Over 6 Million Page Views; Ten (10) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; Thirteen (13) Producing Wells Completed; KOG With Five Big Wells; HRC, BR Each With A "High-IP" Well

Sometime in the past hour, we went over the 6,000,000-page-view milestone. Posted at 5:40 p.m. Central Time, April 21, 2014.

Ten (10) new permits --

• Operators: Oasis (6), SM Energy (3), Petro Harvester
• Fields: Baker (McKenzie), Poe (McKenzie), Portal (Burke)
• Comments: the permits for the 6 new Oasis wells -- about 6 miles southeast of CLR's 14-well Atlanta pad; Oasis already has #20314 in this section -- see below

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

Near location for six (6) more Oasis wells:

• 20314, 3,365, Oasis, Lewis Federal 5300 31-31H, Wildcat/Baker, cased hole; 4.5 million lbs (sand and ceramic), 3,000 units gas along the lateral; 2 - 4' intermittent flare; t8/11; cum 172K 2/14; this well is in same section where Oasis has new permits for six new wells on one pad, and is completing another well in that same section (#23350)

Thirteen (13) producing wells completed:

• 23643, 734, Hess, SC-Mari-153-98-2223H-2, Truax, t3/14; cum 4K 2/14;
• 20070, 799, Hess, TI-Stenbak-158-95-2526H-1, Tioga, 4 secs; t3/14; cum 2K 2/14;
• 24408, 1,335, Hess, BB-Budahn 150-95-0506H-4, Blue Buttes, t3/14; cum --
• 24407, 1,415, Hess, BB-Budahn 150-95-0506H-5, Blue Buttes, t3/14; cum --
• 25899, 715, Hess, SC-Bennie 157-99-2017H-1, Lone Tree Lake, t3/14; cum --
• 25786, 1,121, Hess, EN-Cvancara A-155-93-3231H-4, Robinson Lake, 4 secs; t4/14; cum --
• 25526, 2,000, HRC, Fort Berthold 152-94-11B-14-7H, Antelope, a Sanish well, t3/14; cum --
• 26170, 2,520, BR, Crater Lake 41-14MBH, Hawkeye, t4/14; cum --
• 25602, 2,203, KOG, P Scanlan 153-98-16-9-5-5H, Truax, 4 secs, t3/14; cum --
• 25600, 2,665, KOG, P Scanlan 153-98-16-9-5-12H, Truax, 4 secs, t3/14; cum --
• 26031, 1,841, KOG, P Earl Rennerfeldt 154-99-1-3-10-15H3, Stockyard Creek, t3/14; cum --
• 26032, 1,781, KOG, P Earl Rennerfeldt 154-99-1-3-27-2H3, Epping, t3/14; cum --
• 26030, 2,008, KOG, P Earl Rennerfeldt 154-99-1-3-27-1H, Epping, t3/14; cum -- 

Wells coming off confidential list Tuesday:

• 25379, drl, XTO, Loomer 41X-3C, Tobacco Garden, no production data,
• 25821, 2,164, BR, CCU Columbian 14-36TFH, Corral Creek, t3/14; cum -- 

Six US Post Offices In North Dakota To Get New Technology; New Poll: Will The Active Rig Count In North Dakota Go Over 200 This Summer? Nearing 6 Million Page Views

Think about this: Watford City in the same category as Fargo when it comes to mail volume. 

The Fargo Forum is reporting:

Six U.S. Postal Service offices in North Dakota will receive mobile point of sale devices this week to improve customer service.

The technology will allow employees to process simple transactions away from the counter. The devices will be installed in offices in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Minot, Watford City and Williston.

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., announced the postal service improvements that are part of an ongoing effort to improve mail delivery in North Dakota.

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The poll is pretty simple. Yes. No. That's is. Do you think we'll see 200 active rigs in North Dakota this summer?

Currently:

	4/21/2014	04/21/2013	04/21/2012	04/21/2011	04/21/2010
Active Rigs	185	185	210	176	109

I can't go into the details, and I won't answer any questions, but based on a phone call moments ago to a long-term resident of Williston, North Dakota, I am really, really excited about the possibility that the active rig count could go over 200 this summer in North Dakota.

