwards Federal 5992 31-2H, Cottonwood, t5/12; cum 10K 6/12;
• 22384, 2,910, BEXP, Mark 4-9 1H, Williston, t5/12; cum 48K 6/12;
• 20899, drl, BEXP, Eldridge 29-20 1H, Briar Creek, s2/12;
• 21462, 866, Whiting, Klefstad 24-25H, Robinson Lake, t3/12 cum 26K 6/12;
• 21606, 19, OXY USA, Privratsky 1-28-33H-141-95, Simon Butte, t2/12; cum 12K;
• 21670, 923, CLR, Anderson 1-4H, Willow Creek, t6/12; cum 23K 6/12;
• 21701, 2,057, KOG, Skunk Creek 13-18-17-9H, Heart Butte, t6/12; cum 19K 6/12;
• 21855, 1,279, Hess, BL-S Ramberg-155-95-0601H-2, Beaver Lodge, t7/12; cum 16K 6/12;
• 22182, drl, CLR, Opee 1-23H, North Tioga, s2/12;
• 21122, 428, Hess, HA-Chapin-152-95-3229H-2, Hawkeye, t5/12; cum 17K 6/12;
• 21494, drl, Hess, GO-Durning 157-97-2932H-1, Ray, s2/12;
• 21775, 561, CLR, Syverson 1-1H, East Fork, t5/12; cum 20K 6/12;
• 99190, drl, Dakota Salts, Sorenson Eby Etal 1, Lignite, SWD

The operators in this list (who is here; who is not here) speaks volumes.

Mr Privratsky was my middle school physical education instructor.

Just when I thought OXY was getting its groove back: an IP of 19 for a Bakken well.

For newbies: the IPs above are almost predictable. Over the years, there has been a lot of chatter about BEXP "inflating" IPs (whatever that means) but look at the BEXP production for the Mark 4-9 well: 48K, far exceeding any other report above. I doubt those participating in this well are complaining. KOG has a very nice well -- another Skunk Creek well in Heart Butte. 

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RBN Energy: Halloween, 2012 -- year-over-year natural gas production will start to show a decline. Finally.

It just so happens that if you extend the 2012 average on out for the next few weeks, it intersects the 2011 trend line on October 31, 2012 – Halloween.  After that point, if there is no change in the 2012 gas production growth trajectory, the year-on-year difference between 2012 and 2011 will no longer be positive.   Due to the slight drop in late 2011 and early 2012, even flat production will show a year-on-year decline.  I’m guessing that that will be big news when the media gets ahold of the statistics.

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So, natural gas is at an all-time low; there's a glut of a natural gas. The drought is destroying the US corn crop. Corn prices may reach record highs. In another universe, the EPA mandates additional corn be turned into biofuel. The G20 plans an emergency behind-the-doors meeting on escalating price of food worldwide. Meanwhile the president who killed Keystone XL ...

...arrives in corn-growing Iowa for a three-day tour on Monday. He will be entering a fierce debate in the run-up to the presidential election on whether the grain is worth more as food or biofuel.

And,

The conversations behind closed doors among senior G20 and UN agriculture officials come after the cost of corn, or maize, surged to an all-time high, surpassing the level seen during the 2007-08 food crisis.

The president has three options. It will be interesting to see which option he chooses when he visits Iowa where they love ethanol only slightly more than they love wind energy.

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 Wow, wow, wow. This article doesn't mention Apple, but Apple's dominance is all over this article. Google recently bought Motorola Mobile. Google has announced it will lay off 20% of its workforce worldwide and close one-third of its offices in the US, to streamline its mobile phone operations.

Motorola Mobility has told employees it plans to slash 20 percent of its workforce and shut down nearly a third of its offices worldwide, the New York Times reported. 

 One-third of the 4,000 jobs lost will be in the United States as the company plans to exit unprofitable markets, stop making low-end devices and focus on a few cellphones instead of dozens.

In California, the iPhone is everywhere; everyone has an iPhone.

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Human interest story on Harold Hamm (again); this time in the Washington Post. Thank you to a reader for sending me the link. 

One has to chuckle. The writer noted that Harold Hamm's casual conversation now comes under greater scrutiny, like the time he said Dickinson's McDonald's is the second busiest in the world. The Post pointed out that was incorrect. It would be Williston's McDonald's. It's easy to confuse Williston with Dickinson when one is from out-of-state. 

It was nice to see the Washington Post pointed out that Harold Hamm did win his case in court when his company was charged with the death of one -- repeat, one -- migratory duck during perhaps the worst spring flooding in North Dakota history. [Slicers and dicers kill hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, eagles, and bats annually, to help put things into perspective, something the Post did not point out.]

Speaking of Continental Resources:

Continental Resources, Inc., announced today that, subject to market conditions, it intends to offer $700 million in aggregate principal amount of new senior notes in a private placement to eligible purchasers. The new notes will be part of the series of 5% Senior Notes due 2022 issued by the Company on March 8 , 2012.

Later:

Continental Resources, Inc. (" Continental " or the "Company") (NYSE: CLR) announced today the pricing of its private placement of $1.2 billion of new 5% senior unsecured notes due 2022.  The new notes will be issued pursuant to the March 8, 2012 indenture applicable to its previously issued $800 million aggregate principal amount of 5% senior unsecured notes, resulting in a total of $2.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 5% senior unsecured notes being issued pursuant to the March 8, 2012 indenture.  The new notes were sold at 102.375% of par, resulting in a yield to worst of 4.624% with respect to the new notes.  The offering is expected to close on August 16, 2012 , subject to customary closing conditions.