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Sunday, June 14, 2020

Focus On Fracking Has Been Posted -- June 14, 2020

Focus on Fracking update has already been posted! Wow, that was early. Caught me by surprise.

The headline this week: US crude inventories and total commercial crude plus total products inventories both at record highs.

It will take me awhile to go through the post.

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Sophia's Hollywood Pose

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Natural Gas And Bitcoin -- An Update -- June 14, 2020

Updates

January 15, 2021: mining in Siberia. Why not in the Bakken?

December 28, 2020: China is going to need a lot of coal. 

December 9, 2020: Jamie Dimon now says Bitcoin is "real."

November 25, 2020: Radio Free Europe. 

Original Post 

Bitcoin links on the blog:

Today a reader sent me a note with a bit of a tease: natural gas, WPX, bitcoin. That's all I can post.

But that should be enough to suggest googling. If you do, you will come across this WSJ article from last year, March 29, 2019. It's behind a paywall, but there are ways to get around it.


Here is the lede:
A shipping container in a remote corner of a Canadian oil field is churning out an unlikely byproduct: bitcoin.
Inside the container, high-powered computers generating new units of the cryptocurrency run with hardly any human supervision; they just need power—lots of it.
In what seems a perfect marriage of supply and demand, that power is coming from natural gas with nowhere to go. 
Natural-gas prices have cratered over the past few years. The market is awash in the stuff, to the point where some North American producers are setting it on fire or paying people to take it away. In some parts of Texas, natural gas is now going for less than nothing for the first time on record. More companies are now looking at productive ways to use the natural gas right at the source.
The container sits next to an oil well owned by Black Pearl Resources Inc., near the town of Marwayne, Alberta (population around 600). Black Pearl is getting a good price for its crude these days. But for all the oil the site pumps, it also pulls natural gas out of the ground, which presents a problem.
Hauling it away to sell it isn’t economically viable for a location this remote, and it can’t just dump it either. Local governments in places like Alberta have limits on how much natural gas companies can burn or release in the air—“flare” or “vent” in oil field lingo. When that level is reached, producers may be forced to shut down oil wells to avoid a buildup of natural gas.
That has turned at least one traditional oilman into a bitcoin entrepreneur. Stephen Barbour, a consultant who helps lower costs for oil field companies, last year set up the 20-foot-wide container to mine bitcoin, with a power plant attached to convert natural gas into electricity. 

Later in the article:
Ryan Wartman, a production foreman for Black Pearl Resources, said that channeling about 400 cubic meters of natural gas a day to the bitcoin-mining rigs in Mr. Barbour’s container helps keep the wells operating 24 hours a day.
“It was the best option for us,” said Mr. Wartman. “We’re using it to bring ourselves below the government-regulated amount that we can vent on location and keep producing oil.”
Because bitcoin mining -- a process of solving complex equations to “make” new units of the virtual currency and earn transaction fees -- is so electricity-intensive, much of it is done in remote, chilly areas with cheap power, such as windswept parts of northwestern China. When bitcoin prices exploded in 2017, mining in North America also took off.
As the digital currency’s value has plunged over the past year, inexpensive electricity has become even more crucial for miners.
Now, more recently, from Bloomberg, March 5, 2020: this utility heats New York State -- and mines its own bitcoin:
  • Atlas Holdings LLC-owned facility starts mining crypto
  • Dresden-based natural gas plant installed 7,000 crypto miners
  • archived here; 
A power plant in New York’s Finger Lakes region has set up its own Bitcoin mining operation, using the electricity it produces to generate about $50,000 worth of the virtual currency every day.
Atlas Holding LLC, the private-equity firm that runs the operation, has installed some 7,000 crypto mining machines at the Greenidge Generation plant in recent months that can mine about 5.5 Bitcoins per day. The 65,000-square-foot facility in Dresden, New York, was built in 1937 as a coal plant and later converted to natural gas.
The machines work off so-called “behind-the-meter” power, which makes it extremely low cost, the private-equity firm said. Because powering crypto mining machines is usually so energy intensive, miners have been roaming the world seeking out cheap electricity, such as that available from hydro power plants. Many met with an unwelcome surprise, when those utilities jacked up prices. But Greenidge said it’s power costs are predictable and low -- essentially, just costs of production, which can be offset by power-related services.
The server farm consumes about 15 megawatts of the 106 megawatts of capacity that the plant produces. While in the past the plant used to only run during times of peak energy demand -- during summer or winter -- it’s now operating year round.
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Wow, It Simply Never Quits -- Alternatives To Live Sports -- June 14, 2020

First the video:

Back It Up, Carol Emerald

Pinkpop? from wiki:
The Pinkpop Festival or PINKPOP is a large, annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands.
It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (Pinksteren in Dutch, hence the name). 
If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in 1970, at Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in the city of Geleen,
Pinkpop is the oldest and longest running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world. 
Caro Emerald? from wiki:
Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981), better known by her stage name Caro Emerald, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer. 
Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with "Back It Up." 
Follow-up single "A Night Like This" topped charts in the Netherlands.
Emerald is often praised for her outstanding live performances. She predominantly performs in English.
In August 2010, [her debut album] spent its 30th week at number one in the Dutch album charts, setting an all-time record and beating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" by one week.
The album became the biggest selling album of 2010 in the Netherlands with over 350,000 copies to date. Worldwide, approximately 2 million copies have been sold to date. On 3 October 2010, Emerald was awarded the Dutch music prize "Edison Award" for Best Female Artist.
In 2013, a second studio album titled The Shocking Miss Emerald was released. The album entered at number one in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts and sold over 600.000 copies.
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The Math Page

Logarithms. The "Bob Ross" style.

Equivalencies:
  • 2x2x2x2 = 16
  • 2^4 = 16 
  • log (2) 16 = 4
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One Thing Leads To Another -- June 14, 2020

Yesterday, I mentioned I was back in my Out of Africa phase.

A reader suggested White Mischief, James Fox, 1982, which I'm now reading.

It's available on Amazon:


Warning: lyrics may not appeal to everyone -- honky-tonk -- a great bar song after midnight --

Gypsy Bitch, Devil Doll

 Recent non-Bakken posts you may have missed:
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The Classical History Page

I find it amazing (for lack of a better word) that historians are still writing about the Greco-Persian Wars. In the current issue of The Claremont Review of Books, an essay on what Joseph Epstein calls the "war for the west."

Three books are mentioned in the essay:
  • The Greco-Persian Wars, by Peter Green;
  • The Persian War in Herodotus and Other Ancient Voices, William Shephere; and, 
  • Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West, Tom Holland.
At first it can seem overwhelming, trying to keep track of all the Greek personalities, but this is the scaffolding. Know these well and you can add to the scaffolding as you go along.

Tragedians: For the grandchildren, Athens is tragedy and tragedy is Athens. There are only three tragedians you need to remember. It's hard to believe, but any Greek classical tragedies that have survived in full have come from one of these three tragedians. In chronological order:
  • Aeschylus: the "old man"-- he actually fought at Salamis when the Greeks defeated the Persians;
  • Sophocles: about 21 years old when he marched in the victory parade celebrating the victory;
  • Euripides: born in the very year the decisive and final battle was fought.
Greek historians:
  • Herodotus
    • wrote Histories 40 years after the war had ended
    • the father of history 
    • the father of ethnography
    • his writing foreshadowed modern social science
  • Thucydides
    • the first truly modern historian
    • owed much to Herodotus
    • disregarded the intervention of gods in the affairs of men and nations
The two greatest Greek poets:
  • Homer
  • Hesiod
Two Greek politician-generals:
  • Thermistocles;
  • Pericles;
Note: Alexander the Great was Macedonian.

Two philosophers:
  • Socrates
  • Plato
One scientist:
  • Aristotle
Two mathematicians:
  • Euclid
  • Archimedes
One polymath:
  • Pythagoras 
The gods: apparently everything "we" know about the Greek gods came from Homer, Hesiod (Theogeny), and the playwrights, particularly A, S, and E.

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On-Line Calculators

Of course, there are a gazillion on-line calculators.

One that seems to be one of the better ones at this link.
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CLR To Report Four Angus Federal Wells This Next Week -- June 14, 2020

The CLR Angus Federal wells are tracked here.

The wells:
  • 37055, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 12-9H,  
  • 37056, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 11-9H2,
  • 37057, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 10-9H,   
  • 37058, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 9-9H,
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CLR: King Of Brooklyn -- CLR To Report Three New Wells In Brooklyn Oil Field -- June 14, 2020

My favorite oil field is back in the news this week in the Bakken. CLR will report several new Brooklyn oil field wells this week.

Brooklyn: a small, non-descript field NE of Williston; "owned" by CLR; excellent example of how an operator systematically drilled one entire field with one rig; holding the entire field by production within a year or so; has received the most comments of any field. 

The wells:
  • 35677, conf, CLR, Boston 9-25H1, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201797238066
3-20202332952914
12-20192140
  • 35674, conf,CLR, Boise 0-24H1, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201514334322
3-20202239149975
12-20194340
  • 35676, conf, CLR, Boston 8-25H, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20203004465571
3-20202802735843
12-20194530

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The Brooklyn Oil Field

Still lots of work to be done in the Bakken. Most of these are middle Bakken wells. Most, if not all, middle Bakken wells will be matched with a first bench Three Forks well, and many with a second bench Three Forks well. It all depends on price.


