Sunday Morning -- Nothing About The Bakken, Except One Link -- July 24, 2016

The one Bakken link on this page: a reminder that Mike Filloon posted a great update on the Bakken yesterday. I track it here with comments. I say that because a reader has provided some additional information on what it means "to trip" in the oil patch. Another reader introduces technology that was new to me: monobore / monodiameter / one run drilling. These little vignettes could serve as the basis for some great essays for kids in school tasked to write essays on various subjects. I remember how much I enjoyed writing projects throughout "junior hi" and high school.

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Non-Bakken

If you came here only for the Bakken you can skip the rest of this page, and scroll down, or to the sidebar at the right. Nothing below will interest those who arrived here simply for Bakken updates.

Wow, the Drudge Report this Sunday morning certainly is full of stories on the fallout from Wikileaks (#DNCLeaks) and the Munich Massacre by Ali. I think the most interesting was the BBC's attempt -- remember who the mayor of London is -- to "change" the suspect's name. Until Breitbart called the BBC on that, and then they posted the full name. (By the way, it's very similar to how the media long ago -- if ever -- referred to the president using his full given name.) No links; stories everywhere.

CNN headline: "21 killed in Baghdad suicide blast, weeks after deadliest in years." ISIS claimed responsibility. I assume this is another example of ISIS on the run not that we have them on the run, according to the administration. I track the "Mideast on edge" at the sidebar on the right.

Fox News reported that "Saudi official makes rare Jerusalem visit, meets Israelis." If he visited Jerusalem, it's hard to think he would not meet Israelis. As a reminder, the Israelis and the Palestinians both claim Jerusalem as their capital. Fox News considers this newsworthy; my hunch is this happens all the time, Saudi officials meeting Israeli officials. I wonder if they met in an air-conditioned unmarked aircraft parked at the end of a runway.

NextEra. Nexterror. Someone has a sense of humor. The NextEra lawyers are suing a blogger who refers to NextEra as Nexterror. The NextEra lawyers suggest her parody could confuse folks who might want to buy a wind turbine. I can't make this stuff up. Over at wiki:

NextEra has launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against a wind turbine protester who, on her personal website, created a parody of the NextEra logo and referred to the corporation as Nexterror. The corporation's lawyers claim that she “advertised her services in association with a trademark that was confusing with the Plaintiff’s registered trademarks”, potentially causing confusion among NextEra’s customers. As in, wind turbine customers might think that the woman is really NextEra and that they might try to buy wind turbines from her.

That last entry: a huge "thank you" to Don. By the way, on a serious note, a much bigger story, at least for me. This finally connects all the dots.

I assume folks in North Dakota remember Florida Power and Light investing in all those wind farms in the Peace Garden State. I blogged about it numerous times, although I think it might have been under the FPL moniker. For some time now, I haven't seen anything with regard to FPL in North Dakota. It turns out they changed their name, and I see NextEra everywhere -- especially on the "WSJ -- new highs" list for the past few weeks. NextEra is on a tear, trading at new highs, it seems, almost every day.

This on NextEra from wiki:

NextEra Energy is currently the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in the US, and second in the world after Iberdrola.

As of January 1, 2015 NextEra Energy, through its subsidiaries, currently operates over 100 wind farms across 19 states and three Canadian provinces, with a gross capacity of 11,300 megawatts.

It owns and operates the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor County, Texas, the second largest wind farm in the United States.

In 2015, NextEra accounted for roughly 35 percent US wind power installed.

Google Energy is an investor and customer of NextEra, having invested $38.8 million in two sites in North Dakota, and entered into a purchase agreement for 100 MW at a fixed rate for 20 years.

So, the dots are connected.

Tax credits -- Google -- NextEra -- FPL -- North Dakota -- wind farms.

One final note: when the Hillary administration takes office, one can bet that corporations investing in "x" amount of wind power will be given generous tax credits. Anyone paying attention has seen the close relationship between Eric Schmidt and Hillary Clinton. They're joined at the hips. (Of course, a lot of folks are joined at Hillary's hips: her hips are broad and inclusive.)

By the way, speaking about blogging about FPL: RBN Energy has had some great posts on FPL (now NextEra Energy) investing in natural gas producing companies and the reserves themselves, guaranteeing them some ability to control the price of their "own" natural gas.

Ah, enough of that.