Rig counts are not the end-all and be-all to overall productivity, but the number of active rigs do correlate with overall activity. It should be noted that since last summer there is at least one new operator in the Williston Basin, and at least one operator has increased the number of rigs in the past year.

I'm going to go on record that I don't think we will actually hit the 200-active-rig milestone this summer but I will vote the opposite. That way I can say I voted "Yes" but said it wouldn't happen. Sort of how a politician would "vote."

By the way, speaking of milestones, sometime in the next 24 hours, the MillionDollarWay will go over 6,000,000 page views. At the moment: 5, 999,855 page views. As usual, a free lifetime membership to the blog who is the "millionth viewer." Restrictions apply. Not valid in every state. This is not a lottery. There is no monetary value to the free membership.

Bank Of North Dakota Sets Profit Record For 10th Straight Year; Connecting The Dots

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

The Bank of North Dakota has set a profit record for the 10th straight year.

The nation's only state-owned bank made $94.2 million in profits last year. That's up from $81.5 million in 2012.

Bank profits have increased by $60 million since 2004.

The bank's annual report says assets at the Bismarck-based institution have grown to $6.8 billion.

The string of profit records pre-dates the Bakken.

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Connecting The Dots

The Keystone And Politics

This is why I enjoy connecting the dots. Earlier it was reported by the Washington Post that NCB's "Meet The Press" is dead last among the three Sunday morning talk shows, after leading the pack by a large margin for the past decade. The host, David Gregory, says he was hard-pressed to understand why.

Now we know why. He was unable to call out Ms Wasserman during the following exchange. Mr Gregory clearly does not have the cajones to go where the story leads. CNBC is reporting:

Politicians make their living shading the truth. But even by those low standards, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz offered a whopper on Sunday, saying that the Obama administration's latest non-decision on the Keystone XL pipeline was not political.

"As a member of Congress who represents hundreds of thousands of people in south Florida, I want to make sure the right decision is arrived at and that the president makes that decision carefully and doesn't factor politics into his decision, which I don't think he is," Wasserman Schultz said on NBC's "Meet the Press," somehow managing to maintain a straight face.

The decision to once again punt on Keystone was, of course, entirely political.

I assume Mr Gregory kept a straight face, and portrayed a philosophical bent to the discussion. Wow, I'm glad I don't watch the Sunday morning talk shows, and especially "Face the Nation."

By the way, this is one story we will never see on NBC's "Face the Nation": "The Epic Hypocrisy of Tom Steyer." is reporting:

Billionaire hedge fund operator and “green” energy magnate Tom Steyer has pledged $100 million in the 2014 election cycle to help Democratic candidates who oppose the Keystone pipeline and who favor “green” energy over fossil fuels. Steyer claims to be a man of principle who has no financial interest in the causes he supports, but acts only for the public good. That is a ridiculous claim: Steyer is the ultimate rent-seeker who depends on government connections to produce subsidies and mandates that make his “green” energy investments profitable. He also is, or was until recently, a major investor in Kinder Morgan, which is building a competitor to the Keystone pipeline. 

But Steyer’s hypocrisy goes still deeper. Today, he is a bitter opponent of fossil fuels, especially coal. That fits with his current economic interests: banning coal-fired power plants will boost the value of his solar projects. But it was not always thus. In fact, Steyer owes his fortune in large part to the fact that he has been one of the world’s largest financers of coal projects. Tom Steyer was for coal before he was against it.

Didn't Algore's fortune begin with tobacco?

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Global Warming: Slowest Start To Tornado Season On Record

Global Warming Climate Change Extreme Weather Ice Age Now

Brad Panovich is reporting, using national (NOAA) data: Slowest start to tornado season on record through 4/17 based on inflation-adjusted tornado trends.

Now we have warmists praying for tornadoes and hurricanes just to be able to "say they were right."

Idle Chatter -- Another Great Bakken Well -- Reunion Bay, Bakken, Williston Basin

I was curious about this well, which came off the confidential list over the weekend:

• 26462, 2,224, MRO, Myers 24-35H, Reunion Bay, t3/14; cum -- 

Reunion Bay is another great oil field. It is located inside the reservation. I've never described Reunion Bay oil field; must have been an oversight. Actually, I think it was just too "busy" for me to capture all that was going on in the field.

