Thirteen (13) New Permits and Some Miscellaneous Links, Trivia

Bakken Operations

Active rigs: 186 (steady, slight decrease)

Thirteen (13) new permits --

• Operators: CLR (6), Marathon (3), Petro-Hunt (2), Whiting, Hess
• Fields: Wolf Bay (Dunn), Park (Billings), Stoneview (Divide), Corinth (Williams), Juniper (McKenzie), Union Center (McKenzie)
• Comments:  Another day with no OXY USA or Newfield permit; more Petro-Hunt permits

Wells coming off confidential list were reported earlier; see sidebar at the right.

KOG changed the name of several of their wells; in most cases, minor changes. In two cases "Polar" wells were renames P Thomas wells.

Other links:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000129527&play=1; the Williston housing boom

Even after Sandy, it looks like the economy is going to trump the environment.

Jack Gerard, API's president and CEO, went on to call climate change a "secondary issue" to the economy and jobs for the American public, a sentiment that was echoed by President Obama during a White House press conference on Wednesday. [Oh, really?]

Small increases, but dividend increases just the same:

• Williams Cos increases quarterly dividend 4% to $0.325 from $0.3125 per share (WMB) 
• MDU Resources increases quarterly dividend 3% to $0.1725 from $0.1675 per share (MDU)
• Union Pacific increases quarterly dividend 15% to $0.69 from $0.60 per share (UPR)
• Natl Oilwell Varco increased its quarterly dividend to $0.13/share from $0.12/share (NOV)

Wow, this is very cool -- nothing to do with the Bakken: the Chinese are looking at entering the north Atlantic -- Lajes, the Azores. In another life, I spent a fair amount of time at Lajes Field. It's an incredible island, an incredible runway, and incredible location. Even when I was there 20 years ago or so, it was considered a "back-water base" by the USAF despite its strategic location. It appears the USAF is planning to make this a "ghost base." If the US does this, there's no question Portugal would look for a partner with deeper pockets, e.g., China. This will be fascinating to watch. The Portuguese deserve better than a "ghost base."