North Dakota Crude Oil Production, September, 2018, Data -- Bismarck Tribune -- BLM To Defer To State, Tribal Law Regarding Flaring

The Director's Cut summary was posted yesterday. The Bismarck Tribune reports on the record production at this link. Two additional data points with a new wrinkle, both with regard to flaring.

First, the NDIC is close to releasing new recommendations for flaring. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the NDIC will loosen restrictions but at a "cost" for the operators.

Second, and this seems noteworthy, considering how glacially some federal agencies move.

The Bureau of Land Management recently met with officials from the state and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation about upcoming changes to how the federal agency regulates flaring.

Under the revised Waste Prevention Rule, the BLM intends to defer to state and tribal regulation of flaring.

The BLM also plans to develop a memorandum of understanding with the state and with MHA Nation related to sharing data and making a determination about whether an operator is in compliance with flaring regulations, said Loren Wickstrom, field manager for the BLM North Dakota Field Office.

That in bold: I don't think we would have seen that under an Obama / Hillary administration. In fact, it's downright scary to go back and read how the Obama administration did what they could to kill the US oil industry. They could only go so far, but the direction they were going was very concerning. I follow this stuff pretty closely and I've already forgotten the specific but they included: a permitorium (ban on new drilling permits); killing interstate and transnational pipelines; supporting state efforts to ban hydraulic fracking; using inflammatory language ("boot on the neck") when regulating oil companies; quadrupling the oil spill liability tax levied on oil companies (on top of other taxes, royalties, etc).

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A Note to the Granddaughters

Later today I will be taking the oldest granddaughter to a water polo tournament at SMU, Dallas. I was getting google directions last night and then something stirred memories of all the swimming events to which I have taken the granddaughters. The oldest will turn sixteen years old this summer; she's been swimming since six months of age. I first took her swimming when she was three or four years old when we would walk to the swimming pool in the family's neighborhood north of Charleston, South Carolina.

Then the family moved to Boston and she continued with swimming lessons and competition for four years in that area. She trained at the pool at the swimming pool on the air base west of Boston.

Then they moved to the Dallas-Ft Worth (Texas) area and she transitioned from racing to water polo. She has competed all over Texas and and has competed in annual tournaments in northern and southern California. She is now certified in scuba diving and sailing.

This afternoon, as noted, we will be driving down to Dallas for another Texas water polo meet. It is quite incredible all the driving we have done together: three or four practices every evening during the week, and then "game days" and / or tournaments on most weekends throughout the school year.

We won't leave for another couple of hours. Meanwhile, I'm watching Sophia participating in Saturday morning gymnastics and then swimming lessons. So, it all begins again.

Sloop John B, The Beach Boys
I came "late" to the Beach Boys.