| $62.13→ | 3/19/2018 | 03/19/2017 | 03/19/2016 | 03/19/2015 | 03/19/2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Rigs | 58 | 47 | 32 | 107 | 195 |
| Pool | Date | Days | BBLS Oil | Runs | BBLS Water | MCF Prod | MCF Sold | Vent/Flare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAKKEN | 1-2018 | 31 | 15686 | 15679 | 30768 | 41334 | 15251 | 25992 |
| BAKKEN | 12-2017 | 18 | 5740 | 5370 | 27747 | 12901 | 81 | 12766 |
| BAKKEN | 11-2017 | 13 | 382 | 413 | 265 | 1247 | 1209 | 2 |
| BAKKEN | 10-2017 | 31 | 940 | 965 | 688 | 3153 | 2687 | 373 |
| BAKKEN | 9-2017 | 30 | 1048 | 959 | 792 | 3065 | 1974 | 1001 |
| BAKKEN | 8-2017 | 31 | 865 | 958 | 781 | 3407 | 3257 | 57 |
| BAKKEN | 7-2017 | 26 | 840 | 767 | 701 | 3028 | 2781 | 170 |
| BAKKEN | 6-2017 | 30 | 951 | 994 | 640 | 3429 | 3273 | 66 |
| BAKKEN | 5-2017 | 31 | 1022 | 1263 | 695 | 3559 | 3319 | 147 |
| BAKKEN | 4-2017 | 30 | 999 | 734 | 686 | 3464 | 3328 | 46 |
| BAKKEN | 3-2017 | 31 | 1055 | 1132 | 749 | 3484 | 3271 | 122 |
| BAKKEN | 2-2017 | 28 | 991 | 958 | 740 | 3180 | 3065 | 31 |
| BAKKEN | 1-2017 | 31 | 1183 | 1201 | 943 | 3594 | 3499 | 2 |
| BAKKEN | 12-2016 | 23 | 874 | 809 | 765 | 2816 | 2500 | 253 |
| BAKKEN | 11-2016 | 30 | 1065 | 1100 | 790 | 3576 | 3486 | 1 |
The Verge's Vlad Savov finally got around to testing a pair of AirPods, over a year after they launched, and now understands why so many people are fans of Apple's wireless earphones. Once dismissive of them, he now thinks AirPods are the best truly wireless earbuds he's heard.I say the AirPods aren't technically amazing, but that's only when comparing against existing standards for sound quality. In the category of truly wireless earbuds, the AirPods are the best I've yet heard. Bragi's The Headphone and Dash Pro left me underwhelmed, with the latter being especially bloated and disfigured by an overabundance of bass.Commentary: AirPods are easily one of Apple's best new products in the past few years. They're easy to set up, easy to use, easy to carry around, and more than likely sound "good enough" for the majority of customers.
Dutch economy minister Eric Wiebes will send a letter to the country's Cabinet containing details of a major cut to extraction levels at the Groningen gas field by March 31 at the latest.Groningen is not linked at the sidebar at the right; maybe it should be. LOL. It's easy to find -- just "google/search" Groningen on the blog.
Last Thursday, when Wiebes visited the damage claims desk in Groningen, he told local media he would send a letter about the future of gas extraction at Groningen by the end of March.
The current production quota for the 2017-18 Gas Year ending September 30 is 21.6 Bcm.
Following a 3.4-magnitude earthquake in the northern Dutch province of Groningen on January 8, with reports saying the quake was related to gas extraction, Wiebes said Groningen gas production could be cut by up to 2 Bcm in the current gas year, depending on temperatures.
Dutch gas regulator SodM also recommended a 12 Bcm/year cap on gas output from Groningen be introduced.
However, the final decision is up to Wiebes and he was expected to announce a production cut for the current gas year by March.
Johan Sverdrup is one of the five largest oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.
With expected resources estimated at 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent, it is also one of the most important industrial projects in Norway in the next 50 years.