There are currently about six wells sited in the same section as the Myers 24-35H, including middle Bakken and Three Forks wells. They will all be nice wells. This one caught my attention:

• 21466, 2,448, MRO, William USA 31-2H, Reunion Bay, middle Bakken, 30 stages, 2.4 million lbs sand; the vertical hole was begun on February 12, 2013; the curve building began February 18, 2013, just six days later. The lateral section was begun on February 21, 2013; it reached TD on February 27, 2013.

This was an interesting data point I had not seen before: with regard to "gas" at depth, 100 units is equal to 1% methane in air) -- that may or may not be useful at your next cocktail party.

Background gas increased to approx 100 units toward the end of the curve; the flare ranged from 1 to 15 feet and varied between continuous and intermittent. Background gas increased around 12,000' MD and ranged from 100 to 900 units for the duration of the lateral. The highest gas peak was a gas show of 3,642 units at 12,815' MD.

The middle Bakken member was about 44' thick in total.

For Investors Only -- Midday Trading -- I Didn't See This One Coming -- COP Trading At New 52-Week High

Updates

Later, 4:40 p.m. Central Time: the market is closed. It was a good day for those who like to see a rising market; not so good for those looking for bargains.

PSX, a refiner, surges almost 2% and also at a new high. This might be the reason.

EOG traded at a new 52-week high, up over 1%: almost $104.

SRE was down a bit today; will sell 50% stake in its Mexican wind farm:

The sale of a 50 percent stake in the 155-megawatt Energia Sierra Juarez project in Tecate, Baja California, from IEnova is subject to regulatory approval, InterGen said today in a statement. It is the first cross-border wind-generation project between Mexico and the U.S.

EPD on a roller coaster, up over 1%, trading at a new 52-week high.

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.

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Fallout From Keystone Decision

ENB: closed down slightly today; trading near 52-week highs.

America "hesitates" (I would have said "dithers"), Canada moves on:

Enbridge (TSX: ENB)(NYSE: ENB), the company responsible for exporting over two-thirds of Western Canada’s crude oil to the United States, has been silently expanding its pipeline network. Some of the firm’s major initiatives include eliminating bottlenecks in the Chicago area, reversing its Line 9 to begin shipping bitumen to refineries in Quebec, and twinning the Seaway and Spearhead pipelines to increase volumes to the Gulf coast. These efforts are expected to add one million barrels per day, or bpd, of takeaway capacity by the end of 2015.

Bitumen pipelines to Canada’s west coast are slowly gaining momentum. Last December, a panel of federal regulators granted conditional approval to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposal, opening the door for the Federal government to give the final say on the project. If given the green light, the pipeline would deliver an additional 525,000 bpd of Alberta oil to Kitimat by around 2017.

This month the National Energy Board scheduled public hearings on Kinder  Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. If approved, the amount of crude oil shipped between Edmonton and Burnaby would triple to 590,000 bpd by 2017.

TransCanada is also optimistic on the prospects for its Energy East project. The company has proposed converting its cross-country gas mainline to start delivering 1.1 million bpd of Alberta oil to refineries in Montreal and Saint John by 2018. If approved by regulators, it would single handedly replace Keystone.

Yes, it will be hard to fill Keystone’s void, especially in the short-term. However, the build-up of crude-by-rail should hold the industry over until new pipeline routes are secured. According to a recent report by investment dealer Peters & Co., crude-by-rail capacity in Western Canada is expected to nearly triple from 550,000 bpd today to 1.5 million bpd by 2015.

All of these factors are already starting to alleviate the bitumen glut. Over the past year the discount for Canadian Western Select versus West Texas Intermediate has been cut in half to less than $19 per barrel. Additional transit capacity could reduce this gap further.

Three risks oil sands investors should be worried about. Two of the three are already baked in by long-term investors.

Original Post

Trading at new 52-week highs: AXAS, BHI, BRK.B, COP, ERF, HAL, PSX, SLB, STO, WLL.

COP is trading at a new 52-week high and so is its spin-off, PSX.

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.

Some companies reporting earnings tomorrow:

• ATT (T): expectations, 70 cents; after market close;
• McDonald's: expectations, $1.24; before market open;
• Nabors Industries (NBR): 15 cents; after market close

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Trivia Question For The Day

Just how thick is that layer of clay -- the iridium later, the K-T boundary -- between the white limestone that represents the end of the Age of Dinosaurs and the pink limestone that represents the start of the Age of Mammals?

