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Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Wednesday - September 3, 2014; Australia Weather Bureau Doesn't Deny It Tampered With Weather Data

Active rigs:


9/2/201409/02/201309/02/201209/02/201109/02/2010
Active Rigs194185192198143

RBN Energy announces its Schools of Energy, Houston (Fall, 2014); Calgary (Spring, 2015)

The Wall Street Journal

Top story: video purports to show beheading of American journalist. President Obama sends more "non-combat troops" to Baghdad. Getting ready for the evacuation? Protests shut down Iraqi parliament.

The secret to the success of ISIS (ISIL).

Ukraine's dilemma: talk with rebels or right with Russia.

Banks' fee bonanza dries up.

Upbeat economic reports signal sustained improvement: a strengthening manufacturing sector is fueling expectations that the US economy will expand at a more robust clip in the second half of the year.

Apple: no iCloud breach. Okay. [Update, Sept 3, 2014: as suspected, there was an iCloud breach; Apple was less than forthcoming when the story first broke; the initial denial may cause Apple more harm than the actual breach.]

Home Depot with possible breach of credit-card data.

Dollar wins as policies shift. Important. For oil pricing.  

The Los Angeles Times

Top story, front page: President Obama approves 350 more "non-combat" troops for US Embassy in Baghdad. 

Limited water presents challenge for natural gas fracking. But no restrictions on golf courses except that all watering must be done at night (when golfers are not on the links). Perhaps they could limit fracking to night-time only.

Dunkin' Donuts opens first Southern California shop in Santa Monica

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Global Warming, Australian Style

Remember that story about Australia fudging climate data? Turns out to be very, very true. "Australia weather bureau" does not deny it tampered with climate data.  

And now it turns out that the troposphere has not shown any warming in the past ... drum roll ... 26 years
The nearly two-decade long pause in global warming may just be the tip of the iceberg for evidence against anthropogenic climate change. A new paper found that temperatures in the lower troposphere have not shown a warming trend in as many as 26 years.
“In the surface data we compute a hiatus length of 19 years, and in the lower tropospheric data we compute a hiatus length of 16 years… and 26 years” using satellite data sets.
Cognitive dissonance, I suppose.

Petro-Hunt, OXY USA To Report Nice Wells Wednesday -- September 2, 2014

Active rigs:


9/2/201409/02/201309/02/201209/02/201109/02/2010
Active Rigs194185192198143

Wednesday, September 3, 2014
  • 23016, drl, CLR, Sacramento Federal 7-10H1, Brooklyn, no production data,
  • 24533, 1,595, Petro-Hunt, Clear Creek 152-96-34B-6H, Clear Creek, t6/14; cum 25K 7/14;
  • 26409, drl, BR, CCU Corral Creek 11-28MBH, Corral Creek, no production data,
  • 26603, A, Fidelity, Jon R 16-21-22H, Stanley, 4 sections, no IP yet; cum 35K 7/14;
  • 26734, 168, Fidelity, Shirley Anne 34-9H, Stanley, 1 section, t3/14; cum 14K 7/14;
  • 26747, 578, OXY USA, Wittinger 3-8-5H-143-95, Murphy Creek, t4/14; cum 48K 7/14;
  • 26748, 552, OXY USA, Wittinger 4-8-5H-143-95, Murphy Creek, t4/14; cum 35K 7/14;
  • 26796, 2,131, HRC, Fort Berthold 152-94-24D-13-7H, Antelope, Sanish, t8/14; cum 13K 7/14;
  • 26812, drl, Hess, EN-Hermandson-LE-155-93-3501H-3, Robinson Lake, no production data,
  • 27567, 1,448, MRO, Hellerud 14-23TFH, Chimney Butte, 4 sections, t6/14; cum 10K 6/14;
Seven (7) new permits --
  • Operators: EOG (3), Whiting (3), Cornerstone
  • Fields: Parshall (Mountrail), Green River (Stark), Bell (Stark), Northeast Foothills (Burke)
  • Comments:
Wells coming off the confidential list since Friday were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Five (5) producing wells completed:
  • 24478, 1,562, Statoil, Olson 20-29 4H, Painted Woods, t8/14; cum --
  • 25914, 1,060, Zavanna, Bills 5-8 1H, Crazy Man Creek, t8/14; cum 5K 6/14;
  • 26070, 1,284, BR, Big Sun 41-2MBH-ULW, 4 sections, t5/14; cum 14K 6/14;
  • 26345, 1,463, Statoil, Cvancara 20-17 6TFH, Alger, t7/14; cum --
  • 27120, 1,603, BR, Arches 24-35TFH, Keene, t8/14; cum -- 
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For investors only: 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.