The development and operation of this enormous field will generate revenue and provide jobs for coming generations. According to the consultancy Agenda Kaupang, the Johan Sverdrup development may generate employment in Norway of more than 150,000 man-years during the construction phase of 2015-2025.
In the first phase of the development, 70% of the contracts were awarded to suppliers in Norway. In phase two, the percentage of contracts going to suppliers in Norway may well exceed 85%. During the period 2016-2018, the main construction phase of the first phase of the project, more than 12,000 people around the world contributed to Johan Sverdrup each and every day.
During operations, Johan Sverdrup may contribute to employment of more than 3,400 people on average each year.
The field is also expected to generate income to the Norwegian state and society exceeding NOK 900 billion over the lifetime of the field.
The field will be operated by electrical power generated onshore, reducing offshore emissions of climate gases by 80%—90% compared to a standard development utilising gas turbines on the NCS.
July 2, 2021: Brent.
June 27, 2020: Norway's giant field pumps "flat out."
January 31, 2020: output guidance raised. Peak oil? What peak oil? Guidance raised from 160,000 b/d to over 200,000 boe/d.
January 18, 2020: huge new field sends Norway's oil production to 9-year high.
The start-up of the massive Johan Sverdrup oilfield sent Norway’s oil production rising to a nine-year high in December 2019, beating the authorities’ forecast by 12.7 percent.
In December 2019, the third month of operation of Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, Norway’s oil production averaged 1.759 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest oil production offshore Norway since January 2011.
Norway’s oil production in December rose by 4.3 percent from November and jumped by 17 percent compared to December 2018.December 6, 2019: Reuters -- Norway ramps up western Europe's largest oilfield as oil's future questioned. Can you say, "Johan Sverdrup"? Obviously I can't. I've been calling it the "John Sverdrup" oil field all this time; even my link at the sidebar at the right is incorrect (it's been fixed).
Sverdrup gets all electricity via an 160-km undersea power cable connecting it Norway's hydropower dams. In that way, the field's carbon emissions are reduced to 0.67 kg per barrel compared with the industry's average of 18 kg.
Nonetheless, Norway, which meets some 2% of global oil demand and is Europe's second-largest gas supplier after Russia, is trying to boost its renewable production.Equinor aims to use about 15-20% of its capital spending on renewable energy projects by 2030, focusing on offshore wind.
October 24, 2019: the world's trendiest blend -- Johan Sverdrup. Compared to Brazil's Lulu or Angola's Saturno, Johan Sverdrup is "already a hit among Asian customers even before the first shipment.... Sverdrup's low sulfur content and medium-density perfectly fit the in-demand crude specifics in Asia right now, according to traders. The new grade is also cheaper than its immediate competitors with which it has been compared, Brazil's Lula and Angola's Saturno. If Asian refiners continue to like Sverdrup, Norway could take some market share from Brazil and Angola on the Asian market, according to Bloomberg.Its current projects include 3,600-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm Dogger Bank in Britain and the 800-MW Empire Wind farm off New York.
By now you all surely already know that Statoil plans to change its name to "Equinor."
The name is apparently owned by a Oslo-registered veterinarian and is a nod to equality and the company's home country of Norway.
StatOil says it wants to be at the forefront of modern day energy systems and expects to invest 15-20% of total capex to "new energy solutions" by 2030. That's up from ~5% in 2017.
However, the primary investment thesis continues to be the company's oil and gas production growth and specifically exploiting the massive Johan Sverdrup discovery.Renewable portfolio:
StatOil already has significant wind-energy assets and created the world's first floating wind farm. StatOil says these assets deliver "good cash flows and competitive returns."
Last October, STO announced it was entering the solar energy business in Brazil with an agreement to acquire a 40% share of the 162 MW Apodi solar farm from Scatec Solar, an independent Norwegian solar power producer, for $25 million. The purchase price includes a 50% share in the project execution company, enabling Statoil to participate in building and operating solar projects in the future. Apodi will provide an estimated 160,000 homes with electricity.
