We Start The Day With 29 Active Rigs In North Dakota And Nearly $50 WTI Oil Going Into Memorial Day Weekend -- May 27, 2016

Active rigs:

	5/27/2016	05/27/2015	05/27/2014	05/27/2013	05/27/2012
Active Rigs	29	84	190	187	214

RBN Energy: natural gas faces increasing competition in Texas.

With storage inventories soaring to record-high levels and production remaining relatively flat, the U.S. natural gas market is in dire need of record demand this summer to balance storage. All eyes are on power generation to soak up the gas storage surplus. Low gas prices and increased gas-fired generating capacity makes natural gas the go-to generation fuel this year.  However, in the largest summer demand market – Texas – natural gas is facing increasing competition from wind. Wind power still provides a much smaller share of Texas’s power than natural gas, but the addition of several big wind farms in 2015 gives wind a stronger footing in the Texas market this year. Today we take a closer look at the potential impact of growing wind generating capacity on natural gas demand, particularly in Texas.

We talked about the market’s dire need for incremental, even record demand recently. The gas market started the storage injection season in April (2016) with a record storage overhang, and mild weather since then has suppressed demand and limited the market’s ability to whittle down the surplus. However, if we discount the effects of the milder-than-normal weather, demand actually has been exceptionally strong on a degree day basis and could easily reach record highs this year if we get a normal-to-hotter summer weather. But now there is another potential factor that could blunt demand as well – wind generation, especially in Texas. Before we get to that though, first let’s put Texas power generation and wind into perspective.

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Raging Bull

Newest nominee for the 2016 Geico Rock Award for not knowing the "Pocahontas" story and how it related to Elizabeth Warren and Harvard University: Three Affiliated Tribes Councilman Ken Hall. Link here. The Geico Rock Award nominees are tracked here.

Speaking of which, I think TAT should consider calling Donald Trump, "Raging Bull."

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Raging Bulls

Updates

May 27, 2016: talk of a Trump-Sanders debate was just that: talk. DOA. No debate. 

Original Post

Thrilla from Manila.

One small step for man...

Miracle on ice.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Don't ask what your country can do for you ....

I have a dream .....

And now: the debate of the 21st century -- Sanders in the far left corner, and Trump (sort of) in the right corner.

A reminder: Hillary has declined another debate with Sanders.

Mano a mano.

The panel: Megyn Kelly, Simon Cowell, and Jerry Brown.

Venue: Tomorrow Land, Disneyland, California. Alternate: Fantasy Land, Disneyland, California.

Opening act: Taylor Smith.

Fight's on.

Just saying.