From A High Of $120 Too $96, WTI Plummets; And We Did Not Even Get To Demand Destruction Or A Windfall Profits Tax -- March 15, 2022

China: has certainly learned how to play the game. Shut down Shenzehn (equivalent to shutting down Silicon Valley, Detroit, and Houston). Push China into a recession. Cool things down. Price of oil falls.

Russia-Ukraine war: it took ten years or so for the Russians to leave Afghanistan (similar to US, by the way) but Ukrainians are suggesting war will be over by May if Russian logistics unable to sustain.

EVs: they're all in trouble. Now, Tesla announces second increase in prices in less than one month. Rivian also announced a price increase recently. All those rare earth metals apparently really are rare. For any company selling anything, it's all about margins.

WTI: I guess this is what they meant by "demand destruction." It had nothing to do with the price of oil.

Breathing room: for the Biden administration.

Windfall profits tax: David Messler weighs in.

US shale: now we know why they were cautious.

US shale: for those that missed it, EIA is projecting a huge surge in production in April. If the EIA means "APRIL" production we won't see first estimates until May, and final numbers until June, 2022.

Buffett: it will be interesting if there are reports that he may have bought high?

President Obama: says he felt a tickle in this throat; tested positive for Covid. What in the world would possess someone with those symptoms to get tested -- except for some secondary gain? That was truly bizarre. My hunch: he had half a dozen new unused testing kits and was simply curious. One test? Could easily have been a false positive. Needs at least two more confirmatory tests. The big question, has he started on his ivermectin regime, available to elites and world leaders.

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Back to the Bakken

NOG: updated base dividend growth plan and announced additional shareholder returns; increases average quarterly dividend increases to 23%. Link here.

Active rigs:

$96.56	3/15/2022	03/15/2021	03/15/2020	03/15/2019	03/15/2018
Active Rigs	32	15	55	65	57

Tuesday, March 15, 2022: 22 for the month, 131 for the quarter, 131 for the year

• 38558, conf, Kraken, Maddie LW 100-15-22-1H, Ellisville, no production data.
  
• 38522, conf, Hunt, Halliday 146-93-24-36H1,Werner, producing, 17K over 28 days;
  
• 38496, conf, CLR, Whitman FIU 9-34H2, Oakdale, no production data,
  
• 38451, conf, Slawson, Rainmaker Federal 6-25-36TFH,Big Bend, no production data,
  

RBN Energy: how refined FERC policies will affect new LNG terminals, part 2. Archived.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two new statements of policy February 17 regarding the certification of new pipelines and the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts.

Together, the two updates reflect a more meticulous regulatory environment and a stricter adherence to policies that midstreamers must comply with in an effort to avoid lengthy and expensive court challenges that have become more commonplace recently. The guidelines will affect most new projects within FERC jurisdiction and, among those, some of the biggest impacts will be felt in the U.S.’s rapidly expanding LNG sector — the terminals themselves and the pipelines that deliver feedgas to them. That could be cause for concern as Russia’s war on Ukraine has exacerbated an already precarious gas situation in Europe and a global LNG supply crunch. In today’s RBN blog, we explain the impact of FERC’s latest guidance on pipeline certification and GHG policy with regard to the LNG sector.