BHGE Misses Estimates -- July 20, 2018

New Jersey: on July 1, 2018 -- less than three weeks ago -- it was reported that New Jersey was going to rely on internet "on-line" sales tax to make up a huge budget deficit. Hold that thought. LOL. 

Do you know who's not worried about the trade war? The chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Two data points: his testimony suggests he feel the economy is accelerating; and, his testimony suggests there it is not likely that planned interest rates will not be taken off the table, confirming that he thinks the Fed needs to "cool the economy." Unless he did not get the memo on tariffs and the trade war, one would think the Fed would consider that before raising rates. And as long as the Fed feels comfortable raising rates, that tells me they're not worried about the trade war. 

BHGE: misses estimates; EPS of $0.10; misses by 4 cents; seems like a pretty big miss; revenue of $5.5 billion but missed estimate by $20 million.

Steel / iron ore -- making America great again. Seriously. From SeekingAlpha:

• Cleveland-Cliffs +6.9% premarket after posting strong Q2 earnings and revenue beats and raising its full-year sales volume outlook.
• CLF says Q2 U.S. iron ore pellet sales volume totaled 6M long tons, up 38% from 4.3M long tons in the year-ago quarter, driven by increased customer demand and the impact of the previously disclosed adoption of the new revenue recognition accounting standard.
• Q2 realized revenues of $112.60/ton rose 16% Y/Y, primarily due to increased steel pricing and pellet premiums, which are magnified by favorable contract structures.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.

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Back to the Bakken 

Wow, look at all the wells coming off the confidential list today (reporting these may be delayed: family commitments from now until 9:30 a.m.):

• 33959, SI/NC, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Bennie 8-20-17-157N-99W TFH, Lone Tree Lake, no production datta,
• 33906, SI/NC, Petro-Hunt, USA 153-95-9A-15-1HS, Charlson, no production data,
• 33351, 2,624, CLR, Thronson 4-21H1, Alkali Creek, very high gas units, TD = 26,126 feet, 84 stages; 14.5 million lbs (about 175K/stage), a very nice well; t1/18; cum 146K 5/18;
• 33350, 2,424, CLR, Thronson 5-21H, Alkali Creek, a very nice well, TD = 25,967 feet, 79 stages; 14.1 million lbs (about 180K/stage); t1/18; cum 106K 5/18;
• 34347, SI/NC, XTO, FBIR Walker 41X-36DA, Heart Butte, no production data,
• 33341, drl, XTO, Dakota Federal 42X-36E, Bear Den, no production data,
• 32806, 1,068, CLR, Oakdale 8-13H2, Jim Creek, producing, nice but not remarkable; t1/18; cum 67K 5/18;

For newbies: the new wells -- #33351 and #33350 -- were extended long laterals, 79 and 84 stages; about 175K pounds/stage which is slightly on the low side of the usual 200K pounds/stage in the Bakken;

The CLR Thronson wells: are followed here. 

Active rigs:

	7/20/2018	07/20/2017	07/20/2016	07/20/2015	07/20/2014
Active Rigs	68	59	31	70	195

RBN Energy: gas transportation expansions in western Canada.

Despite intensifying competition from U.S. natural gas producers — or because of it — Western Canadian gas producers are ramping up their long-term commitments for intra-basin takeaway capacity from the Montney Shale, as well as for capacity at both intra-provincial and export delivery points. Not only has there been a slew of new project announcements in the region, but in some cases, commitments reportedly have exceeded proposed capacity during open seasons. Today, we provide an update of gas pipeline expansion projects in Western Canada.

We’ve talked quite a bit in recent months about the worsening gas supply congestion along U.S.-Canadian border regions, which is heating up the competition between U.S. and Canadian natural gas producers. Natural gas production growth on both sides of the border has been outpacing demand growth. 

Western Canadian producers have been contending with gas transportation constraints right where production is growing the most, in northwestern Alberta and eastern British Columbia (BC). Last fall, the Alberta gas market experienced extreme bottlenecks that left production stranded and sent area gas prices spiraling to negative territory. The ramp-up of winter heating demand helped ease the constraints, but the negative pricing briefly returned this past spring.

Part of the problem is that production growth is increasingly concentrated in the eastern BC and northwestern Alberta areas of the Montney, and pipeline gathering and takeaway capacity has been playing catch-up, especially as plans for LNG exports from the region have faced continual delays or have gotten derailed entirely. The other factor is that while intra-provincial demand is also growing — from gas-fired power generation and oil sands projects — the connectivity between the supply and delivery areas has lagged as well. Over the past few years, regional pipeline operators have responded with expansion plans to debottleneck the supply areas and connect producers to downstream markets. These expansions will shape how Canadian producers navigate the increasingly competitive North American gas market over the next few years. So, next, we take a closer look at recently built and planned projects.