SM Energy Postpones Bakken Assets Sale; Exxon Mobil: Growing Dividends Mask A Shrinking Business -- Zeits -- May 16, 2017

Drawdown forecast: EIA forecasts a crude inventory drawdown of 2.2 million bbls -- Platts. At that rate, 2.2 million bbls/week, it will take 77 weeks for US crude oil inventory to get back to historical average: 350 million bbls in storage.

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Exxon Mobil: One Big Declining Utility

Link here over at Seeking Alpha:

• Historically, Exxon Mobil reinvested capital in its business at a much faster pace than in 2016 or 2017
• Still, historically, Exxon Mobil’s production volumes continued to decline
• Given the deep cuts in the current capex, few years from now the company will have even greater challenges stabilizing its production
• In this context, the recent dividend increase appears to take credit for accomplishments that are yet to happen

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SM Energy Postpones Divide County Asset Sales

Link here over at Bizjournals.

A Denver energy company has canceled plans to sell its assets in North Dakota, blaming the "uncertainty" of oil prices.

SM Energy Company earlier this year said it wanted to sell its Divide County area assets in the Williston Basin in northern North Dakota, and retained an investment bank to help make the sale.

But on Tuesday, SM Energy called off the sale.

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Process Vs Substance

With all the "stuff" coming out of Washington (DC) the last couple of days, one must remember to separate "process" from "substance." A quick scroll of the on-line edition of The Wall Street Journal will show readers what I mean. There were a couple of articles on Trump, Comey, secrets, and the Russians but then I was stunned to see this one: Moves to ease gun-carrying restrictions expand. A combination of federal and state legislation could free up limits on carrying concealed firearms. 

More states are giving their residents the right to carry a concealed handgun without permission from authorities—including two this year, bringing the total to 12—while Congress is considering legislation to make that right portable across state lines.

New Hampshire, for example, eliminated the need for permits this year, allowing anyone who can legally own a gun to carry it concealed in public.

If bills introduced by Rep. Richard Hudson (R., N.C.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) become law, a New Hampshire resident could bring his or her concealed handgun to any other state, even those such as New York that require their own residents to undergo vetting and obtain approval from law-enforcement officials for the same right.

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The Literature Page

I just finished the biography of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, by David J. Skal. At the end of the day, this biography becomes a reference book, perhaps important enough to be on one's bookshelf.

This review may be helpful.