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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Five (5) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs:


3/27/201403/27/201303/27/201203/27/201103/27/2010
Active Rigs195185206170105

Five (5) new permits --
  • Operators: Whiting (2), MRO, QEP, Enduro
  • Fields: Roosevelt (Billings), Cedar Hills (Bowman), Patterson Lake (Stark), Chimney Butte (Dunn), Grail (McKenzie), Mohall (Bottineau)
Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Three (3) producing wells were completed:
  • 24490, 1,681, CLR, Durham 4-2H, North Tobacco Garden, middle Bakken, t3/14; cum --
  • 24491, 1,113, CLR, Durham 5-2H, North Tobacco Garden, Three Forks, t3/14; cum --
  • 25999, 372, Oasis, Kelter 7-1HTF3, Eightmile, s9/5/13; TD9/28/13; Three Forks, 1st bench, t3/14; cum -- 
For CLR IPs, those are nice IPs. 
Wells coming off the confidential list Friday:
  • 23862, drl, Statoil, Hovde 33-4 3H, Sandrocks, no production data,
  • 25792, IA, Whiting, Wirtzfeld 21-24H, a Red River well, Camel Hump, no production data,
  • 25830, drl, BR, Rising Sun 21-1TFH-4NH, Clear Creek, no production data,
  • 26071, drl, Hess, BL-Iverson 155-95-1819H-5, Beaver Lodge, no production data,
  • 26360, drl, XTO, Rink 13X-4F, Garden, no production data,

Trans-Canadian East-West Pipeline Could Eliminate Need For Keystone XL 2.0 North

Link to an incredibly good and well-researched story. A big "thank you" to Don. (Also, while I'm at it, a huge "thank you" to Steve who has sent me many links over the past few days -- I've been so busy posting stories I haven't kept up with "thanks" and acknowledgements.

Here's the lede for that story and some key data points being reported by Reuters:
Keystone XL, a pipeline proposal to pump Canadian oil sands through the heart of America, has alarmed environmentalists and become one of the most contentious issues of the Obama presidency. But there is a "Plan B" to cut the United States out of the picture, and it is championed by one of Canada's wealthiest business dynasties.
Since 2012, the billionaire Irving family has been advocating a proposal called Energy East. The 2,858-mile (4,600-km) pipeline would link trillions of dollars worth of oil in land-locked fields in the western province of Alberta to an Atlantic port in the Irvings' eastern home province of New Brunswick, north of Maine, creating a gateway to new foreign markets for Canadian oil. 
The C$12 billion ($10.8 billion) line, which would pump 1.1 million barrels per day, would include about 1,865 miles of existing natural gas pipeline converted to carry oil. The rest would be new construction, most of it along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River and into New Brunswick.
The data points:
The Irvings also would be among the top beneficiaries. A study commissioned by TransCanada and prepared by Deloitte calculated that the pipeline's access to cheaper crude from the west would save as much as C$1.2 billion per year for a refinery owned by the Irvings, while creating 121 direct long-term jobs in sparsely populated New Brunswick. 

The family's industrial empire in New Brunswick, a century in the making, can help make it possible: Here in Saint John, their flagship company, Irving Oil, runs the East Coast's only ice-free, deepwater oil port capable of receiving the largest crude tankers. It also operates Canada's largest oil refinery - the source of nearly one in three tanks of gasoline imported to the East Coast of the United States.
How the company got started: 
The Irving empire got its start more than 130 years ago, in a fishing village huddled on New Brunswick's northern coast. A Scottish immigrant named James Dergavel Irving built a saw mill and a general store in the late 1800s near stands of spruce and fir. But it was J.D.'s son, Kenneth Colin, born in 1899, who drove the family's success.
In his early 20s, K.C., a car salesman, convinced his father to let him open a gas station in front of the general store to sell fuel for the Model Ts he retailed. That service station, and the hundreds that followed, became the center of a conglomerate. Though K.C. died in 1992, many here still refer to the man rather than to the business empire, a feature of the company-town feel of this Canadian province.
So much more at the link.
******************************
Flashback

Speaking of Steve, he sent me a link to a story that was first published in The WSJ -- great story; great flashback (note the by-line):
SIDNEY, Mont. -- In the mid-1990s, major oil-exploration companies like Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Gulf Oil Co. and Texaco Co. were shutting down operations here on the remote high plains, abandoning hundreds of nonproducing wells and letting their leases to mineral rights lapse.
Federal and state agencies tracking exploration also considered the region a bust. "I thought my job was going to be turning out the lights," says Jim Halvorson, geologist for Montana's Board of Oil and Gas Conservation. In 2000, his office predicted oil production would rapidly decline toward zero.
But Richard L. Findley, a graying geologist and "wildcat" producer, thought they were all wrong. He bought up leases on the cheap and helped spark a surprising boom in one of the most heavily explored oil regions in the country.
And the rest is history. Think about that. That was in the mid-1990's. Everyone was leaving. Twenty years later, the Bakken is setting records for oil production.

CLR's 14-Well Atlanta Pad Southwest Of Williston Has Been Updated

BAX, EOG, and SLB all trading at new highs today. Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here. 

[Note: sources still show oil up $2.40/bbl today. My thoughts on why this is happening. I don't have access to CNBC; I am curious if CNBC is even mentioning this, and if so, their thoughts.]

Not much news. One additional well has come off "DRL" status and an IP reported.

Two wells have been off-line since September / October, probably placed on "inactive" status while neighboring wells are being fracked.

I track the Atlanta wells here.

Idle Musings On A Very Newsworthy Day

This has been an incredible morning for news.

Just-released census figures: the fastest growing county in the United States is Williams County, North Dakota, the center of the Bakken. 

Oil is settling "down" -- currently up about $1.10 but it was as much as $2.31/bbl higher. [Talk about volatility: at 10:52 central time, it's up $2.44 over on Bloomberg.]