A: Three-eighths of an inch (1 cm) thick. 

Hats Off To Bakken Roughnecks; Libya Still Can't Get Its Act To-Get-Her; Biofuel From Corn Waste Causes More Global Warming Than Conventional Gasoline -- President Obama-Financed Government Study -- Of Course, Only If You Believe In Global Warming

[Note: again, the Yahoo!Finance WTI crawler is incorrect. Bloomberg has the correct quote: $104.55, up a few pennies today.]

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Just a week ago or so, regular readers will remember all that hype about a Goodrich Petroleum well in Louisiana that "proved" the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale with a well that had an IP of 1,250 bbls of oil, plus natural gas.

The Bakken roughnecks are doing that daily, and no one seems to be writing about them any more. Everyone takes it for granted. Today, these two wells were reported:

• 26462, 2,224, MRO, Myers 24-35H, Reunion Bay, t3/14; cum --
• 18120, 2,966, BR, CCU Mainstreeter 14-24TFH, Corral Creek, t2/14; cum 5K 2/14; 

Look how old that one permit is: #18120 was permitted on April 28, 2009. Many more wells are going to report similarly good numbers but went to DRL status. I track "high IP" wells here.

And, "2,966"? 3,000 bbls for all practical purposes. 

Also, note that neither of these were Statoil wells.

I actually blogged about the Goodrich Petroleum company and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale back in November (2013) when I saw EOG involved. 

Inappropriate pat on my own back. LOL. This is not an investment site but I get a kick out of all the "stuff" that just happens to flow across the blog -- much of it arriving without rhyme or reason, much of it from readers which I really, really appreciate. After awhile, day-in, day-out, one starts to see trends, opportunities. Again, 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.

Again, a huge shout-out to the Bakken roughnecks, who day-in, day-out are drilling 2,000+ IP wells with little fanfare. Just gettin' the job done.

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Just One More Inconvenient Truth In Wonderland

That's the headline: biofuels worse for the environment than gasoline. And he says his study -- repeat, his, the president's, study -- was flawed.

The president also gives a fist pump / spikes the football for his success with ObamaCare rollout, just after he fires Ms Sebelius.

If this is not "Alice in Wonderland," I don't know what is.

White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane

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Libya Still Cannot Get Its Act Together

Reuters is reporting:

Technical problems have delayed the reopening of Libya's eastern Zueitina oil export terminal after the government reached a deal with rebels to end an eight-month blockade of the port, a minister said on Sunday.

Libya's government badly needs to boost oil exports, revenues from which are the main source for the budget and crucial to funding essential food imports such as wheat.

Parliament has failed to approve a 2014 budget as oil production has slumped to 200,000 bpd from 1.4 million bpd last summer when a wave of protests started. 

If Allah is willing, as they say in the Mideast.

[Added April 26, 2014] By the way, is Iraq about to implode?
 

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More Shovel-Ready Jobs Killed

Thank goodness the president killed the Keystone XL (again). Can you imagine the shortage of welders in the Bakken had they all been pulled away to lay a pipeline? Building the Keystone could literally shut down the Bakken as much as a tough winter.

Wells Coming Off Confidential List Over Long Weekend, Monday; BR, MRO Each With A "High-IP" Well

Monday:

• 24811, 810, Petro-Hunt, State of North Dakota 154-99-16B-2H, Stockyard Creek, t12/13; cum 44K 2/14;

Saturday:

• 22995, drl, Abraxas, Jore Federal 2-11-1H, North Fork,
• 25010, drl, WPX, FBIR 13-24HD, Van Hook, producing,
• 25822, 1,403, BR, CCU Columbian 24-36TFH, Corral Creek, t2/14; cum --
• 25912, drl, Zavanna, Bills 5-8 3TFH, Crazy Man Creek, no production data,
• 26258, drl, CLR, Oneil 1-28H1, Stoneview,

Sunday:

• 20257, drl, KOG, Two Shields Butte 3-24-12-3H3, Mandaree, no production data,
• 24989, A, Fidelity, Allan 14-23H, Dickinson, cum 24K 2/14;
• 24990, 1,117, Fidelity, Doloris 14-23H, Dickinson, t10/13; cum 34K 2/14;
• 25378, drl, XTO, Loomer 41X-3R, Tobacco Garden, no production data,
• 25899, drl, Hess, SC-Bennie 157-99-2017H-1, Lone Tree Lake, no production data,
• 25911, drl, Zavanna, Bills 32-29 4TFH, Stockyard Creek, no production data,
• 26462, 2,224, MRO, Myers 24-35H, Reunion Bay, t3/14; cum --
• 26720, drl, Hess, EN_State C-156-93-1615H-6, no production data,

Monday:

• 18120, 2,966, BR, CCU Mainstreeter 14-24TFH, Corral Creek, t2/14; cum 5K 2/14;
• 23256, drl, SM Energy, Arnold 16X-12H, Siverston, no production data,
• 25995, drl, Cornerstone, Anderson B-2413-6191, Clayton, no production data

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North Dakota Also Has Healthy Wind Power Industry -- EIA

In 2013, 12 states accounted for 80% of U.S. wind-generated electricity, according to preliminary generation data released in EIA's March Electric Power Monthly report. Texas was again the top wind power state with nearly 36 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity. Iowa was second, with more than 15 million MWh, followed by California, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, North Dakota (#11), and Wyoming.

These 12 states produced a combined 134 million MWh of electricity from wind. Nationwide, 167 million MWh of power came from wind in 2013, a 19% increase from 2012. Wind power increased its share of U.S. total electricity generation in 2013 from 3.5% to 4.1%. All but 13 states reported to EIA some generation from wind, and 23 states increased their wind generation more than 10% above 2012 production levels.

California's wind generation exceeded geothermal generation for the first time in 2013.

The proportion of wind to total electricity generated varied widely by state. Leading the nation in wind generation share was Iowa with 27.4% of net electricity production coming from wind turbines. Second was South Dakota, at 26%. Other states with more than twice the national share of 4.1% wind power were Kansas, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming, and Texas.

Meanwhile: Connecticut and Rhode Island -- "no" wind power; Massachusetts -- minimal. 

Monday -- April 21, 2014

Active rigs:

	4/21/2014	04/21/2013	04/21/2012	04/21/2011	04/21/2010
Active Rigs	188	185	210	176	109

RBN Energy: how killing the Keystone XL is killing the small Canadian operators; this could work out well for the large operators; railbit vs dilbit.

Two weeks ago we noted that a unit train of railbit moved from Alberta’s oil sands region to an unloading facility at Natchez, MS. We learned subsequently that the unit train concerned carried dilbit crude (bitumen typically blended with 30 percent diluent) not railbit (bitumen blended with 17-20 percent diluent). Turns out we made some assumptions about the capability to load unit trains with railbit that ran counter to existing constraints that appear to make such a shipment impractical at present. In today’s blog we clarify these constraints and in the process shed light on the challenges faced by smaller oil sands producers trying to get their bitumen crude to market.

The Wall Street Journal

The recovery from the US recession has been nasty, brutish, and long. It is shaping up as one of the most enduring. Trillions of dollars of stimulus money should keep moving through the economy.

The Los Angeles Times

Interesting article on water supply for Las Vegas.  Makes the Bakken look like a paradise.

Deep beneath Lake Mead, a 23-foot-tall tunnel-boring machine grinds through stubborn bedrock in a billion-dollar effort to make sure water continues flowing to this thirsty resort city.

For six years, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has been building an intake straw below the reservoir's two existing pipes. Due for completion in fall 2015, critics say it may not provide a long-term solution.

An ongoing drought and the Colorado River's stunted flow have shrunk Lake Mead to its lowest level in generations. The reservoir, which supplies 90% of Las Vegas' water, is ebbing as though a plug had been pulled from a bathtub drain. By mid-April, Lake Mead's water level measured just 48 feet above the system's topmost intake straw.

The Dickinson Press

Bismarck State College providing pipeline of trained workers for the Bakken:

They say anyone can find a job in the Bakken. But there are some jobs only trained workers can do.

Bismarck State College is helping to supply that, with degree programs and industry training to help staff western North Dakota’s booming oil industry.

