US Dominance In NEW Oil And Gas Production -- December 10, 2019

Updates

December 10, 2019: see first comment and / or this link: https://twitter.com/ShaleProfile?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor.  For North Dakota data, ShaleProfile only analyzes/reports horizontal wells in production since 2005. The NDIC reports production from all wells in North Dakota. Having said that, the Bakken accounts for 96% of North Dakota production.

Original Post 

I have not read this yet; a reader sent it to me, thank you.

I will read it later, but want to get it posted; things are moving quickly.

Link here at Forbes, December 8, 2019: US dominates new oil and gas production. By the way, this was noted earlier, different source, with great graphics. If I can find it, I will link it.

Ah, one minute later, here it is.  Re-posting:

The graphic has to do with NEW oil and gas production, not total production.

New Mexico ranks above North Dakota.

Russia will barely produce more NEW oil and gas than Ohio.

Neither California nor Alaska are in the graphic.

Wyoming, Utah did not make the list but Colorado did, again for NEW gas and oil.

Pennsylvania, at 7%, is more than twice that of Russia -- that's huge, but when Ohio will produce almost as much NEW gas and oil as Russia ...

For new oil and gas production, seven out of the top 10 biggest oil and gas producers would be US states, with only Canada, Brazil and Russia making it onto the list. Pennsylvania is set to be the third, producing more than double new gas and oil that that of Russia.

I don't know how many ways one can show it, but here's another graphic. It's not so much that the US will contribute 60% of the new global production, but rather:

• it's how puny Russia's new production is in comparison
• it's that Saudi Arabia becomes a net importer (other sources) by 2029
• it's that no Mideast country is significant enough with regard to new oil and gas to get on the chart
• it's that Norway is not significant enough to get on chart either

Only Two New Permits -- Nine Point Energy Active Again: Hess Announces Thirteen Huge Completed DUCs -- December 10, 2019

LOL: every Tuesday about this time, we get another "surprise" regarding the API data. Today, a surprise build -- again:

• consensus: a draw of 2.763-million-barrel draw (as usual, note the false precision)
• actual: a 1.4-million-bbl build

Chevron: doesn't see much increase in price of oil this next year (2020); will write down $10 billion in market value of their holdings. A big major can handle this; I don't think the small companies can do this.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, 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:

$59.09	12/10/2019	12/10/2018	12/10/2017	12/10/2016	12/10/2015
Active Rigs	54	64	53	40	65

Two new permits, #37258 - #37259, inclusive --

• Operator: Nine Point Energy, LLC
• Field: Eightmile (Williams)
• Comments:
• Nine Point Energy has permits for a two-well S Missouri pad in section 4-152-103, Eightmile oil fiel

Thirteen producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 35222, 3,240, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-6, Blue Buttes, t10/18; cum 19K over 13 days;
• 35223, 3,000, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-5, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 3K over 5 days;
• 35224, 3,396, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-4, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 28K over 17 days; 
• 35225, 2,610, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-3, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 20K over 14 days;
• 35226, 3,466, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-2, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 32K over 23 days;
• 35227, 3,401, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-1, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 25K over 18 days; 
• 35043, 4,501, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-10, Blue Buttes, t10/18; cum 23K over 16 days; 
• 35042, 4,251, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-9, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 19K over 12 days; 
• 35041, 3,511, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-8, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 13K over 8 days;
• 35040, 3,209, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-7, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 2K over 3 days;
• 35039, 3,771, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-6, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 17K over 10 days;
• 35038, 4,226, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-5, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 27K over 15 days;
• 35037, 3,945, Hess, BB-Charlie Loomer-150-95-0718H-4, Blue Buttes, t10/19; cum 38K over 21 days;

Federal A-LS parent well:

• 18105, 860, Hess, BB-Federal A-151-95-0910H-1, Blue Buttes, t2/10; cum 419K 10/19; too early to tell whether affected by new wells; back on line and looks good;

Neighboring wells:

• 17125, 713, Hess, BB-Rice-150-95-0718H-1, Blue Buttes, t10/08; cum 358K 4/18; off line since 4/18; remains off line 10/19;
• 23968, 1,348, Hess, BB-Rice-150-95-0718H-2, Blue Buttes, t3/13; cum 368K 10/19; off line for short period of time past couple of months; but produced every month;
• 23969, 1,188, Hess, BB-Rice-150-95-0718H-3, Blue Buttes, t4/13; cum 412K 10/19; off line for short period of time past couple of months; but produced every month;

A Shout-Out To The Bakken Roughnecks Being Smacked By Global Warming -- December 10, 2019

Two BR Croff Wells Each Go Over 500,000 Bbls -- December 10, 2019

BR Croff wells are tracked here.

The two wells; note that these two wells were drilled/completed in late 2017, less than two years ago:

• 33151, 148, BR, Croff 7-1-2 MBH, Croff, t11/17, cum 517K 10/19;
• 33153, 524, BR, Croff 6-1-2 UTFH, Croff, t11/17, cum 501K 10/19;  

A third Croff well; note that this well was drilled/completed about three years ago:

• 33143, 1,245, BR, Croff 22A MBH, Croff, t10/17, cum 436K 10/19;

The parent Croff  had a moderate jump in production.

There is another four well pad to the east of these wells, all on confidential list.  

Notes From All Over, Part 3 -- December 10, 2019

Huge. It would have been more huge had the ruling gone the other way. LOL.

Exxon Mobil prevails in New York climate change lawsuit -- Reuters.

Why I Love To Blog -- Reason #1 -- Feedback From Readers -- December 10, 2019

Updates

December 11, 2019: Texas Capital, Independent Bank to merge in $5.5 billion deal, both Dallas-area firms.

Original Post 

I would have completely missed this. An eagle-eyed reader caught it and my interest and took the time to send me the link; much appreciated. The story: why Charles Schwab and other finance companies keep coming to north Texas.

Finance and insurance is a slow-growth business, except in Dallas, where it's surged over three time faster than in the US.

Schwab, a leading discount broker, has been facing financial pressure from online upstarts, heavyweight rivals and low interest rates. In September, it laid off 600 employees, about 3% of its workforce, and the next month, Schwab cut commissions to zero for online trading of stocks and options.

The no-fees move shook up the brokerage business. Then Schwab followed up with a blockbuster deal to acquire TD Ameritrade. It touted the combination’s money-saving potential, what executives like to call synergies.

The new company expects to save up to $2 billion annually by cutting overlapping jobs, real estate, overhead and other areas.

Schwab is only the most recent big financial player to relocate or expand here. Others include Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Comerica, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Fidelity Investments, USAA and many more.

In the U.S., finance and insurance has been a slow-growth business. Since 2010, the segment added jobs at a little over half the rate of the total private sector. So why is it booming here?

DFW continues to have a cost advantage on taxes, wages, real estate and other corporate expenses, especially compared with major metros on the east and west coasts.

Housing costs are 70% lower than in San Francisco, Schwab’s current home.

The savings on food, transportation, health care and utilities range from 16% to 26% compared to San Francisco. Such advantages are particularly relevant for industries in transition.

I was unaware of the USAA expansion in the DFW area.

Graphics from the linked article:

Notes From All Over, Part 2 -- More On Natural Gas - Crude Oil Pricing Linkage -- December 10, 2019

Quesqui: the new "find" for Pemex -- from Rigzone -- some figures rounded --

• the Quesqui deposit
• 500 million bbls of 3P reserves (proven, probable, and possible)
• most important Pemex discovery since 1987
• previously, touted as the largest find in 25 years, onshore Ixachi, 1.3 billion bbls 3P reserves
• expected to reach 70,000 bopd / 300 million cfpd by end of 2020
• could increase by as much as 200 million bopd (I will believe it when I see it -- or read about it)

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Pricing: Crude Oil and Natural Gas

Pricing disconnect between natural gas and crude oil. In response to this post, a reader who knows this stuff very, very well wrote:

I do not think it is yet widely recognized just how profound - and widespread - are the effects of the divergence of Henry Hub pricing (aka US production) and benchmarks for crude (WTI, Brent, amongst many).
Focusing only upon the cost/price impacts on US LNG exports, get a load of these ...