The US federal government declares football athletes on scholarship are employees of the university. Even if the football athletes don't vote to unionize, there is now precedent to declare those on scholarship to be employees of the university.

Geo-politically, these are just some of the areas in play: Estonia, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Ukraine. Air Canada won't fly into Venezuela. It is my understanding that American Airlines has one quick-turn flight into/out of Venezuela during the night. Venezuela is perhaps the biggest story in the western hemisphere right now. Brazil could become a headline story before the year is out -- energy problems and drought.

Headline story in the WSJ: US insurers concerned over most recent extension in ObamaCare. Insurance works this way: insurers calculate risks on an annual basis and the annual premium to cover that risk. The insurers are "nice" enough to divide that annual premium into monthly payments, divided evenly over twelve months. With the extension, folks who pay for nine months of coverage will get the same coverage for the rest of the year as those who pay for the entire twelve months. If one did not have insurance in January, February, or March, but visited the doctor who prescribed diagnostic tests, one could delay those tests into June, July, August, while waiting to enroll. Just one example. [Later: even CNN.com refers to the 6 million enrollees as a "symbolic victory."]

Jobless claims plummet, unexpectedly. Of course, no one believes these numbers, but they are what they are. The only thing that has really changed in the past few weeks: unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed are coming to an end.  The wind is taken out of the sail of those who want to extend long-term unemployment benefits (this will not be a major campaign issue); and, all things being equal, the unemployment numbers should keep getting better.

The Bakken will do just fine, but there are some headwinds: huge competition from the Permian and the Eagle Ford. Fortunately for North Dakota, many of the operators in the Bakken are confined to the Bakken with little acreage elsewhere.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you might have read here.

I think this could be one of the best years for investing, ever. It won't beat last year, and it might be more sector-specific, but it looks like it could be an incredibly good year. But then, I'm inappropriately optimistic. 

Buda Limestone Wells In Eagle Ford: $4 Million; 250K In 18 Months; Huge Bakken Competition

NOTE: oil is now up $2.31/bbl to $101.50. The spread between WTI and Brent continues to narrow. May natural gas rallies to new session highs on inventory data; now up 1.5% at $4.46.

Rigzone is reporting:
Terrace Energy Corp. announced it has reached an agreement to develop significant new acreage in Zavalla and Dimmit Counties on trend with recent, highly successful wells in the emerging Buda Limestone formation in South Texas.
The company announced it had entered into an agreement Feb. 24 to acquire a 75 percent working interest and a 56.25 percent net revenue interest in several leases, that cover approximately 10,000 gross (6,700 net) mineral acres, by drilling a series of wells. The Company has now reached an agreement to develop the remaining 3,300 net mineral acres on the same terms and conditions as the Farm-in Agreement. With this agreement, the Company now has the right to test and develop the Buda Limestone over approximately 10,000 net mineral acres.
The project acreage is located in the core of the Eagle Ford Trend in South Texas and in close proximity to a number of prolific horizontal wells drilled into the naturally fractured Buda Limestone, including the publicized Hughes Heitz 302 3H, which produced over 250,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil in its first 18 months of reported production, according to the Texas Railroad Commission.
Utilizing leading edge underbalanced drilling techniques and recently available 3D seismic data, operators have reported achieving production results comparable to or exceeding Eagle Ford Shale wells in the area at significantly lower capital costs.
Typical horizontal Buda wells in the area are being drilled and completed for capital costs in the range of $3 to $4 million as compared to Eagle Ford Shale wells, which typically cost in the range of $6 to $8.5 million.

Too Precious To Lose

Page 1

Comments that were not posted because they did not add anything to the discussion. Although they were not posted, the comments were too "precious" to be lost. Most of these comments come from readers who a) do not agree with me; and, b) think President Obama is the greatest president the United States has ever had. 

December 21, 2015: wow, I haven't had a post from this gentleman for two or three years, it seems, and now he replies to a post regarding Seymour Hersh, perhaps one of the best New Yorker writers out there. It simply shows how much this individual has not been paying attentin. His comment (capitalization, punctuation, grammar still lacking):
amazed at your fascination with Obama continues. You would make a great vice president for trump unless you're a Muslim
July 22, 2014, a comment in reply to this post:
Ummm Bruce , you may want to read and (try to) comprehend the articles you link.
Your man (Ergodan ) is upset with the president because the president isn't a strong enough supporter of Isis in Syria and of the Palestinians in gaza. Ergo is right, I'm not sure he and the president have anything more to say to each other. Maybe you can call ergo and listen to him whine about the us not jumping up every time ergo wants us to do something he wants done. If you want the us to take foreign policy direction from random Middle East leaders who's interest May or may not line up with ours, go right ahead.
"Try and comprehend (sic) the articles you link." LOL. I did not even read this article; all I did was read the headline, view the photograph and its caption. That's all I needed to know. "The guy in the photo has quit talking to Obama."

July 21, 2014, a comment to this post:
Putin is not a writer. Putin is a grand master chess player operating in a vacuum on the international stage. (Their words, not mine, look it up. Oh wait, you don't have to look it up, you wrote it.
The grand master's chess game is going so well that he is hunkered down and very quiet except to blame Ukraine govt for something putin's covert op did. 
Curious what you think about putins strategy and implementation now and what you think happens next. Vlad does not appear to have any moves left. Does that mean something in chess?
"Anonymous" is getting tired; comments are losing their zing.

