Consumer Confidence Exceeds Expectations; Highest In 16 Years -- The Energy And Market Page, T+66 -- March 28, 2017

Saudi: the kingdom put US energy producers to a test -- and the US producers aced it. The best thing about this article is how The WSJ describes it -- "Shale 2.0." Others have used that for quite some time now,. I started using Bakken 2.0 on October 19, 2106, with the announcement of the  Oasis-SM Energy deal.  Bakken 2.0 is a tag at the bottom of the page, and is also linked at the sidebar at the right. It's also at the FAQ page.

82. What do you mean by Bakken 2.0? See this link. Three important data points:

• I set October 19, 2016, as the beginning of Bakken 2.0
• the event that triggered the Bakken 2.0 designation: the SM Energy announcement that it was selling some Bakken acreage/assets to Oasis
• it appears Permian Shale 2.0 began with the WPX, Noble, and XOM announcements regarding acquisitions in the Permian -- late 2016/early 2017

Saudi: Saudi Aramco tax slashed to prepare oil producer for giant IPO. If you can follow this article, you are doing better than I am on this issue. These are the tax rates:

• large oil companies: 50% tax
• medium-size oil companies: 65%
• small oil companies: 75%
• really small oil companies: 85%

The last paragraph of the linked story:

Under the new rates, hydrocarbon companies in Saudi Arabia with capital of more than 375 billion riyals ($100 billion) will pay a tax of 50 percent, according to SPA. Those with capital of between 300 billion and 375 billion riyals will pay an income tax of 65 percent. Companies with capital of between 225 billion and 300 billion riyals will pay 75 percent, and those with capital below 225 billion riyals 85 percent.

Russia: will spend $113 billion on dozens of oil, gas projects. From Rigzone:

• will bring on-line 29 oil and gas projects by 2025
• projected to add 800,000 bopd and 12 billion cfpd
• more than $10 billion is designated for the Sakhalin 3 project; Gazprom is projected to spend $32 billion
• recent production cuts: Russia went from 11.247 million bopd to 11.10 million bopd (147,000 bopd -- absolutely inconsequential)

Consumer confidence: soars to highest reading in 16 years -- two lost decades (George W Bush; and Barack Obama) coming to an end.  Dow up 150 points; NASDAQ up 35 points; and, oil up 1.3%. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index leapt to 125.6 in March from 116.1 in February, coming in well ahead of the MarketWatch-compiled consensus of 114.1.

**********************************

The Apple Page

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.

Apple closed at record high (again) today.  One influential analyst suggested Apple could trade as high as $200 over the next few years, 40% over its current levels.