Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Random thoughts: things that amaze and/or amuse me.

Alexa: sometime in February, 2019, I wrote:  
Alexa: control your television set. Right now (2/19) I can make phone calls from Alexa/Echo Dot without lifting a finger; and I can listen to news and music from Echo Dot without lifting a finger. Why can I not select channels, control volume, and move from streaming to DVD to live television via Alexa/Echo Dot. 
Update: I now see that Alexa can do exactly that; voice command/control of your television (Amazon Fire TV Cube). Here's how to do it.

Telephone calls. I had completely forgotten that I could initiate and make telephone calls through Alexa without lifting a finger. The scary thing: I have no idea how Alexa does it. I did not do a thing except plug the Echo / Dot into the outlet.

Alexa hears everything. Yesterday, Alexa was playing jazz while we were eating lunch. I whispered to my wife something about Alexa. Alexa immediately cut in: despite our whispering, she had heard what we were talking about. Creepy. In a good sort of way. Why haven't "we" moved "911" emergency phone calls to Alexa, or maybe we have. I don't know. But I see all kinds of good uses for Alexa with regard to home invasion prevention if folks would worry less about privacy issues and more about safety issues. Don't take this out of context. But seriously, if I am experiencing an incapacitating event, and all I can do is shout, "Alexa, get me help," would I care if someone at Amazon heard that cry for help, identified my location, and sent "911" call to local fire department/police department? Probably not.

Polls. As "important" as Iowa and New Hampshire seem to be with regard to caucuses and primaries only 60-some days from now, we haven't seen a new Iowa poll or a new New Hampshire poll in quite some time.

Mars. I get a kick out of gazillionaires telling us we need to prepare to leave this planet for something else, like the moon or Mars. Let's just start with water. What amazes me is not that the Earth has any water at all, but it has so much water. As hard as "they" have looked, scientists apparently haven't had much luck finding oceans of water on any other planet in the universe.

Water. Speaking of water, Lake Mead is doing quite well this year, at least compared to 2017 and 2018. California mountains just received six feet of snow. Roads impassable but once cleared, ski resorts are going to have a great year. I've skied several times over the years -- we talking snow skiing here -- I've also water skied -- but as enjoyable as snow skiing is, it certainly is a lot of work. Just getting to the mountain; then the rentals; then the crowds; the awkward ski boots clomping through the chalets; multiple layers of clothes; uncomfortable lifts. I'm getting too old for this. This may be the first year in many years that I completely avoid the ski thing.

Hillary: recalculating .... recalculating ... recalculating. 

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Back to Energy

Rigs don't matter: some people still don't get it. I run across all kinds of articles suggesting the US oil industry is in such disarray considering WTI is at $55 and yet oil companies and service companies can't seem to make money. Latest: Halliburton. Halliburton is closing its Oklahoma office, cutting 800 jobs. That headline, taken out of context, would suggest the US oil industry is in a huge recession, and US oil production is coming to an end. And yet, US production continues to set all-time records. And rig counts keep dropping. But somebody must be making money.

Biggest losers of the US shale "bust." From oilprice via Yahoo!Finance. I've said the same thing for years -- the only folks who have not made money in US shale are buy and hold investors. But I certainly wouldn't call US shale a bust.

Apple: worth more than the entire US stock index's energy sector. -- Financial Times. Paywall, but headline says it all. And that's the problem with paywalls, and media business models. The headline says it all, and we don't see any ads.

Saudi Aramco IPO: Prince Salman now has a real business to run. LOL. I've not read one thing to suggest the "new company" is anything but a scam, or at best, a "bond." You make your investment and then get a dividend. Does anyone see any growth in this "company"?

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, career, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Bakken wells. I've spent the last few days updating the Antelope oil field. The wells are incredibly good. Only folks who have been following the Bakken from the beginning really know how good these wells are. I wish I knew the Permian as well so I could make a comparison, but I'm pretty much left with the EIA dashboards to compare. And based on what little I know, mano a mano, Permian well vs a Bakken well, there is simply no comparison. These Antelope-Sanish wells are incredible. I still don't understand the geology of the Antelope. I thought it was all "Sanish" but sundry forms suggest both Three Forks ("Sanish") and middle Bakken are found in the Antelope oil field.

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Missouri Ridge

Missouri Ridge oil field: I had forgotten all about the Missouri Ridge oil field until this past week. I had completely forgotten that I even linked it at my site linking oil fields I track. But there it is, the Missouri Ridge oil field, which I first discussed on August 11, 2011, almost a decade ago. Ten years ago we were not talking about tier one or tier two or tier three oil fields in the Bakken but had we been, I doubt I would have considered Missouri Ridge a tier one location. But, wow, it's turned into quite a field based on recent Oasis wells.

Back in 2011: here is how much oil has been taken out of those three sections by formation:
  • Missouri Ridge-Bakken: 79,000 bbls
  • Missouri Ridge- Birdbear: 1,248,034 bbls (yup, million)
  • Missouri Ridge-Madison: 464,857 bbls
  • Missouri Ridge-Red River: 1,274,334 bbls (yup, million)
  • Missouri Ridge-Stonewall: 738,000
Production as of September, 2019 (confidential production not included in these totals):
  • Missouri Ridge-Bakken: 6,279,497 bbls (43 wells)
  • Missouri Ridge- Birdbear: 1,353,746 bbls
  • Missouri Ridge-Madison: 501,240 bbls
  • Missouri Ridge-Red River: 1,274,401 bbls
  • Missouri Ridge-Stonewall: 764,393 bbls
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