Friday, February 28, 2014 -- A Lot Of Non-Bakken Stuff

Active rigs:

	2/28/2014	02/28/2013	02/28/2012	02/28/2011	02/28/2010
Active Rigs	194	183	205	169	96

RBN Energy: On the road to New England.

Natural gas-fired power generation has always played second fiddle to hydropower in the Pacific Northwest, where dams in the Columbia River Basin typically supply well over half the region’s annual power needs. Gas takes on a more significant role, however, in years like this with lower-than-normal precipitation and hydro generation. And the ongoing phase-out of coal-fired plants in the Pacific Northwest is nudging gas closer to center stage—not just in 2014 but also over the long haul. Today we start a series examining the brightening outlook for gas use in the most hydro-dominant region in the US.

Oregon and Washington State represent the heart of the Pacific Northwest, but it is not uncommon to include northern California, Idaho, and Montana in the region as well, given their location and generally similar terrain. That broader definition also takes in the geographic reach of the 31 federally owned dams in the Columbia River Basin (see Figure 1), which together can generate up to 22 gigawatt (GW)—the equivalent of 20 nuclear reactors. (California also has major hydro assets, and imports a lot of hydropower from the Columbia River Basin dams; we will look into California’s hydro/gas situation—including its historic drought—in a later episode of this series.) The Grand Coulee Dam is by far the largest power generator on the Columbia River, accounting for more than 30% of the region’s hydro capacity. Many of the region’s other large hydro dams are located along the main stem of the Columbia as well; the rest are along the Snake River and its tributaries.

 I posted a stand-alone on this.

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The Spin Doctor

Don't you just love this spin? Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

The U.S. government slashed its estimate for fourth-quarter economic growth on Friday in the latest sign of a loss of momentum, but some tentative signs emerged that suggested the worst of the slowdown may be over. [LOL]

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.4 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said, down sharply from the 3.2 percent pace it reported last month and the 4.1 percent logged in the third quarter.

The economy has faced a number of headwinds, including a 16-day shutdown of the government in October and an unusually cold winter that has weighed on activity since late December.

Growth has also been dampened by the expiration of long-term unemployment benefits, cuts to food stamps and businesses placing fewer orders with manufacturers as they work through a pile of unsold goods in their warehouses.

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For Investors Only

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here. 

4Q13 GDP forecast: could be significantly lower.  Forecast for 2.5 percent, down from 3.2 percent pace reported last month, and the 4.1 percent logged in 3Q13.

PennEnergy is reporting:

The UK oil and gas industry had a production rate that was 8 percent less last year despite investing a record-breaking 8.9 billion pounds, Reuters reported. A report by industry lobby Oil and Gas UK revealed UK taxes from fossil fuels are expected to decrease to 5 billion pounds from 6.5 billion pounds in the 2013-2014 financial year. In contrast, for every barrel of oil equivalent, oil and gas operators spent an average of 28 US dollars last year and this figure is projected to grow to more than 130 US dollars per boe in 2014.

"This relentless rise in costs is unsustainable and will result in yet more fields being shut-in and prematurely decommissioned if it is not addressed," the Oil and Gas UK report said.

To boost production, the British government announced a new industry regulator, which may punish companies that do not maximize production at oil and gas fields.

The Olympic games are over. Now the Real games begin. The Ukraine: military invasion and occupation. My hunch: leaders in the US and the EU will make some speeches.

I hope folks didn't have too much bitcoin stored at Mt Gox: once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan on Friday -- wow, that was fast -- the heist just occurred. The company says it may have lost nearly half a billion dollars worth of the virtual coins due to hacking into its faulty computer system. All new programs are a bit rocky at the beginning. Look at ObamaCare. But they will get this fixed, too. Perhaps call in the ObamaCare software writers to fix the faulty bitcoin system.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

I don't watch television any more, except when passing through airports, or perhaps a bit of some sports event, but that's about it.  I'm staying with my dad while visiting the Bakken, and he gets about 65 cable channels. I ended up watching C-Span last night, just for some background noise -- the Senate was voting on the nomination of some deputy director of some federal agency. I think it took an hour for the voting to occur; I finally quit watching when the vote was 91 for and 0 against. It looked like the nomination would pass. I don't know what Harry Reid required for confirmation, but the crawler said 51 votes were needed.

I think I mentioned that in my original blog: televisions have replaced the conventional, classical, fireplace -- something that gives off light and a feeling of warmth. I think I had the television on last night because it was easier than starting a fire in the fireplace. And produced less carbon dioxide.

Before leaving for coffee this morning ($1.81 for coffee and a maple long john) at CashWise, I saw about five minutes of CNBC. I was thrilled to see Joe Kernen still vehemently upset about the global warming scam, speaking of which, the forecast is for overnight temperatures, without wind chill, to be about 25 degrees below zero.

For newbies, and especially the folks from Louisiana and Texas, this means that one has to "go" 32 degrees to get down to zero, and then there's another 25 degrees to go to get to 25 degrees below zero. It seems obvious but I think some folks forget that. Maybe the Canadians have it right. They start freezing at 0 degrees and then they only have to go 25 degrees to get to "25 below." Americans start freezing 32 degrees higher and they have to go about 57 degrees to get to "25 below."