Limited Blogging This Week -- March 14, 2022

I apologize of lack of blogging today. That may continue much of this week. Spring break. Lots of family activities with granddaughters.

No New Permits; Ten Permits Renewed; Four DUCs Reported As Completed -- March 14, 2022

CVX: getting very, very active in Venezuela's oil patch. Reuters. 

Memo to self: look up Venezuela's history or production. Imagine being the US company in charge of the world's largest oil reserves. Hunter Biden will be VP of Venezuela operations if everything goes as planned. I think there was some other news today, but everything pales in comparison to this. 

Biggest loser with this announcement: Putin.

Venezuela: oil production, history:

Tesla: oh, that's right. One other bit of news. TSLA slumps; trades below $800.

US shale: huge jump in production in April, 2022, anticipated -- EIA. Link to Julianne Geiger. 

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs

$102.50	3/14/2022	03/14/2021	03/14/2020	03/14/2019	03/14/2018
Active Rigs	32	14	55	64	58

No new permits.

Ten permits renewed:

• CLR (7): seven Plano FIU / Plano permits in Williams County.
• XTO: two Frisinger permits in Williams County
• Prima Exploration: one State permit in Divide County.

Four producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 35454, 1,459, QEP, MHA 5-27-26H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 4/21; t--; cum 178K 1/22;
• 35451, 2,651, QEP, MHA 4-29-30H-150-92, Van Hook, first production, 5/21; t--; cum 284K 1/22;
• 38085, 1,996, MRO, Delores USA 21-4TFH, Bailey, no production data,
• 38357, 1,249, CLR, Dolezal FIU 8-1H1, Chimney Butte, no production,

Diesel Is Going To Be The Big Energy Story For 2022 -- March 14, 2022

Diesel: a top story in 2022.

Others are spotting the same thing. Oil is going to be a big story; gasoline a bigger story; and, diesel, the biggest story.

Link here.  

Whiting's Tarpon Federal Wells -- Production

Whiting's Tarpon Federal wells are tracked here.

Through January, 2022:

Whiting Tarpon	NDIC File	Jan 22	Dec 21	Nov 21	Oct 21	Sep 21	Aug 21
Runs	34628	3,800	6,076	7,868	8,488	11,072	17,173
BO Per Month	22360	18	74	150	152	124	96
	22361	95	69	176	275	431	468
	35193	6,792	9,061	10,964	10,592	13,348	14,855
	35772	29,117	35,268	41,724	16,491	0	0
	35771	32,604	43,155	49,026	0	0	0
	35770	14,930	50	5,812	0	0	0
	35768	27,768	25,754	31,415	20,067	0	0
	20589	433	383	409	303	330	384
	28492	426	333	1,092	1,057	1,321	1,538
	28493	818	861	890	999	1,007	806
	28495	1,903	2,063	1,172	1,292	1,770	1,912
	28494	573	755	799	813	881	858
	28496	907	1,686	2,029	1,202	2,209	2,320
	34631	6,116	7,335	9,372	10,496	11,235	17,616
	34630	4,125	6,063	7,664	7,056	10,470	12,094
	34629	5,582	7,884	8,758	9,763	13,263	19,188
	34627	7,643	9,180	10,636	12,156	13,608	17,091
	29199	0	0	0	0	0	0
	22554	0	0	0	0	0	0
	22556	1,773	0	0	0	0	0
	22555	0	0	0	0	0	0
	35773	29,946	31,846	38,945	22,832	0	0
	29200	0	0	0	0	0	0
	35769	18,349	35,220	8,267	7,971	0	0
	27413	1,835	1,350	509	0	0	0
		195,553	224,466	237,677	132,005	81,069	106,399

Another Nice Hess Alkali Well -- March 14, 2022

The well:

• 37708, conf, Hess, EN-Johnson A-155-94-2932H-6, Alkali Creek, a nice well, first production, 9/21; t--; cum 123K 1/22;

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
1-2022	20106	28159
12-2021	17478	24499
11-2021	25822	35466
10-2021	28916	27432
9-2021	30430	24453

Another reminder: these wells are paid for by the time they come off confidential list if they have been completed.

