The Open -- Friday, July 21, 2017

Only one well coming off confidential list today:

• 32742, 1,996, Hess, HA-Grimestad-152-95-3031H-8, Hawkeye, Three Forks, 60 stages; 4.2 million lbs, large (40/70); small (30/50); t5/17; cum 8K after 4 days;

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Headline

Sean Spicer resigns? Apparently. Not a happy separation. Having said that, I always thought Spicer talked too much when giving answers to rabid press.

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The Open

Slow, slow start to the day for the Bakken. Best bet: watching The Open. Live on television. Wind gusts up to 35 mph; hats blowing off players; players with long hair will be handicapped (am I allowed to use that word?). Was supposed to have been a beautiful day; no precipitation (yet) but a miserable, miserable day. The clouds are so low and so dark it almost looks like dusk. Matt Kuchar who shot a T1 65 in the first round, hit an incredibly disappointing 71 today. Phil Mickelson, +8. Most scoring worst today than yesterday. One exception, Zach Johnson, 75 yesterday; 66 today. Leaderboard.

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Supply And Demand -- Ethanol

From the EIA today:

Through the first six months of 2017, U.S. weekly ethanol production averaged 1.02 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase of 5% over the same period in 2016. On a weekly basis, U.S. ethanol production set a record of 1.06 million b/d in the week of January 27, 2017, and it has averaged near or above 1 million b/d in every week of 2017 except for a few weeks in April, when ethanol plants typically undergo seasonal maintenance. If ethanol production remains relatively high through the second half of the year, as EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) expects, 2017 will set a new record for annual fuel ethanol production. --- EIA

The real world:

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Third Party Payers -- It's Not Just The Health Sector

When a reader sent me a link to a story suggesting the new Apple iPhone could cost upwards of $1,000, I replied (not ready for prime time):

Apple broke the code on iPhone pricing -- 3rd party payers, just like the health industry.

Very few people actually pay the advertised price. The phones are greatly subsidized by the phone company with which one signs a contract for about two years. This will be a huge price to pay for ATT, Verizon. It's very possible they will have to extend the contract for 3 years to pay the $1000 and give the phone away for free to Sophia.

Like health care, if there's a third party payer, the provider can charge whatever they want. In fact, the higher the cost, the more "loyal" the customers become.