Wednesday, November 12, 2014; Did The GOP Pick Up Ten (10) Senate Seats? Will Tom Steyer Be Thrown Under The Bus, Metaphorically Speaking?

Updates

November 13, 2014: looks like the 9th Senate seat for sure. Landrieu is down 16 points.

 

Original Post

Active rigs:

	11/12/2014	11/12/2013	11/12/2012	11/12/2011	11/12/2010
Active Rigs	188	181	191	201	158

RBN Energy: the diluent trail across Canada, part 4.

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Bakken Operations

These are some interesting stories coming out of the Bakken, posted earlier:

• EOG reports another Parshall well that has produced almost 150,000 bbls in less than five months; look at the amount of sand used: 14 million lbs

•  NCS Energy set a new fracking-stage record -- not once, but twice; first a 94-stage frack, and then a 102-stage frack -- another world record set in the Bakken.

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Bakken Human Interest Story

I'm still getting caught up with all the stories I missed last week. Don sent me this story. This may be one of the best stories I have read in quite some time.  Billings Business is reporting. Pay attention to this young woman's background, the obstacles, and her age. 

Hanna Olson, now 22, moved to Williston three years ago as a 19-year-old high school dropout to work and make a lot of money.

Grateful for the company housing and increased hourly wage as a cashier, Olson, who grew up on a 15-acre farm near Mt. Rainier, soon learned the cost of living was high in the boom town.

It was during a short stint delivering small parts to locations for an oil field company where she first saw hotshots — drivers who quickly respond to requests for tools and equipment using a 1-ton pickup with a 40-foot flatbed trailer.

With the help of a roommate, who saw her struggling and wanting more, she got her commercial driver’s license permit.

But without a truck and trailer and the skills necessary to take the practical test, her dream eluded her — until she met Alton after cold-calling a dozen hotshot companies.

It's an incredible story. Now imagine that 20-something driving a one-ton truck with a 40-foot trailer, at midnight, in the middle of winter, on the roads in the Bakken, like the ones you see here:

Driving Down Into The Bear Den, Western North Dakota, The Bakken  

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Why 30-Hour ObamaCare Rule Is A Trainwreck

The Coyote Blog is reporting:

Note the household income per earner for the lowest quintile.  It equates to something over $14 an hour, well above minimum wage almost everywhere in the US and nearly as high as the $15 national minimum wage proposed as an anti-poverty program.

The problem with most poor households is not wage rate, it is getting full time work.

The household income per earner is nearly as high as the average income of the second quintile.  The problem is that most poor households do not have full-time earners.   The key stat is that only 16% worked full-time and only 30% had any sort of job at all.

The writer doesn't mention ObamaCare and the 30-hour rule. At one of the places I often visit for coffee, I listen to the employees -- and they are all anxious about getting enough hours. I assume that is very true for McDonald's, also.

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Don't Trust This Story

EcoWatch: Transforming Green is reporting:

As Republicans get set to test their new majority in the U.S. Senate and their complete control of Congress to push through approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, a new investigative report by editor Lou Dubose at the Washington Spectator reveals that the construction of a “Keystone XL clone” pipeline with almost the same capacity is already taking place.

While TransCanada continues to battle the public outcry against its Keystone XL project, another company, Enbridge, is quietly building the Alberta Clipper pipeline. Like Keystone XL, it will pumped 830,000 oil barrels (bbl) a day of tar sands bitumen crude oil from the Alberta oil fields to U.S. refineries.

“In six to eight months the Canadian tar-sands spigot opens to full capacity,” wrote Dubose. “Barring litigation or action by the State Department, Enbridge will achieve what has eluded TransCanada. And it will have done so with scant attention from the media and without the public debate generated by campaigns against the Keystone XL.”

The Spectator analyzed State Department documents, annual reports and interviews with Enbridge officials and lawyers to learn how the company pushed through a pipeline virtually identical to Keystone XL without a public process or attracting much attention.

