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Saturday, October 7, 2017

Number Of Bakken Wells Producing Greater Than 30,000 Bbls/Month Surges -- October 7, 2017

A reader sent me this note with graphics to document these high-production wells. I'm not sure what to say or do with the data except pass it on.

  • August, 2017: 66 wells  in the Bakken each producing over 30,000 bbls of crude oil per month; MRO had the top 3 producing wells; the next three top producing wells were drilled by EOG.
  • July, 2017: 35 wells in the Bakken each producing over 30,000 bbls of crude oil per month. CLR  has 8 of the top 11 producing wells for July, 2017.
  • July, 2016: only 16 wells in the Bakken each producing over 30,000 bbls of crude oil per month: Statoil (5); MRO (3); Enerplus (2); EOG (2); each with one well producing at least 30,000 bbls in July, 2016: HRC; QEP; WPX; and, Hess.
  • July, 2015: only 12 wells produced in excess of 30,000 bbls/month: Enerplus (4); Hess (2); each with one well producing at least 30,000 bbls in July 2015: HRC; CLR; QEP; Whiting; MRO, BR.
That jump from 15 wells or so, to 35 wells one year later is quite phenomenal, to say the least.

I've kept the graphics. I may post some of the wells by name/number later.

On Flying -- Nothing About The Bakken -- October 7, 2017 -- Maintaining An Attitude Of Gratitude

I'm starting to get back on schedule. This has nothing to do with the Bakken, but occasionally I get "burned out" talking about the Bakken and have to do something else to maintain sanity.

I had a four-hour flight from DFW to Portland, OR, earlier today so had some time to write about things other than the Bakken.

If you came here for the Bakken and don't want to read a meandering note, scroll down a couple posts or scroll to the right and check out the sidebar.

Flying

I think one needs to fly once a month on American Airlines just to read the current issue of American Way.

Wow, only a complete cynic could read that magazine from cover-to-cover and not feel related to Oprah.

Nothing but feel-good articles. Some of the articles are really, really good. Some of the profiles are absolutely hilarious.

Having just seen (to my regret?) Blade Runner 2049 — you know, it just hit me. In my review of Blade Runner 2049 I said that I would never see another movie. No, I’ve decided just the opposite. I will now go to any and every movie my wife wants me to see with her. This is why.

Paging through American Way, I came across a full page glamour shot and short profile of Ana de Armas. Yeah, you know: Ana de Armas, “the Cuban actress who starred in the ‘fall’s most anticipated sci-fi follow-up.’” Sequel, in other words.

Had I not seen Blade Runner 2049, I would have simply turned the page, assuming Ana was just another empty-headed Hollywood starlet (maybe she is), but having seen the movie, I was at least interested enough in a) reading that bit of fluff, which helped “shorten” the 4-hour 2-minute flight to Portland, Oregon); and, b) gave me something to blog about. Always looking for ideas. LOL.

By the way, Albert Einstein was correct: time can slow down. Watch Blade Runner 2049 and you will know within fifteen minutes Einstein was correct.

So what did Ana have to say, or at least purported to have said? “I felt very lucky that someone was finally paying attention to my audition — and not just my accent.” LOL. She could eat crackers in my bed, whisper naughty things in my ear, and I wouldn’t say a thing about her accent. I probably wouldn’t even notice.

My wife would notice the cracker crumbs.

In the movie, de Armas “plays the mysterious lover and confidante of Ryan Gosling’s LAPD officer K. She called her role ‘complex, multi-layered’ and ‘a big surprise.’”

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Chicago

American Way had a huge multi-page feature article on the city of Chicago. Nothing dystopian about Chicago. Not a word about … well, you know what.

I wouldn’t even write about the story, but the profile/essay by Rahm Emanuel was the epitome of hilarity in the 130-page issue of feel-goodness. I can’t wait for the profile/essay by President Donald Trump some day.

But I digress.

Some quotes from the article: Rahm describes Chicago “as a big city with small-town feel …. Chicago combines the best of being a global city, and everyone is working to achieve greater things.”

He says Chicago has the five Ts: talent, training, transportation, technology, and transparency.

He doesn’t mention the two Ms: murders and muggings.

One of Rahm Emanuel's favorite activities: walking home after dark.


I did not make up any of this.

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Best Travel Tip

The best travel tip comes from Nneka (no typo) M. Okona, an Atlanta-based food and travel writer.

Her two travel tips and I agree completely:
a) locating a good pastry shop with strong coffee; and,
b) write down five things you must do or see in your travel destination and don’t plan anything else.
So, I’m flying to Portland, OR, where I will pick up a rental car, our younger daughter and her husband, and then drive to Flathead Lake for a one-week getaway.