July 19, 2014, a comment to this post:
A 63 year old man (presumed mentally competent but not established) displays his cluelessness daily about 99% of what goes on around him. I can't make this stuff up. This has box office potential.
July 18, 2014, a comment to this post (I posted the comment despite the idiocy of the message; technology in medicine is moving even faster, and most Americans would want an experienced US physician, not a graduate of a foreign medical school with no residency training):
You can h1b for geologists. Experience in any technology is not necessarily a big advantage especially if the technology is rapidly advancing. The whole h1b came into existence because companies "don't want to pay" and tech disciplines like electronics and software are using h1b as much as they can. The only control is that there is a cap in this type of visa. Tech companies constantly lobby to raise the cap. If oil cos decide to jump on the h1b bandwagon experience won't save anyone. The whole point of h1b is to alter the supply/demand picture by increasing supply thereby mitigating any real or perceived shortages.
July 18, 2014, a comment to this post:
No surprise that someone with negligible training in any aspect of how private businesses operate finds "it fascinating" (their word not mine) to learn even the most basic functions of any given discipline.  
July 18, 2014, a comment to this post:
Yes Bruce you are absolutely correct.
"We" have come a long way.
In the past, similar incidents have not ended well. Maybe this one will or not.
In past similar situations , by now , we would have a) launched an Asian ground war in a civil war based on a fabricated incident (gulf of Tonkin ) or b) deployed 241 marines to their death and just hours later withdrew (Reagan Lebanon ) or c) Invaded, occupied and generally imposed mayhem and total devastation and destruction on the wrong country (Iraq). This is just a partial list, I could go on.
The point being it is a breath if fresh air that our current president has the courage and wisdom to not let actions get ahead of the facts. Mr Putin has shut up in the last 24 hrs. I think he realizes that he has made a major mistake in propping up the insurgency .
Now he is lieing and covering up Russian involvement. Russia is in deep trouble thanks to our cic who today calmly took your hero Putin apart. Where is Putin? Where is Bruce oksol? 
July 18, 2014, a comment to this post:
Why are people like the Australian pm upset with vlad? Vlad is well into his chess game on the international stage and just executed (no pun intended) the classic apology tour/blame Ukraine move that has the detached Obama stunned and speechless. Come on people, how is vlad supposed to know what happened other than this is all Ukraine govts fault. And they are supported by the undetachable/detached obama. Ergo Obama is to blame. Yea, that's the ticket. This wouldn't have happened if Obama had been undetached and didn't create a vacuum on the international stage. Thank god for courageous sensing mcain ready to avenge the death of 23 Americans. 
July 18, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
No surprise that someone with negligible training in any aspect of how private businesses operate finds "it fascinating" (their word not mine) to learn even the most basic functions of any given discipline.
July 17, 2014, Mike Helland, in reply to this post, wrote:
Microsoft is actually based in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle, on the very affluent East Side of King County and unaffected by the minimum wage increase.especially as it applies to the "City of Seattle' and not the county. 
July 17, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
This is nothing short of stunning. Bruce Oksol's hero and bff who he has a major man crush on just slam dunked Obama on the mh17 shoot down. Bruce's boyfriend just now called for a three day cease fire. Thats right folks not 2 days or 4 days but *three*. Oksol was quoted as saying this is a brilliant move from the grand master (vlad) in chess fashion and it has Obama reeling from the devastating blow. Bruce says vlad is the most impressive world leader "on the international stage" (whatever that is) he has seen since GWtf and dick . Obama ahold just resign (or something) 
July 16, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
"Yup, more of that global warming. More cognitive dissonance for the warmists. Don't you just love it? When it's warmer, it's due to global warming; when it's colder, it's due to an anomaly called the polar vortex. And, it's not open for discussion. The subject is closed." I enjoy irony as much as anyone, but you keep taking it to such extremes that it has to be meant to be sardonic. Shut up with the global warming bullshit...it is climate change and you have to be a complete tard not to see that. Are you trying to prove that old farts can't learn new tricks? subject closed
July 17 , 2014, in reply to this post, dholmen (or perhaps d holmen or perhaps Dennis Holmen) wrote: 
If being cautious and not making inflammatory statements before key facts are known and options defined and considered is your definition of "detached " then let's have more of this brand if detachment . I guarantee it will result in fewer people dead for nothing .
Maybe you can go for a (joy)ride in your f15d and take in pooty poot and the Ukraine insurgents. Oh wait you have a man crush (if you know what I mean) on vlad the chess prodigy. 
July 16, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Good lord. Cognitive dissonance happens when ones beliefs are in conflict with reality. Industries finding ways to reduce co2 emissions does not conflict with environmentalist beliefs. Just the opposite, it reinforces their beliefs. You are experiencing cognitive dissonance. Then again so much of what you post is riddled with error and/or just backwards you may want to consider seeking professional intervention. I sincerely hope you are not in the early stages of any serious illness. 
July 14, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Well that settles it. Its official. If (iron man) baroocie oksol has to wear a hoodie at the beach one day (or a few minutes) in the middle of July then this global
warming thing is certainly a hoax. 
If that settles it, I wish "anonymous" would go away. LOL.

July 14, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
If only we didn't have open borders when your ancestors came from Europe. 
Which, of course, makes absolutely no sense, and why I moderate comments. LOL. We didn't have open borders until 2008. My paternal grandfather came through Ellis Island.

July 13, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
I think it is kind of sad. A lot of grandkids are going to reflect on grandpa many years from now and think, what a dumb ass we had for a grandpa. 
For someone who thinks I'm a "dumb ass" (his words, not mine), anonymous certainly visits my blog a lot. Most likely for the humor.

July 13, 2014, in reply to this post (I forgot to link the post, my bad) wrote:
Your iceberg theory is moronic. A gallon of water freezes to be 1.01 gallons of ice. Much of an iceberg is above the water line, not therefore displacing water. For once, think before you write. Also, read an entire article before you refer to it. You have a flabby mind!
My hunch: it's the whiskey that's talking.

July 12, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Us companies could do business with/in Cuba if it wasn't for the right wing Cuba politicians in fl.
Has nothing to do with chess. If the us normalized relations with Cuba, then Russia and Putin would disappear.
Maybe you should contact your right wing nut cases in fl and let them know the Cold War is over? 
Now I know it's the whiskey that's talking.