Just think, this video was posted back in 2008, just about the time CLR started drilling out the Brooklyn oil field:

King of Brooklyn, Devil Doll
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Initial Production Data For Wells Coming Off The Confidential List This Next Week -- June 14, 2020

The wells:
  • 37055, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 12-9H, Elm Tree,  
  • 37056, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 11-9H2, Elm Tree,  
  • 36875, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 4H, Alger, 
  • 35958, conf, Whiting, Arndt 14-5-3XH, Sanish,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202047083117
3-20201512810540
2-20202231914486
1-20202688211897
12-201959340
  • 35676, conf, CLR, Boston 8-25H, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20203004465571
3-20202802735843
12-20194530
  • 37057, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 10-9N,  Elm Tree, 
  • 36876, conf, Equinor, Domaskin 30-31 9H, Alger, 
  • 35668, conf, Zavanna, Stranger 28-21 4H , Poe,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201477735142
3-20202479028091
2-20203500555650
1-2020304441136
12-2019188762855
  • 37058, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 9-9H, Elm Tree, 
  • 35677, conf, CLR, Boston 9-25H1, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201797238066
3-20202332952914
12-20192140
  • 35674, conf, CLR, Boise 9-24H1, Brooklyn,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201514334322
3-20202239149975
12-20194340
  • 36877, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 8TFH, Alger, 
  • 35667, conf, Zavanna, Stranger 28-21 3TFH, Poe,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-2020841712309
3-20201219821481
2-2020167339234
1-20202407318739
12-2019113731716
  • 36234, conf, Whiting, Lidseth 11-1H, Sanish,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202024712521
3-20201837415406
2-2020230510
1-2020271100
12-201936530
  • 36074, conf, BR, CCU Plymouth 44-29MBH, Corral Creek,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-202015022
  • 37214, conf, CLR, Burian 3-27H1, St Demetrius, 
  • 36878, conf, Equinor, Domaskin 40-31 4TFH, Alger, 
  • 36075, conf, BR, CCU Zephyr 14-29TFH, Corral Creek,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-2020321217
  • 36879, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 XE 1TFH, Alger, 
  • 36076, conf, BR, CCU Zephyr 14-29MBH, Corral Creek,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-2020776421
  • 37193, conf, CLR, Wiley 14-25HSL, Pershing,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
3-20204170
  • 35959, conf, Whiting, Arndt 14-5-2XH, Sanish,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20201677115836
3-20201658113505
2-20202328517021
1-20202738111672
12-2019114640
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Wells Coming Off The Confidential List This Next Week -- June 14, 2020

Monday, June 22, 2020: 54 for the month; 199 for the quarter, 426 for the year:
37055, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 12-9H,  

Sunday, June 21, 2020: 53 for the month; 198 for the quarter, 425 for the year:
37056, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 11-9H2, 
36875, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 4H, 
35958, conf, Whiting, Arndt 14-5-3XH, 
35676, conf, CLR, Boston 8-25H, 

Saturday, June 20, 2020: 49 for the month; 194 for the quarter, 421 for the year:
37057, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 10-9N, 
36876, conf, Equinor, Domaskin 30-31 9H,
35668, conf, Zavanna, Stranger 28-21 4H ,

Friday, June 19, 2020: 46 for the month; 191 for the quarter, 418 for the year:
37058, conf, CLR, Angus Federal 9-9H, 
35677, conf, CLR, Boston 9-25H1,
35674, conf, CLR, Boise 9-24H1,

Thursday, June 18, 2020: 43 for the month; 188 for the quarter, 415 for the year:
36877, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 8TFH,
35667, conf, Zavanna, Stranger 28-21 3TFH, 

Wednesday, June 17, 2020: 41 for the month; 186 for the quarter, 413 for the year:
36234, conf, Whiting, Lidseth 11-1H, 
36074, conf, BR, CCU Plymouth 44-29MBH,

Tuesday, June 16, 2020: 39 for the month; 184 for the quarter, 411 for the year:
37214, conf, CLR, Burian 3-27H1,
36878, conf, Equinor, Domaskin 40-31 4TFH, 
36075, conf, BR, CCU Zephyr 14-29TFH,

Monday, June 15, 2020: 36 for the month; 181 for the quarter, 408 for the year:
36879, conf, Equinor, Jack Cvancara 19-18 XE 1TFH, Alger,
36076, conf, BR, CCU Zephyr 14-29MBH, Corral Creek,

Sunday, June 14, 2020: 34 for the month; 179 for the quarter, 406 for the year:
None.

Saturday, June 13, 2020: 34 for the month; 179 for the quarter, 406 for the year:
37193, conf, CLR, Wiley 14-25HSL, Pershing,
35959, conf, Whiting, Arndt 14-5-2XH, Sanish,
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