When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going -- XTO -- December 30, 2020

The XTO Wood wells are also tracked here. 

The four new XTO Wood permits:

• 38054, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25G, Truax, 223 FNL 1924 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38055, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25EXH, Truax, 253 FNL 1931 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38056, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25C, Truax, 370 FNL 1956 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38057, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25H, Truax, 399 FNL 1962 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;

The graphics:

The producing wells in the graphic:

• 24233, IA/1,948, XTO, Wood 21X-25A, 33-105-02868, Truax, t4/13; cum 267K 3/20; remains off line 10/20; stimuated 3/27/13; 30 stages; 2.75 million lbs proppant;
  
• 24232, IA/1,678, XTO, Wood 21X-25AXB, 33-105-02867, Truax, t4/13; cum 241K 4/20; remains off line 10/20; stimulated 3/15/13; 30 stages; 2.7 million lbs proppant;
  
• 20503, 560, XTO, Wood 21X-25B, 33-105-02148, Truax, t4/13; cum 298K 10/20; stimulated 3/21/13; 30 stages; 2.7 million lbs proppant;
  

The confidential well in that graphic:

• 37818, conf, CLR, Dallas 4-30H, 33-105-05554, Truax,

A Closer Look At A Slawson Muskrat Federal Well In Big Bend / Van Hook -- December 30, 2020

This is a great well to study to get an understanding of how operators manage their assets in the Bakken. Be sure to look at the recent production:

• 19255, 718, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 1-28-33H, 33-061-01424,Van Hook, t1/11; cum 577K 10/20; stimulated 12/31/10 - 01/07/11; 40 stages; 3.7 million lbs proppant; see full production profile here; FracFocus does not have any data for this well; it was sometime in 2011/2012 that FracFocus started posting frack data; FracFocus doesn't have frack data for wells fracked before "that date";
  

Recent production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2020	30	6780	6287	4020	4372	4126	95
BAKKEN	9-2020	30	6970	7306	4005	4331	4180	1
BAKKEN	8-2020	24	5165	3961	2373	3112	2907	84
BAKKEN	7-2020	2	24	1333	22	44	21	13
BAKKEN	6-2020	1	38	0	0	34	28	0
BAKKEN	5-2020	6	1245	0	157	664	322	312
BAKKEN	4-2020	6	1093	1818	470	712	682	0
BAKKEN	3-2020	31	5658	5834	4383	3422	2853	414
BAKKEN	2-2020	29	5840	5547	6914	3568	1707	1716
BAKKEN	1-2020	22	4099	4119	7291	2692	1779	375
BAKKEN	12-2019	7	3560	2874	320	2215	630	1172
BAKKEN	11-2019	1	4	353	0	5	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2019	23	1566	1760	668	1136	829	26
BAKKEN	9-2019	30	2031	1823	712	1473	1093	14

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going -- The Slawson Muskrat Wells -- December 30, 2020

Updates

January 23, 2022: the Slawson Muskrat Federal wells are starting to come off confidential list this next week;

September 13, 2021: production update.

The Wells

Slawson with three new Muskrat Federal / Vagabond Federal permits:

• 38075, conf-->drl, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 6-28-33TFH, Big Bend, NENE 28-151-92, 325 FNL 1130 FEL, t--; cum 156K 10/22;
  
• 38076, conf-->drl, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 7-28-33TFH, Big Bend, NENE 28-151-92, 325 FNL 1080 FEL, t--; cum 124K 10/22;
  
• 38077, conf-->drl, Slawson, Vagabond Federal 1SLH, Big Bend, NENE 28-151-92, 325 FNL 1030 FEL, t--; cum 155K 10/22;
  

Slawson with four new permits on BLM land:

• 38046, conf-->loc/drl, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 3-28-33H, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1530 FWL, NENW 28-151-92, t--; cum 232K 10/22;
  
• 38047, conf-->loc/drl, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 5-28-33TFH, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1480 FWL, NENW 28-151-92, t--; cum 185K 10/22;
  
• 38048, conf-->loc/drl, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 4-28-33TFH, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1380 FWL, NENW 28-151-92, t--; cum 116K 10/22;
  
• 38049, conf, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 8-28-33H, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1330 FWL, NENW 28-151-92, t--; cum 172K 10/22;
  

The graphic:

The other two wells in this section:

