Pipelines From US To Mexico: ¡Si! Pipelines From North Dakota To Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, or Cushing -- ¡No! -- September 21, 2016

Two stories that arrived in my mailbox at the same time.

RBN Energy: Kinder Morgan's Tejas Crossover to help move natural gas from the US to Mexico (would have required President Obama's okay -- going across international border).

Huffington Post: as Dakota Access protests escalated, President Obama okayed same company for two pipelines to Mexico. (I was sent the link but have not been able to download the story yet; for some reason the URL won't download, even when googling the URL which shows up but won't download, at least at the moment.)

I have noted that it's easier to do business across US/Mexico border than it is in the US.

Someone says Mexico needs all the natural gas we're sending them to run their factories that US companies are moving from the US down to Mexico, like Ford.

This administration is more concerned about a) Mexican workers; and, b) Muslim immigrants to the US, than about American workers. 

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Active rigs in North Dakota:

	9/21/2016	09/21/2015	09/21/2014	09/21/2013	09/21/2012
Active Rigs	33	68	196	185	184

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Venezuela -- Tick, Tick, Tick

Venezuela importing US oil: from yesterday's New York Times --

The United States has always been a huge market for Venezuela’s oil. But with Venezuela’s state oil company hobbling along, it was actually forced to start importing oil from the United States.

Early this year, the United States began shipping more than 50,000 barrels a day of the light crude that Venezuela needs to prepare its own oil for export, joining a handful of suppliers that have become vital to keeping the country’s oil industry afloat.

Even that lifeline is tenuous. Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA, is struggling to pay for the foreign oil. Some tankers wait in port for as long as two weeks to be paid, and sometimes they leave because of a lack of payment, said an oil executive who requested anonymity to avoid reprisals from the government.

The problems are just some of the reasons Venezuela’s oil production has plummeted to 2.4 million barrels a day, down 350,000 barrels from a year ago. That is nearly a million barrels below what it was in 1998 when Mr. Chávez took power.

Unless I missed it, the article did not discuss the reason US light oil is needed by Venezuela which produces heavy oil. This issue has been posted on the blog for quite some time. Just some of the entries, and note how far back this story began:

• At risk, 235,000 bopd of Venezuelan heavy crude oil, February 28, 2016.
• Venezuela crude output falls short; forced to import oil, February 3, 2016. 
• Venezuela crude oil exported to US, December 18, 2015.
• Venezuela starts importing oil, November 3, 2014.

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The Market

Late afternoon trading: the Fed left rates alone. The Dow 30 hardly reacts; up 32 points after the news, although the initial reaction was a spike (up 0.63%; now up only 0.18%).

Open: up 88 points. Betting on the Fed? It looks like the "big boys" already know. Poll:

• will raise raises: 19%
• won't raise rates: 67%
• won't raise rates, but I'm hedging: 2%
• won't raise rates, not investing until I know: 12%