But of course the primary investment thesis for StatOil continues to be development and exploitation of the massive Johan Sverdrup discovery with its 3 billion boe potential. STO has a 40% interest in the field and is the operator. Daily production during first phase estimated at 440,000 bpd with peak production estimated to reach 660,000 bpd. Phase I production is expected to start in late 2019.
"Saudi Arabia's existential crisis returns as US shale booms anew. Kingdom seeks higher prices that risks greater North American production."The good news:
Saudi Arabia is mostly relying on stronger global economic growth, rising oil consumption and natural decline rates at existing fields to drive demand for the kingdom’s crude, according to two people briefed by Saudi officials. Prince Mohammed himself believes prices will be “significantly” higher next year because of these factors alone, one person says.Unfortunately the tea leaves suggest Russia my flex its muscles. [One hour later: wow, was I wrong -- it's being reported that Russia's energy minister says Russia will stick with the cuts, and even extend them into 2019, if necessary. This suggests to me that "everyone" sees WTI floor at $60 / Brent floor at $65 and OPEC/Russia see huge risk of increasing production.]
The disputed 162-mile (261-km) pipeline is an extension to an existing line, which transports crude from Nederland, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The new segment would extend the system to St. James, Louisiana, and have capacity to transport up to 480,000 barrels per day of oil.
The project is 60 percent owned by ETP with the remainder controlled by refiner Phillips 66.
Energy Transfer Partners on Friday said it was pleased with the court ruling and would begin mobilizing for construction activities as soon as possible.
One of the three judges that heard the appeal filed a dissent, agreeing with the District Court's ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had violated the law when issuing permits for the pipeline.HAL announces a new sand transload facility in El Reno, OK. The property was purchased back in 2015 for $3 million. The terminal now has 10 sand silos with 5 unloading bays. Each silo probably stores 3,000 tons of frack sand. The double-loop track has 16,267 feet of rail; handles 2 - 3 unit trains of frack sand.
| $62.31↑ | 3/19/2018 | 03/19/2017 | 03/19/2016 | 03/19/2015 | 03/19/2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Rigs | 58 | 47 | 32 | 107 | 195 |
The aftershocks are still being felt from last Thursday’s decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that interstate gas and liquids pipelines’ cost-based tariff rates can’t include anything for income taxes if the pipelines are owned by master limited partnerships (MLPs) — and most are. Many investors did freak out — no other phrase sums it up better — when they heard that news. Share prices for midstream companies plummeted in midday trading, and we imagine that many angry calls were made by investors to their financial advisers. “Why didn’t we know about this?!” In fact, FERC’s action was harsher than expected by most experts. But the impact of the change is likely to be less far-reaching than the Wall Street frenzy would have you believe, at least for most MLPs. And, by the way, the issue at hand — whether and how to factor in taxes in calculating MLPs’ cost-of-service-based rates for interstate pipelines –– has been around for decades. Today, we discuss FERC’s new policy statement on the treatment of income taxes and what it means for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquid (NGL) and refined product pipeline rates; and for investors in MLPs that own and operate the systems.
It’s worth noting that Thursday was what the ancient Romans called the ides of March. That was a real bad day for Julius Caesar (“Beware the ides of March … You too, Brutus?”) For some pipelines and their investors, FERC’s abrupt chopping out of a big chunk of pipeline cost of service probably felt pretty similar to Caesar’s surgery. FERC had been working for a year and a half to respond to a July 2016 federal appellate court ruling saying that collecting income taxes in pipeline tariff rates — on top of how the return on equity investment is calculated for an MLP’s pipeline rates — amounts to a double recovery of cost. So FERC took a lot of comments, struggled with it, and ultimately on Thursday said, “Yep, it sure is.”
