Market And Energy Page, T+343 -- December 30, 2017

Road to New England:  ISO New England electricity prices are starting to spike, as usual. Note that nuclear and coal have maxed out. Natural gas has dropped back a bit suggesting natural gas is in short supply, and, most interesting, of course, renewable energy electricity is declining -- renewable energy simply is not dispatchable: more than enough when it's not needed; can't ramp up when it is needed.

DAPL: wow, this is cool. On today's WSJ op-ed page, a huge headline, short piece, "North Dakota's Pipeline Payoff."

The Dakota Access Pipeline marks six months of operations on New Year’s Day, and new data show that North Dakota is already enjoying major benefits from the $3.8 billion project.

The pipeline has significantly lowered energy transportation costs and energy companies to move their oil to the Gulf Coast, where it fetches a higher price. So it’s little surprise that energy production has surged since the Dakota Access Pipeline opened.

Between September and October alone, oil production grew by 78,000 barrels a day, the biggest month-over-month increase North Dakota has ever seen. The state peaked at around 1.185 million barrels a day that month—135,000 barrels more than it produced daily before the pipeline was operational. Compared with January 2017, North Dakota has an additional 15 drilling rigs currently in operation.

And there are 114 comments! Whoo-hoo. Any article in the WSJ with more than 4 comments is impressive, and seldom do I see articles with more than a couple of dozen comments.

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New Knights

From the AP:

The New Year’s Honors List made public late Friday revealed that Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Barry Gibb, the oldest and last surviving of the brothers who made up the pop group the Bee Gees, have been tapped as knights.

Long, long overdue.

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Winter Trout Fishing In Texas

I was completely unaware of this going on, literally, in our backyard -- if one considers our backyard a few hundred miles distant. 

Our older granddaughter did not know where they went fishing, but three hints: a) about 2 hours to get there; b) first, southwest out of the Ft Worth, TX, area, and then northwest, but basically west of Ft Worth; and, c) something about the Brazos River. And when you google that information it takes you to .... ta da .... Possum King Dam and the Brazos River near Graham, Texas. And she was exactly right on the driving instructions and the time it takes to get there.

Yesterday, the two older granddaughters went trout fishing for the first time. Thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end of the day, s'mores at the fire pit. 

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Another Great Day In North Texas

Sophia and I spent the entire day together yesterday. Sophia is our 3.5 year-old granddaughter. Wow, we had fun. We had so much fun she didn't even want to go to Menschie's -- her favorite ice cream joint (okay, frozen yogurt that tastes like ice cream and has a gazillion toppings from which to choose). We topped off the day by going to PlayPlace -- McDonald's. She treats PlayPlace just like her personal playground. I sit in the main restaurant area and watch her through the ceiling-to-floor window. She takes off her shoes and socks (so she won't slip on the floor) and when we get home, we wash her feet, just like washing her hands.

Today, we will be going to Denton, TX, to watch our oldest granddaughter in an intramural water polo tournament. The drive up and back will take longer than the two 25-minute games. LOL. But I take Arianna an hour early so she can get ready and I spend my time reading.

The primary reading at these events? The WSJ. Today, in the "Review" section, a "Max Boot" reviews his five favorite books/biographies of "real-life" spies. No, George Smiley and James Bond are not included.

The five books:

• Gentleman Spy, by Peter Grose, 1994. The biography of Allen Dulles, who started out in the Office of Strategic Services and was appointed director of the CIA in 1953.
• The Billion Dollar Spy, by David E. Hoffman, 2015. The biography of Adolf Tolkachev -- the review is the most fascinating of the five.
• The Very Best Men, by Evan Thomas, 1995. The book focuses on four early stars of the CIA -- Tracy Barnes, Frank Wisner, Desmond FitzGerald, and Richard Bissell.
• Agent Zigzag, by Ben Macintyre, 2007. The biography of Edward Chapman. This spy sounds the most like a spy in a John le Carré novel.
• The Good Spy, by Kai Bird, 2014. The biography of Robert Ames who would die in the Iranian-sponsored bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983.