• 19255, 718, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 1-28-33H, 33-061-01424,Van Hook, t1/11; cum 577K 10/20; stimulated 12/31/10 - 01/07/11; 40 stages; 3.7 million lbs proppant; see full production profile here; cum 614K 4/21; nice jump in production; still "flowing, no pump"; offline 5/21; cum 614K 4/21; cum 660K 10/22;
  
• 20267, 737, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 2-28-33H, 33-061-01653, Van Hook, t9/11; cum 473K 10/20; stimulated 8/30/11; 40 stages; 3.98 million lbs proppant; cum 484K 4/21; offline 5/21; cum 489K 4/21; cum 515K 10/22;
  

And this section line well:

• 30177, IA/F-->A/F, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 5 SLTFH, 33-061-03430, Big Bend, first production, 12/19, t--; cum 63K 2/20; intermittent since 2/20 and off line as of 7/20; legal description: sections 28/28/32/33-151-92; no frack data; FracFocus: fracked 11/30/19 - 12/18/19; 14.4 million gallons of water (a huge frack); 92.8% water by mass; cum 121K 4/21; cum 202K 11/21; cum 298K 10/22;
  

Pardon The Interruption --December 30, 2020

Wow, what a great night. TCM: The Birds, followed by Psycho and that followed by Cape Fear. Wow, wow, wow. Is this the first time I've watched all three from start to finish?

• Norman Bates.
• Holden Caulfield.
• Jay Gatsby.

Best news: apparently it's a full trading day tomorrow. The last day of the year. Should be fun to watch. 

Scrooge: Mitch McConnell. Good, bad, or indifferent, a lot of folks are going to be thrilled when Biden is sworn in and for them, it will be the cherry on top if the Dems sweep Georgia. [Despite my cynicism, I actually think McConnell knows what he is doing.]

ExxonMobil on the cusp. In the same boat as Saudi Aramco:

• unexpected demand hit;
• the dividend issue

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going -- December 30, 2020

I've been thinking about "this" for the past year but I am unable to articulate it, so I cannot post my thoughts, and generally, when I get too far in front of my headlights, I get a fair amount of pushback from anonymous experts.

I have a thin skin. I don't like the pushback, so I generally try to stay "within my headlights." 

We're currently in "Bakken 4.0." It's very possible we move to Bakken 5.0 if the following four "things" converge as expected:

• the Biden administration/environmentalists significantly impact the "US shale revolution" (which I think they will);
• the relative stability in the Mideast seen in the past four years changes for the worse (which I think it will); 
• global demand for oil increases more quickly than anticipated (not sure about this); and,
• price of oil trends higher (WTI trends toward $60) (not sure about this).
  

This post looks at the new BR permits as perhaps the post we will come back to a year from now to demonstrate how things evolved in the Bakken if, in fact, we move to Bakken 5.0.

Two dots to connect. First, the new BR "Renegade" and "Chuckwagon permits. See these two posts:

• the Renegade wells; I've never followed the Chuckwagon wells so for now, will have to link the Renegade wells;
  
• the new Renegade / Chuckwagon permits.

Then look at this old Chuckwagon well:

• 20528, 2,892, BR, Chuckwagon 21-15MBH, 33-053-03510; Sand Creek, t12/11; cum 213K 10/20; recent production (see full production profile at this post):

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2020	26	13747	14132	18996	34495	0	34495
BAKKEN	9-2020	27	16402	16213	24009	37361	0	37361
BAKKEN	8-2020	23	11701	11494	26238	30070	3724	26346
BAKKEN	7-2020	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	6-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2020	2	0	0	5227	313	0	313
BAKKEN	3-2020	1	87	87	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2019	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2019	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2019	6	128	488	131	470	0	470
BAKKEN	9-2019	30	563	416	563	2511	0	2511
BAKKEN	8-2019	31	758	982	754	2855	2395	460

From the file report:

• sundry form, approx start date: Ocober 17, 2019: BR respectfully requested to re-stimulate this well; a plug and perf stimulation followed by a coil tubing cleanout;
• the original frack: stimulation, 10/3/11; 20 stages; 2.3 million lbs proppant;

FracFocus:

• first frack, 10/2/11 - 10/2/11 (one day): 1.5 million gallons of water; 83.3% water by mass;
• second frack, 3/24/20 - 4/1/20 (one week): 8.3 million gallons of water; 87.3% water by mass;

Notes From All Over -- The Dollar Edition -- December 30, 2020

Earlier this year, back in May, to be specific, there was a lot of concern / interest in the Canadian dollar as it plunged towards 70 cents American. See this link. Earlier in December, this month, the Canadian dollar started to fall again, but then recovered. It's general trend remains up. See this link. Over the past five years, the Canadian dollar vs the US dollar has been fairly steady but over the ten-year period, its weakness has been profound.