• Algeria is cutting back on piped gas exports to Europe 
• Cyprus is mulling over an LNG terminal (FSRU to start) rather than commit to a short, 12 inch pipeline from the nearby Israeli gas field as the ~$5.50/mmbtu LNG price is cheaper than the ~$6/mmbtu price of the piped gas 
• Singapore is on track to completely end its imports of piped gas from nearby Malaysian and Indonesian fields when contracts expire in 5 years as imported LNG will be substantially cheaper 
• New, massive Siberian/China gas pipeline may not provide cheaper gas than LNG in southern regions of China due to cost of transportation 
• Turkey was importing LNG via the world's largest FSRU rather than increasing purchases of Gazprom's piped gas as the LNG was almost 2 bucks/mmbtu cheaper. 

One common thread to these developments is that historical pricing for piped gas is tied to indexed crude oil pricing. 

As the US-centric Henry Hub pricing continues to maintain a surreal level of rock bottom numbers, traditional LNG or piped gas suppliers are simply getting rocked out of their boots. These players include Australia, Qatar, Algeria, Russia ... virtually any existing or emerging country looking to export natural gas.

Note ... just as political and social factors come into play with oil revenues vis a vis domestic monetary distribution, the natural gas producers are in the same boat.

With LNG module fabrication yards in China and Italy affiliated with McDermott, Fluor, BHGE, et al, cranking out ready-to-assemble components ...

With small and mid scale operators plunging in with innovations at blinding speed ...

It is simply incontestable to state that the global order in the energy world will see upheavals in the coming years unlike anything witnessed in years gone by.

Enbridge Joins EPD -- SPOT -- Texas -- December 10, 2019

Some of this has been reported previously, but if I understand this correctly, what was once a sole EPD project, Enbridge has now been brought on. Posted elsewhere:

December 10, 2019: from Rigzone --

Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. have agreed to jointly develop and market a deepwater offshore crude oil export terminal capable of fully loading very large crude carrier (VLCC) vessels, Enbridge reported Monday, December 9, 2019.

The companies have signed a letter of intent under which they will finalize an equity participation agreement granting Enbridge an option to purchase an ownership interest in Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) if SPOT receives a deepwater port license.

Enterprise also noted the SPOT project would comprise onshore and offshore facilities including a fixed platform approximately 30 nautical miles off the Brazoria County, Texas, coast in approximately 115 feet of water. The company added that SPOT would be designed to load VLCCs at rates of approximately 85,000 barrels per hour – equating to approximately 2 million barrels per day.

Enbridge’s involvement in SPOT will help the company provide its North American light and heavy crude customers with access to the Houston-area refining market and growing global demand.

That last paragraph is why this gets a stand-alone post: this is an important development for the Bakken. 

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.

Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- Nothing About The Bakken -- All Politics-- December 10, 2019

Next one to withdraw? Tulsi Gabbard opts out of next debate even though she qualified. Tulsi Gabbard is polling at 0% in some polls; at best 2%.

Bloomberg effect: his announcement changed everything; donors had new concern; Bloomberg self-financing but donors realized they were pouring money down a rat hole (to coin a phrase) to finance those polling less than 3 percent now that a self-financing billionaire had entered the race. It was Hillary who used to suck all the oxygen out of the room; temporarily it will be Bloomberg who suffocates the rest, but likely to be temporary. Like a Nor'easter, Hillary will be back. Re-calculating. Re-calclating. Re-calculating.

