Non-Iraqi Stories

Non-Iraqi articles -- yes, there is still some other news out there. Some of these stories have been reported elsewhere. Some of these stories were originally sent to me by readers but I never had a chance to get them posted. The stories start with those from Rigzone.

First, Mexico doesn't sound a whole lot better off than Iraq. Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:

To grasp the difficulties Mexico faces in capitalizing on a North American shale boom, just wander into the dusty landscape due south of the U.S. border.

On one side of the fence, thousands of wells work around the clock in Texas to produce record volumes of shale oil and gas, transforming towns like Carrizo Springs in a modern-day gold rush.

On the other side, violent drug cartels roam above untapped shale riches, leaving behind a trail of blood. The relatively few conventional wells operated by state oil giant Pemex and its contractors close down overnight as a security precaution. But surging crime, while dramatic, is just one of many obstacles thwarting a Mexican shale boom that is seen as years off at best.

"Organized crime is an additional operating cost companies will be keeping a close eye on," said Alberto Islas, head of Mexico City-based consultancy firm Risk Evaluation.

Bullet-riddled corpses are piling up in and around the city of Reynosa in the heart of one of Mexico's richest shale deposits, a major flashpoint of gang wars where hundreds of troops have deployed in recent weeks.

Since April, there have been dozens of murders in Reynosa, a city of 600,000, as the Gulf Cartel battles the infamous Zetas. The dead include a top Tamaulipas state intelligence officer. The head bodyguard to the state governor has been implicated in the crime.

The article goes on for five internet pages.

Next up: Reuters via Rigzone is reporting that Norway will cut back on oil and gas CAPEX in 2015, and it will affect the state's economy:

Norway's oil and gas investments, a key economic growth factor, will fall sharply in 2015, an official survey showed on Thursday, increasing chances that the central bank will keep interest rates low for an extended period.

Investments in the Norwegian continental shelf were expected to come in at $30.39 billion in 2015, a 12 percent drop compared with the initial estimate for 2014, published in June last year, and the lowest comparable level since 2012. The preliminary figures, compiled from oil firms by Statistics Norway, are expected to grow somewhat as companies update their plans later, but the analysts said they were already pointing to lower economic growth.

"This is a significant draw-down on Norwegian growth and suggests a lower interest rate path," Nordea Markets economist Joachim Bernhardsen said of the 2015 investment plans.

Next, for investors, Reuters is reporting via Rigzone:

Consol Energy Inc and Noble Energy Inc said on Thursday they would form a master limited partnership (MLP) for pipeline operations they control in Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale region.

The move will give both companies cash to drill wells in the natural gas-rich Marcellus region and also give investors higher yields, though the MLP governance structure has been criticized by some as weaker and more confusing for investors than those of corporations.

Consol and Noble have confidentially filed paperwork for the MLP to launch an initial public offering. The confidential filing, made possible by a 2012 U.S. law designed to shield small companies from a media frenzy, enables the Securities and Exchange Commission to privately review the IPO documents before they are made public.

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Global Warming: Glacier National Park, Montana

This little snippet from the crew plowing snow off the "Going-To-The-Sun-Road" (probably a dynamic link):

On Wednesday, June 11th, the West Lakes Road Crew plowed to the Big Drift where they started initial work on. Although there was not a depth estimate, the Road Crew thought it was a lot bigger than it has been in years past. They started blowing out the parking lot at Logan Pass, installed guard rails, and performed road clean up.

Perhaps the Kennedy clan can get their children and grandchildren out there to see snow in June.