The five things on my list right now, and subject to change:
a) the little barbecue place on the north side of the lake
b) tackle the “to-do” list that my youngest sister left me with regard to the house
c) read at least five books
d) barbecue every night on the big community fire pit next to the lake
e) fill the kitchen with cooking gadgets
My brother-in-law and his wife, from southern California, will meet us there. Over the phone one night, to my wife, he mentioned five things he wants to do. I don’t recall all five but I do remember two:
a) the little barbecue place on the north side of the lake
b) huckleberry and cherry pie at one of those local restaurants (think Twin Peaks)
In Mexico City, Nneka recommends visiting Limosneros: savor local flavors in dishes like pork ribs in mezcal sauce and gorditas stuffed with Oaxacan cheese and salsa in this moody eatery. I won’t ever get to Mexico City, and I can’t imagine eating in a “moody” eatery, but I do like the idea of pork ribs in mezcal sauce.

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NFL Players' Protest

Updates

October 17, 2017: CBS earnings to disappoint due to weak NFL ratings
  • Credit Suisse cut its third-quarter EPS estimates on CBS by 5 percent, citing the company's softer Sunday NFL ratings
  • the firm's new estimate is $1.08, below the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.12.
Later, 10:15 p.m. Pacific Time: NFL now least liked sport, core fans down 31%.
From the end of August to the end of September, the favorable ratings for the NFL have dropped from 57 percent to 44 percent, and it has the highest unfavorable rating – 40 percent – of any big sport, according to the Winston Group survey provided exclusively to Secrets.
From the end of August to the end of September, the favorable ratings for the NFL have dropped from 57 percent to 44 percent, and it has the highest unfavorable rating – 40 percent – of any big sport.
Original Post
Wow, I wish everyone could see this. In American Airlines' American Way for October, 2017, there is a feature article on Sonequa Martin-Green, described by the writer as “the star of Star Trek: Discovery, which began streaming in September on CBS’ All Access service.”

If you have not heard of her or do not know of her, check her out on the internet. My hunch is you will be impressed.

But this is what caught my attention: a huge full-page glamour photograph of Sonequa and this tagline dominating the photo that explains her key to success: “Maintaining an attitude of gratitude helps me concentrate.”

Wow. I think that encapsulates in eight words why Kaepernick’s capers don’t resonate with NFL fans.

Much could be said, but I will leave it at that. 

Nothing About The Bakken; Movie Review -- Blade Runner 2049

I'm starting to get back on schedule. This has nothing to do with the Bakken, but occasionally I get "burned out" talking about the Bakken and have to do something else to maintain sanity.

I had a four-hour flight from DFW to Portland, OR, earlier today so had some time to write about things other than the Bakken.

If you came here for the Bakken and don't want to read a movie review, scroll down or scroll to the right and check out the sidebar.

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Blade Runner 2049

Updates

October 17, 2017: in The New Yorker, Anthony Lane gives a review which on the surface suggests he thinks this is a great film, but in fact never mentions that it is Oscar-worthy, and doesn't even say whether he liked it or recommends going. The review is such that it will likely be seen as a glowing review but one could argue that at best, it's simply a "neutral" review, but one that had to be done, and done this way, considering Blade Runner 2049 was the most anticipated sequel in 35 years. The fact that Anthony Lane begins with a Frank Sinatra homage probably did not set the tone for the movie.

October 9, 2017: WSJ "review" here.

October 8, 2017: from The Los Angeles Times -- critics, fans love it -- but very few are buying tickets. 
Warner Bros.' "Blade Runner 2049" topped the box office charts this weekend, but despite strong reviews and positive audience reaction, ticket sales were estimated at only $31.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to the measurement firm ComScore, significantly below analysts' projections.

A sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi cult classic, "Blade Runner," about a futuristic society where androids known as "replicants" are almost indistinguishable from humans, "Blade Runner 2049" had been estimated to pull in $45 million to $50 million in its opening weekend. The film — directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto, with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Deckard — cost an estimated $150 million to produce after rebates and before marketing costs.

The film earned an 89% "fresh" rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and Times critic Kenneth Turan wrote, “this film puts you firmly, brilliantly, unassailably in another world.” The film received an A-minus grade from audiences surveyed by CinemaScore.
Original Post
 
Now that I’ve had 24 hours to cool off, I’ve already started to re-think this. I “never” go to movies any more — the only movies I watch are at home, generally TCM or Blu-Ray DVDs. It will be interesting if Amazon Prime with its free movies ever captures my attention; so far, it has not. [Later: others agree. See this story in The Wall Street Journal -- where Amazon is failing to dominate -- Hollywood. The online retailer's foray into video is beset by lackluster releases and strained relationships with high-profile producers; 'a bit of a gong show.'

But I digress.

