Four Wells Coming Off Confidential List Today; Concho CEO Acting In Light Of Possible Fracking Ban -- December 10, 2019

First things first: I watched the first half of the game and then went to bed. The play-by-play announcers seemed they couldn't talk enough about how pathetic the Philadelphia Eagles and Carson Wentz were; and, it seemed they couldn't talk enough about how great Eli Manning was, coming back to play (I didn't know that he had been gone, LOL) -- at the half it was 17 - 3, New York Giants leading, and I went to bed. I was as surprised as anyone, I suppose, to see that Carson Wentz and the Eagles won the game, 23 - 17. Not only did the Eagles hold the Giants scoreless in the second half of regulation time, the Giants went on to score six points in overtime and win (I believe that each team gets an attempt to score before it is a "sudden death" situation, unless the first team to get the ball scores a touchdown. Way to go Carson. I may be all wrong on this; I'm surmising almost all of this.

MNF/TNF: it's my impression that the worst play-by-play NFL announcers are those on Thursday night, followed closely by those on Monday night. Last year I said I would never watch another NFL game, but I'm not occasionally watching a quarter or two if nothing else to do. 

Disclaimer: this is not a sports site. If this is important to you, go to the source.

Pork -- African Swine Flu: just the links for now. If interested, I might come back to this.

• equity markets flummoxed by port reports coming out of China; China's inflation rate soars to 8-year high; just a minute -- if the Chinese spend more money on pork -- i.e., consumer spending -- won't their GDP increase; don't we want to see increased GDP around the world; sort of like the price of gasoline in the US?
• as with most things, the movers and shakers using China pork crisis to take profits; not only will pork crisis not affect US market in next three months; the whole thing will be over by the end of 2020
• not enough pork in the world to meet China's demand; -- The [London] Guardian:
• most interesting US pork story vis a vis swine fever in China -- Forbes, October 30, 2019; quick: what US seaport handles most of US pork export to Asia?
• perhaps best overview of what's going on -- Pig Progress, December 2, 2019; bottom line -- this sounds all so temporary; a year from now this will be a non-story; 
• implications for US-China tariffs; trade policy? talk about an imbalance in urgency: US-pork-to-China almost inconsequential in the big scheme of things; China's addiction to pork is a phenomenon Americans probably can't digest (ha, ha -- lol -- pun intended)

Another reason for folks returning to work: probably not, unless one really, really thinks about it. The end of corporate retirement plans as we know them within five years -- USA Today, December 9, 2019

• biggest reason folks who "finally" go back to work: health insurance benefits

Fracking ban? Are folks taking it seriously? This was buried in the story, link here. Even with the headline I had trouble finding it. Maybe this was an old story. Nope, November 30, 2019. And remember, someone as "sane" as Michael Bloomberg comes from a state that bans fracking. Concho, by the way, may be in trouble, also. I don't know; seems I read that somewhere. All the usual disclaimers pertain.

Chairman and CEO Tim Leach told analysts Wednesday that Concho is ready to move rigs within the Permian Basin from federal land in New Mexico to non-federal land in Texas, as Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have proposed fracking bans.

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.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$58.72	12/10/2019	12/10/2018	12/10/2017	12/10/2016	12/10/2015
Active Rigs	56	64	53	40	65

Wells coming off the confidential list today -- Tuesday, December 10, 2019: 33 for the month; 238 for the quarter:

• 36500, 544,  Koda Resources, Stout 2917-1BH, 70 stages; 14.7 million lbs; Fertile Valley, t9/19; cum 22K 32 days; 16K month;
• 36183, drl, XTO, Olaf 42X-11H, Capa, no production data,
• 34744, 157 (no typo), Oasis, Mildred Nelson 5298 13-25 10B, 50 stages; 6 million lbs; Elidah; t5/19 (scout ticket error); cum 139K 10/19; huge well; two 40K months;
• 32413, SI/NC, CLR, Polk Federal 11-33H, Banks, no production data,

Koda Resources: has two wells coming off confidential list this week. From "Bakken operators":

KODA Resources Operating, LLC

• first mentioned as a new operator, May 23, 2019

RBN Energy: crude quality drives build-out of Taproot's D-J Basin gathering system.

Crude oil gathering systems play an important role in a matter critical to producers, marketers and refiners alike: crude quality. Well-designed gathering systems can help deliver crude with the API gravity and other characteristics that refiners desire and are willing to pay a premium for. This has become a particularly big deal in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, where a big expansion of gathering capacity is under way, and where the market gives extra value to “Niobrara-spec” crude with an API of 42 degrees or lower. Today, we continue a series on existing and planned pipeline networks to move D-J-sourced crude from the lease to regional hubs and takeaway pipes with a look at Taproot Energy Partners’ system.

The D-J Basin in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming offers an unusually intense concentration of hydrocarbons within four geologic layers, or “benches,” only a few thousand feet below the surface, as well as low per-well drilling costs and direct pipeline access to the crude oil hub in Cushing, OK.

We also pointed out that D-J crude production has doubled in the past 18 months to about 640 Mb/d, spurring the development of a number of new gathering systems, as well as the expansion of existing infrastructure. The vast majority of the D-J’s production growth is occurring in Weld County, CO, so that’s understandably the epicenter of midstream activity as well. Previously, we discussed the sprawling Black Diamond crude gathering system in Weld County that is co-owned by Noble Midstream Partners and Greenfield Midstream, and then later, we reviewed Noble Midstream’s nearby Wells Ranch, East Pony, Greeley Crescent and Mustang systems.

Today, we shift our spotlight to Taproot Energy Partners’ existing Baja gathering system (blue line in Figure 1) and planned Rattlesnake Extension (dashed yellow line) in central Weld County, both of which are designed to transport crude to Tallgrass Energy’s Buckingham Terminal (orange square to center-right) and the Pony Express Pipeline (green line) to the crude oil hub in Cushing, OK. As we’ll get to in a moment, Buckingham has emerged as a premium market for D-J-sourced crude — more specifically, for Niobrara-spec crude with a lower API than most of the other oil produced in the basin.