Active Rigs Up To 63 In North Dakota; Tea Leaves Suggest WTI Will Continue To Rise -- June 13, 2018

WTI: the tea leaves suggest the price of WTI will continue to rise -- let's stir the tea -- (note to newbies: "tea leaves" have a mix of fact and opinion and it's not necessarily easy to tell them apart; tea leaves look alike) --

• a graphic earlier today suggested Saudi Arabia "spare capacity" forecast to shrink significantly in 2019
• there's a story over at oilprice.com suggesting US shale oil won't be able to fill the gap
• the Permian pipeline shortage won't be resolved before 2019
• the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project won't be completed this year (if ever)
• not even the height of summer driving season, and US gasoline demand hits a new record
• refiners are operating at 95.7% capacity and having trouble keeping up with distillate fuel demands
• distillate fuel reserves in the US hit an all-time (if not an all-time low, very close; certainly appeared that way on the graph; needs to be fact-checked)
• China recently shut down new solar installations, suggesting they need more fossil fuel sooner
• Venezuela may import heavy oil to meet refining needs
• Iraq's instability may affect production
• Iran's sanctions will cause greater shortfall than some pundits suggest 
• the chairman of the "US Fed" said their will be four rate hikes this year, partly because "they" expect the price of oil to increase by the end of the year, causing inflationary pressure on the economy

Politics: I love how every politico -- from the far left to the far right -- has advice for President Trump on North Korea. Six months ago they all said "it" couldn't be done. Now that "it's" been done -- North Korea agreeing to complete denuclearize -- the politicos have advice for President Trump. I was most negatively impressed by House Speaker Ryan by his remarks today; glad to see him stepping down as House Speaker.

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Back to the Bakken 

Active rigs:

$66.64↑	6/13/2018	06/13/2017	06/13/2016	06/13/2015	06/13/2014
Active Rigs	63	56	28	75	185

Five new permits:

• Operator: Hess
• Field: Capa (Williams)
• Comments: Hess has permits for a 5-well CA-Ferguson Smith pad in SESE 19-155-95

And that was all.

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