Wow, wow, wow. A reader sent me this link a day or so ago, I forget exactly when (yes, I know, I could look at time time/date stamp but that would take all the fun out of it). I did not open the e-mail until moments ago. I was exhausted and just couldn't read any more. I posted the previous note about Bloomberg and Hillary, like a nor'easter would blow in again, and after posting that (and the Vermont story below), I finally opened the e-mail from a reader. The note provided a link to zerohedge:

Bannon says Hillary will run in 2020 to "save the Democrat party from Michael Bloomberg." Does anyone doubt that. 

As Bannon says, "we just don't when/how she will announce." She doesn't have the money to self-finance (even if she did, like Bernie and Pocahontas, she prefers other people's money). I don't think she has the stamina/desire to be in a full primary race. Could she do something unorthodox and somehow just run in one state, California, to give her legitimacy/gravitas when she walks on stage at the DNC to quiet a riot when the first vote produces no nominee? It's all about social media, the press, the amount of oxygen available, and if she ran a blistering campaign in one state (California) she would dominate Super Tuesday media news. The other states would not even matter. Sure, nowhere near enough delegates but it doesn't matter. If no nominee gets the nomination on the first vote, the super delegates will decide.

Interestingly, it looks like the filing deadline for California is still undetermined.

Super Tuesday: is March 3. After a blow-out win in California, she takes her roadshow to New York, and does the same thing on April 28, 2020. The NY Times is already hinting that is the strategy. Wouldn't that be a hoot: mano a mano, Hillary vs Bloomberg on their own turf. Bloomberg a fake Democrat and Hillary a fake New Yorker.

Finally: The third and final primary just to put the cherry on top of the sundae, June 2, New Jersey. And then on to the DNC convention, July 13 - 16, 2019.

"Democrat Party" or "Democratic Party": wow, I didn't know. Link here. Talk about an oxymoron, "democratic party." Think, super-delegates. LOL.

Away Luggage gets a new CEO. Wiki site here. Unlike most start-ups which seem to be software/internet based, this start-up actually had a physical product, with some clever ideas, by the way.

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Vermont

What's wrong with Vermont? Late last night I posed that question. A reader replied:

What's wrong with Vermont, you ask:

• Property tax is 1.59% - about 8th highest in the USA 

• Personal income tax tops out at 8.95 %- again, in the worst 10. 

• They still have an inheritance tax. 

• Their corporate tax rate ain't friendly, either. 

• I think their sales tax is 6% to the state with another 1% available to be levied by municipalities.  Not bad if they were not bludgeoning people in all the other categories.

Also noted:

• very high total tax burden: as reported in Legislative Joint Fiscal Office, Vermont’s per capita total state tax burden is the second highest in the USA
• high income tax rates: top marginal tax rates for both individuals and corporations are among the highest in the USA and per capita taxes from these sources are higher than the USA average
• very high property taxes: property taxes in Vermont are particularly high, with Vermont’s per capita state & local property tax burden exceeding the national average by 61%

What interests me most about Vermont making the list is that with such a small population base, it is the least able to "kick the can down the road." Look at the other states with the lowest economic outlook:The five states (sic) with the worst economic outlook:

• Hawaii
• New Jersey
• California
• Illinois
• Vermont
• New York 

Vermont is a real outlier.

With Occasional Cortex, De Blasio, Cuomo, running NYC and New York, I think we can add that state / city to Canada among those "closed for business." Two incredible missteps:

• spat with national grid over natural gas pipeline
• dissing Amazon

Saudi Arabia Budget, 2020 -- December 10, 2019

Saudi Arabia: plans for lower 2020 revenues [note: numbers rounded in some cases):

• revealed its 2020 budget, yesterday (December 9, 2019)
• will reduce annual spending by 2.6% from 2019
• 2019: record spending: $280 billion
• 2020: planned, $270 billion
• oil revenues will dip 
• 2020: $137 billion
• 2019: $161 billion
• Saudi says it has "exceptional profit in 2019" but did not elaborate
• budget deficit will widen
• 2019: 4.7%
• 2020: 6.4%
• And here it is, the best "official" breakeven price for Saudi Arabia, for 2020: $83.60/bbl to balance its budget.
• "GDP":
• 2019: 0.4%
• 2020 estimate: 2.3%

Observation: it would be interesting to know why Saudi had "record spending" in 2019; military expenses is about all I can figure, unless increased exploration costs (we've talked about this before); unknown whether "increased spending" included "whatever it takes" to get back to normal after drone attack; wait until Saudi announces austerity measures. 

