Six Wells Come Off The Confidential List Today -- May 22, 2020

Bakken economy: Deja Brew Two opens in Williston. This is pretty cool: a full-service, sit-down Deja Brew in Minute Lube. I know exactly where this is. I took a car in to have its oil changed back in 2012 when I was in Williston for an extended period of time.

Bakken economy: Mimi's Kitchen to open in Sidney, MT. The store will beopen seven days a week, including Sundays, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Wuhan flu:

• Summer Nights on Main, Williston, canceled. 
• UMV Fair canceled.
• 2020 Community Sale canceled.

Good, bad, indifferent: 

The University of California will drop the SAT and ACT tests as admission requirements through 2024 and eliminate them for California residents after that, a landmark decision by the prestigious university system.

[Comment: the devil is in the details.]

Back story? If I can't explain something, I tell the granddaughters to google it or follow the money. I haven't found anything on google to explain this:

The family of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi announced Friday they have forgiven his Saudi killers, giving legal reprieve to the five Saudi government agents who'd been sentenced to death for an operation that cast a cloud of suspicion over the kingdom's crown prince.

[Comment: Saudis stone to death for a lot less.]

OPEC basket: $28.43.

From a reader overnight: Believe the front month contracts expire tomorrow (Friday, May 22, 2020).

Depression: my hunch is that journalists are poring over definitions of "economic depression." It's hard for me to say there will not be an economic depression in 2020. The tea leaves certainly suggest it. My only question: which major media outlet will "call it" first? 

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$32.00	5/22/2020	05/22/2019	05/22/2018	05/22/2017	05/22/2016
Active Rigs	14	64	64	51	25

Six wells coming off confidential list today -- Friday, May 22, 2020: 70 for the month; 120 for the quarter, 347 for the year:

• 36356, drl/drl, Slawson, Gunslinger Federal 3-12-1H, Sand Creek, t--; cum --;
• 36156, 1,018, Nine Point Energy, S Missouri 152-103-9-11-11H, Eightmile, t12/19; cum 87K 3/20;
• 35929, drl/drl, XTO, Mandal Federal 41X-29H, Haystack Butte, t--; cum --;
• 35665, SI/NC, Zavanna, Stranger 28-21 1TFH, Poe, t--; cum 71K 3/20;
• 35232, 1.041, Nine Point Energy, Helling 150-101-7-6-6H, Pronghorn, t12/19; cum 84K 3/20;
• 34257, drl/drl, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Tami 7-8-5-157N-99W TFH, Lone Tree Lake, t--; cum --;

RBN Energy: staffing refineries and petrochemical facilities in a time of social distancing.

COVID-19 has created a number of challenges across the energy value chain, including lower demand for motor gasoline and jet fuel and, subsequently, surplus crude oil. However, even with diminished demand, the facilities that produce and process these fuels have to keep operating at some level, as do petrochemical plants. Workers in the energy industry are considered essential due to the importance of having fuel available to power vehicles and manufacturing facilities, natural gas to enable continued operation of power industries, and logistical infrastructure to ensure that feedstock supply can make it to processing facilities and eventually consumers.

Given the need for round-the-clock operations, COVID-related social distancing measures have presented a unique challenge for refinery and petrochemical facilities. To maintain adequate staffing while protecting personnel from the coronavirus, these facilities have been making major adjustments. If, as we all hope, things begin moving back toward “normal” in the coming months and refinery and petchem utilization ramps up, these efforts to keep workers safe will only gain in significance. Today, we discuss staffing issues in these key industry sectors during the pandemic.