Saturday, October 16, 2021

Still #2 -- October 16, 2021

North Dakota my have dropped from #2 to #3 in crude oil production, but North Dakota holds the #2 position for worst drivers in the US. Link here. Original report at this link. #1? Iowa.

#3: Virginia
#4: California
#5: Alaska

And so it goes. 

Texas ranks #19 on the list of 25 states with best drivers.

Fourth Consecutive Month US Export Crude Oil And Petroleum Products Set Record -- October 16, 2021

Monthly comparisons (compared September with September, August with August, etc., if this makes sense):

Link here

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T-Mobile / Sprint
 

Wow! For my old iPhone I have procrastinated for a year (?) about replacing my old Sprint SIM card with a new T-Mobile SIM card. My phone was working perfectly and I pretty much live by the adage, "don't fix what isn't broken." But I finally replaced it today. Took about sixty seconds. Now that I know how to do it, I could probably change a SIM card in about thirty seconds. Be that as it may.

But this is amazing. My wife has Verizon and a new phone. I asked her if, after getting her new phone and updated Verizon account, was her phone working faster? She said yes. Well, it's amazing, but my T-Mobile / Apple iPhone SE seems to be operating at lightning speed compared to its speed before the switch. Absolutely amazing. 
I was curious what "social media" had to say about this. From reviews.org:

There’s really no competition when it comes to LTE data speeds between Sprint and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is like Michael Jordan and the ’90s Chicago Bulls, and Sprint is like those ’90s Utah Jazz teams. In other words, T-Mobile always wins with faster speeds and more reliable coverage.

Of course, all of that is subject to change now that the two companies have merged together. It’s likely that Sprint’s data speeds will catch up with T-Mobile’s offerings, but that isn’t clear right now. For now, it’s safe to say that T-Mobile offers faster data speeds than Sprint.

I'm on wi-fi in the house, not LTE, and the new SIM card experience still suggests lightning speed. Maybe just my imagination. LOL.

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Poll

Results of poll: has WTI hit its high for the year, $82 - WTI?

  • Yes: 13%
  • No: 87%

New poll at sidebar: which billionaire wins the space race?

  • Jeff Bezos
  • Elon Musk
  • that other guy

How Elon Musk Walloped Jeff Bezos In The Billionaire Space Race -- Daily Beast -- October 16, 2021

Link here. Key words tagged: Bezos, Musk, billionarie, space, walloped. 

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Say What?

Week 41: October 10, 2021 -- October 16, 2021

Top story of the week:

The other top story of the week:

Top international non-energy story:

  • Bitcoin cracks $61,000.

Top international energy story:

Top national non-energy story:

Top national energy story:

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

Top North Dakota energy story:

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:

Operators:

Operations:


Wells:

Flaring:

Fracking:

  • Resident Biden asks frackers for help. No proposals from the administration.

Pipelines:

  • Enbridge's Line 3 back on line.

Bakken economy:

Commentary:

Miscellaneous:

Potpourri -- Saturday Morning -- October 16, 2021

2021 MLB playoffs: link here 

Even on Saturday, mid-morning: New Englanders are paying $60 / MWh. The rate should be "negative" or at least trending toward zero if the renewable story was working. Link here

But, holy mackerel: AOC's island went yellow. Link here. This is Saturday mid-morning! Rates should be trending toward $20, one could argue trending toward zero. At $50 it's outrageous, but at $70 on Long Island, it's inexplicable. Duollingo has not yet taught me the Spanish work for "outrageous" or "inexplicable," though I think the latter and Greta both come from the same root word. 

And no EV penetration.

Bitcoin: traded over $61,000 in overnight trading. 

CNP: not sure how I failed to post this. CNP raised its dividend from eighteen cents to seventeen cents. Record date: November 18, 2021; payable, December 9, 2021. 

CNP cut its dividend from 29 cents to 15 cents back in May, 2020, but since then has been announcing fairly frequent increases. Also, back in February, 2021, CNP exchanged its 53.7 percent ownership in Enable Midstream for 5.6% interest in Energy Transfer (ET) and $5 million in cash. 
This press release said it was an all-equity transaction: Energy Transfer will acquire Enable in an all-equity transaction valued at approximately $7.2 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Enable common unitholders will receive 0.8595 ET common units for each Enable common unit.

Crude oil: assuming no "funny business" from the EIA adjustment next week, some expect a four million to six million bbl draw. Link here

Gasoline demand: I don't think I bothered to post the graph this week but for the record, gasoline demand crept up slightly week/week.

This WSJ writer is being played: did anyone see any proposals from the Biden administration following his "overture"? Link here to the WSJ.

Thank you, Bill Gates: the malaria vaccine. Link here to the WSJ. But is it really a vaccine?

Literature: women writers, contemporary, as in "living." Random link for a reason

PowerLine's week in pictures: link here.

Oksol's rule: without any special action (no lockdowns, no vaccinations), pandemics run their course in two years; with special action (global lockdowns; mandatory vaccinations), pandemics run their course in twenty-five months.

If The Supply Chain Issues Are So Bad .... October 16, 2021

Good morning, roughnecks. In case you missed it: MOAR drilling.