You Are Kidding, Aren't You?

Link here.

"In the meantime, cuz (sic) I know people are hurting right now and it feels like a tax out of their paychecks, what we’re doing is looking at every single area that can affect gas prices, from bottlenecks that are out there, we’ve set up a task force to look into speculation to make sure people aren't taking advantage of the situation on the global oil markets," President Obama told WKRC-TV.

Well, that's reassuring.

Idle Rambling on the Bakken -- Chaos Is Self-Organizing

Updates

March 16, 2012: incredibly good post from "Bismarck anonymous" down below regarding recent action by state legislature to increase bonds on oil drillers for waste pits. I don't believe I posted that story (I can't remember for sure); for reasons I won't go into (pros/cons) I think I decided not to post it. But it showed up anyway via the comment below: here's the link. I agree with the writer: overkill by the legislature. Meanwhile wind towers given pass to kill whooping cranes, golden eagles. I suppose for folks who think the NDIC is too pro-oil and not sensitive enough to the environment, this is the "check and balance." Anyway, regardless of which side you are on with regard to this issue, incredibly good comment. I agree with the writer. Thank you.

Original Post

Regular readers know this: one of my favorite lines is "chaos is self-organizing."

I grew up with that quote, heard it so long ago I can't remember where I first heard it or from whom I heard it. I do have an idea who first said that to me.

The quote came up again tonight in one of my replies. A quick google search resulted in this:

http://www.audubon-area.org/NewFiles/newchaos.htm

The author of that article: Toby Tetenbaum. Read a bit more here. 

I don't know anything about that site than what I see when I get there. I don't know the folks behind that website, their mission statement, their agenda, but a quick scan through the single page was very interesting. It sounded like something written in the last year or two. And then I saw that it was published in 1998.

Chaos is self organizing. That's the good news for those working in the Bakken.

China, India, and Now Japan ---

Link here to Rigzone.

Japan consumes 25 percent more liquefied natural gas (LNG) than it did a year ago, and relies more heavily on coal to meet its power generation needs. However, the increase in oil consumption is also noteworthy, with Japanese oil demand growing year over year by 275,000 bpd due to higher crude burn, up year over year by 208,000 bpd and fuel oil consumption, up year over year by 159,000 bpd, according to a March 14 report by Barclays Capital.

Japan's use of fossil fuels in power generation has grown sharply over the past year, and only two of 54 nuclear reactors are currently in operation, according to Barclays Capital. The nation's oil consumption has risen about 9 percent year over year. The lack of nuclear power has resulted in increases in the use of fuel oil and direct-burning of crude oil.

US Food Stamp Coupons Need a Photo To Personalize The Program

This was sent to me; if it is copyrighted and not to be posted, let me know and I will immediately remove it.

US food-stamp use reaches record 45.8 million, USDA says.  -- November 2, 2011.

Folks are either abusing the program or they really need it. I honestly do not know which, but I know where the buck stops.

Homeless Youths In Williston and the State Has So Much Oil Money They Don't Know What To Do With It

Updates

Highway 61 Revisited, Million Dollar Bashers Critics have written that Dylan's ability to combine driving, complex, blues-based rock music with the power of poetry made Highway 61 Revisited one of the most influential albums ever recorded. -- Wiki

Highway 61 is also known as the Blues Highway. 

Original Post

TheOilPatchtoday.com featured stories of homelessness in Williston affecting children in its debut issue, and the state has so much money they don't know what to do with it.

Link here.

North Dakota may need to get a bigger piggy bank.

The latest state finance report predicts at least $1.5 billion in surplus and reserves by June 30, 2013, the end of the biennium.

The state’s booming economy has resulted in stronger than expected revenues from sales taxes, individual and corporate income taxes, and oil and gas taxes.

“We’ve never seen our revenues come in at this rate over forecast before,” said Pam Sharp, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “Revenue growth is at an all-time high.”

Sharp gave a financial update to legislators during the Budget Section’s meeting Tuesday in the Capitol.
North Dakotans continue to spend money, resulting in $80.9 million in sales tax collections in February, according to her report.

This was $21 million more than expected.

$21 million would go a long way to help the homeless youth in the oil patch.

One could ask, "How much money does the state need?" The link takes you to the synopsis of one of the greatest stories ever told (spoiler alert). At the link, it is said James Joyce wrote his daughter regarding this story. One of the most poignant biographies ever written is that of James Joyce and his daughter Lucia.

US Senate To End Wind Subsidies

Even the two Wyoming senators, in whose state there are significant wind energy projects being proposed / developed, voted against extending wind energy subsidies. Link here.

Neither of Wyoming’s senators — both Republicans — voted for the amendment, which helps offset the cost of electricity production during a wind farm’s first 10 years.

Spokespeople for both Sen. John Barrasso and Sen. Mike Enzi emphasize the cost of the tax credit to the national debt and the tax break’s support for what Barrasso spokeswoman Laura Mengelkamp called “projects of questionable value.”

“The Stabenow amendment would have added $11.7 billion over 10 years to the deficit and reinstated problematic programs that had expired,” Enzi spokesman Dan Head said.

And from the St Paul Pioneer Press, February 24, 2012 (the link may or may not work; the full article is archived at the source, and a subscription is required and/or purchase required)

Wind farm blocked by fears for eagles, bats Regulators deny plan for sprawling project in Goodhue County 

Concerns over killing bald eagles and insect-eating bats might have derailed plans for a 78-megawatt wind farm in rural Goodhue County. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday denied a plan submitted by AWA Goodhue Wind Project to monitor and protect the eagles and bats around the proposed 32,700-acre wind farm site in southeast Minnesota. The project involves building 50 turbines in an area that includes the Mississippi Flyway, a wide corridor used by migrating birds....

