Lots Of Things Happening In Energy -- Huge Story -- Anadarko Expands In Gulf Of Mexico; Proof That "Peak Oil" Is Dead (At Least For Now) --Tuesday, September 13, 2016

This is kind of funny. Later in the post I will mention the "importance of googling." I wrote that before I saw this article over at Bloomberg/Rigzone in which the journalist says this is another sign that "PEAK OIL" is dead. Google searches for "too much oil" now outstrip searches for "Peak Oil."

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Anadarko Expands In Gulf Of Mexico

It never quits, Now it's Anadarko diving even deeper into the Gulf of Mexico. The data points:

• Anadarko acquired Freeport McMoran Oil & Gas assets for $2 billion (with a "B")
• the deal will double Anadarko's ownership in the Lucius development to about 49 percent
• the deal will expand the company's infrastructure throughout the Gulf of Mexico
• the deal will generate $3 billion in incremental cash flow during the next five years at current prices
• the deal will enable the company to accelerate investment in Anadarko's Delaware and DJ basin assets 
• the Lucius is not "Lower Tertiary," but rather the Pilocene and Miocene sands with better porosity and permeability; the Lucius field was discovered in December, 2009  

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Another Great "Meanwhile Back At The Ranch"

This one popped up late Monday night, around 10:30 p.m. The pictures of North Dakota are incredible.

And the story provides a great visual ... if not the actual photograph.

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Festivals In North Texas This Time Of Year

Tonight I took Sophia, age two years, two months, to the local park. We used to go daily but recently not so much. We took a break when she was not feeling well, and it's been a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things. It's a long stroller ride and it's been quite hot.

But this evening we went. Sophia's family lives in a fairly upscale neighborhood here in north Texas.

Upon coming to the park, my first thought: several birthday parties but then it dawned on me. There must be some religious holiday that I was missing. The Shi-ite group was in one large picnic area and the Sunnis were in another large picnic area on the other side of the park. Conversation, what little I heard, seemed to center on "stuff" that was for sale at Toys 'R Us. (I'm not making this up.)

Sort of like Williston when I was growing up: Lutherans in one group, Catholics in another. 

I always tell the granddaughters if they have a question, follow the money, or google it. This one seemed to call for googling, and lo and behold, we got our answer. Indeed it was a religious holiday; in fact, two:

• Waqf al Arafa - Hajj: Saturday, September 10, 2016
• Eid-al-Adha, Tuesday, September 13, 2016

So, this would sort of be like "Eid-al-Adah-eve."

Another source says Eid al-Adha began yesterday evening and will end Thursday evening, September 15.  And that's obviously more accurate: this is a four-day "solemn festival" (eid).

I'm kind of embarrassed I missed all this, after all the stories about Iran being upset with the way Saudi Arabia is handling the Hajj.

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The Political Page

Overtime For California Farm Workers

I must be missing something (it won't be the first time I missed something -- see story above about religious holidays). This was a huge story on local radio here in north Texas earlier this evening and now I see it's a big story over in the Los Angeles Times. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it amazes me that a) it's taken this long for a Democratic Assembly and a Democratic governor to pass this bill which seems to be a no-brainer for that group; and, b) it's such a big story considering how little it actually does.

Data points:

• overtime for farm workers who work more than 8 hours / day
• overtime for farm workers who work more than 40 hours / week

Why shouldn't they get overtime? "Everyone" else does -- we're talking hourly workers, not salaried workers.

But then look at this:

• it's phased in over four years and it doesn't begin until 2019. 
• and farms with less than 25 employees get an extra three years to phase this in

A lot can happen between then and now, and even if nothing changes, that's an eternity for a lot of folks. Farm work is probably some of the most physically demanding work there is.

There are two issues here, as far as I can tell. The cost of groceries. The cost of groceries has less to do with farmers than with the cost of processing, marketing, transportation, government regulations, etc. All things being equal, I can't imagine grocery prices going up that much. The second issue: California farmers say their products will be less competitive than products from other states / countries with the result that California grocers and restaurants will buy their products from out-of-state. Somehow I doubt that. But we'll see.

But again, for me this is not an issue about overtime. The surprising thing for me is that this took Governor Brown and his Democratic Assembly this long to pass this bill. For them, as noted above, it seems like it should have been a no-brainer.

Will it encourage more migrant workers coming up from Mexico? Probably, but that seems to be the least of our problems right now. I can think of a much bigger problem right now and her initials are HRC, not to be confused with the ticker symbol for Halcon Resources.

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The Political Page (Continued)

Everyone has seen the video by now.

• A secret service agent who was on Hillary's detail weighs in.
• Breitbart weighs in.
• Zeiss Blue Visual Control Lenses: prevent photo-induced seizures
• these "falling-out" episodes are frequent -- Bill Clinton -- edited out by CBS on the Charlie Rose show 

In the video, it is very, very clear that Hillary collapsed, truly collapsed. The New York Times has a video of the collapse and title the video, "Clinton Loses Balance at 9/11 Memorial." She did not simply lose her balance; she collapsed. The caption, incredibly, states, "Hillary Clinton appeared briefly unsteady ..." Hell. It was more than "appearance." And it was more than "briefly unsteady." She collapsed and had to be lifted into the waiting van. I guess it depends on one's definition of several words: "appeared," "briefly," and "unsteady." The NYT loses an incredible amount of integrity in such reporting. Within a week or so, my hunch is that this video will disappear from the NYT archives.

So, this much is pretty much not refutable:

• except to the press, it appears that Hillary has a serious medical problem; to the rest of us with at least an eighth grade education and common sense, it appears fairly obvious what is going on
• she may or may not have pneumonia but that has nothing to do with what appears we are seeing now
• she appears to have a medical disorder resulting in atonic seizure-like episodes or fainting episodes
• her seizure-like episodes or fainting spells appear to result in a loss of consciousness but apparently do not result in a post-ictal state; if so, the post-ictal state is very, very short (she does admit to losing consciousness in the past -- as opposed to the future, I suppose)
• her medical problem is most likely secondary to an underlying cause, perhaps related to an earlier injury
• at least one body guard / handler has emergency injectable medication; the individual is not a Secret Service agent
• a person with any common sense who has been diagnosed with pneumonia and susceptible to dehydration does not attend an event without bottled water
• people who witness another individual buckling, falling, and losing consciousness react in a particular matter -- usually "with great anxiety" and "an urge to intervene" -- unless they've seen it so many times, they are a) used to it; b) expect it; c) know that it is treatable; and, d) that it is self-limiting
• most people who experience buckling, falling, and losing consciousness are rushed to the nearest medical facility unless those around them have seen it so many times, they are a) used to it; b) expect it; c) know that it treatable; and/or d) know that the event is self-limited
• most people who experience buckling, falling, and losing consciousness are not taken to their adult daughter's home in lieu of a medical facility, unless .... see above
• parents who have children with a seizure disorder become quite calm over time after they have witnessed their children with multiple seizures. Most seizures -- with very few exceptions -- end on their own, and do not require medication. "We" treat seizures mostly to prevent "other" injury