WTI Almost Back To $63 -- March 20, 2018

Notes from all over: this bit of news from Dickinson from a reader:

We are seeing oil equipment and pipes running up and down the highway every day. There will be wells drilled in Bowman County and Baker (MT) and Marmarth-Rhame (ND) very soon as well as Harding County. They are drilling in a new-found zone.

Spin? International IPO shelved. The WSJ story here. This is an interesting spin: higher price of oil has diminished push for large international public offering. After reading that sub-headline, I didn't read the rest the article. The credibility of the writer was already strained.

Mining big data could be big business for big oil. Link here. 

Merkel: how's that renewable energy working out? Interesting, interesting story.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$62.93↑↑	3/20/2018	03/20/2017	03/20/2016	03/20/2015	03/20/2014
Active Rigs	58	49	32	107	195

RBN Energy: LNG and pipeline reversals turn Louisiana gas market supside down, part 2.

The supply-demand dynamic in Louisiana — and around the national benchmark pricing location Henry Hub — is rapidly changing, with LNG exports providing a new demand source in the state and both producers and midstreamers in high gear to push more supply there. These factors will disrupt existing flow patterns and pricing relationships in the region over the next two or three years, eventually turning the market entirely on its head. Today, we continue our series on the Louisiana market transformation with a detailed look at the infrastructure and gas flow trends already underway, starting with what’s going on in the eastern half of the state.

The Louisiana market is in the midst of a significant transformation. What used to be primarily a supply market is becoming the epicenter of demand growth from LNG exports, which in turn are making the state the most desirable destination market for U.S. gas supply. Offshore gas production from the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico has been rapidly receding. There is a slew of Marcellus/Utica takeaway projects in the works to reverse existing pipes or build new pipeline capacity in order to access the Gulf Coast market (see Fill Me Up Buttercup). These pipes are expected to bring a deluge of supply to the Louisiana market. And, after years of decline, Louisiana’s own Haynesville Shale is also in growth mode again.

These shifts will alter the Louisiana market balance and the traditional understanding of gas flows and pricing relationships in the region. That’s a big deal considering that Louisiana is the home state of the Henry Hub — the national benchmark pricing location for the U.S. spot gas market and the physical delivery point underlying the CME/NYMEX natural gas futures contract. Another location — the Perryville Hub — will also play an increasingly critical role as an axis point for distributing interstate supply targeting Gulf Coast demand.

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And Now A Musical Interlude

There is no video and the lyrics, for all I know, may be inflammatory, racist, sexist and/or pornographic.

搖籃曲 徐桂珠