Bakken Economy And What We'll Be Watching For Wednesday -- April 25, 2017

Remember: the Bakken is an "oily" play.

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

They May Be Waiting A Long Time

 
From Financial Times:

Oil traders banking on a sustained market recovery in 2017 are growing impatient.

As the price of Brent crude falls towards $50 a barrel, Opec, energy analysts and some of the most powerful banks in the commodities sector are urging traders to maintain their composure. After a production cut deal between the cartel and rivals such as Russia was agreed late last year, prices began 2017 $10 a barrel higher and hedge funds quickly amassed record bets backing the push to end the biggest slump in more than a decade.

Confidence has since been shaken as evidence that the cuts are working takes longer than anticipated to materialise. Global crude inventories remain stubbornly high and, crucially, the US shale industry has been reinvigorated by the run up in prices last year. 

The graphic at the link won't instill any "confidence."

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

Too Big To Fail

On January 31, 2017, I wrote:

My hunch after XOM reported 4Q16 earnings today: XOM is in deep trouble. What could go wrong?

Today, over at Bloomberg via Rigzone: ExxonMobil and its annual dividend -- to be announced Wednesday, April 26, 2017.

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

Peak Oil? What Peak Oil?

From Rigzone, today:

The undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Barents Sea are twice as large as previously assumed, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s new calculations.

The NPD recently mapped the eastern part of the northern Barents Sea, a large part of which is located in a previously disputed area. With new information to hand, the NPD revealed that undiscovered resources in the Barents Sea have now been increased to nearly 65 percent of the total undiscovered resources on the Norwegian shelf, up from a previous total of 50 percent.

The resources in the new area are estimated at 1.4 billion standard cubic metres of oil equivalents. This is equivalent to 14 Johan Castberg fields, and more than five times the Snøhvit field.

1.4 billion standard cubic meters of oil equivalent = 9 billion boe (source).