WTI - Natural Gas Spread Widens; December 5th Sanctions -- December 5, 2022

Busy, busy day: after the Bakken, most of the blogging will be spent on investing. A lot of EVs, chips, batteries.

Most important today: "Get Up" and "First Take" -- TV-talk sports, after the 54 - 17 Dallas win over the Colts. 

But that will all have to wait until 8:00 a.m. CT or thereabouts -- I meet Sophia at the bus stop and then a short bike ride before blogging.

Most curious, pre-market:

• DVN: up 1.15%
• CVX: up 0.65%
• COP: up 1.04%
• MNRL: --
• SRE: --
• ENB: --
• EPD: up slightly
• MPC: --
  
• AAPL: oscillating around the flat line
  
• TSM: up 0.87%
  
• PFE: down slightly
• Eli Lilly: --
  

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Back to the Bakken

The Far Side: link here.

WTI: $82.09.

Natural gas: $5.840.

Active rigs: 43.

Tuesday, December 6, 2022: 14 for the month, 123 for the quarter, 667 for the year.
None.

Monday, December 5, 2022: 14 for the month, 123 for the quarter, 667 for the year.
38804, conf, Hunt, King 156-90-4-35H 3,
38799, conf, CLR, Medicine Hole 12-27H,
37961, conf, Enerplus, Waffle 151-94-16A-21H,
29286, conf, Slawson, Phatkat Federal 4-18-7TFH,

Sunday, December 4, 2022: 10 for the month, 119 for the quarter, 663 for the year.
38800, conf, CLR, Medicine Hole 13-27H1,
37962, conf, Enerplus, Sausage 151-94-16B-21H,
29283, conf, Slawson, Phatkat Federal 5-18-7TFH,

Saturday, December 3, 2022: 7 for the month, 116 for the quarter, 660 for the year.
38801, conf, CLR, Medicine Hole 15-27H,
29284, conf, Slawson, Vixen Federal 5-19-30TFH,

RBN Energy: how refiners would be impacted by IPA's proposed rule on HF alkylation. 

Alkylate is an important and valuable part of the U.S. gasoline pool, prized for its high octane, low volatility and low sulfur content. There are two primary catalysts that refiners can opt to use in the production of alkylate: hydrofluoric acid, or HF, and sulfuric acid, or H₂SO_4.  Each is quite popular, with HF and sulfuric acid technologies each representing about half of domestic alkylation capacity — and with those shares varying significantly on a regional basis.

While refiners have been safely operating both types of “alky” units for many decades, HF alkylation for some time has been in the crosshairs of the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently proposed that refiners be required to undertake extensive evaluations of potentially safer alternative technologies. It’s hard to know for sure, but if EPA’s proposed rule is made final it could ultimately force many refineries to make very costly changes — into the hundreds of million dollars per unit — or maybe even shut down entirely. In today’s RBN blog, we look at alkylate, how it’s made, and the potentially profound effects of the impending regulation.