Saudi Arabia's Break-Even Price $92; Will Drop To $80 In 2017 -- December 7, 2016

Pearl Harbor Day. See first comment and then this link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/one-died-at-pearl-harbor-the-other-lived-seventy-five-years-later-theyll-be-reunited/2016/12/05/79fdeee8-aaa0-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.f4033163311e.

Trump: Time's magazine person of the year. 

The Recount: Day five of the Wisconsin recount is complete and Trump has gained 84 votes, while millions of dollars and countless hours of time are being squandered.

North Dakota is ranked #6 among all global crude oil plays for 2017 crude oil exploration  (posted previously). Of the 96 global crude oil plays, North Dakota is #6, Iraq (Kurdistan) is ranked #77, practically at the bottom of the list. Does that ranking matter? Let's see. 

From Reuters:

Exxon Mobil has pulled out of half of the six exploration blocks it operated in the Kurdistan region, the Iraq Oil Report reported. The oil company has walked away from its operations in the Qara Hanjeer, Arbat East, and Betwata blocks.

XOM is active in the Bakken through its subsidiary XTO which is the #2 operator in North Dakota based on net acreage. The breakeven price for Saudi Arabia is currently $93 and is forecast to drop to $80 in 2017. The breakeven price in the Bakken in the best spots currently active is well below $50.

And except for the DAPL, no wars are being fought in North Dakota.

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Brilliant

Trump is simply brilliant. After getting "everyone" excited about the Taiwan telephone call, he announces the nomination of Iowa governor Terry Branstad to be the US ambassador to CHINA. After alarming everyone with his Taiwan telephone call, he rewards CHINA by putting them at the top of the list: the first country to have the US ambassador named (after the US ambassador to the UN). This reassures China that their country is #1 on Trump's list of important countries.

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Global Warming Page

Cold records being set across the US. Much earlier than ever before. This follows Blanche, and so far, this "storm" is not even named. Chicago breaks 1940 snowfall record and the "storm" will continue. Seattle could see half of its annual rainfall in one day. Temperature plunge in the US; 35 degrees below normal across the entire country.

There has been no evidence of global warming in past 14 years. Sea levels rising? Arctic ice melting? Stories all over the place.  See "Daily Trump Thought" -- December 7, 2016.

Related? SunPower to cut 2,500 jobs on top of previous cuts.  Aluminum-roofing company having challenges navigating turbulence in the renewable energy business.This is 25% of its workforce -- and this is one industry where robots can't take the place of real humans.

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Active rigs:

	12/7/2016	12/07/2015	12/07/2014	12/07/2013	12/07/2012
Active Rigs	38	64	188	193	181

RBN Energy: Tallgrass's REX set to boost northeast gas takeaway capacity.

Takeaway capacity out of the Marcellus/Utica shale producing region is about to get another significant boost.

Tallgrass Energy’s Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) expects to bring the first 200 MMcf/d of its 800-MMcf/d Zone 3 Capacity Enhancement project (Z3CE) in service any day now, and ramp up to the full 800 MMcf/d by end of the year (only 20-some days from now).

Moreover, the pipeline operator has hinted that it may be able to eke out incremental Zone 3 operating capacity over and above the new design capacity in the near future. The Z3CE expansion will mark the third time in as many years that REX will increase westbound takeaway capacity out of the Marcellus/Utica region.

With each capacity boost, Northeast production volumes have risen to the occasion and the capacity has filled up. Today we examine this latest expansion and what it will mean for U.S. gas production.

Saudi Arabia's IPO: from Reuters/Bloomberg/Rigzone. This is a pretty good article. It provides another reason why Saudi Arabia was interested in getting an "OPEC" deal to cut/freeze production. Was it all about a successful IPO?

• “Even $60 oil isn’t enough to solve all the country’s fiscal issues,’’ Apostolos Bantis, a credit analyst at Commerzbank AG in Dubai, said in an interview. “It’s more a question of building confidence in the economy. If crude stabilizes at higher prices, that will give more certainty and provide a stronger basis for the Aramco IPO.’’
• “For the Saudis, success would look like oil prices where they are now or a bit higher,” said Robin Mills, chief executive of Dubai-based consultant Qamar Energy. “The best outcome would be fighting shale to a draw and maintaining market share.”
• OPEC’s output deal won’t undo the fiscal damage wrought by three years of falling oil prices. For the Saudis, the agreement isn’t so much about getting the country back in the black as it is about underpinning an ambition to wean the economy off oil, Bantis said.
• Bantis and Qamar’s Mills both see oil staying above $50 a barrel next year, with Mills forecasting Brent at between $55 to $60 for the six months that the deal is in place. OPEC can extend the deal for another six months. Brent was 0.4 percent lower at $54.72 a barrel Tuesday, December 6, 2016.
• The country’s fiscal break-even price will drop to $79.70 a barrel this year from $92.90 in 2015, the International Monetary Fund said in October.

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The Political Page

Now that President Obama is on his way out, it is amazing to listen to MSNBC "Morning Joe." Today, there is pretty much general agreement that President Obama's Iran deal was a complete disaster. Add that to the long list, starting with Solyndra and ObamaCare.

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The Market

Dow futures up 17 points, another surprise. Nasdaq futures up 1.50. WTI is up about 10 cents, slightly above $51.

AMD soars among rumored deal. It will be interesting to see what XLNX does today; it was up a bit yesterday and hitting new 52-week highs.

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The Technology Page

I don't have Apple TV but I assume it is awesome. I don't have Apple TV because I don't know if it would make TWC TV redundant.

Having said that -- not having Apple TV -- we do have TWC TV which is quite incredible. We do have two big-screen televisions in this small two-bedroom apartment, but what we really like is the fact we can watch television on all mobiles devices in the house: laptops, tablets, and, I assume, smartphones.

Then, add a wireless Bluetooth speaker like Beats Pill or UE Boom. Apple owns Beats but talking to Apple employees a year or so ago, they felt the UE Boom was the better choice. And slightly less cost. If I had all the money in the world I would "hang" a 13" (12.9-inch) iPad Pro in each room in the house, starting with the kitchen.

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Brilliant

The cover of Time magazine in which Trump is pictured as "Man of the Year," the only subtext: President of the Divided States of America. It was noted by Mr Trump on "The Today Show" that he was not the one that divided the state of America. President Obama has been president for the past eight years; President Obama is still president; and, Trump doesn't take the oath of office until January 20, 2016.