Idle Rambling On The Bakken -- Early Sunday Morning -- June 7, 2020

Later today, if I don't get distracted, I'm going to post a pretty exciting note about "water flooding" in the Bakken sent to me by a reader.

I don't have time to post it now due to family commitments. I don't want to rush it. It's a great note and I want to make sure it's not buried.

After I got the note, I replied to the reader with this not-ready-for-prime-time reply:

I am very, very cognizant of the fact that the economics of the Bakken is/are going to get really, really ugly going forward. No matter how bad things get, even to the point of the end of US shale, that doesn't change how incredible the Bakken revolution is/was.

Again, I'm using "Bakken" in the general sense, to include the entire shale / unconventional oil story, not just the "geographical" Bakken.

In the big scheme of things, I'm more concerned for the "Bakken" and the US oil industry if a new administration in 2021 changes course than I am about a prolonged and severe slump in oil prices.

That is probably the same thing I should have said in reply to the reader with the first comment at this post.

A reminder: when I put the "Bakken" in quotation marks, as in the reply above, I am talking about my "definition of the Bakken," not just the geographical Bakken.

Just as some use "Wall Street" as the metonym for the US equity market, I often use the "Bakken" as a metonym for the US shale revolution, composed of three components: geography; geo-politics; and, the science/engineering involved.

On a completely different note, and I've said this more than once. I am fascinated by the "oilman." And "oilwoman."

Why do guys and gals like Harold Hamm and Vicki Hollub keep doing the things they do? They could walk away from oil any time they wanted, retire or go into some other line of business. But something in their blood keeps oil men and women looking for that next big gusher. It's fascinating to watch.

Again, the disclaimer: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken.

Disclaimer: 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.

By the way, for all the mineral owners in North Dakota who might be concerned about the future of the Bakken, I  share that concern (but obviously for different reasons). But the Bakken has been incredibly good for many mineral owners. For many, it was a windfall, and that windfall offered them an opportunity few get, including starting their own businesses or becoming members of the investing class so that if/when the Bakken ceased to amaze they would not remain dependent on their royalty checks.

Can you imagine how a Bakken mineral owner would be doing today, if he/she put royalty money into AAPL as those monthly checks rolled in? Even a small mineral owner might be able to live off AAPL dividends by now.