July 12, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Oh yes it would all be better if baroooocie hadn't retired from the usaf.
His lifes work is now down the drain because of Obama . Oh what to do !
Lets wring our hands and harken back to the good old days of GWtf and cheeenie
nation building in the mideast east.
Haaahaahaaa 
"Anonymous" appears to be having trouble figuring out what to call me.  

July 12, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
And a seventh shout out to the us taxpayer for their Chrysler bail out  
One has no idea how much I wanted to respond to this one, but I won't wrestle with pigs. The pigs love it and I only get muddy.

July 11, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
What a dummy. Gas is 3.60 on kingman and 4.00 in Barstow so bruce the nitwit gasses up in needles and pays 5$. Then this imbicile tells us to get ready for 6$ gas in six weeks. Obviously, this fool is a career government employee. 
There are indications English is not this person's first language; if it is, it appears he/she dropped out of school about the eighth grade. Which is fine.

July 11, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
your climate change denial and anti-Obama posts are a joke. Not the funny kind the sick kind. Stay on the road a little longer to clear your head of your right wing thoughts. Please post something that disagrees with you and see how many of you minions come out of the woodwork. 
At this point, it's hard to believe anyone would admit to being in love with President Obama.

July 8, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
You need at least 901 sq feet plus a vaulted ceiling just to fit your head in.  
This is why environmental activists annoy me; no matter what one does to save energy or save the environment, it's not enough. "Anonymous" has never once said what he/she does to "save" the environment. My hunch he is a production foreman for a major operator in the Bakken.

July 6, 2014, in reply to this post, dholmen, or dh olmen, or Dennis Holmen, asked:
How many people do you estimate regularly view your blog? Just curious? Your polls show only limited number of responses. Thanks. 
I guess he never got the memo (it's in he blog's "welcome/disclaimer" that the blog is not to be read by anyone other than me. I don't expect others to read it. To answer his question, only one person regularly views my blog: Dennis Holmen.

July 3, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Maybe it's time to bring back paula's boyfriend to deal with this latest Sunni uprising .
By now, he must understand oil having watched roughnecks drill a well or two (you see one oil well drilling rig, you have seen them all to paraphrase a certain b movie actor). And Paula probably wants her ex bf to get out of dodge (err, Bismarck ) asap and cut out the stalking.
Paula's boyfriends scam of paying off the sunnis who were kicked out of their army posts and otherwise disrespected worked up until he ran out of taxpayer money and malaki was supposed to fill the gap with jobs for the Sunnis and to let the sunnis back into Iraq society and govt. Ol malaki pulled out the rug from under paula's boyfriend by cutting out the Sunnis . Malaki had no intention of ever recognizing Sunni participation and slow rolled paula's boyfriend and GWtf to get us forces out.
The moral of the story is that there is NO us military action that will improve the middle east situation . We are better off letting them sort it out and absorbing any gas price increases that result. There are fascist and communist dictators and guess what, the oil still comes out of the ground and makes it to market. What if the price increase at the pump wouldn't be all that much and we didnt have to deal with 5000 body bags ? 
Supports my rationale for moderating comments. I don't want to embarrass "anonymous" by posting his/her comments.

This was such a long comment, I never got past the first line. 
July 1, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Well, as usual, there is something wrong with mr perry's assertion of the basic facts involved. Therefore, the accuracy of any conclusions drawn is highly dubious and totally based on chance. The article states that the approved project will transport alberta shale oil to the west coast port. Diluted bitumen capacity is not mentioned. We know enbridge did not want keystone xl capacity to be allocated for convention crude but allowed for some us (bakken) takeaway in order to get Montana buy in.
This story could benefit from additional research rather than misleading and jumping to conclusions in a knee jerk reaction manner. But mdw bought it hook, line and sinker. To paraphrase p t
Barnum, there's a sucker born every minute. 
July 1, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Yet the S&P continues to set records. Why?
Obamacare is just the monkey for the 800 lb gorilla that is healthcare costs. Rate of cost increases are unsustainable. The politicians fiddle while Rome burns. And that is BOTH parties of the idiots. Simply saying no over and over does not address the issue. 
Another person who understands the market.

July 1, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
No what began with George Wtf Bush was the use of the us military and tax dollars as part of a personal vendetta against the leader of a sovereign nation. If Bush or anyone advising him educated him on the history of sectarian conflict and the history it is not clear. Tens of thousands of Americans were directly affected 4500 dead and 30000+ wounded severely. Iraq dead are believed to be in the hundreds of thousands and a million Iraqis were displaced. The result today, directly attributable to bush and only bush is that for 10+ years of us involvement, Iraq is far worse off than before the us got involved militarily. There is no us military force that can alter the course for Iraq that the misguided military adventure set in motion. Combine Iraq with the bush legacy of economic disaster and ignoring terror threats and Obama comes out looking very good in comparison. Bush inherited a nation at peace and in prosperity with balanced budgets. So much for bush improving the situation when he took "command". I nominate GWtf Bush for the Bruce Oksol Commander Zero Award. Runners up are the 5 old white guys on the scotus and the republicans in congress. Special mention to the awards namesake for his role in the war on science and all around lack of analytical skills.
Five years later and it's still George Bush's fault. 

June 30, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Took 8 years for Bush to fuck things up, you think even Teddy Roosevelt could fix it in 8 years? Get off your useless Obama bashing, Rush 
When they start blaming Bush again, I know I'm dealing with a nutcase. 

June 30, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Another Obama legacy is putting up with nitwits like Bruce oksol who have no experience in the private sector or any significant training in much of anything as far as I can tell. Bruce likes to tell us how the private sector works lecturing us on what the price of a gallon of gas "should be". So tell us Bruce, what should gas cost us? 
Another comment that made absolutely no sense.