The National Energy Center of Excellence’s “non-credit” student population grew from 339 people in 2008 to 1,713 in 2013, said Retha Mattern, business and outreach coordinator for the NECE. Those numbers include employees sent by companies for a couple days of training or refresher courses.

One example of that will hit close to home in Dickinson is the eight men who completed their four-month refinery training at BSC earlier this month — they were hired by Dickinson Prairie Refining and then sent to school for training.

Two WSJ Articles On The Shale Boom

The new winners and losers in America's shale boom.

A new breed of energy company is a hit with investors using a mantra long scorned in the oil-and-gas business: Small is beautiful.

When the U.S. energy boom began almost a decade ago, the companies leading the way believed bigger was better. They amassed huge land holdings so they could drill thousands of wells—and then struggled as the glut of natural-gas freed through hydraulic fracturing pushed down prices.

Like their bigger rivals, the upstarts frack to tap previously untouchable oil and gas deposits in dense shale formations. But these companies have focused on the right property instead of the most property—and raked in big stock paydays as a result.

In shale oil, leases aren't what matters.

The companies at the forefront of hydraulic fracturing consistently have spent more cash leasing land and drilling than they made selling oil and gas. Now, with the U.S. shale boom in its ninth year, they are trying to end that streak.

Value over volume—the idea that spending wisely is more important than pumping lots of fuel—has become the refrain on Wall Street and in board rooms across the oil patch.

The era when energy executives cared more about rapid growth than cash flow is over, says Arun Jayaram, a Credit Suisse energy analyst. The companies were run in the early days "by a group of teenagers," he says, "and now they've grown up to be real adults."

The 20 largest U.S. exploration companies—those that drilled wells, but didn't operate refineries—outspent their cash flow by a combined $11.5 billion last year, according to an analysis of CapitalIQ financial data. A year earlier the companies had $29.9 billion in negative cash flow.

Many of these companies, promise they soon will become cash-flow positive. Reining in spending has been tough, however.

Only a handful, mostly those with international operations, already are running in the black, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and ConocoPhillips. For EOG Resources Inc., one of the largest U.S. oil producers and a leader of the energy boom, last year was its first of positive cash flow since 2005. The economics of fracking are starting to improve, making positive cash flow attainable for some companies.

The competitive—and expensive—sprint to lease land in promising shale formations has ended as the best prospects have been scooped up.

A cold winter pushed natural-gas prices higher, helping producers generate more cash after several years of overproduction depressed prices. And the costs of fracking wells—injecting sand, water and chemicals to crack open shale and free oil and gas—is falling as companies have gotten better at it. Perhaps most important, investors and activist shareholders are putting pressure on executives to be more conservative about spending.

In part that is because successful shale companies have matured from microcapitalization companies, those with teeny market values that are expected to be risky but hold the prospect of stunning growth, to midcap stocks, which investors expect to have more reliable value.

Another Source For Frack Sand? Illinois

I don't subscribe to the service, so all I see is this snippet:

..Another one that I'd just throw in this group is Eagle Materials (EXP). They are primarily historically a wallboard and cement company so they're a little bit of a combination that you don't always see together a lot. They have a lot of opportunity and they are also greenfielded or in the process of greenfielding a frac sand mine in Illinois. Frac sand, as you probably know, is not a construction material; it's used in energy-production fracking.

They are waiting on a final permit that we think they probably ought to get a ruling on by the end of this month. If they are able to do what they think they can do with this frac sand business, that business could end up being as big as even the original focus. So that's a company that I think is a very good company and incredibly well-run company that has some obviously very good opportunities ahead of it in the market recovery in the construction materials business, that's all got itself set up to benefit from the energy boom if they're able to do what they think they can...

.... but sometimes that's enough. 

This was from a press release back in 2012:

Eagle Materials Inc. announced today that the company has entered into a definitive agreement with Lafarge North America to purchase Lafarge's Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma cement plants, as well as related assets, which include six distribution terminals, two aggregates quarries, eight ready-mix concrete plants and a fly ash business. Eagle will also enter into a transition sales agreement to supply certain Lafarge operations with cement for four to five years, and an agreement with a Lafarge affiliate to supply low-cost alternative fuels to the acquired operations.