 For the US dollar, "90" has seemed to be the floor and dropping below "90" will be a topic of conversation on CNBC. Today, the dollar dropped below "90," apparently settling at about 89.5. Link here. 

One can argue that the recent rise in the price of WTI is simply tied to the weakness of the dollar. 

The ten-year chart may be somewhat reassuring but I'm not sure.

MRO's Millie Pad In Bailey Oil Field -- The 2M-P-R-2T Pad

Locator: 10010MROMILLIE.

Updates

October 13, 2023: production update; wells have just begin production;

Original Post

The wells:

• 38040, loc, MRO, TR USA 24-7H, Bailey, 612 FNL 490 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38041, loc, MRO, Terrel USA 24-7TFH, Bailey, 581 FNL 456 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38042, loc, MRO, Reems USA 14-7H, Bailey, 550 FNL 439 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38043, loc, MRO, Pavlish USA 11-18TFH, Bailey, 519 FNL 414F FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38044, loc, MRO, Millie USA 21-18H, Bailey, 488 FNL 389 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38045, loc, MRO, Magdalena USA 21-18TFH, Bailey, 241 FNL 1261 FEL, lot 1 18-146-94;

The graphics:

 The two producing wells:

• 16807, 305, MRO, George Tuhy 11-18H, Bailey, t2/08; cum 177K 10/20;
  
• 16666, 502, MRO, Bob Tuhy 44-19H, Bailey, t11/08; cum 465K 10/20; a re-frac; stimulated/tested 3/2/15, 30 stages; 2.9 million lbs proppant; originally an open-hole frack, 2/11/08, 500K lbs sand;

EVs

Updates

December 27, 2022: update.

October 19, 2022: BMW -

• $1.7 billion; EVs at their South Carolina plant;

February 2, 2022, GM guidance:

• will spend $35 billion on EVs and autonomous vehicles;
• will build third EV truck factory;
• will build fourth battery factory.

January 24, 2022, link here:

• market cap: Lucid now has a market cap greater than Rivian;
• why Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla all crashed today;

December 12, 2021: top five EV manufacturers, Investor's Business Daily:

• Top five for investors:
• Tesla
• GM
• F
• BYD
• Xpeng
• Big names with neither strong track records of earnings growth nor market outperformance:
• Fisker (FSR)
• Canoo (GOEV)
• Faraday Future (FFIE)
• Lordstown (RIDE),
• Xos (XOS
• Bringing in revenue, America:
• Lucid (LCID)
• Rivian (RIVN)
• Unprofitable but bringing in revenue, Chinese:
• Nio (NIO)
• Xpen (XPEV)
• Li Auto (Li)
• Supercar:
• first all-electric supercar, 2025: Ferrari (RACE)
• Charging stations:
• ChargePoint (CHPT)
• EVgo (EVGO)
• Blink Charging (BLNK)
• Wallbox (WBX)
• Powertrains for big-rig:
• Hyliion (HYLN) -- as well as hydrogen
• Battery packs for commercial EV fleets:
• Romeo Power (RMO)
• Major breakthrough in solid-state lithium metal batteries:
• QuantumScape (QS)
• Battery enclosures for GM's Hummer, due in late 2021;
• Magna (MGA): also makes e-drive gearboxes for Nio and Xpeng; will also make the Fisker Ocean SUV, due out late 2022

March 12, 2021:

• TSLA down slightly; trading at $700;
• RIDE (Lordstown) plunged 16% today;

Commentaries, Editorials

• Reality sucks, January 24, 2021.
  
• January 2, 2021.

****************************
By Company

BMW:

• South Carolina, $1.7 billion, EVs.

Tesla:

• BofA just set a new price target for TSLA -- a "street" high of $900/share. Link here. Announced / posted January 11, 2021.
  