This may or may not refer to the story I posted on December 19, 2011, at this link, but I hope so. 

How to Manage a Housing Shortage -- Dickinson, North Dakota, USA

Rental availability in Dickinson is zero according to Debbie Downer.

The chances of getting an apartment in Dickinson are slim-to-none, and that’s if people coming into the area can afford the rent, officials said Tuesday.

“Rents are sky high,” said Michael Carbone, North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People Inc. “Minot, Williston, Bismarck and Dickinson represent communities where no one can rent regardless of their circumstance.”

It doesn't help that Dickinson has banned all temporary housing.  Williston has now banned all new man-camps, also.

I was not aware that there were no rentals available in Minot or Bismarck.

Some Great Photos of the Bakken

Link here.

Sent to me by a reader. Thank you.

Fifteen (15) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, March14, 2011--

Operators: BEXP (5), Newfield (3), CLR (2), ERF (2), OXY USA, EOG, Sinclair

Fields: Eagle Nest, Manning, Banks, Oliver, Haystack Butte, Lone Butte, Ragged Butte, Ross

Seven (7) wells released from "tight hole" status; three were completed; four went to DRL status. Of the three reporting IPs:

• 20534, 439, G3 Operating, Poeckes 1-32-29H, Williams
• 20597, 2,522, Whiting, Norgard 21-13H, McKenzie
• 20677, 1,466, Whiting, Brehm 12-7TFH, Mountrail

Note the nice IPs that are being reported.

Trends -- The Impact of the Bakken -- Further Impact of the President Killing the Keystone

Link here.

And more here.

This is really quite incredible -- the impact of four counties (Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie, and Dunn) in fly-over country.

Unless I'm reading one of the linked stories incorrectly, it looks like Valero won't be adding another coker in Louisiana because of the UNCERTAINTY of the KEYSTONE XL. The CEO is not convinced that the pipeline will be finished any time soon, obviously.

Every day, the decision to kill the Keystone XL 1.0 looks more and more irresponsible and ill-conceived.

Meanwhile, purging of the Seaway is complete, one more step in process of reversing the flow.

Back to the earlier links.

First, the  impact on the Bakken leading to increased sweet oil imports in the Gulf:

Increasing U.S. onshore shale oil output likely will displace light sweetcrude imports to the U.S. Gulf Coast by 2015, Valero Corp Chief Executive Bill Klesse said on Tuesday. The increased sweet crude going to Gulf Coast refineries also is expected to narrow heavy crude differentials to thepoint that Valero aims to shelve plans to add a coker unit toits 292,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas,because it won't be economical, Klesse said.

Four years ago we thought we want to build cokers to do allof this but today you're seeing much more light sweet crude,"said Klesse, head of the largest U.S. independent refiner,during a break at the annual meeting of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers in San Diego, California.

"In another two to three years, we are saying like 2014 to 2015, there will be no light sweet crude imports into the U.S. Gulf Coast. It's about a million barrels today," he said.

In North Dakota alone, drilling in the Bakken shale prospectdoubled the state's crude output in the last two years to546,050 barrels per day (bpd). That will narrow the discount of heavy crude compared tolight, so much so that Valero expects to let its permit for a $500 million coker project at the Port Arthur plant expire.He said a big factor in the equation is uncertainty as to when TransCanada's proposed $7 billion Keystone XLpipeline can move forward to transport Canadian heavy crude from Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries with coker capability to process it -- like several of Valero's plants. 

Pressure on Canadian oil sands and  Bakken sweet:

Bargain-basement discounts on Canadian crude are more than just a short-term irritant for producers as surging supplies and a limited U.S. Midwest refining market threaten to cut
industry-wide revenues by as much C$18 billion ($18 billion) a year, an analyst said on Monday.

Wide light and heavy crude price spreads plaguing the Canadian market since the start of the year could expand even more in the coming two months as numerous refineries begin
maintenance, and the end of that work and start of a reversed pipeline to Texas from Oklahoma won't bring permanent relief to fundamental problems.

He said the situation could last beyond 2013, when the Keystone XL southern portion starts to drain large volumes of>supply from the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub and moves it toTexas refineries. The northern, cross-border portion of Keystone XL and or newpipeline capacity to Canada's West Coast are not expected tostart up until the second half of the decade.Another factor that may ease the situation could be a reversal of Royal Dutch Shell's 1.2 million barrel a day Capline pipeline to Illinois from the Gulf Coast, Potter said.

One source told Reuters on Monday that the concept i sunder discussion.

Canadian synthetic crude, derived from the Alberta oil sands, and Bakken light oil, from North Dakota shale deposits, are selling for around $16 a barrel and more under U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude and $34 under the international Brent marker.

Some great investment opportunities, if one thinks about it.

Investors Only: Whiting Offering Units in Its Second Trust

Link here.

Whiting Petroleum Corporation announced yesterday (March 13)  that it has commenced a public offering of 16,000,000 units of beneficial interest in Whiting USA Trust II. Whiting Petroleum Corporation expects that the public offering price will be between $19.00 and $21.00 per trust unit. Whiting Petroleum Corporation will grant the underwriters for the offering an option to purchase up to an additional 2,400,000 trust units to cover over-allotments, if any.

GeoResources Earnings -- 4Q11

From Yahoo!In Play:

GeoResources beats by $0.03, beats on revs: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.41 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.38; revenues rose 51.7% year/year to $41.1 mln vs the $37.7 mln consensus. "We are pleased with our financial and operating results for 2011. We ended the year with a record net production level of over 6,100 boe/d. We also generated record revenue, EBITDAX and adjusted net income for both the 4th quarter and year ended December 31, 2011."