Gasoline Demand Vs Initial Claims For Jobless Benefits

I don't think I could be in a better mood. Today was a non-event day in the Bakken and I can't remember posting so many stories before. It is absolutely incredible all the stories coming out of the energy sector, generally, and the Bakken, specifically.

I posted a link to an article earlier today but I doubt most folks read it -- the story relating gasoline demand to unemployment. I like it 'cause it had a cool graph.

Regular readers know that I don't "believe" in the job recovery, but this graph is somewhat reassuring. Two things jump out at me: if there is a correlation between gasoline demand and US jobs, the former seems to be lagging a bit this time around. Considering the price of oil and the price of gasoline, this should be somewhat concerning to American consumers. But for investors in oil companies, 4Q13 and 1Q14 should be very, very interesting.

The second thing that jumps out at me is this: not only does it appear that gasoline demand is lagging the upturn in jobs, gasoline demand is "flat and low" relative to 2002 - 2006. I mean really, really low. And I don't think it's due to all those Leafs and Priuses that are being sold.

So, that was one thing that got me excited about today.

The Alliance Pipeline story was something else that got me very excited. I am simply amazed how much infrastructure is being put in place in the energy sector.

Of course, the record oil production for May, 2013, North Dakota, was quite incredible. We were warned in May that the very, very wet Bakken might impact production. I'm sure it did. Last May (2012), I believe there was a 5% month-over-month increase in production; this year, only 2%.

And last, but not least, COP's announcement that it increased its dividend -- I think that was reported last week.

So, for a mundane Monday, lots of good news.

Oh, almost forgot -- the production from a Statoil Pyramid well on the northwest side of Williston: 37,000 bbls of oil in 17 days in May. A reader alerted me to that.