Ford:

• first Mustang Mach-E delivered to Dallas, TX; link here; see this at Schwa Nation; a Mustang in name only -- Dan Neil, The WSJ, January 1, 2021; update here;

Chrysler: 

• FiatChrysler and PSA (French: Peugeot, Citroen, etc) to merge, link here; 
• purpose: jump start EVs

Apple:

• likely to sign partner agreement with Hyundai, March, 2021, to begin production, 2024;
  
• Magna Steyr, January 6, 2021.

Lucid: 

• looks to go public, January 11, 2021.
  

Tata, Indian-based:

• 53% of its retail sales for 4Q20 were EVs; lifting CY20 EVs to 43% of total sales;

Charging stations:

• McKinsey: how to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure. 

California

• executive order seeking to ban sales of new ICE cars from 2035; $1.5 billion incentive package to spur EV development; January 7, 2021;

Lithium shortage 

• long-lasting bull market in commodities, GS; January 19, 2021
  

EV infrastructure:

• January 29, 2021: a reader asked about investing opportunities in US EV infrastructure. Easy-peasy:
• each charging staging needs computer chips and sensors: #1 in such stuff -- TSMC and AAPL.
• does electricity still move from charging station to vehicle in a rubber-covered tube of copper? Or does electricity move by some other method? Here's the answer: Aluminum has cost and weight advantages over copper and is the preferred material for electricity transmission and distribution uses today. Due to aluminum's superior conductivity-to-weight ratio compared with copper, the metal is now used for wiring in residences, buildings, aircraft and appliances
• China may build the components, but it's going to be local contractors putting in the charging stations.
• Here are the top 20 companies that make charging stations: https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2019/05/01/top-20-electric-vehicle-charging-station-companies/22138/

Eighteen New Permits -- December 30, 2020

Mark Perry, Carpe Diem: animated chart of the day -- world's top ten billionaires, 2000 to 2020.

****************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$48.30	12/30/2020	12/30/2019	12/30/2018	12/30/2017	12/30/2016
Active Rigs	13	55	66	49	39

Eighteen new permits, #38040 - #38057, inclusive, between December 18, 2020 and December 30, 2020 (I was traveling during this period and did not get caught up until today) :

• Operators:
• MRO: 6 permits in Bailey oil field; a 2M-P-R-2T pad;
  
• Slawson: 4 permits in Big Bend; a Muskrat Federal pad;
  
• BR: 4 permits in Sand Creek; a Renegade/Chuckwagon pad;
  
• XTO: 4 permits in Truax; a Wood pad;
  
• The permits:
• 38040, loc, MRO, TR USA 24-7H, Bailey, 612 FNL 490 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38041, loc, MRO, Terrel USA 24-7TFH, Bailey, 581 FNL 456 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38042, loc, MRO, Reems USA 14-7H, Bailey, 550 FNL 439 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38043, loc, MRO, Pavlish USA 11-18TFH, Bailey, 519 FNL 414 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38044, loc, MRO, Millie USA 21-18H, Bailey, 488 FNL 389 FWL, Lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38045, loc, MRO, Magdalena USA 21-18TFH, Bailey, 241 FNL 1261 FEL, lot 1 18-146-94;
• 38046, conf, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 3-28-33H, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1530 FWL, NENW 28-151-92,
• 38047, conf, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 5-28-33TFH, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1480 FWL, NENW 28-151-92,
• 38048, conf, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 4-28-33TFH, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1380 FWL, NENW 28-151-92,
• 38049, conf, Slawson, Muskrat Federal 8-28-33H, Big Bend, 300 FNL 1330 FWL, NENW 28-151-92,
• 38050, conf, BR, Renegade 14-10TFH, Sand Creek, 290 FSL 541 FWL, SWSW 10-153-97;
• 38051, conf, BR, Chuckwagon 11-15TFH, Sand Creek, 290 FSL 586 FWL, SWSW 10-153-97;
• 38052, conf, BR, Chuckwagon 11-15MBH, Sand Creek, 290 FSL 631 FWL, SWSW 10-153-97;
• 38053, conf, BR, Renegade 14-10MBH, Sand Creek, 290 FSL 676 FWL, SWSW 10-153-97;
• 38054, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25G, Truax, 223 FNL 1924 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38055, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25EXH, Truax, 253 FNL 1931 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38056, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25C, Truax, 370 FNL 1956 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;
• 38057, conf,  XTO, Wood 21X-25H, Truax, 399 FNL 1962 FWL, NENW 25-154-98;

Three permits renewed:

• Petro-Hunt (2): two Lovdahl permits in Mountrail County;
• BR: a Manchester permit in Dunn County;

The BR Renegade wells are tracked here. 