June 29, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
So Iraq is an ally? Gee, let me see. The Iraq army, funded, eqiuipped and trained by the us turns tail and blends in with the local civ population before a shot is fired? Some ally. They won't even defend their own country . So the us can count on this "ally" for ..... what ? 
I had some fun with that comment. I felt sorry for "anonymous."

June 26, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Bwahahaha
Get a grip  
June 25, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Just to calibrate the oksol scale of economic health, what was "your word" for what the admin of George Wtf Bush deleivered in 2008 that spilled over into 2009 and beyond in terms of the economy? Imploded? Createred? Vaporized? Let us in on the oksol scale of economic activity. You can do it Bruce. Knowledge of how national economies function (or how they malfunction) and how to explain it to the unwashed masses is a major oksol
strength. Oh wait ...... You could just admit that, as usual, you don't have much of a clue about what you are spewing about. Your postings are in dire need of a bs filter. 
"Anonymous" needs to get a grip.

June 24, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
I have a solution to reduced carbon emissions. All it would take is for Obama to come out against global warming intervention.The reaction from the GOP tpee peanut gallery would be a knee jerk (the operative word here is jerk ) reaction in favor of bold action on reduced carbon emissions. All of a sudden, the " I'm not a scientist (that's painfully obvious) crowd would jump on the intervention 
Again, a comment that made no sense; grammar, punctuation, spelling suggest "anonymous" dropped out of school in the eighth grade. Which is fine.

June 23, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
funny as heck to hear your boys on the Right, former EPA under Nixon, Reagan, and the Bush's, berate all those that can't accept climate change. You flat earthers are still hanging in there. As long as you don't admit being wrong, you never have to apologize...stay strong
"Stay strong"? Dan Rather?

June 22, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
For a global cooling update, google
Hottest may on record
Okay.

June 18, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Just curious as to how, with your 21 years of formal education, you ended up being so ignorant. I am sure your past teachers are suitably impressed with your wisdom, intellect and achievements in life. Along the way, it's amazing no one clued you in that educated people have a deep respect for profound knowledge, no matter where it comes from. Even if it originates with people you despise for your own misguided motives and reasons. You seem to be obsessed with the idea that snowfall anywhere in the world proves man activity is unrelated to global warming/climate change. The name assigned us not the point. What matters is whether or not man activity causes undesirable effects. Your numerous postings add nothing in terms of knowledge to this debate. You are basically in the peanut gallery blathering nonsensically about a problem that is serious in a very unscientific way. Is your 21 years of formal edu in basketweaving or something equivalent. I can't see you passing any significant math or science class at any university even uci. I doubt you would be accepted at any real university except perhaps as some type of air force flunkie that the school had to take because of the money involved. On a competitive basis, you wouldn't qualify for any random diploma mill.  
June 18, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
21 years of formal education and you aren't a critical enough thinker to know the difference between "climate" and "weather" or know that there is no difference between a "Republican or Democrat" politician, and that Pravda is more truthful than the Drudge Report. Damn tragic. Probably did all your schooling in the sciences where they don't require you to think critically. Bush still the worst President in our history, on every measurable scale. You all deserve the Bush's, the Palin's, the Romney's and the Obama's...You ignorant partisan sheep deserve these losers.
June 18, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Yes, there are many levels to the Iraq refinery story. For instance, the refinery produces refined product for domestic (Iraq) consumption. If the refinery closes or operates at a reduced capacity. Since I don't buy my gas in Iraq, supply is not an issue for me. Crude price May or may not be affected. Uncertainty may drive crude up but it is also possible that some of the crude not being used by the refinery would make its way to the world market. I realize you are cheerleading for more chaos in Iraq because you think it works against Obama. Another example of republican leadership. It's not doing what is in Americas best interest, it is opposing anything Obama does as knee jerk, (and jerk) reaction.
June 10, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Dumb asses are always the last to know.
June 10, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
The anticipatory (if that is even a word) skills of bush, cheeney and rummy (dummy) ) are truly awesome in retrospect. The Iraq war (a war of choice) will haunt and complicate world events including but not limited to energy
negatively for a long time to come.
Obama got us out of Iraq , a war that bush stupidly got us into. 
And, yes, "anticipatory" is a word, which again suggests "anonymous" dropped out of school in the eighth grade. Which is fine.

June 7, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
Bruce,
Love your blog but as a pediatrician I am surprised to see your negativity about Michelle Obama's work to reduce childhood obesity- 
I suppose.

June 3, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
The depth and breadth of your stupidity is jaw droping. 
"Droping"?

May 22, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
I dont see any AP spin on the bls weekly report . I see mdw spinning the same utter nonsense week after week like a broken record. If there is a problem with the bls reports and/or reporting thereof then please tell us what the problem is. And if you have some positive way ahead then post your solution. Your negative rants about this are tedious and way beyond repetitive. Everybody gets that you think "Obama " is responsible for everything bad and you and the tp have all the answers. Well, let's hear some of them. Pleas to put up or shut
up. You are embarrassing your grandaughters on this on a daily basis.
May 17, 2014, in reply to this post, wrote:
I'll cut you some slack on the science, but not on the facts. Fact is, if you paid attention to any media other that right-wing media, you would know that Obamacare is not the 800-pound gorilla in the (American corporate board)room; it's not even a chimpanzee. There are a lot of us out here who appreciate your aggregation of Bakken-related information, but not your knee-jerk hatred of all things Obama. Have an open-minded look, why don't you, at the people Mr. Obama has appointed to head up the Departments of the Interior and Energy during his tenure: to a person, supporters of the fracking revolution. Fact is, the oil and gas business has thrived under Obama. And though it may be an inconvenient truth for Obama haters in the oil and gas business, fact is, if you look back at the last three presidents who crashed the price of oil, they are all Republicans: Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. And that's no coincidence. Romney/Ryan's austerity budget would have crashed the price of oil all over again, had Romney and Ryan been elected. If you're willing to open your eyes a little, and your mind, you might just find things are not as, well, black and white as you seem to think they are.
Glad to hear someone is willing to cut me some slack.

