The Market, Energy, And Political Page, T+27 -- June 27, 2018

NOG: I'm sure this was announced earlier but I'm not sure I posted it. NOG now released the announcement in a press release:

• NOG will acquire producing assets in the Williston Basin of North Dakota
• a negotiated exchange agreement with an institutional holder of its 8% senior unsecured notes
• NOG will acquire small amount of daily production and 1,900 acres of the Pronghorn area
• Pronghorn: southwestern part of the state? the southern Bakken; Whiting's neighborhood around Belfield, ND;
• exchange agreement will result in a debt reduction of $10 million in exchange for common stock
• NOG, over the past two weeks, now has entered into agreements to retire almost $54 million of its remaining notes

Canadian deficit. This is quite amazing. It speaks volumes about how really small the Canadian economy is. I saw the article earlier but did not post it; seemed irrelevant, but when I saw the actual percent -- wow. From CBC, buying Trans Mountain pipeline could add 36% to Canadian deficit. Imagine that. Canada didn't buy a Fortune 500 company; it didn't buy Amazon. Canada bought one of many Kinder Morgan projects and just by buying that one project, a Canadian study suggests it could ultimately increase the Canadian deficit by 36%. I find that quite ... incredulous? It certainly sounds like Kinder Morgan got a heck of a deal.

The Permian is a monster. I said the same thing a few days ago, and the article in Hobbsnews/Business Wire, I think, is nothing new. Just a repeat of what's been said over the past few days. Data points:

• Permian Basin oil production will more than double from 2017 - 2023
• adjective used: "stunning"
• the Permian's stunning level of growth will comprise more than 60% of net global production growth in those five to six years
• at 5.4 million bopd in 2023, the Permian production will exceed that of any OPEC country other than Saudi Arabia
• nearly 41,000 new wells and $308 billion in upstream spending will drive that growth
• $308 billion / 41,000 =  $7.5 million / well; that number suggests the cost of drilling/completing a Permian well is going to come way down in the out years
• in the past two years, production from just this one region has grown more than any other entire country in the world -- Daniel Yergin
• $308 billion, context: the Permian saw $150 billion in investment from 2012 - 2017

Small towns are booming -- thanks to oil prices -- The WSJ. Data points -- actually none worth posting. Only one town was mentioned, Hobbs, New Mexico, and not much was even said about that.

Making America great again. This story is being reported at Fox Business (unable to link). Look at the amount of American money flowing back into America. Before I post the graphic, here's the lede:

Despite President Trump's tit-for-tat trade barbs, America’s CEOs are not wasting anytime in taking advantage of his tax reform plan. Over $300 billion was repatriated to the U.S. in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) -- the most on record.

“U.S. firms that used to build their factories overseas in order to avoid U.S. taxes, they stopped in their tracks because of the tax bill, they are bringing all the money home,” said Kevin Hassett, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, during an interview on FOX Business’ Varney & Co. in June.

Now the graphic -- staggering --