North Dakota's Financial Update -- August 20, 2015

Shale Plays Media is reporting:

Despite the precipitous drop in oil prices, North Dakota has increased savings by $3 billion over the past 12 months.

Bakken.com recently conducted an analysis of over 80 North Dakota funds and calculated the most recent balances to be in excess of $18.5 billion (see infographic).

This represents a 22 percent increase from $15.5 billion in 2014 and a 125 percent increase from $8 billion in 2011.

So how has North Dakota continued to substantially increase savings when oil and gas prices have fallen so dramatically? With no meaningful public debt, North Dakota is one of only 15 states that hold the S&P AAA credit rating.

In 2014 the total amount of oil extraction and production taxes collected was in excess of $3.2 billion. In addition to receiving tax revenue from oil and gas, the state owns over one million acres of land that generates income from royalties and leasing activities.

Even with lower oil prices, North Dakota has continued to produce over 1.2 million barrels of oil per day and still continues to collect a considerable amount of revenue from the petroleum industry.

From the linked site, the graphic (I'm not sure what "finincial" is):

 

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Moving Oreo Production to Mexico

I missed this. 

I gave up Oreos about six years ago. Created havoc with black carbs getting stuck in my teeth before retiring for the night. 

It matters not that it appears that the manufacturing plant for Oreos will move from the southwest side of Chicago to Mexico.

Southwest Chicago is fairly specific. Mexico is pretty general; it's a big country.

Whatever. 

In These Times is reporting:

Why give Oreos up? Because this week, Irene Rosenfeld, the head of Mondolez (the food conglomerate based in Illinois that has Nabisco in its portfolio), a woman touted for breaking the glass ceiling upon becoming the head of Kraft Foods and then its spin off, announced that rather than invest $130 million in modernizing the plant in Chicago, where Oreos have been lovingly produced for the past 100 years, she will instead move the jobs to a new factory in Mexico. The result: a loss of 600 well-paying and community-sustaining jobs on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

Is giving up Oreos a foolish and futile gesture? Of course, I know that other Chicago-born companies have made similar moves. I, like many Chicagoans felt a loss when Frango Mints were no longer hand made on the top floor of Marshall Field’s—and felt worse when Marshall Field’s ceased to exist at all. I was saddened when Klaus Suchard chose to take Brach candy production from Chicago, and in so doing ended Chicago’s title as candy capital of the world. I even regretted the loss of the city’s steel mills and stockyards, despite the cleaner air that their exodus brought.

I don't know what all the hand-wringing is about. Moving these jobs to Mexico,

• might keep more Mexicans in Mexico than coming to the US
• might further reduce the carbon footprint of the US as we move "manufacturing" jobs down south

And so it goes.

Seven (7) New Permits; North Dakota -- August 20, 2015

Active rigs:

	8/20/2015	08/20/2014	08/20/2013	08/20/2012	08/20/2011
Active Rigs	75	191	184	199	193

Wells coming off the confidential list Friday:

• 29171, A, CLR, Nordeng 3-5H, Elidah, producing, no test data,
• 29389, SI/NC, XTO, Johnsrud Federal 34X-14G, Bear Den,

Seven (7) new permits --

• Operators: Hess (5), XTO, CLR
• Fields: Beaver Lodge (Williams), Siverston (McKenzie), Banks (McKenzie)
• Comments: the Hess permits are for a 5-well pad

Three producing wells completed:

• 29688, 779, Hess, SC-Bingeman-154-98-0904H-4, Truax, t8/15; cum --
• 29602, 58, GN-Helen M-158-96-3229H-3, South Meadow, t8/15; cum --
• 29689, 878, Hess, SC-Bingeman-154-98-0904H-5, Truax, t7/15; cum --

Operator Transfer

• About 85 older wells were transferred from Enduro Operating, LLC, to Sedalia Energy, LLC.

Off The Net For Awhile -- August 20, 2015

Has the Dow broken through 17,000 yet?

Has WTI broken through $40 yet?

NG fill rate (a dynamic link): 53

In the East Region, stocks were 59 Bcf below the 5-year average following net injections of 50 Bcf.  

Gasoline demand (a dynamic link: for most recent week, up slightly to 9.705 million bopd. The four-week average is down slightly to 9.604 million bopd. It's going to be tough to get to 10 million bopd but it's going to be close. I think the record was the third week in August, 2007, at 9.762 million bopd.

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US Homes Sales Soar In July To Fastest Pace Since Early 2007

The AP is reporting.

