On Track For About 1,500 New Oil And Gas Permits For North Dakota For CY19-- November 17, 2019

As of November 16, 2019, it is projected that there will be a total of about 1,466 new oil and gas permits for North Dakota (99% Bakken permits) for calendar year 2019 based on current permit activity. With permitting possibly slowing down over the holidays, final tally may be around 1,450.

Permit activity for 2019 are tracked here.

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North Dakota Budget

This is "old" news -- reported back in August, 2019, but I can't remember if I posted the data.

Here it is, from this site. Data points:

• North Dakota's 2017 - 2019 budget cycle ended June 30, 2019
• revenues collected was 5.4% ahead of its general fund revenue forecast
• general fund exceeded the March, 2019, legislative revenue forecast by nearly $250 million
• "largely thanks to a larger-than-expected transfer of Legacy Fund earnings and more robust collections of sales and income taxes"
• more than $455 million in Legacy Fund earnings were transferred to the state's general fund in July, 2019
• previously reported: state representatives are asking the public how to spend all this money

I suspect November, 2019, Legacy Fund deposits will be reported this next week. Link here.

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Life on Earth

I get a kick out of the space probes looking for water. It's pretty much universally agreed that life requires water. Period. Dot.

Earth has water. Big deal.

What's impressive is how much water it has. No one ever seems to mention that. Scientists would be thrilled to find an ounce of water on Mars to prove life could exist there (or did exist there). And yet, no one ever mentions how much water there is on earth in these kinds of discussions.

Just saying.