Baker Hughes closes previously announced acquisition of Weatherford's pipeline and specialty services business.

Trading at new 52-week highs today: AAPL, EW, GPRO, MRO, NOV, OKE, OKS, PBR, PSX, QEP, RAIL, SRE, STE, UNP, WMB.

Earlier this month, a Zacks report on UNP. I might have posted it; can't remember. Here it is (again).

If it's the one thing Africa needs right now, it's germicides. Think Steris.

I didn't want to check the market earlier today; it looked like a bad day but then when I saw all the companies hitting new highs -- wow, what a surprise. UNP and SRE, especially, hitting new highs.
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No Strategy For Libya Either

Eleven commercial jetliners disappear after ISIS-like extremists take Libyan airport.  "What does it matter?" -- SecState Hillary Clinton.

The Wall Street Journal

Ukraine shifts to defense against Russia; what, they were on offense before?

After soaring in the years since the recession, the use of food stamps is beginning to decline. What, the recession is over?

The world is in flames; President Obama phoning it in -- this time, another speech on minimum wage. By the way, "minimum wage" is the wedge issue that President Obama hopes to bring out millions to vote.

Eric Cantor joins Wall Street bank.

California bans plastic bags. Does NOT ban background checks for firearms ammunition.

Coal miners see signs of recovery.

The Los Angeles Times

Mother says Uzi "too much" for girl who shot her instruction. Well, duh. I wonder if the nine-year-old girl will "pass" background checks in the future? 

That nude celebrity leak? It did not occur in the iCloud.

When success hurts:
An auto dealers association has asked Peach State officials to bar the Palo Alto-based company from offering its Model S sport sedans and upcoming Model X SUVs at its Atlanta-area retail store.
The Georgia Automobile Dealers Assn., in a petition to the Georgia Department of Revenue, alleges that Tesla has sold 5,200 Model S sedans in the United States so far this year, 173 of them in Georgia.

That's a violation of the sales-license waiver Tesla had received from the state of Georgia, the group alleges. The association said in its petition that the waiver limits Tesla sales in the state to 150 vehicles per year.
The LA Times: the question isn't really "will Hillary run?" but rather, "can't we do better?" What does it matter?

Update On Diamond Crude Oil Pipeline And How It Affects US Pipeline Routing, Infrastructure -- September 2, 2014

RBN Energy is reporting: northbound Capline crude oil flow may be living on borrowed time.
Two weeks ago (August 21, 2014) Plains All American announced their proposed “Diamond” crude pipeline project from Cushing, OK to Memphis, TN that will feed the Valero Memphis refinery starting in late 2016.
The new pipeline will provide more direct access from Cushing to supplies of the light sweet crude this refinery processes that are being produced these days in the Williston, Denver Julesburg, Permian and Anadarko basins.
Presumably the Diamond pipeline will replace existing arrangements where crude is shipped up the Capline pipeline to Memphis. That development looks to be another nail in the coffin for the northbound Capline crude trunk route between St James and Patoka, IL. Today we discuss the proposal and its consequences for Capline.
This is another incredible story of how the Bakken is transforming the pipeline infrastructure across North America. 
Highly recommend folks save this article for future reference. RBN Energy generally archives their articles at a later date requiring a subscription to access.

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Cattle

Traveling cross-country from north Texas to North Dakota, I noted my observations regarding cattle on earlier posts. It was my impression that the cattle herds were larger.

The Dickinson Press is reporting:
While the U.S. continues to lose cattle, North Dakota is moving up to the head of the herd.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture study released in July revealed a nationwide cattle inventory of 95 million as of July 1. Those numbers were down 3 percent from the 2012 count of 97.8 million. This count was the lowest for July since the series began in 1973.
There was some good news for North Dakota. Producers expanded the state’s inventory to 943,000, the highest since 2005. This helped North Dakota jump in rank from the 13th producer of cattle to ninth.
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Notes to the Granddaughters

The most noticeable change in the Bakken this year compared to last year: the changing demographics. I've wrote about that several times during my most recent visit. It was truly heart-warming to see all the young women, the families, the couples, the children. It was the first time in my life that I really "saw/experienced" the "wheel of life."

Before the boom, the one constant in Williston was noting the aged population at the grocery stores, the coffee shops, at Wal-Mart.

During the first few years of the boom, one saw a new phenomenon: all these young, male workers coming up to the Bakken. 

But now, in the seventh year of the boom, children and lots of them. It was really heart-warming. It brought back a lot of memories from my own youth. The biggest memory: children don't complain about the weather or the "remoteness" of North Dakota. Generally, children are optimistic and having lots of fun, whatever they are doing. 