Notes From All Over -- Mid-Afternoon Edition -- December 30, 2020

AAPL: this is really, really cool. AAPL hit its "buy point" a couple of days ago, but then it moved back. What's going on? Investors are selling a bit of AAPL for various reasons:

• professional managers: want to lock in their profits; make 2020 look as good as it can; will be back to buy AAPL after the New Year:
• mom-and-pop retail: paying off credit card bills; Christmas shopping bills; they only have to sell a few shares but in the aggregate more selling than buying;
• this is why the Santa Claus rally extends into the first two trading days after the New Year
  

Investors should love this:

American firepower: must drive them (the "bad guys") nuts.

China flu watch -- North Dakota:

********************************
The Movie Page

My wife knows everything about the movies. I know nothing about the movies, at least in the big scheme of things. With TCM, I am gradually catching up.

Hitchcock's The Birds is on TCM tonight. I don't know if I've ever watched the whole movie; the whole premise seemed ridiculous. But here I am, watching the big screen movie on the little screen. 

How could I miss this? Suzanne Pleshette.

Those in my generation were in our tweens when The Birds was released. On the other hand, my generation grew up with Suzanne Pleshette in the Bob Newhart Show. But here she is, in The Birds. In 1963, she was twenty-six years old so I assume she was twenty-four to twenty-five years old when she tried out for the part and when she played the part. 

As gorgeous and as wonderful Pleshette was in the Bob Newhart Show I was stunned by how Elizabeth-Taylor-esque Pleshette appeared standing in the doorway early in the movie. 

Via Wiki I see Suzanne Pleshette died in 2008 at the age of seventy, of lung cancer. In The Birds she is seen smoking in her scenes. Some irony, there, I suppose. In fact, Tippi Hedron is also seen smoking in her scenes. Pretty sad.

Seventy years old. My wife and I are fortunate to have made it to the same age in good health. If you have it, never take your good health for granted. It's a wonderful gift.

Chariots On Fire -- December 30, 2020

 

Weekly EIA Report -- December 30, 2020

Updates

Later, 1:48 p.m. CT: 

Original Post

Two stories developing:

• distillate fuel inventories relative to five-year average;
• jet fuel delivered trending toward the mean;

Link here.

• US crude oil supplies decreased by a remarkable 6.1 million bbls from the previous week;
• US crude oil in storage now at 493.5 million bbls, about 11% above the already-fat-five-year average;
• US refiners operating at 79.4% operable capacity;
• the US imported 5.3 million bbls per day last week, down by 238,000 bopd fro the previous week;
• imports over the past four weeks about 14.4% less than same period last week;
• distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.1 million bbls last week and are about 6% above the already-fat-five-year average for this time of year;
• jet fue supplied was down 31.8% compared with same four-week period last year;

A quick look at the numbers suggests the big story is distillate fuel inventories. I did this quickly and there may be errors but this is my spreadsheet:

Distillate Fuel Inventories
Week	Date of Report	Change in Millions	Relative to 5-Yr Avg
Week 1	August 26, 2020	1.40	24.0%
Week 2	September 2, 2020	-1.70	23.0%
Week 3	September 10, 2020	-1.70	20.0%
Week 4	September 16, 2020	3.50	22.0%
Week 5	September 23, 2020	-3.40	21.0%
Week 6	September 30, 2020	-3.20	21.0%
Week 7	October 7, 2020	-1.00	23.0%
Week 8	October 15, 2020	-7.20	19.0%
Week 9	October 21, 2020	-3.80	19.0%
Week 10	October 28, 2020	-4.50	17.0%
Week 11	November 4, 2020	-1.60	18.0%
Week 12	November 12, 2020	-5.40	15.0%
Week 13	November 18, 2020	-5.20	11.0%
Week 14	November 25, 2020	-1.40	8.0%
Week 15	December 2, 2020	3.20	8.0%
Week 16	December 9, 2020	5.20	11.0%
Week 17	December 16, 2020	0.20	11.0%
Week 18	December 23, 2020	-2.30	10.0%
Week 19	December 30, 2020	3.10	6.0%

Note how down the change is "relative to the five-year average. Again, if I have this wrong, "focus on fracking" will sort it out Sunday night. 

