Wednesday, September 12, 2012

What We Will Be Talking About Thursday; Wells Coming Off Confidential List; China To Build 400 MW Power Plant Near Odessa, Texas; Will Build an Adjacent Coal Gasification Plant

New record: 674,000 bopd.
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Google household income sinks to '95 level, and based on polls, no one seems to care:
Annual household income fell in 2011 for the fourth straight year to an inflation-adjusted $50,054. Median annual household income—the figure at which half are above and half below—now stands 8.9% below its all-time peak of $54,932 in 1999, at the end of the 1990s economic expansion.   
It's not worth looking up, but I've seen the phrase "for the fourth straight" too many times to count this past year. 

But everyone seems content; the gap widens; and life goes on.  But everyone seems content, this is what I mean: it's a close Senate race in Massachusetts AND North Dakota; California is likely to vote to increase taxes on themselves; California elite say they should pay more taxes. As does Warren. 
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Google weather woes sow worry on wheat and look at the graphic. 

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RBN Energy: need for new natural gas processing plants will spur preparation sooner than later
Significant increased natural gas demand for power generation will require not just the operational and scheduling coordination that the FERC discussions are spearheading, but also infrastructure changes to supply new generating facilities. The conclusions of the MISO study, although preliminary, provide useful insight into issues that will be faced by utilities across the country as lower gas prices and coal plant retirement increase dependence on gas supplies for power generation. Given the time it takes to plan, permit and develop new infrastructure, the MISO study appears to indicate that preparation to hookup the next generation of gas fired plants should be happening sooner rather than later.
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Speaking of clean-coal power plants, which we weren't, take a look at this. Google China takes big role in Texas plant: Sinopec, that would be a Chinese company will manage construction of a critical portion of a new clean coal power plant near Odessa, Texas, and ALL funding will come from a Chinese bank. 
The changes mean that China will take a leading role in the project, which underscores the country's ambition to invest more heavily in the U.S. energy sector and play a direct—and more visible—role in managing technically challenging projects. The undertaking near Odessa, Texas, includes a 400-megawatt power plant and an adjacent chemical facility where coal will be turned into a clean, combustible gas to reduce pollution when the gas is burned to generate electricity at the power plant.
The trend continues: everyone is looking east. China looks east to North America. The US looks east to Yemen.
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Heckmann shares jump almost 10% today. No explanation. (Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.)

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Harold Hamm will be testifying (I would prefer to use the word "presenting," in this case) at the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday. A snippet of his prepared remarks are here; his full testimony will be available later.

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Wells coming off confidential list on Thursday.
20298, 514, OXY USA, David Sadowsky 1-11-14H-142-96, Manning oil field; t3/12; cum 31K 7/12;
22159, 655, Hess, BW-Hedstrom-149-100-1201H-1, Ellsworth, t6/12; cum 30K 7/12;
22230, 560, SM Energy, Torgeson 2-30HNB, West Ambrose, t5/12; cum 29K 7/12;
22325, drl, XTO, Wallace 21X-2B, West Capa, cum 26K 7/12; no IP yet;

The XTO well:

PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN7-201231756376296090879072051523
BAKKEN6-20123010635107071034313933013873
BAKKEN5-2012312804210912417354103523


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Portland to Fluoridate Water

Portland is the largest US city not to fluoridate water. The council voted 5-0 to fluoridate water by 2014. This is my favorite line:
Fluoridation has been a touchy issue for decades, with opponents contending that the chemical is linked to lower intelligence in children ....
I have spent a a fair amount of time in Portland over the past few years; it's where my younger daughter lives. Based on what I've seen in Portland, the lack of fluoridation might be associated with lower intelligence in adolescents. "Keep Portland weird" is not just a motto for this city. Having said that, Portland has the best bookstore in the country: Powell's.

10 comments:

  1. http://www.oaoa.com/news/business/article_753e18f0-fce5-11e1-b259-0019bb30f31a.html

    And Claytie!

    "The $2.5 million coal gasification plant will be located in Penwell and will create four sellable by-products for Summit including electricity, CO2 and urea fertilizer and sulfuric acid and contracts have been signed for the sale of all four products.
    Of the total $2.5 billion cost, $450 million will be provided by a cost sharing award provided by the Department of Energy under the DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative.
    Once Sinopec Engineering Group executes the engineering, procurement and engineering contracts with Summit, the Export-Import Bank of China is expected to provide over $1 billion in debt towards the financing of the project, said Summit Project Manager Laura Miller.
    Miller said Tuesday’s events definitely put the project closer to financial closing.
    “The only piece is the equity – right now Summit and Clayton Williams have the major equity in the project, with the exception soon of our fertilizer purchaser, which announced yesterday that it will be making a small equity contribution to the project,” Miller said."

    anon 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DOE: $400 million
      Bank of China: $1 billion
      Fertilizer purchaser: small amount
      Summit:
      Clayton Williams:

      Cost of plant: $2.5 billion

      Delete
  2. Grew up across the river in Vancouver WA area, can say the folks in Portland have always been a bit odd. Great city, Powells is awesome, the people are weird- so it must be working, eh?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is great to hear from someone across the river; my son-in-law and his family are from the north side of the river, also. Battle Creek? I believe. I always associate Battle Creek with Michigan.

      No Battle Creeks in North Dakota, the Peace Garden State, as far as I know. Smile.

      Delete
  3. that would be Battle Ground. Nice trout lake nearby.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, It appears they have a lot of rebels in P Town. Been stubborn for a long while now! Amazing how people think. My sweet 88 year old uncle who farms there for last 60 years would like to see floride. And he uses chemicals on his farm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .... but a very beautiful city. And great bands/music.

      Delete
  5. The record 674,000 bpd has decelerated, with a gain of only 14,000 bpd. This is about the lowest increase since the winter and wet spring of 2011.

    Were there a numbet of wells that were drilled but not fracked in July because of low prices. September's increases should be huge, otherwise the rate of production growth may be slowing faster than anticipated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you are correct. I think I posted that elsewhere. The 2 percent increase is less than the expected 3 - 4 percent. At one time, I had expected 5 percent monthly increases, but, as you noted, down to 2 percent this last reporting period.

      This is one data point. Like you, I will be interested in the numbers in the next few months. If you look at the sidebar at the right, notice the significantly increased number of wells coming off confidential list in September, November, and December compared to July and August.

      Pad drilling will slow up completions, all things being equal.

      At least one report that well production (per well) has decreased on average about 30% this year (2012) compared to last year (2011); I don't know if that's been confirmed or simply an anecdotal observation.

      Delete