Jobs Report -- December 18, 2014; ONEOK To Double Capacity Of Proposed Natural Gas Processing Plant Northeast Of Watford City; CLR To Focus On SCOOP, Cut Back In The Bakken; More Wind Energy In North Dakota (Coming Down In Price Due To Tax Credits); Amazon To Deliver Within One Hour In Urban Markets

Another Wind Farm In North Dakota

One Wind Farm: 1.6 Times Larger Than ALL Wind Energy In Massachusetts

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

State utility regulators approved a permit for a $240 million wind farm in western North Dakota on Wednesday.

The state Public Service Commission voted unanimously to grant a permit for Antelope Hills Wind Project LLC of Santa Barbara, Calif., to erect up to 86 wind turbines on 22,000 acres of land northwest of Beulah in Mercer County.

Data points:

• this wind farm: $240 million
• nameplate: 172 MW
• $1.4 million / MW
• total wind energy in Massachusetts: 107 MW
• siting approval just after US Senate passes one-year tax credit extension
• wind energy dropping in price due to tax credits; investors love it; consumers ... not so much

It looks like that plan by east coast liberals to return North Dakota to the Bison Commons has instead decided to turn North Dakota into one big wind farm with the help of west coast investors.

From an August 25, 2014, post, this is 30-second sound bit for "cost of renewable megawatt":

• Solar: $3 million / MW
• Wind: $2.5 million / MW
• Natural gas: $865,000 / MW

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CLR To Focus On Scoop; Cut Back In The Bakken?

From Market Realist: 

Along with energy prices, Continental Resources has also been refocusing its production base from Bakken to SCOOP in Oklahoma. In addition to the sharp fall in crude oil prices, Continental Resources is focusing higher production in SCOOP due to the cost advantage of SCOOP, which fell by 24% from 2011 to 2013. In contrast, production cost in Bakken increased 36% from 2011 to 2013.

As discussed in Part 8 and Part 9 of this series, Continental Resources’ production in Bakken increased 187% from 2011 to 2013. During the same period, the company’s production in SCOOP jumped more than 15 times. In volume, however, Bakken is far more important to Continental Resources than SCOOP.

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ONEOK To Double Capacity Of Proposed Natural Gas Processing Plant

It appears ONEOK is doubling the size of its proposed Demicks Lake natural gas processing plant northeast of Watford City. This article states:

Oneok’s application, filed in October with the PSC, outlines the 400 million cubic feet-per- day capacity plant. If approved, it would be located on a 160-arce parcel of land approximately 13.5 miles northeast of Watford City.

The original press release:

Demicks Lake, McKenzie, 200 MMcf/d -- announced July 30, 2014; to be completed in 2016; in this press release Oneok said more projects might be announced before the end of 2014.

That was taken from the site where I track ONEOK natural gas processing plants. That site will be updated to reflect the 400 mcfpd revision.

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From The Department of Fiction

The jobs report shows that things are getting much, much better.

Analysts had expected that first-time claims for unemployment benefits would have edged up in most recent reporting period, but in fact unexpectedly fell 6,500 to 289,000 (seasonally adjusted). 

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, slipped by 750 to 298,750. 

Then this interesting paragraph deeper in the story:

The four-week average of claims rose by 11,000 between the November and December survey periods, suggesting a step back in job growth after payrolls surged by 321,000 last month. The December payrolls are still expected to come in above 200,000.

 The "200,000" number is the "magic number," by the way, for economic growth.

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Amazon To Deliver Within The Hour

Tweeting now:  Amazon introduces Prime Now, a service in Manhattan that promises delivery in as soon as 1 hour; will expand to other cities in 2015 - @WSJ.