Amazing! Already Friday; One Well Coming Off Confidential List; Oil Continues To Melt Up -- March 18, 2022

SPR: others do, but I don't. I don't buy into the seriousness of the depletion of the SPR. But, for the record: 

Incredibly serious: the other day I mentioned that world leaders were not taking phone calls from Joe Biden.  

Now this: US SecState flies to Mideast to speak with counterparts. Saudi Foreign Ministry official: no meeting has been scheduled with US Sec State Blinken. It will probably happen but Saudis will let Blinken cool his heels for a few days, giving him a chance to get over jet lag. 

Why US shale is cautious: lousy piece by Robert Rapier over at oilprice.com. I would not have bothered to link this except for this paragraph:

Thus, we have oil production that can’t bounce back quickly because some has been shut in, and new production that can’t proceed as quickly due to manpower and material shortages (e.g., fracking sand). It’s not simply that oil companies are sitting on permits. They are working through them. The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas has risen by 60% over the past year. But it can take years for a permit to translate into oil production (if the location even yields oil).

Absolutely not true for the Bakken,

• where there is "never" a dry hole; and,
• from permit to production, six months

Update on XOM and the Bakken: no news and maybe won't even happen. Link to Zacks.
I don't think XOM can find a single buyer for its Bakken package.

Did y'all see this yesterday? DVN at the top. 

One of the best blog posts I ever did was on Devon, last August 21, 2021. Readers must like it also; it's the number one hit when searching for Devon on the blog. I don't get many things right, but I right on with this one. I did not buy Devon at the time -- or at least I don't recall buying Devon -- but since then have built a nice position, simply through serendipity. 

Teslas waiting in line to get re-charged: link here. We've been talking about this for years on the blog, but this is a new wrinkle. 

When a bank of Tesla charging stations are filled, the charging process can take twice as long -- simply too much electricity demand for supply available. Folks in Louisiana, along I-10, had an hour wait or longer to re-charge. But when they get home they will rave to their neighbors how great their trip was. 

Jim Cramer: do you remember the recent story in which Jim Cramer said he would never tough "oil" again. 

Never mind. His eleven top picksas compiled by this producer: the top four -- Pioneer Natural Resources, Coterra Energy, Devon Energy, and Halliburton. Two were banks/financial: #10 and #11; Wells Fargo and American Express. One was a semiconductor, #8, NXP Semiconductors. In another Jim Cramer list, which I did not keep/link, he mentions 15 stocks to stay away from. Two of them Rivian and ATT. ATT was at the top of his list to avoid.

Oil:

• WTI: up 1.4%; up $1.42; trading at $104.40, pre-market.
• Brent: up 2.26%; up $2.41; trading at $109.10, pre-market.
• expect to see/hear more signs of panic coming out of Washington (DC)

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$104.40	3/18/2022	03/18/2021	03/18/2020	03/18/2019	03/18/2018
Active Rigs	35	16	55	65	58

Friday, March 18, 2022: 31 for the month, 140 for the quarter, 140 for the year

• 38450, conf, CLR, Jack 9-9HSL,

RBN Energy: carbon-capture projects hold promise, but hurdles remain, part 6. I suppose some day I will with I had archived this, but I just can't get excited about any of this. I'll let others follow it if they want, but not me. except for headline stories and significant stories coming out of North Dakota.

When U.S. lawmakers introduced the 45Q tax credit in 2008, they were planting a seed they hoped would one day sprout into a flourishing carbon-capture industry. As the years wore on and the number of successful projects remained small, they added a little fertilizer in 2018, not only enhancing the value of the credits but easing some of the limitations in the earlier legislation. It’s now 2022 and, with climate concerns and the energy transition at top of mind, Washington is again looking at ways to make the tax credit more effective and spur new growth in carbon-capture projects. In today’s RBN blog, we look at how economic and technological challenges have so far limited the success of carbon-capture initiatives.