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Friday, April 11, 2014

Huge Population Growth In Shale Boomtowns; The President Pays About The Same Tax Rate As I Do: 20%; It Appears The New GM CEO Has A Skeleton (Key) In Her Closet

FuelFix is reporting huge population growth in shale oil boom cities (this was predicted years on the blog; long-time readers might remember).
The oil and gas boom brought about by new drilling technology is drawing people to shale plays like iron filings to magnets.
New census data show a population surge as the oil boom draws workers and families to oil fields around the country. Some of the nation’s fastest-growing communities include Midland and Odessa in the Permian Basin and three cities near North Dakota’s Bakken Shale field: Williston, Dickinson and Minot. The rapid increase in drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale has spilled into San Antonio.
I love the comment at the link: "It's not going to last." Of course not. Of course the Bakken boom is not going to last.

The Permian lasted about 50 years. Oh, that's right, the Permian has just received another 50-year lease on life. LOL.

I don't understand the concern. It will take until 2040 to drill out the Bakken and then the Bakken will produce into 2100; and, we haven't even mentioned the additional formations in addition to the middle Bakken and the Upper Three Forks.

There are jobs for at least three generations of roughnecks.

If the most recent study is correct, that it might take 120,000 wells to drill the Bakken, at 2,000 wells/year, "we're" going to be drilling for 60 years. That's over three generations of roughnecks.

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I haven't looked at the president's most recent federal tax filing, but I suspect his income is slightly higher than mine. At 20%, his tax rate may be slightly lower than mine. Certainly on the margins.

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Here we go again: GM's new CEO has a skeleton key in her closet. CNBC is reporting:
Exactly why the ignition switch problem went unresolved for as much as a decade has spurred a series of investigations by the Department of Justice, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and both houses of Congress. During two Capitol Hill hearings last week, GM CEO Mary Barra was repeatedly criticized for failing to offer clear answers about the ignition switch problem.
One of the documents released Friday showed that while in her previous job as GM's global product development chief, Barra was kept clearly in the loop about a separate recall issue involving steering problems on the Saturn Ion and other GM products.
Some initial news coverage of the newly released documents suggested that this might be a direct link between the GM CEO and the ignition switch problem. But a senior staff member of the House Energy Committee stressed that was not the case, telling TheDetroitBureau.com, such a connection was "premature."
Something tells me some e-mail correspondence will never be found.  There is talk at Starbucks the new GM CEO was set up to fail. I would assume those folks who bet on the "Final Four" are now taking / making bets on how long the new GM CEO will be the new GM CEO. I give her less than two years if the e-mail correspondence reveals a smoking gun.

Disclaimer: this is not a betting site. Do not place any bets based on what you read here or think you may have read here. If you want to bet, go to Atlantic City or Las Vegas.