I put “never” in quotes because there are exceptions. One of those exceptions was yesterday. My wife really, really wanted to see Blade Runner 2049. It has been billed as the most anticipated sci-film of the year.

After the movie, I told my wife I would never, never, ever, ever, see a new release in a movie theater. It is  impossible to articulate how bad that movie was.

But before I go on, please read the review at this site so we all start off on the same page of music. And to some extent I don’t want to repeat what’s already been said at that site.

The number one reason why this movie will fail is because it simply is not credible. It’s the wrong movie at the wrong time. This is another dystopian movie, a subject that was in vogue for awhile a few years ago. But right now, American optimism for the US economy (which spills over to optimism in America, in general) is at an all-time high.

For Hollywood to tell us that in the next decade or so that America will be a dystopian society is simply so incredulous one cannot “suspend belief” and imagine this movie's premise.

The second major problem: minimal plot, and what plot there was, incredibly simple and superficial. My wife loves mysteries and she thought that this would be a mystery of sorts (finding “a lost daughter”). My wife says she had the “mystery” figured out in the first 15 minutes of the movie and there was/were still 148 minutes to go (120 minutes is two hours, so one gets an idea how long she had to wait for the ending).

Along the way, there was absolutely no chapter development. I felt no empathy for any of the characters. The humans engendered no empathy and certainly there’s no empathy for “replicants.”

In a really, really good movie, the director is often able to engender empathy for even “bad guys.” Think of Casablanca. Or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

My wife told me she was really interested in seeing Harrison Ford in this move. I had turned off my cell phone so I couldn’t check the time, but it seemed like the movie was well past the usual length of a movie (90 minutes) and he had still not shown up. I wondered if we were watching the wrong movie, or if she had read the wrong review. And then he appeared. Wow, what a let down. Not that he appeared but how he appeared.

Even knowing that he was a replicant made no difference.

My wife suspended disbelief and gave the movie a break for its incredibly bad vision of technology in 2049.

But for most guys, I suppose, the director's view of technology in 2049 was one of the worst things about the movie. In one scene, looking for data on an orphan “30 years later” the protagonist was led into what looked like a medieval library and the old man (think Merlin the magician) pulled down a huge hard-bound (leather) book and opened it, only to find several critical pages torn out. Okay, let’s spend two seconds thinking about this. The movie is set in 2049. They are looking for data from 30 years earlier. 2049 - 13 = 2019. In 2019 no one is going to be storing data on paper in a leather-bound book (except perhaps Equifax). One could argue that in the dystopia of 2049 all iPads had been destroyed but that is a bridge too far; the entire movie has technology well beyond what we have today.

Having said that, some of the “technology” in 2049 was ludicrous. My wife pointed out that glass still shattered in mile-high skyscrapers. I laughed when I saw flying cars using windshield wipers that were clearly salvaged from a Ford Edsel.

Speaking of flying cars, the only flying cars were LAPD police cars. Certainly other flying cars would have to be around in 2049. Even if only law enforcement were to be allowed cars, there would certainly be unmarked Porsches and Lamborghinis driven by Don Johnson-wannabes ("Sonny" Crockett in Miami Vice). The LAPD vehicle screen displays for the computers were identical to those currently seen in modern urban settings. No Dick Track wrist watches. No Apple Watches.

The six-shooters were no different than what they used in Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, except magnum — and I mean magnum magnum bullets. But even when blowing off someone’s head with one of these magnum bullets at 12 inches, there was almost no blood and gore. Quentin, as in Tarantino, is probably saying, “what the ….?”

One of my biggest disappointments was the way Hollywood still portrayed women: as sex objects. And as sex objects, the nudity was less than what we saw in Hugh Hefner’s early Playboy magazine. The only nudity (there was no sex, but I could have missed something; I often closed my eyes trying to fall asleep the acting was so bad) was female, frontal, and above the navel.

I asked my wife if the nudity was necessary; she thought not. I thought it was completely gratuitous. None of the A-list actresses showed any skin, and so, again, we have no-name starlets hoping to hit the big time on the proverbial casting couch being promised that if they take off their clothes (and probably more) they will get a big part in the next film. My hunch is that the directors and producers have gigabytes of video not in the movie that showed full nudity from every angle for their personal libraries but not for the general public because the movie would have had to sacrifice an “R” rating.

For all that nudity, we will have to wait for the Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray.

My wife missed it until I pointed it out, but Hollywood remains obsessed with the old Soviet Union, and perhaps Russia. Early in the film there was a fair amount of Russian being spoken in the background (not part of the plot; simply to set the scene) and huge advertisements for products from … drum roll .. the “CCCP.” I kid you not: the director envisions the LA consumers will be buying “Soviet” products with the “CCCP” label. There were in-movie commercials for SONY products, coincidentally, but I don’t recall any Coca-Cola products (“I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing”).