Jobless Claims; Fastest Growing County In The Entire United States: Williams County, ND; Stark County, #4

More on this later. Bloomberg is reporting:
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week to an almost four-month low, a sign companies are confident in the outlook for demand.
Jobless claims decreased by 10,000 to 311,000 in the period ended March 22, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 323,000 claims. The four-week average of applications filed with state agencies dropped to the lowest level since September.
This is very, very interesting. First, this certainly takes the wind out of the sails of those pushing to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. The poll asked whether benefits should be extended for long-term unemployed; readers responded:
  • yes: 15%
  • no: 85%
The second reason this story is very, very interesting is it begs the question, why did first time claims drop so precipitously. The weather has gotten better. Perhaps. Certainly there is nothing in the economy that suggests things have all of a sudden got so much better one week to the next. The only thing that has changed, starting about a month ago, was the fact that benefits for the long-termed unemployed were starting to come to an end. All things being equal, one should see unemployment numbers continue to improve.

****************************************

Why, Devil Doll

****************************************

Meanwhile, the Associated Press, is catching up with the energy news, also. The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:
America's energy boom is fueling population growth west of the Mississippi River.
New 2013 census information released Thursday shows that 6 of the 10 fastest-growing metropolitan areas and 8 of the 10 fastest-growing counties in the country are located in or near the oil- and gas-rich fields of the Great Plains and Mountain West.
More and more oil and gas drilling is being done in those regions, drawing people from around the nation looking for work, the Census Bureau said.
Neighboring cities Odessa and Midland, Texas, show up as the second and third fastest-growing metro areas in the country. Sara Higgins, the Midland public information officer, has a one-word explanation: oil.
While energy exploration is drawing people to the Great Plains and Mountain West, Florida is still the one of the top destinations in the country, as it shows up again and again in census data for population growth. The fastest-growing metro area in the country is the retirement community The Villages, boasting a 5.2 percent increase in population between 2012 and 2013. Its surrounding county, Sumter County, also shows up as one of the fastest-growing counties in the country with a 5.2 percent increase during the time period.
Following The Villages, Odessa and Midland were Fargo, ND/MN. (3.1 percent); Bismarck, ND (3.1 percent); Casper, WY (2.9 percent); Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC/NC (2.7 percent); Austin-Round Rock, TX (2.6 percent); Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL (2.6 percent); and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL  (2.5 percent).
The fastest-growing counties were Williams County, ND (10.7 percent increase from 2013); Duchesne County, UT (5.5 percent increase); Sumter County, FL (5.2 percent); Stark County, ND (5.0 percent); Kendall County, TX (5.0 percent); St. Bernard Parish, LA (4.6 percent); Wasatch County, UT (4.4 percent); Meade County, SD (4.3 percent); Fort Bend County, TX (4.2 percent) and Hays County, TX (4.1 percent).
I assume much of the growth in the retirement community in Florida is due to all those energy millionaires. LOL -- actually, I think the energy millionaires retire to Phoenix. 

[Later: The Rapid City Journal has a similar story, highlighting Sturgis, Meade County.]

For Investors Only; Long Article On Oil Companies Containing Costs

In early trading, it looks like the entire energy sector is up. Even Oasis is up over 2.5%. KOG is up almost 3%. HP could blow through to a new high.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. 

WTI oil is up almost 1% in pre-market trading. Slight dollar gains are holding, so rise in oil is not due to dollar's weakness: other possibilities:
  • tension in the Crimean, made worse by Obama's speeches
  • simmering unrest in the Mideast, just off the radar scope (see OXY's latest woes)
  • Keystone XL 2.0 South bringing oil from Cushing to the coast
  • Houston Ship Channel gradually returning to normal
  • winter-spring-summer demand dynamics
  • gasoline formulations transition
Of all of these, the most likely and the most worrisome is related to the tension in the Crimean made worse by Obama's past policies and present actions. Yesterday, it was my understanding there was a sell-off in the market based on actions coming out of Russia.

*******************************
Reuters via Rigzone is reporting that oil companies are "cracking the whip on oil service companies:
On a mission to crush costs, global oil firms are rewriting the rule book on how they deal with service companies.
Energy companies have sharply cut spending plans after a decade of double-digit growth, saving cash for dividends as stagnating oil prices and cost increase on mega projects worldwide have squeezed margins and angered shareholders.
Some now ask service firms to come into projects at the start, ditch some tailor-made designs in favour of standardised solutions and stay with projects longer to reduce the number of contractors involved, moves that reduce costs but favour bigger, integrated firms.
I've seen this cycle before. There appear to be three stages in a boom: a) time is more important than money; b) money is more important than time; c) money is more important than everything else.

In the first stage of the boom, the gold rush, the land grabs: no matter how much money it takes, spend it; just SPEND.

In the second stage, as things start to be better defined: take some time to think through some of these deals before spending money, but don't worry too much about the bottom line; just SPEND SMART.

In the final stages of the boom: the guys with the beady eyes and green shades in the back room start to focus on reality: just STOP SPENDING.

******************************** 

NRG Energy acquires Roof Diagnostics Solar; financial terms not disclosed : Co announces it has acquired one of the nation's leading residential solar companies, Roof Diagnostics Solar, to support and expand the company's efforts to empower its customers to control their own energy destiny through clean self-generation. 

Baxter plans to create two separate global healthcare companies; independent companies will focus on biopharmaceuticals and medical products:
  • Co announced plans to create two separate, independent global healthcare companies - one focused on developing and marketing innovative biopharmaceuticals and the other on life-saving medical products.
  • The spinoff will create two, well-capitalized independent companies with strong balance sheets, investment grade profiles, and disciplined approaches to capital allocation. 
  • The transaction is intended to take the form of a tax-free distribution to Baxter shareholders of a new publicly traded stock in the new biopharmaceuticals co. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-year 2015...
Sempra Energy reaffirms FY14 EPS; guides FY15 EPS in-line; will discuss LT guidance, strategy at Analyst Conf.: Co reaffirms FY14 EPS $4.25-4.55 vs $4.46 Capital IQ Consensus.

