Economics No Longer Make Keystone XL Viable -- CNBC

Link here.

I posted the same thing yesterday (doubting that TransCanada would be quick to build it with the slump in price of oil, the dramatic increase in cost estimates, and the fact that Canada has a long-term option, and in the short term, Canadian oil is still reaching its markets).

It is interesting to note that the linked CNBC article does not include the new price tag for the Keystone XL.

The linked article also notes:

The so-called "heavy oil" extracted from sand in Alberta, which the proposed pipeline would carry to Nebraska, en route to refineries on the Gulf Coast, will cost between $85 and $110 to produce, depending on which drilling technology is used, according to a report in July by the Canadian Energy Research Institute, a nonprofit whose work is often cited by Keystone proponents. West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded today at $76.67.

"Anything not under construction [is] at risk of being delayed or canceled altogether," said Dinara Millington, vice president for research at Calgary-based CERI. Her cost estimates include the price of drilling new wells, meaning that existing wells that have already been paid for can continue to pump oil profitably, she said.

In my list of those feeling the pain of low oil prices, I keep forgetting to add Canada/Canadian oil sands. My apology.

At the top of my list of those feeling the pain: Venezuela.

Deep-sea drilling.

Then Canada/Canadian oil sands.

Then Russia. 

I don't put any of the other OPEC countries at the top of the list though others do. 

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Mid-Day Market

I see MDU increased its quarterly dividend, albeit rather small. From the press release:

The MDU Resources Group (NYSE: MDU) board of directors today increased the company's quarterly common stock dividend to 18.25 cents per share, for an annualized dividend of 73 cents per share. The previous quarterly dividend was 17.75 cents per share.

This is the 24th consecutive year that MDU Resources has increased its common stock dividend, a mark achieved by only about 3 percent of the more than 3,300 North American-listed, dividend-paying common stocks traded on a major exchange.

Holy Toledo! The number of companies trading at new highs is incredible, and the market is up only 40 points. Six of the last seven days the market has hit new record highs. It would have been seven straight days but yesterday the Dow was down a couple of points. Of note: AAPL, BRK.A, BRK.B, CAH, CSX, MSFT, TGT, WMT, YHOO.

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