Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- July 30, 2019

Really? Yesterday I posted the story on the number of SWD wells that the Permian will need over the next decade. To my surprise, this story has legs. It was the #1 story over on Rigzone today. I had to read the story again, I thought my math was wrong. It's not. It's a Bloomberg story; must have been a really, really slow news day.

Fracking: Rystad Energy reporting an uptick in fracking after a flat spell from February to May. Finally a metric that means something:

• June: preliminary estimate for number of wells being completed in the US -- 47/day
• spring month average: 45/day
• if trend continues, US fracking in 2H19 could beat previously set record set in May, 2018

Oh-oh: SABIC profit sinks to lowest in ten years. We've been talking about this ever since we started blogging One never likes to see "profit" and "plunged" in same sentence. From Bloomberg:

• first very in very first sentence in the story: plunged
• SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp) 2Q19 profit plunged  to lowest level since 2009
• net income dropped to $565 million (riyal/dollar = 3.75)
• the average estimate was $900 million
• net income one year ago: almost $2 billion
• Two other data points from the article:
• The petrochemicals maker said last week it suspended talks with Clariant AG on their high-performance plastics venture a day after the Swiss company’s CEO Ernesto Occhiello unexpectedly quit. Sabic cited "current unfavorable market conditions" for halting talks and said it’s looking forward to continuing the discussions once conditions improve.
• Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, is in the process of buying a majority stake in Sabic from the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund for $69.1 billion. The Middle East’s biggest-ever deal had been first mooted last year after the initial public offering of Aramco was postponed.

Wow, link here:

• Last year, the US:
• reached a new production record;
• doubled its export volumes; and,
• became a top ten exporter
• Other data points:
• global demand grew by 1.4% in 2018
• slightly under the five-year average of 1.7%, 2013 - 2017

China trade war worries? Two data points to consider:

• China working furiously to keep 50 global companies from exiting China
• China's Communist Party Politburo: will implement proactive fiscal policy; will continue to cut fees, taxes

**************************************** 

Whither Weber

When I was out in Montana this summer, I wanted to buy another Weber grill, the iconic deep charcoal grill so that I could "do" beer-can chickens. The grill we had simply did not have enough "head-room."

I was surprised to find that the Wal-Mart in Kalispell did not have have any Weber grills, except possibly some small-table-top hibachi-like grills, but absolutely none of the Weber grills we have all come to love.

So, we drove over to a big-box home improvement story. I think it was Lowe's. Even more surpsised. Again, no iconic Weber grill even though they had a huge Weber sign in the barbecue section. It appeared to me that folks were moving to out-door kitchens built around propane.

Yesterday, I had a long, long discussion on barbeque and grilling with others while blogging at Starbucks. One of the most knowledgeable participants in the discussion recommended The Barbecue Outfitters on the corner of Kimball and TX 114 in Southlake.

Yesterday afternoon I drove out to Southlake. I spoke with the owner-manager "Micky" for a fw minutes. Among other things I mentioned my experience with Weber. I suggested that folks were moving away from Weber charcoal grills to outdoor propane kitchens.

Even though she had a huge Weber sign in her window, she really had no Weber grills. She said as much: she said she had Weber outdoor propane kitchens but no charcoal grills but she said it was because it was "impossible to do business with Weber." She said she wanted to run her own store; she did not want Weber to run her store. Fascinating. Sort of reminds me of Apple, Inc.

So, again, no deep iconic Weber grills.

Instead of Weber charcoal grills, The Barbecue Outfitters offers the Green Egg. 

By the way, these outdoor propane kitchens are incredibly huge. Talk about "iron chef on steroids." Actually, to be more precise, "stainless steel on steroids." Some of these stainless steel grills were bigger than my entire kitchen-dining room. My hunch is that the average purchaser will grill a couple of hot dogs and a few hamburgers most days, an occasional beer-can chicken; and a few steaks o the weekend.

Whatever.

By the way, best kept secret: The Barbeque Outfitters grill every Saturday in the front of their store. They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, and early dinner. They start serving about 10:30 and go at least until 3:30. but "Micky" suggested that by 3:30 not much will be left. She says they grill everything. there is no big buffet per se, but they will grill whatever they are grilling, serve it, and then switch to something else. I was reminded of the difference between grilling and barbequing.

This is a pretty good site -- just be careful -- a lot of pop-ups and requests to send notifications.

By the way, I mentioned the barbeque story in Waxahachie, TX. She was very, very familiar with the store. She had a huge selection of rubs from the Meat Church. I think I've blogged about this store before.

By the way, with the growth rate projected for DFW over the next couple of decades, The Barbecue Outfitters will have to expand to additional stores. They already have two "storefronts" at the Kimball/TX 114 location. And they are already really, really cramped for space.