Thursday Morning Non-Bakken Stories; ObamaCare's Geico Rock Award Nominee; Random Update, Cape Wind

With the news coming out of the Europe the past few days and the president appearing tired, and his options severely limited, the tea leaves suggest the whole response to Putin's actions in the Crimean could spiral out of control for both the world, and for President Obama. I'm an inveterate optimist, but the "stuff" coming out of the G-7 meeting should have us worried. I hope one year from now, the collective "we" isn't asking, "why didn't we just let Putin take Kiev?" -- 9:23 p.m. central time, March 26, 2014; to be posted in the a.m.

********************************

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. This guy is so far behind the curve, one wonders...ah, yes, another nominee for the Geico Rock Award. I can't believe this guy wrote the book, and I can't believe The New York Times published the story. The lede:
Here’s a prediction: By 2025, “fewer than 20 percent of workers in the private sector will receive traditional employer-sponsored health insurance.” The source of this claim? Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, in his just-published book, “Reinventing American Health Care.”
Dr. Emanuel is an accomplished oncologist, medical ethicist and academic (and contributing opinion writer to The New York Times). And, of course, he’s no stranger to politics: He helped craft the Affordable Care Act as a health policy adviser to the Obama administration, when his brother, Rahm, now the mayor of Chicago, was chief of staff. The book is a full-throated defense of the law (its subtitle: “How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve Our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System”).
In it, Mr. Emanuel argues that in the next two or three years, “a few big, blue-chip companies will announce their intention to stop providing health insurance. Instead, they will raise salaries substantially or offer large, defined contributions to their workers. Then the floodgates will open.” He says that few small businesses will join the SHOP exchanges set up for them and that most of those that offer coverage are even more likely than big companies to drop it, since those who employ fewer than 50 workers face no mandate to offer it in the first place, which Mr. Emanuel thinks is fine.
"....in the next two or three years, “a few big, blue-chip companies will announce their intention to stop providing health insurance...." Say what? I've been posting this since, like, forever. Those "few small companies"? Here's a partial list: IBM, GE, Trader Joe's, UPS, cities and states. 

"Mr Emanuel thinks is fine." Hypocrite.

ObamaCare: saved Corporate America.

*********************************
Random Update Of Cape Wind

Look at all the foreign investors. Cable will start being laid by the end of this year; turbine construction next year; and on-line, 2016. Some of the investors:
  • French bank Natixis
  • Netherlands-based financial services provider Rabobank
  • The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
  • Danish Export Credit Agency, also known as EKF
  • PensionDanmark
Jim Gordon may not get a Nobel Peace Prize but it looks like he could be a candidate for the Prize in Economics.

College Football Changed Forever

WSJ: Northwestern University football players receiving athletic scholarships are employees and therefore can unionize, according to a landmark ruling by a National Labor Relations Board regional director.

Thursday Morning -- Where The Bakken Laboratory Is Taking Us -- Dow Chemical; Rising Utility Costs To Persist

Wow: Northwestern University football players receiving athletic scholarships are employees and therefore can unionize, according to a landmark ruling by a National Labor Relations Board regional director.

Wow: stock market futures up slightly, but WTI futures up suggesting we may see $101/bbl oil today. 

Active rigs:


3/27/201403/27/201303/27/201203/27/201103/27/2010
Active Rigs198185206170105

RBN Energy: natural gas projections (pricing, demand) for 2014.
Several key factors point to a gradual increase in natural gas power burn over the next few years. More gas-fired units are coming online, and more coal-units are being retired.   But with gas prices trending higher this spring and summer than in the same periods last year, 2014 gas use by the electric sector may end up unchanged from 2013--unless this summer is a scorcher. The stronger pricing is good news for producers, of course, as is the very real need to replenish depleted gas stocks. Today, in the first episode of a new series on power burn demand for natural gas, we look back at 2013 and forward to prospects for 2014
**********************************************

U.S. consumers got a glimpse of rising future utility bills during the winter as coal- and nuclear-plant shutdowns boosted reliance on natural gas.
Demand for gas, used to heat half of U.S. households and generate 27 percent of the nation’s power, reached records from New York to Los Angeles in January, sending regional prices to all-time highs.
Costs surged as a polar vortex and waves of arctic air caused the coldest weather in 32 years. Prices may rise further next winter as 79 coal-fired power plants close because of stricter environmental rules, while Entergy Corp.’s Vermont Yankee nuclear plant was the fifth to announce a permanent shutdown over the past two years.
“For those willing to write off nuclear and coal, this winter should raise a red flag,” said Stephen Schork, president of Schork Group Inc., a consulting group in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “We are setting ourselves up for a massive rally in natural gas.’”
Dow Chemical:
The story of the U.S.’ economic success started around four years ago with the advent of horizontal drilling in shale plays, which released massive amounts of oil and gas into the system. Now that shale drilling, the first wave of investment (exploration and production), has come to fruition, ...
  • Fitterling explained the next investment wave will come from chemical and steel companies taking advantage of low-priced shale gas, which both companies can use to power their plants and chemical companies can use as a feedstock. This second wave is already taking place right now with more than $100 billion of planned chemical investments throughout the U.S., the majority of which are along the Gulf Coast and throughout Houston.
  • looking to the future, the third wave will be related to companies investing in new power plants and bringing back manufacturing to America; and, 
  • the fourth wave of investment, which Dow expects to be only a few years down the line, is investment in knowledge — in particular, research and development knowledge.
One could argue that "bringing back manufacturing to America" is already beginning.

That fourth wave is a bit nebulous -- sounds like a President Obama speech.