Coincidentally, my sister gave me a book that she had forgotten to give me 18 months earlier. A reader of the blog sent me a copy of The Muddy River Boys. Also at Amazon.com. Interestingly enough, someone actually mentioned it to me sometime ago, and I had forgotten all about it. At the link, look at the first comment. It's a must-read for those with nostalgic memories of North Dakota back in 1930 - 1960. The book covers the period, generally, from 1944 - 1948. If I recall, very little mention, if any, was made of WWII. 

Perhaps more later. It's time to pick up our granddaughters from school.

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Waiting for a Sonic to open in the Bakken

Prairie Biz is reporting:
FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State University football game wasn’t the only big event Fargoans experienced Saturday, as the area’s first Sonic Drive-in opened with some early fanfare.
The parking lot and stalls, where customers can order from their car, were full when the restaurant opened at 6 a.m. Cars were lined up for two blocks at times during the day, and even though it was a cool and windy morning, people sat outside.
There were so many cars, members of the Fargo Rotary Club were even on hand to help control the traffic flow.
The first 15 customers received free Sonic for a year.

ONEOK May Increase Capacity At Its Garden Creek II Natural Gas Processing Facility - September 2, 2014; Increased Storage Capacity Slated For New Town, North Dakota; Update On Vantage Pipeline (Tioga To Canada)

Interesting to say the least. Sent in by a reader. Platts is reporting:
ONEOK's newly opened 100,000 mcf/d Garden Creek II natural gas processing facility in eastern McKenzie County, North Dakota, may add another 18,000 b/d of natural gas liquids production to the region, a Platts analysis found Wednesday.
ONEOK Partners on Tuesday announced the plant is now operational, doubling capacity at the Garden Creek complex from 100,000 mcf/d to 200,000 mcf/d.
According to Maria Mejia, an analyst at Bentek, a unit of Platts, the Garden Creek I plant became operational in mid-2011 and has been operating at or above its nameplate capacity of 100,000 mcf/d since August 2012.
I track the ONEOK NG plants here.

Be careful on this one. The second paragraph says the capacity was doubled to 200,000 -- as noted in the paragraph, that's for the entire complex which has Garden Creek 1 and Garden Creek 2. There is a Garden Creek 3 proposed/under construction which may / may not be part of the same complex.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting:
Pembina Pipeline Corporation is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements to acquire the Vantage pipeline system and Mistral Midstream Inc.'s interest in the Saskatchewan Ethane Extraction Plant for total consideration of US$650 million.
 
Vantage is a recently constructed, approximately 700 kilometre ("km"), 40,000 barrel per day ("bpd"), high vapour pressure pipeline that originates in Tioga, North Dakota and terminates near Empress, Alberta. Vantage provides long-term, fee-for-service cash flow and strategic access to the prolific and growing North Dakota Bakken play for future natural gas liquids (NGL) opportunities. 
The Vantage pipeline can be increased to 60,000 bpd with minimum costs.

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Dakota Plains is reporting:
Dakota Plains Holdings, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors and joint venture partner have approved the expansion of oil storage at its Pioneer Terminal in New Town, North Dakota. Construction of a third 90,000 barrel storage tank is set to immediately commence; regulatory permits and engineering design are complete and Dakota Plains expects the storage tank to be operational by summer 2015.
The Pioneer Terminal is located in the heart of the Bakken and Three Forks formations and currently has sustainable throughput capacity of 45,000 barrels of oil per day with onsite oil storage of 180,000 barrels. The addition of a third storage tank, recently announced Hiland Partners gathering pipeline, and anticipated expanded rail service will facilitate increasing the sustainable throughput rate to a unit train per day - equivalent to 80,000 barrels of oil per day.
On August 18, 2014, I posted an earlier story related to this announcement.  Wow, it's nice that these projects can all be done in-state, and not have to include Minnesota or Iowa to weigh in on these projects. This represents a lot of jobs for American men and women.
 
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Also, ABC News is reporting:
Dominion Resources, Duke Energy and other partners are proposing a $5 billion natural gas pipeline to connect the Southeast with the prodigious supplies of natural gas being produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

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Nothing About The Bakken

This is an interesting psychological insight that historians may address thirty years from now with regard to US presidents using President Obama as a case study.

It's pretty much agreed that the president has checked out of day-to-day world events, concentrating more on golf and fund-raisers. (Their analysis, not mine.)

There is a "feeling"among some that the president realizes that he does not have much leverage at this point. He has no strategy for Syria (his words, not mine), and Putin says he can take Kiev in two weeks and Obama has no military plans for Ukraine (his words, not mine). In response, he phones it in, or ignores it completely.

