Three Wells Coming Off The Confidential List -- August 25, 2020

Hurricane update:

• SunSentinel here;
• USA Today here:

OPEC basket, link here: $45.19.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$43.39	8/25/2020	08/25/2019	08/25/2018	08/25/2017	08/25/2016
Active Rigs	11	64	62	55	31

Three wells coming off the confidential list -- Tuesday, August 25, 2020:

• 28152, drl/NC, Hess, BW-Spring Creek-149-99-1201H-5, Cherry Creek, no production data,
  
• 35559, SI/A, Oasis, Bobby 5502 14-2 6B, Squires, 14K over 19 days extrapolates to 22K over 30 days;
  
• 35558, SI/A, Oasis,  Bobby 5502 14-2 7B, Squires, 12K over 17 days extrapolates to 21K over 30 days;
  

RBN Energy: US LNG as swing supply amid shifting global market balance.

Not long ago, the economics for U.S. LNG exports were practically a no-brainer. Despite the longer voyage times and the resulting higher shipping costs from Gulf Coast and East Coast ports to Europe and Asia — by far the biggest LNG consuming regions — LNG priced at the U.S.’s Henry Hub gas benchmark presented a competitive alternative to other global LNG supply, much of which is indexed to oil prices, which were higher then. But earlier this year, as oil prices collapsed, COVID-19 lockdowns decimated worldwide gas demand, and international gas prices plummeted, the decision to lift U.S. cargoes has become much more nuanced, and the commercial agreements to support the development of new liquefaction capacity are much harder — if not impossible — to come by.

In the first few years since the U.S. began to export LNG in earnest in 2016, U.S. LNG producers and offtakers enjoyed a sort of honeymoon period. The first wave of U.S. export projects was well-subscribed, with over 90% of the capacity under long-term contract. The economics made sense. Abundant and still-growing gas supplies, particularly from the Marcellus/Utica and Permian basins, kept Henry Hub range-bound and relatively low compared with global LNG prices that were indexed to higher oil prices.

Additionally, growing gas demand in Asia and a tightening balance in Europe kept destination prices at significant premiums, providing attractive “arbs” (the difference between U.S. and export destination prices) and netbacks (the delivered price less the variable costs for moving a cargo) for U.S. offtakers. As additional liquefaction capacity came online in relatively rapid succession in 2016-19, utilization rates of each new capacity addition ran high, and exports grew steadily in lockstep with capacity, save for temporary reductions due to maintenance.

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The Literature Page

Word of the day: cursus.

Multiple meanings (at least five). I was most interested in cursus as a sequence of prayers. And that led me to the "Liturgy of the Hours."