Six Wells Coming Off Confidential List -- March 14 ,2022

Be prepared for a very bumpy ride for the next two weeks. So, what's new? LOL. Release the kraken!

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$104.60	3/14/2022	03/14/2021	03/14/2020	03/14/2019	03/14/2018
Active Rigs	32	14	55	64	5

Monday, March 14, 2022: 18 for the month, 127 for the quarter, 127 for the year

• 38510, conf, Kraken, Jenna LE 4-33-28 1TFH, Burg, no production data,
• 38509, conf, Kraken, Jenna 4-33-28 3H, Burg, no production data,
  
• 37708, conf, Hess, EN-Johnson A-155-94-2932H-6, Alkali Creek, a nice well, first production, 9/21; t--; cum 123K 1/22; see initial production here.
  

Sunday, March 13, 2022: 15 for the month, 124 for the quarter, 124 for the year

• 38511, conf,  Kraken, Alamo 3-34-27, Burg, no production data,
  
• 38495, conf, CLR, Whitman FIU 8-34H, Oakdale, no production data,
  

Saturday, March 12, 2022: 13 for the month, 122 for the quarter, 122 for the year

• 38364, conf, Petro-Hunt, Boss 154-99-18C_21-1HS, Stockyard Creek, no production data,
  

RBN Energy: Cushing's running low on crude oil, how much is left in the tanks? Part 2. Archived.

The world is in desperate need of more crude oil right now and anybody with barrels is scouring every nook and cranny for any additional volume that can be brought to market. Some of that may come from increased production, but the oil patch is a long-cycle industry, just coming off one of the most severe bust periods ever, and it will take time to get all the various national oil companies, majors, and independents rowing in the same direction again. For now, part of the answer will be to drain what we can from storage — after all, a major purpose of storing crude inventories is to serve as a shock absorber for short-term market disruptions. 

To that end, the U.S. is coordinating with other nations to release strategic reserve volumes to help stymie the global impact of avoiding Russian commodities. Outside of reserves held for strategic purposes though, commercial inventories have already been dwindling as escalating global crude prices have been signaling the market to sell as much as possible. Stored volumes at Cushing — the U.S.’s largest commercial tank farm and home to the pricing benchmark WTI — have been freefalling for months, which raises the question, how much more (if any) can come out of Cushing? In today’s RBN blog, we update one of our Greatest Hits blogs to calculate how much crude oil is actually available at Cushing.

China Shuts Down Foxconn, Shenzhen -- March 14, 2022

Markets: could be a huge day for opportunity buying. I have trouble believing market will not fall significantly today on news coming out of China. Shutting down their largest economic center: Shenzhen.

Link here.

One of the best things I ever did on the blog was a create a Chinese map with US overlay to help me remember the geography of China. Shenzen (wiki entry here) is in the Guandong province just to the east of Hong Kong. See map below. I did not "re-label" Taiwan, but you can guess what it would be labeled had I done that. It really is quite amazing. Shutting down Shenzen would be like the US shutting down Silicon Valley, Detroit, and Houston.

Two things are going to happen:

• oil: perceived short-term Chinese oil demand will plummet, taking oil prices with it; and,
• AAPL: Apple's big Foxconn center is shut down. 

The question is this: is Dr Fauci providing Beijing advice on the Covid pandemic? He has not been seenin the US in weeks. Is this "legit" or is this a financial-political gambit on the part of the Chinese for other reasons?

How long will the shutdown last? The tea leaves suggest two weeks.

China

Speaking of China, I've never been able to wrap my head around the history of the Far East. China has always fascinated me but try as I might, I seem to make no headway.

Some years ago, trying to keep track of cities and regions in China, I put together a pretty nice map that has actually held up over time.

From an earlier post: 

Today's there's a headline article over at Yahoo!Finance about Nanking, China, a "second-tier" city in that country with a population of over 8 million, similar to that of NYC. The best thing I ever did with regard to geography on the blog was "fix" a picture in my mind of what China "looks like." Nanking? Where is it? If it were on the US map, it would be a suburb northwest of Charleston, SC, (Shanghai) up the Yangtze River. Maybe similar to Summerville, SC, where we lived for several years. 

Focus On Fracking — March 13, 2022

 Link here.