***************************
The Wall Street Journal

Top story: the Fed rejects Citi's dividend plan. Oh, well.

Obama seeks to rally allies on Russia. Oh, well.

Health-signup extension worries insurers. The Obama administration's decision to let some consumers enroll in health plans beyond Monday's deadline sparked concern among insurers and prompted fresh attacks from opponents of the health law. Folks signing up now will end up paying for premiums for only nine (9) months. I assume, insurers based annual premiums on full year expenses, and then let folks pay monthly, over 12 months. Late enrollees are not getting a free ride: they did not have insurance January - March (unless the policies are retroactive in this crazy thing they call ObamaCare) but the insurers are getting 3/4ths of total annual premium form late enrollees.

Senate Democrats offer fixes for health law. Oh, well. 

Europe is urged to rethink shale.


Kerry tries to salvage Mideast talks.

The drought in Brazil is crimping water and electricity supplies, creating political tensions.

The Ukraine roils GE's Russia strategy, Russian business.

Retailer Brookstone is preparing for bankruptcy. Oh, well.

Microsoft is expected to disclose today that a new version of Office for iPad (new? -- Ithink it's the first version), ending a long practice of offering productivity software exclusively on its own operating software.

The Los Angeles Times

 ObamaCare in California: is Monday the "real" deadline -- yes, that's the top "latest news" story on the front page, on-line. The rules are incredibly confusing. Good luck. I think the rules affect only those who really care.

Is this racist? California Senate leader calling for Yee to either resign or face swift suspention. I don't think he's been convicted of anything yet. Yee was the first Chinese American elected to the state Senate and a leading candidate in the race to become California's secretary of state. He has had a distinguished 3-decade career, and only recently, it appears, has allegedly made some poor decisions, like "sidestepping campaign donation rules in exchange for political favors." Wow, if that's the standard for arrest and removal ...

The Dickinson Press

It is now 9:38 a.m. central time. I have been reading the news since 5:30 a.m. and blogging since6:00 a.m. I felt the top story for the day was the college football unionization rule. It turns out The Dickinson Press agrees: it is the top story right now at The Dickinson Press on-line:
The U.S. government decided on Wednesday that football players at Northwestern University who get scholarship money are effectively school employees and can vote on organizing what could become the first labor union for U.S. college athletes. 
In a move that will fuel a debate over whether college athletes are amateurs or professionals, a National Labor Relations Board regional office said scholarship players at the Evanston, Illinois, school, who have not exhausted their playing eligibility, can vote in a union election. 
The NLRB will supervise the vote. No date has been set and delays could lay ahead if Northwestern appeals the decision, as many labor lawyers expect the university will do.
But if a majority of the Northwestern Wildcats ultimately votes for a union, they could shake up the sporting world by opening the door for other athletes at private universities, which are subject to the National Labor Relations Act.
There are two bigger issues at stake: a) football scholarships are not unique; b) the definition of an employee.

If a scholarship in football defines one as an employee of the school, that should certainly hold true for any student with a scholarship. If this holds, the derivatives are incredible.

If "an employee is an employee," all of a sudden Northwestern University has scores of new employees eligible for ObamaCare, pension plans, etc.

If this holds, my hunch is that universities will quickly "amend" scholarships. 

This is just one story -- another one, the drunken Secret Service detail -- suggests to me rampant failure of leadership that begins at the very top, a president in over his head, and an administration ready to implode. Many folks were surprised to hear that the president said his #1 security issue is a nuclear bomb going off in New York City. It may seem crazy to connect the dots from unionization of football players at one university to the president's stated #1 security concern, but the tea leaves are swirling this morning, more than usual.

Random Update Of Status Of Triangle USA Petroleum Permits In North Dakota

Random update of Triangle USA Petroleum permits/wells in the North Dakota

Disclaimer: this list was done quickly. Not checked for errors. There may be typographical errors. If something seems wrong, it probably is. Check the source: the NDIC website. Data collected on March 27, 2014, 6:00 a.m. - 6: 30 a.m. central time. 

2014
27944, loc,
27943, loc,
27942, loc,
27566, drl,
27565, drl,
27379, drl,
27378, drl,
27377, drl,
2013
27230, drl,
27229, drl,
26911, drl,
26910, drl,
26909, drl,
26908, drl,
26736, drl,
26735, drl,
26725, drl,
26723, drl,
26722, drl,
26695, drl,
26694, drl,
26494, drl,
26321, drl, producing,
26232, 414,
26231, drl,
26230, 348,
26075, drl,
25889, 385,
25733, PNC,
25718, 633,
25717, 622,
25612, conf, producing,
25611, conf, producing,
25610, conf, producing,
25522, 587, producing,
25521, 611, producing,
25459, 784, producing,
25458, 631, producing,
25269, 497, producing,
25155, loc,
25154, 395,
25153, 297,
25047, PNC,
25036, 428,
24886, loc,
24885, loc,
24882, loc,
24881, loc,
24880, loc,
24879, loc,
24878, loc,
24877, loc

2012
24665, 454,
24664, 503,
24546, 485,
24279, 478,
24278, 436,
24277, loc,
24276, loc,
24028, loc,
24027, 242,
24026, loc,
23975, drl,
23814, 373,
23813, 510,
23812, 519,
23777, 509,
23776, conf,
23776, conf,
23775, 602,
23774, conf,
23620, loc,
23619, 355,
23618, loc,
23617, 634,
23464, 428,
23432, 178,
23426, loc,
23161, conf,
23160, 545,
23159, conf,
23114, 626,
22913, PNC,
22628, conf,
22627, 551,
22625, 638,
22558, 334,
22297, 207,
22296, 464,

2011
22098, dry,
22097, 472,
22096, 935,
21828, loc,
21827, 1,173,
21826, loc,
21825, 984,
21632, 1,686,
21452, 1,045,