Morning Note -- September 14, 2018

Florence: 6:04 a.m. Friday morning, September 14, 2014, the eye of the storm has hit the barrier islands but I don't think the eye has actually gotten halfway over the coast -- could be wrong -- but wow is this category 1 rainstorm moving slowly. 

Top story of the year for ND ranchers? Two readers sent me this story -- first from The Dickinson Press; the second from, well, the same source. For the first time in decades, despite heavy tariffs, US beef will now be sold in China. Data points:

• despite the tariffs, ND ranchers are excited
• this never, never happened under Obama -- ND ranchers seeing opportunity of Chinese market
• Chinese tariff on US beef three times that of Australia's tariff
• even a $30-increase in cattle prices could see a US beef market boom on par with that of the early 20th century
• two lost decades: the US has been locked out of China for 13 years -- that means the "lock-out" begun under Bush II and continued under Barack "we can't just drill our way to lower oil prices" Obama
• OECD, annual assessment: beef will become the fastest-growing import sector in China over the coming year, with China continuing to top the world meat consumption rankings annually
• from the first reader: last fall, the Chinese signed a $300 million deal with Montana ranchers to purchase beef and build a packing plant
• not a single pound of US beef was sold to the Chinese under the Obama presidency
  

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Back to the Bakken

Wells coming off confidential list today -- Friday, September 14, 2018 --

• 34146, SI/NC, BR, Sanvan 1A-MBH-ULW, Elidah, no production data,
• 33735, SI/NC, Hess, BB-Federal B-151-95-2122H-10, Blue Buttes, no production data,

Sanvan, #34146 -- busy, busy, busy

For newbies: check out #21541.

Active rigs:

$68.81→	9/14/2018	09/14/2017	09/14/2016	09/14/2015	09/14/2014
Active Rigs	65	55	34	68	199

RBN Energy: Pemex and Shell renew their Deer Park vows, with a twist, part 2. Reminds me a lot of Motiva.

Any joint venture has its pros and cons for each party, and in an ideal world, everyone involved in a JV sees net benefits from pairing up with a partner. A quarter-century ago, state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) purchased a 50% stake in Shell’s Deer Park, TX, refinery. The JV partners also entered into a 30-year processing agreement under which each would purchase half of the refinery’s crude feedstock and own half the output. Separately, Pemex agreed to supply as much as 200 Mb/d of Mexico’s heavy sour Maya crude to Deer Park and Shell agreed to supply Pemex with 35-40 Mb/d of gasoline to help meet Mexico’s refined products deficit. The partners recently agreed to an early extension of the deal by 10 years from 2023 to 2033, while reducing the supply of Maya crude after 2023 to 70 Mb/d, to be sold at a fixed price. Today, we continue an analysis of the JV and the new changes to it.

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First Dental Check-Up

She was still holding her new toothbrush -- package unopened -- and her "adult" toothpaste when I saw her several hours later.

Pretty Little Angel Eyes, Curtis Lee