Seven (7) New Permits -- North Dakota, August 4, 2014

Wells coming off the confidential list Tuesday:

• 26707, 658, Hunt, Bowline 1-2-11H,  Little Tank, t5/14; cum 13K 6/14;
• 26801, drl, Hess, SC-Tom-153-98-1514H-6, Truax, no production data,
• 27402, drl, XTO, William Federal 41X-6C, Bear Den, no production data;

Note: 

• 27492, conf, Murex, Shauna Michelle 26-35H, Daneville, no production data, based on its location, this should almost be a wildcat; nearest Bakken is two miles to the east in a different oil field (Writing Rock, Divide County); this field is exactly one township in size (T161NR102W). There are no Bakken wells in this field and only two inactive wells (#10126, and #10348, a Winnipegosis/Red River well; and a Birdbear/Red River well, respectively, neither of which amounted to anything). Daneville oil field is about 6 miles directly south of Skjermo oil field, which shares its northern "border" with the Canadian border.

Active rigs:

	8/4/2014	08/04/2013	08/04/2012	08/04/2011	08/04/2010
Active Rigs	193	179	206	182	141

Seven (7) new permits --

• Operators: KOG (3), Hess (2), American Eagle, Oasis
• Fields: Truax (Williams), Blue Buttes (McKenzie), Skjermo (Divide), Tyrone (Williams)
• Comments:

Wells coming off the confidential list this weekend and today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

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Geo-Politics

I am just throwing this comment out there; it is not a political comment as in "pro-Obama or anti-Obama." It is simply an observation. It comes, probably, because of all the years I spent in that part of the world, physically and intellectually. Because of that I am probably more sensitive to what is going on in Iraq than perhaps some others in my circle of non-military colleagues. 

So, here's the comment: based on the very little news I'm seeing come out of Iraq, it appears to me that things are going well for the insurgents (ISIS), and not so well for either Kurdistan or the official Iraqi government in Baghdad. I could be wrong, but two things over the weekend: a) the rebels took more territory, towns, I believe in Kurdistan; and, b) they captured a dam with Iraqi regional (and perhaps national) consequences. [One wonders if the French Revolution might not be a good analogy; some irony there due to the long historical relationship between France and Iraq.]

Here's the observation: because the US has very little skin in the game in Iraq right now (in terms of "boots on the ground") there is currently little mainstream media or political interest in what is going on in Iraq. In addition, whatever interest there might be, it is being superseded by other "things" that are occupying Washington:

• a coming election where politics is local, not so much international
• OPEN BORDERS / OPEN ARMS policy
• the very influential Jewish lobby (again, I'm not taking sides); Israel-Hamas
• the spat with Russia (again, I'm not taking sides); Russia-Ukraine-Germany
• global warming
• corporate inversions and
• August recess

There is only so much room on the front page of The New York Times.

Iraq comes near the bottom of the list, if it even makes the list. I remember in Air War College, there were some senior officers who felt "Iraq did not matter." Time will tell. However Iraq turns out, I'm getting the feeling that it will occur off the US radar scope.

So, again, just an observation; no hidden political agenda one way or the other. As noted, I'm probably more sensitive to this "lack of information" coming out of Iraq due to my time spent there some years ago.

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Space Program

Perry: 1 

Jerry: 0

Tesla billionaire to build space port in Rick Perry's home state; not Jerry's

Bloomberg is reporting:

Billionaire Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. plans to build the world’s first commercial launchpad near Brownsville in south Texas, Governor Rick Perry’s office said.

The state is providing $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to bring an estimated 300 jobs to the launch site, which will inject about $85 million of capital investment into the economy, according to a news release. [Many other dollar incentives at the linked article.]

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, founded by Musk in 2002, designs, builds and launches rockets and has the goal of enabling life on other planets. The company persuaded local governments near Brownsville, the nation’s poorest metropolitan area, to compete with alternative sites in Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico.

California was not even on the short list? Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico. That was it? They all have something in common.

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This Is Political

Thinking about Rick Perry bringing all those jobs to Texas.

At the national level, if the president, who has no skin in the game in any of the world's hot spots (Mideast, Russia, Asia, Africa); is not creating any new jobs at home; and, has the Fed "micro-managing" the economy for him, exactly, what is the president doing? Taking selfies at fund-raising events (photo-ops) and golfing (non-photo-ops)? That's a rhetorical question.

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Speaking of the nation's poorest metropolitan area --

Old Rivers, Walter Brennen   Every time I hear this song, I am reminded of my dad telling stories about his dad (my grandfather Paul) breaking up sod near the Black Hills in South Dakota behind two horses, and a single plow. The nation has come a long way.