Gasoline demand, link here:

Santa Claus Rally -- Day 5 -- December 30, 2020

Re-locations: from Forbes just a couple of weeks ago. Tech fleeing California; banks fleeing NYC. 

The flight out of New York has been in the works before the pandemic. Wall Street executives previously relocated thousands of jobs to states outside of New York, in an effort to cut costs. 

Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, UBS, Citigroup, Alliance Bernstein and an array of other financial institutions have established and aggressively staffed hubs in Florida, North Carolina, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Nashville and other less expensive locations compared to New York.

We will get a better feeling for the extent of these re-locations when we start to see stories late next year coming out of NY state and NYC about declines in tax receipts, both corporate and individual. You can bet that many NYC workers when allowed to work from "home" are moving "home" -- that is, to states with less onerous taxes. And frankly, less expensive to live in general. 

Speaking of which, I still have financial attachments to banks in North Dakota, one in Grand Forks and one in Williston. The individual with whom I work at the Williston bank is now working from "home." I always assumed Williston was her home. Wrong. She continues to work for the bank in Williston, ND, but she is now back "home" in Idaho. I find that amazing, and I also find that incredibly progressive of the bank to allow her to do that. 

This seems a good time to post this video again. I just noticed: this was released in 1969 which I argue is the most impressive year for music ever.

A Wanderin' Star, Lee Marvin

Slawson Will Report One DUC Today -- December 30, 2020

Amazon: is tracked here. From a reader, this link, "Amazon is actually the American worker's champion. Link here. 

It's been a terrible year for the American worker, with a notable bright spot courtesy of one of the tech firms in the crosshairs of regulators and lawmakers.

If someone had said early in 2020, "A company is going to hire hundreds of thousands of non-college-educated workers during the pandemic at well above the minimum wage," you'd think there'd be huzzahs all around.

That's what the online retailer Amazon has done, but it still gets brickbats for how it pays and treats its workers. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the other day that Amazon jobs are a "scam."

If so, a swath of the US workforce is falling for the grift. Since July, the online retailer has hired 350,000 workers and now employs 1.2 million people globally.

This is a historic hiring binge. According to The New York Times, "the closest comparisons are the hiring that entire industries carried out in wartime, such as shipbuilding during the early years of World War II."

On top of this, the company provides work for roughly half a million truck drivers.

[Comment: and a surge in Class 8 truck manufacturing. Previously reported. In fact, one begins to wonder what the US economy would be like if it were not for Amazon.]

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. 

Schwab: the move is official January 1, 2021. Link here. By the way, long before this move, Schwab operations was located in El Paso, TX. This new headquarters in Denton County is pretty impressive, literally just a few miles down the road from where we live. Can't wait to take a tour. LOL.

Re-locations: from California to Texas, tracked here. 

******************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$48.42	12/30/2020	12/30/2019	12/30/2018	12/30/2017	12/30/2016
Active Rigs	13	55	66	49	39

One well coming off confidential list -- 

Wednesday, December 30, 2020:

• 36251, loc/NC, Slawson, Osprey Federal 2-26-29H, Big Bend, no production data,

RBN Energy: Asian supply shortage, spot cargoes lead to record US LNG exports. 

Talk about whiplash! 

Not that long ago, the global LNG market was reeling from the effects of the pandemic: stunted demand, severe oversupply, brimming storage, and record low prices, all of which led to a squeeze on offtaker margins and mass cancellations of U.S. cargoes. 

Within a matter of months, however, the market has done a 180. Global supply has tightened significantly as cargoes can’t get delivered fast enough, and international LNG prices are near two-year highs. 

U.S. LNG exports and domestic feedgas demand are at record highs in December, for the second straight month. That’s not to say U.S. LNG producers and the domestic gas market are out of the woods. 

Cancellations are rearing their heads again — not because the demand isn’t there, but because of logistical constraints and a severe vessel shortage, which are injecting more uncertainty into the market. Today, we provide an update on domestic LNG exports and the immediate factors driving them.