Best monthly data point to follow: Saudi Arabia's foreign exchange reserves.

Next shoe to drop: NOPEC bill in the US House, White House.

Saudi budget, one man's opinion, what a doofus, unless he's talking about mere survival: based on oil price in the high $50s/bbl. Link here. Another says, $55. I assume they are talking Brent and/or OPEC basket, not WTI.

Price of oil when doofus posted the above:

• Brent: $64
• OPEC basket: $65

Going forward, link here:

• Raymond James:

Raymond James was more supportive of the market outlook. The bank sees WTI averaging $65 per barrel in 2020 and Brent averaging $70. But it sees the upward trajectory accelerating into 2021, with WTI averaging $75 and Brent averaging $80. “To underscore, all of these forecasts are still well above consensus and futures strip pricing, so we remain emphatically in the bullish camp on oil,” Raymond James said in a note on December 9.

• Goldman Sachs: 

Others are more skeptical that the deal actually throws a lifeline to U.S. shale. “This higher spot price forecast does not lead us to raise our 2020 US shale production growth forecast which remains at 600 kb/d. Poor financial performance, excess leverage and an increased focus on emissions have pushed the cost of capital of shale oil producers sharply higher, with this pressure no longer delivered by oil prices but by equity and debt markets,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note on December 6. “We therefore expect the recent shale restraint to persist even at moderately higher prices given it will take years to clean up the debt, capacity and emissions excesses.”

Whiting: Update Based On Scanning Recent Easily Accessible Information -- December 3, 2019

Disclaimer: I often make typographical and/or factual errors. If this is important to you go to the source. 

Note: in a long note like this, there will be factual and typographical errors. If this is important to you, go to the source. 

Whiting: most of us are locked out of stories regarding WLL due to paywalls. Headlines help. Observations:

• Whiting is canceling permits in the Bakken; another seventeen Whiting permits were reported canceled yesterday; unlike the first seventeen canceled permits, the newest batch of canceled permits included permits in some really good locations; canceled permits tracked here;
• a report that Whiting was in a deal to buy Abraxas was a "top story" back in mid-October, 2019;  
• almost all investment articles on Whiting have one thing in common: "high debt load"
• one fairly recent article suggested takeaway capacity was really hurting Whiting; meanwhile North Dakota regulators have not yet announced decision on DAPL expansion;
• I didn't look at many, but it was surprising, one might think, that share prices for many shale oil companies rose yesterday, including Whiting -- rose almost 8%; rose 41 cents to $5.60
• corporate presentations posted here (company's website);
• Whiting has third largest position in the Bakken; third largest producer
• 471,000 net acres
• currently running four rigs, one frac crew
• looks like it is concentrating on infill development of the Sanish
• Foreman Butte moving to full-field development
• full slide devoted to "Williston Basin infrastructure outlook improving"
• again, Sanish and Foreman Butte highlighted on this slide
• full slide: "taking action to strengthen the balance sheet"
• "continue to evaluate non-core asset sales"
• full year, 2019, guidance, high end:
• lease operating expense per BOE: $7.55
• transportation, gathering, compression per BOE: $1.05
• general and administrative expense per BOE: $2.85
• interest expense per BOE: $4.40
• on those four items: $15.85
• oil price differential to NYMEX, per bbl: $7.75
• $50 - $8 = $42 

General financial guidance:

Tracked: at this site --

• note increase in acreage position in the Bakken since 2018

What next: what next to watch for --

• update on Abraxas
• asset sale
• share price relative to price of WTI

Key: most important observation from my point of view --

• remains committed to strategic plan -- CAPEX and maintaining four rigs as planned

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