Wells Coming Off the Confidential List Tuesday; KOG With Two Nice Wells; QE 3 Already a Failure?; The WSJ on Saudi's Spare Capacity

Bakken Operations

Price of oil rises as "speculators" fear last week's drop was overdone. -- Bloomberg

Active rigs: 187 (not bad; up from the low of 184)

Wells Coming Off the Confidential List

• 20520, drl, XTO, Bang Federal 21X-19F, Lost Bridge,
• 20774, 1,292, Whiting, Fladeland 11-12TFH, Sanish, t3/12; cum 26K 7/12; 
• 20839, 905, Whiting, Pronghorn State Federal 21-16TFH, t3/12; cum 24K 7/12; 
• 21575, 658, MRO, Strand 44-19H, Strandahl, t6/12; cum 11K 7/12; 
• 22189, 2,350, KOG, P Vance 154-97-2-17-20-15H, Truax, t7/12; cum 8K 7/12;
• 22190, 1,817, KOG, P Vance 154-97-2-17-5-5H, Truax, t7/12; cum 8K 7/12; 
• 22516, 755, SM Energy, Adams 2-18H, Colgan, t7/12; cum 19K 7/12;
• 22547, drl, CLR, Sibbern 1-27H, North Tioga, 

President Obama Not Serious About Natural Gas

"All the above" does not include natural gas. 

Republicans are pointing to the Obama administration’s postponement of a natural-gas export study as evidence that the president’s support of natural gas is mostly talk with little action. 

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week delayed the release of a report on the economics of exporting natural gas until after the election, citing complexities in analyzing the fragmented global natural-gas markets. The report, which is being compiled by a third-party contractor, was originally scheduled for release in March. 

Is Saudi Bluffing?

I have always argued that Saudi's ability to bring more oil to market is exaggerated. I have a tag at the bottom of the blog, "Saudi Perspective" on just that contention. If interested, click on it, and then scroll down through the articles. So it was with great pleasure to see the Wall Street Journal report what I've been saying for years: Saudi doesn't have all that much spare capacity. 

Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, has repeatedly dismissed fears that its spare capacity wouldn't be enough to cover a major disruption. 

But experts are skeptical about whether the so-called swing producer would have enough leeway to make up for a major disruption. According to the International Energy Agency, Saudi spare capacity—the sustainable cushion of available oil it could pump at short notice if needed—was just under two million barrels a day last month, 12% thinner than for the same period last year, when Libya's output was virtually shut down. 

In addition, Saudi Arabia uses more and more of its own oil. In July, the month when the European Union began enforcing a full embargo on Iranian oil, the kingdom actually cut exports of oil and condensates by 7% on a monthly basis, according to the Joint Organization Data Initiative, an oil-transparency effort that uses numbers supplied directly by governments. 

Part of the drop was due to record amounts of oil used by Saudi Arabia this summer, as economic growth spurs domestic consumption. [MDW linked a story on Saudi burning more oil to run air conditioners.]

Is QE3 Already a Failure? 

Riding a bike gives one a lot of time to think. Seeing the market swoon again today, and the price of oil drop again, suggests to me, at least, that QE3, announced just a week or so ago, is already a failure. When it was announced, I thought as much. I have no idea what the expectations were, and don't even know if I have the whole story, but apparently the Fed is just buying more mortgage-backed securities. With mortgages already about as low as they can go, and folks still not buying, suggests that mortgages are not the issue. So, I'm probably all confused on that, and my reasoning is probably all wrong, but the bottom line for me is that there was nothing in QE3 that excited me. And today, while riding around Belmont (a suburb of Boston), I simply thought that QE3 is already a failure.

So, tonight, looking at today's business news, that's the Yahoo!Finance headline: if QE3 doesn't do what it's supposed to, the Federal Reserve is ready to step in and buy other assets (with money it doesn't have):

The Federal Reserve could expand its stimulus package to include assets other than mortgage-backed securities if the U.S. economy fails to respond to its latest effort to jump-start the economy. 

The article says the Fed is limited by what it can buy, but those boundaries are not written in stone; they can be modified.

I'm hoping they considering buying "stuff" that makes it easier for me to finance the following: a) a new Honda Civic; b) a new Apple MacAir; and, c) a new, high-end bicycle. I wonder if there's a way they could throw in a pre-paid Starbucks card for military vets?

20 Stocks "With The Potential"To Pop

Someone posted a list of 20 stocks "with the potential" to pop. Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. #9 on the list was DNR.