While a pipeline that crosses international borders requires presidential and State Department approval declaring that the project is “in the national interest,” the Spectator says Enbridge used a creative interpretation of an existing 1967 permit to circumvent the law and public opinion. 

The rest of the story is at the link.

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Other News

For investors, trading at new highs: AAPL, BRK-A, BRK-B, CAH, CSX, NSC. In addition, UNP (thank you Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska) is flirting with new highs.

Sempra is trading down a bit today. Last Friday:

A Sempra Energy unit, U.S. Gas & Power, has teamed up with Consolidated Edison Development, a unit of Consolidated Edison Inc., for a 75-megawatt wind project in Custer County, NE. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under this 50:50 joint venture, the wind facility − Broken Bow II – will be operated and maintained by Sempra. The plant will generate enough renewable power to serve approximately 30,000 Nebraska homes.

Earlier this year, Sempra Energy and Consolidated Edison announced plans to tie up for five solar projects in Nevada and California. To date, the two companies have partnered in six solar facilities and one wind facility.

Remember, this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. Make no travel plans based on what you read here. I post quickly and frequently; typographical and factual errors are likely. If this information is important to you, go to the source.

 

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Politics

This is really cool. I've mentioned this twice in the past couple of days -- the need for mainstream media to move President Obama off center-stage to make room for the next anointed one. It would start with a barrage of negative Obama stories over the next few weeks/months, and then the positive stories on Hillary. But this is very interesting. Someone else noted this, also. The Washington Post is reporting:

As the presumptive Democratic front-runner in 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton has many of the same goals as President Obama, starting with reassembling and reenergizing the coalition responsible for Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012.

But if she becomes the nominee, Clinton will have to unlink herself from Obama while positioning herself to inherit the bloc of young people and minorities that helped put Obama in the White House.

The unlinking will be accomplished by negative stories on Obama, removing him from center stage (that has already begun); and then we start hearing the positive stories on Hillary. My hunch: Hillary's popularity peaked some years ago. 

Prior to the mid-term elections, there were predictions that the GOP would take control of the Senate by one or two senators. The most exuberant pollsters suggested the GOP would pick up six (6) Senate seats. I do recall that one or two pollsters/pundits thought we might see the GOP pick up as many as eight, but I think most folks blew that off as hyperbole. No one is reporting it except Fox News but the GOP just picked up the 8th senate seat. Alaska. And it is very, very likely that Louisiana will provide the 9th GOP senator. If that happens, that far exceeds the wildest imaginations of (m)any.

Over at CNN where front-page headline news includes such stories as "Errors at Rivers' clinic"; "US soccer looks to college for talent"; and, "Predicting college football's final 4", there is no mention that the GOP picked up the Alaska senate seat.

By the way, there are indications a Democratic federal senator may switch parties. If so, that might mean President Obama lost 10 seats to the GOP in the midterm elections. That midterm already set records, and no matter how "good" or "bad" it was when first reported, the story seems to be getting even more dramatic.

There is some talk that Democratic senators could "approve" the Keystone XL to help Landrieu keep her Senate office. The election will be held December 6. The Senate can do what they want; I doubt SecState John Kerry and POTUS Obama could act that fast. And if they do, will it make a difference? Will Tom Steyer be thrown under the bus, metaphorically speaking?

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War On Coal

President Obama "signs" deal with China on war on coal. China gets to keep building coal plants through 2035 at whatever rate they went (generally about a new coal-powered plant every week, on average); US must cut coal emissions by 26% by 2025. Or something to that effect. This is my recollection; it may be incorrect. If it's important to you, go to the source. But from my viewpoint, it appears, China, 1; USA, 0. A big "zero." Putin said the president was a terrible negotiator. I don't know. Maybe he got something in return that was not reported.

The Coyote Blog on global warming.

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Comet

ESA landed a small probe on a comet ... but early reports suggest that anchors meant to hold the probe onto the comet failed to deploy. Ten years chasing the comet; perfect landing; early reports that the anchors / harpoons to hold the probe to the comet failed to fire. But radio news say the anchors did fire. More to follow.