Speaking of music, the soundtrack was awful. I did not think it could get any worse until we saw old footage of Harrison Ford’s character’s YouTube favorites: Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. I kid you not. That was well beyond embarrassing.

So, we have a dystopian society in which the old Soviet Union (the “CCCP”) are now the good guys and as capitalistic and market-driven as SONY. There were several scenes of men and women living in this dystopian society — clearly a take-off of one of the best sci-fi movie scenes ever: the alien bar scene in the first Star Wars movie.

And not one hijab. Not one burqa. Not one niqab. Not even a chador. No tattoos (or very few; again, I could have missed them). Almost no bling; no piercings; again, I could have missed something.

According to the linked review, those under 40 years of age will not be seeing this movie. Apparently, 53% of those going to this movie are white males over the age of 50. These are the guys that are telling pollsters optimism for the American economy is at an all-time high. They will leave the movie in disbelief, and word-of-mouth will kill the move. No one will see it twice.

I started out this post with: “Now that I’ve had 24 hours to cool off, I’ve already started to re-think this.”

This movie is so bad but I may want to watch the Director’s Cut when it comes out on Blu-Ray if it includes voice-over commentary and it contains additional background material in terms of production; actor interviews; etc. Certainly there has to be something  redeeming about the movie.

But, wow, there is absolutely nothing good about it nor is there anything believable. The sweatshops populated with bald-headed boys between the ages of 6 and 14 makes no sense whatsoever.

Everything suggests that Hollywood clearly has a different worldview than the rest of America. Even for inner-city youths there is nothing plausible. Some inner-city youths may feel they already live in a dystopian society and sense that it will only get worse for them by 2049, but it won’t look anything like what Blade Runner 2049 suggests.

Reader's Assistance Needed -- October 7, 2017

This request will make sense later when I post the story.

For now, I'm curious if anyone might have an idea of how to compare the amount of electricity required by a mom-and-pop marijuana nursery (the kind we might see popping up in Massachusetts, Oregon, and/or Califoronia) and the amount of electricity needed to charge a Tesla overnight.

Week 40: October 1, 2017 -- October 7, 2017

Okay, I think this page is complete, except for formatting, checking links, checking typos, etc. But that won't be done until later.

Too much stuff to talk about.

So I don't forget, an agenda of things to cover this weekend.

Top stories of the past week.

A movie review.

From a reader: number of Bakken wells producing greater than 30,000 bbls/month surges.

Tesla choke point; and, delays big rig truck debut. Behind the scenes at the Tesla choke point. Tesla under-delivers; misses guidance by a mile.

China's EVs: powered by coal and natural gas.

Saudi's $15 billion on a new military weapons system.

Answers to the Conrad Hilton quiz from the other day.

Comment from a reader on that billion-dollar battery plant in Tennessee.

Auto manufacturers re-organize.

Expand on Saudi's existential problem (military, external; terrorism/rebellion, internal; economic; cultural).

The falling price of WTI even as operators are shutting down rigs in the Gulf in light of Tropical Storm Nate.

The road to Canada -- or not.
The "Hillary War Room."

Answers to the Conrad Hilton quiz. The link takes you to the quiz; answers not yet posted. One hint to one question: Conrad Hilton's father's first name was August ("Gus").

Warren buys 40% of Flying J.

OPEC cuts.

Marijuana farming puts strain on electric grid in Massachusetts.

Hugh Hefner and Tom Petty both die this past week.

Top stories of the past week.

Friday's weekly/monthly US economic data. American optimism about the US economy hits an all-time high.

Record-setting ISM. GM has best September since 2007.

Monthly jobless and weekly jobless rates.

Friday's EV, energy and market data. Huge decline in US crude oil inventories; re-balancing drops from 46 weeks to 41 weeks.

Trump rally simply won't quit. Or, if you prefer, the Obama recovery and $10 trillion stimulus program continues.

US to see second wave of ethane crackers.

OPEC cuts.

The Los Angeles Times lowers its subscription rate to depression-era prices: ten cents/day.

Operations
Rig targeting the Madison north of Minot
Five MRO wells with lousy IPs that came back to surprise me
MRO reports three huge DUCs; one may be close to an all-time Bakken record
North Dakota's oil and gas lease auction for August, 2017, posted
NDIC hearing dockets for October, 2017, posted
US BLM considers rescinding methane flaring and venting rules
Update on a dual completion well.
CLR's Anna wells: all appear to be back on-line and producing
Update of BR's Remington #17118

Bakken economy:
Fargo makes the list: not the slightest hope of surviving its multi-decade debt binge and lavish public pension awards.

Fashion
Stilettos