Twelve New Permits; Eleven Permits Renewed; 52 Active Rigs; Six DUCs Completed -- May 18, 2017

Active rigs:

$49.34	5/18/2017	05/18/2016	05/18/2015	05/18/2014	05/18/2013
Active Rigs	52	26	82	190	189

Twelve (12) new permits:

• Operator: Statoil
• Field: East Fork (Williams)
• Comments: all in SE quadrant of 23-156N-100W (see graphic below) (see this post also)

Eleven permits renewed:

• EOG (8): eight West Clark permits, McKenzie County
• Kaiser-Francis (2): a Brookbank permit and a Torino permit, both in Mountrail County
• BR: a Gladstone permit in McKenzie County

CLR canceled a Bohmbach Federal permit in McKenzie County

Six producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 30956, 1,651, EOG, Van Hook 68-3606H, Parshall, ICO, t4/17; cum --
• 30957, 1,188, EOG, Van Hook 67-3606H, Parshall, ICO, t4/17; cum --
• 30958, 1,325, EOG, Van Hook 66-3606H, Parshall, ICO, t4/17; cum --
• 31399, 795, EOG, Van Hook 36-35H, Parshall, one section, t4/17; cum --
• 32119, 477, Van Hook 39-3526H, Parshall, t4/17; cum --
• 33126, 212, North Range Resources, Sheep Creek Storm 1-1V, Grassy Butte, a Duperow well, t12/16; cum 4K 3/17;

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10 Little, 9 Little, 8 Little ... Then There Were Two

One source earlier this week (or was it last week) said there were still three cases to be heard in "appellate" courts regarding the DAPL. One has just "dropped out." If I'm correct on the "three cases" then we're down to two cases.

The McLatchyDC website is reporting that the Cheyenne River Sioux have dropped their case.

With oil already in the line, Cheyenne River attorneys in late April submitted a motion to voluntarily dismiss their claim in the appeals court, and the motion was granted Monday.

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The Assad Diaries

It just got a bit more lonely for Mr Assad.  Anyone paying attention should note:

• President Trump met with Russian envoy the other day
• in the past two days, the US military has been hammering Russia's Syrian allies, the pro-Assad Syrian Army
• maybe that's the memo the Dems should be interested in

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Idle Chatter

I could not possibly be in a better mood:

• the pullback in the stock market provides a buying opportunity
• the Dems must have looked at the polls: trying to negate a presidential election by means of impeachment must not be sitting well with the constituency
• the president cannot answer any more questions about the "Russian thing" now that a "special counsel" has been appointed

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-gover/national-polis/article151255402.html#storylink=c

Blast From The Past -- A New Featured Post At The Sidebar At The Right -- May 18, 2017

Link here to the post. Some very, very nice Enerplus wells.

Speaking of Enerplus, it seems the company is doing some re-fracking. This well, and other wells on the same pad, are at this link.

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The Literature Page

Having just finished the most recent (?) biography of Bram Stoker, I was eager to pick up a copy of Dracula. On its summer reading table, Barnes and Noble had any number of titles available for $5.00 (with membership, a 10% discount).

I don't recall having ever read the original book. Which is sort of hard to believe. I have often thought that there is a direct line between Dracula and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Skimming through the book while waiting to pay for it, I happened to come across a single line -- two words, in fact -- that supports that thought -- a direct line between Rocky and Dracula.

Hyperdrive: Permian To Test Corpus Christi's Infrastructure -- RBN Energy -- May 18, 2017

Active rigs:

$48.41	5/18/2017	05/18/2016	05/18/2015	05/18/2014	05/18/2013
Active Rigs	52	26	82	190	189

RBN Energy: Permian growth to test capacity of Corpus Christi's crude oil infrastructure.

The Energy And Market Page, T+118 -- May 18, 2017

Saudi Arabia: Prince Salman's Saudi Vision 2030 plan update:

• 2018: budget to be "expansionary but not significantly so"
• additional spending from savings: "expansion will come from efficiency"
• 2018 budget: first draft should be available in two months
• country is shifting to quarterly reports instead of annual reports in anticipation of the IPO
• 2017 budget: 890 billion riyals ($237 billion) (exchange rate of 3.755)
• 2017: revenue of 692 billion riyals
• 2017, full year deficit: 198 billion riyals ($53 billion)
• austerity measures
• excise tax on soda and tobacco beginning this quarter (2Q17)
• 5% VAT as of 1Q18

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Aramco's only IPO (back in 2008) has delivered losses of 40% to its investors since the IPO -- Bloomberg:

The picture at PetroRabigh isn’t promising: a falling share price, mounting losses and troubled operations. Perhaps more importantly, the plant’s struggles pierce a key narrative that Aramco has built about itself: best-in-class installations, engineering prowess and superior employees. Yet for all the challenges at PetroRabigh, investors are likely to take them in stride.

"Investors will buy into Aramco for its oil production not for its refining," said Danilo Onorino, a portfolio manager at Dogma Capital SA in Lugano, Switzerland. "But they will still look at PetroRabigh to benchmark the valuation of its downstream assets and look for clues about how Aramco works.”

US refiners: US Gulf Coast refiners processed record amount of crude oil in most recent reporting period, via Twitter

The Political Page, T+118 -- May 18, 2017; The Sea-Road To Scotland

Nice jobs report:

• consensus forecast: 240K
• actual: 232K -- wow
• change: down 4,000 from previous report of 236,000 (unrevised)

Wind: the sea-road to Scotland. Another wind disaster. From Bloomberg.  Bottom line: off-shore wind can't "make it" without government subsidies. Meanwhile, these ventures put budgets of small countries at great risk.

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Ryan Disarray

One is beginning to wonder if "Ryan" has the experience necessary to "run" the US House. Now we learn that "Ryan" has not sent the "repeal and replace" ObamaCare bill that the US house passed (wink, wink) to the US Senate. Wow. A tweaking of the bill might require another vote. LOL.

I think it's time for President Trump to issue an executive order that the IRS and/or the Justice Department will not take action against any state or any corporation or any person that does not follow the "employer mandate" guidelines. ObamaCare would still be the law of the land but like "sanctuary cities and illegal immigrants," states, corporations, and CEOs would not be held liable if they were not able to meet the ObamaCare guidelines.