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Oil's Latest Casualty: Mexico

CNBC is reporting: oil's latest casualty -- Mexico.

The list is here. 

Giving Away Their Oil For Free -- August 20, 2015

Everyone is aware that Saudi Arabia is giving away their oil for $60 or less. I've also opined that Saudi Arabia literally gives away their oil for free to some countries for various reasons which is another reason Saudi embarked upon a 5-year, $35 billion oil exploration program (which appears to have largely failed).

Today, Don sent me another example of Saudi's challenges with this tweet:

Saudi Arabia to supply Egypt with $1.4 billion in oil products for 3 months starting in Sept., Egypt's oil minister says - @Reuters.

The tweet doesn't say explicitly that Egypt is getting this for free (it probably isn't) but one can assume the deal is quite favorable for Egypt; not so favorable for Saudi Arabia.

Of course, Saudi's expectations are that Egypt will fight "their" war for them in Yemen.

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Tracking Baltimore Homicides

Either the numbers are wrong, or the numbers are very coincidental today. (Dynamic link.)

As of today, there have been 211 homicides so far in 2015 in Baltimore.

In 2014, there were a total of 211 homicides.

For the record, there is no area code 211 in North America. The three-digit number 211 is reserved for special services (similar to 411 information and 911 emergency) so cannot be issued as an area code. In many areas, 211 is used as a short code to reach health and human services referrals.

Maybe Baltimore could use "211" to report another homicide.

Tesla Superchargers Weren't Meant For Everday Local Use -- Elon -- Tesla -- August 20, 2015

Tesla updates continue. Regular readers know how I feel about Tesla.

Recently:

• pundits announce that Tesla is burning through cash
• Tesla took out a $750 million loan from a 7-bank consortium
• Tesla recently raised another $625 million (or thereabouts) in another equity offering
• Tesla missing "delivery" targets
• Mercedes announces as recently as yesterday that it is dumping Tesla; will compete with Tesla head-to-head
• Audi is reported as recently as yesterday to begin competing head-to-head with Tesla

Now, these new articles on their $2,000 charging stations.

GreenCarReports is reporting that the Tesla letter to rein in local supercharger use goes wrong.

Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a change in Tesla’s Supercharging philosophy.

Instead of "free forever" (the phrase the company has used since the beginning), Musk said the Supercharger promise is now “free long-distance travel forever” Superchargers, the free ultrafast Tesla-only DC charges spaced along Interstate highways, weren’t meant to be used for local driving by lucky owners who happen to live near one, said Musk.

Tesla Motors Club has this posting:

I was at the shareholder meeting and heard Elon say in effect Elon clarified that superchargers are really for long distance trips.

He acknowledged that there are some people using them for daily driving, and mentioned that a few are getting notes to that effect.

An owner can technically and legally use only superchargers for daily driving. What did he exactly mean? Has anyone received one of these notes? What about apartment dwellers without access to any plug?

And more at this Tesla Motors Club thread.

Many, many story lines here. 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Job watch: analysts forecast a drop in first-time claims this week. In fact, first-time claims jumped enough to result in the four-week average increasing for the first time in weeks, but Reuters still opines that "labor market is improving." Weekly applications rose 4,000 to 277,000 (expectations had been for applications to slip to 272,000). The four-week average rose for the first time in weeks, to 271,500, up 5,000, which is a pretty healthy jump for a four-week average.

Active rigs:

	8/20/2015	08/20/2014	08/20/2013	08/20/2012	08/20/2011
Active Rigs	75	191	184	199	193

RBN Energy: lack of pipeline throughways constrains Houston's incoming crude flows. (Archived.)

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Isn't Kyoto In Japan?

War on Coal? Japan appears to be sabotaging Obama. Politico is reporting:

Japan is now the planet’s top public financer of overseas coal plants, technology and mining.

Japan poured more than $20 billion into coal projects between 2007 and 2014—roughly a quarter of total international support for coal power. Since 2011, two of Japan’s main public financing arms have backed more than 22 gigawatts of new coal power from Vietnam to India to Chile. They’ve also put about $5 billion into coal mining projects around the world over the same period.

In 2013, by contrast, Obama dropped American support for public financing for new coal plants overseas, except where a plant uses carbon-capture technology or where a developing country has no other choice.

Especially with a major international climate negotiation on the horizon later this year, the divergence in policy has become an open diplomatic wound between the two countries.

Isn't Kyoto in Japan?