Number Of Active Rigs In North Dakota Back To 57; WTI Right In Sweet Spot; RBN Energy On The Bakken -- July 24, 2019

Dis-Royal Navy, can't defeat speedboats: link here --

Get out the popcorn: can't wait to watch San Francisco and NYC take over "ownership" of their power grid. 

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2Q19: all we heard going into the current earnings season was how bad things were going to be. The exact word used was "ugly," I believe. Now, story after story of great earnings. And so we move on.

Reporting today, a huge day -- 231 companies to report, including: ATT (T); BAC; Boeing (BA); F; CAT (missed); TSLA (after close);

Oil rally? It is being reported that hedge funds have "unexpectedly" set the stage for an oil rally. We'll see. Hope springs eternal.

EIA weekly US crude oil inventory data to be released today. Yesterday's API data was staggering -- largest decline in memory. At 10 million bbls greatly exceeded forecasts of 4 million bbls. What wasn't said in all of that: even the forecast of a four-million-bbl draw was "huge." Oilprice.com headline said that oil spiked after the API report. In fact, WTI was flat, unless one considers a 30-cent move a spike. LOL.

Look at this: Apple, Inc., you know, the computer company, about to buy Intel's 5G modem unit.

And this: UPS adding Sunday delivery next year, joining rival FedEx.

Back to all that hand-wringing about 2Q19 earnings. Today's headlines:

• Visa tops earnings expectations; raises full-year outlook
• Beyond Meat soars above $200 as pre-earnings bid continues
• time to buy Micron stock again
• why Roku stock may surge sky-high
• Kimberly-Clark Price: sales boost and earnings beat 
• United Technologies: strong earnings
• Teradyne surges more than 10" on earnings beat
• Biogen earnings crush forecasts
• Apple stock will rise on improving iPhone demand in China
• Philip Morris stock rally; growth is "best in class"
• Lockheed hints at big skunks works deal; earnings beat
• KO: all-time high

And finally this: "the Dow jumped 177 points because everything coming up roses"

Dividends? Nice article here.

Tesla: it is being reported that the tax-break cut is likely to "sink" Tesla. Tesla reports today. Expectations: earnings to be a loss of 40 cents/share. At least I recall that was the number but I wasn't paying close enough attention. But forecasts all across the board, from a loss of $1.84/share to a profit of 95 cents/share.

Germany: manufacturing sector struggling. Doesn't surprise me a bit. Merkel's swan song. Next up: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. AKK for short.

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Back to the Bakken

Wells coming off the confidential list today --&nbspWednesday, July 24, 2019: 42 for the month; 42 for the quarter;

• 35960, 1,796, Newfield, Goliath 150-98-5-8-8HLWR, 59 stages; 6.8 million lbs, Siverston (and it lives p to its name), 5/19; cum 43K 5/19; :

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
5-2019	41486	87136
4-2019	1338	785

• 35272, IA/3,376, CLR, Carson Peak 4-35HSL, middle Bakken, 40 stages; 16 million lbs (huge), Oakdale, t6/19; cum --;

Active rigs:

$57.09	7/24/2019	07/24/2018	07/24/2017	07/24/2016	07/24/2015
Active Rigs	57	66	59	32	73

RBN Energy: takeaway constraints spur another round of crude pipeline projects. Archived.

Crude oil production in Western Canada and the Bakken is ratcheting up ­— in the Niobrara too — but pipeline takeaway capacity to key markets south of there is an issue.

For a couple of years now, egress ou of Alberta has been problematic, due in large part to delays in the development of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement, the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) and Keystone XL. Things got so bad last winter that Alberta’s provincial government ordered production cutbacks, though they are now easing. Rising Bakken production is quickly filling any remaining space on the Dakota Access Pipeline, and pipes out of the Niobrara’s Powder River and Denver-Julesburg (D-J) basins are approaching their capacities as well. In response, midstream companies have proposed a number of fixes, some very incremental in nature and others big and impactful. As typically happens, though, too much capacity may be on the drawing board. Today, we consider the ongoing competition to build new capacity down the eastern side of the Rockies.

By the way, there's another story that native Americans in Minnesota have sued Enbridge over yet another section of pipeline -- the recurring theme -- pipelines along the northern tier of the US are in disarray; the real action is in Texas.