My interest is pretty much energy-related, and Bakken-centered. I doubt the US has ever been in a better position, compared to the rest of the world, with regard to energy. We have it all: nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, solar, wind, biomass, ethanol, coal, natural gas, oil, and yet, I don't recall the president talking about US energy policy except to say a long time ago, something about "all of the above." Except coal. And no Canadian oil. From my perspective, he has failed to use North American energy as leverage to frame world events going forward, not just one or two years into the future, but decades into the future.

It appears that the president has "interpreted" his loss of leverage (a lame duck president with looming mid-term elections, and a White House strategy to keep him out of toss-up states [their words, not mine]) to affect his legacy as a loss of leverage for the US to affect / frame global events. In psychiatry that is called "transference."

He appears to see the future of the United States what he sees in his own personal future. I doubt this is unique for this president.

The phenomenon was noted in Jimmy Carter's "malaise speech."

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Disengaged

The Washington Post:
Obama has been giving Americans a pep talk, essentially counseling them not to let international turmoil get in the way of the domestic economic recovery. “The world has always been messy,” he said Friday. “In part, we’re just noticing now because of social media and our capacity to see in intimate detail the hardships that people are going through.”
So we wouldn’t have fussed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if not for Facebook? Or worried about terrorists taking over much of Syria and Iraq if not for Twitter? This explanation, following Obama’s indiscrete admission Thursday that “we don’t have a strategy yet” for military action against ISIS, adds to the impression that Obama is disengaged.
Wow, The Washington Post no less.

Whiting Reports Three Nice Privratsky Wells In Pronghorn Prospect, Three Forks, Bakken Pool -- September 2, 2014

These wells were reported earlier today:
  • 25467, 1,821, Whiting, Privratsky 11-27PH, Zenith, Three Forks (Pronghorn), no frac data, t3/14; cum 57K 6/14;
  • 25468, 1,920, Whiting, Privratsky 21-27PH, Three Forks (Pronghorn), no frac data, t3/14; cum 72K 6/14;
  • 25469, 2,272, Whiting, Privratsky 41-27PH, Zenith, Three Forks (Pronghorn), no frac data, t3/14; cum 81K 6/14; 

Comments:
  • From well file 25468: "The Privratsky 21-27PH (#3) was spudded on November 1st, 2013, and reached a total depth of 20,465' MD at 5:15 PM MST on December 24, 2013, sixteen days from spud." (sic)
  • From well file 25467:  "The Privratsky 11-27PH (#1) was spudded on November 3rd, 2013, and reached a total depth of 20,650' MD at 7:30 AM MST on November 16th, 2013, thirteen days from spud."
  • From well file 25469:  "The Privratsky 21-27PH (#2) was spudded on October 31st, 2013, and reached a total depth of 21,326' MD at 6:00 PM MST on December 15, 2013, twenty-one days from spud." (sic)
The comments are important in helping to understand the Bakken.

Fracking data had not yet been scanned into the NDIC website as of the date of the original post.

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Earth movers in the distance getting ready to prepare a pad east of Williston. 

EOG Reports Another Wayzetta Well With 124,000 Bbls In Less Than Three Months -- August 2, 2014

26212, 1,967, EOG, Wayzetta 40-1424H, Parshall, 1920-acre; although it's technically a long horizontal, in fact it really only drains one section (section 23), t3/14; cum 124K 6/14;

Geologist's report and completion (fracking) report not yet scanned in at the NDIC site.

The operator is capturing/selling about 62% of flared gas; meets requirement of new regulation.

Scout ticket:

NDIC File No: 26212    
Well Type: OG     Well Status: A     Status Date: 3/1/2014     Wellbore type: Horizontal
Location: NWSW 14-153-90    
Current Operator: EOG RESOURCES, INC.
Current Well Name: WAYZETTA 40-1424H
Total Depth: 18152     Field: PARSHALL
Spud Date(s):  9/2/2013 
Completion Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Comp: 3/1/2014     Status: F     Date: 3/25/2014     Spacing: ICO
Cumulative Production Data
   Pool: BAKKEN     Cum Oil: 124,041     Cum MCF Gas: 54195     Cum Water: 60990
Production Test Data
   IP Test Date: 3/25/2014     Pool: BAKKEN     IP Oil: 1,967     IP MCF: 1346     IP Water: 1421
Monthly Production Data
PoolDateDaysBBLS OilRunsBBLS WaterMCF ProdMCF SoldVent/Flare
BAKKEN6-2014303580435834163391563896495845
BAKKEN5-20142737613380131875717329663810566
BAKKEN4-20142033261328071418116314530510919
BAKKEN3-2014917363168911171349140486