President Biden Blinked -- April 15, 2022

Link here to The WSJ.

Royalties:

• from 12.5% to 18.75%
• very, very reasonable; that's what mom-and-pop mineral owners in the Bakken expect (18.75%)

Area to be "freed up" for permits:

• 144,000 acres 
• an 80% reduction from the footprint of land that had been under evaluation for leasing
  

Comments:

• the three more recent Biden announcements in an attempt to lower gasoline prices at the pump:
• historic, unprecedented, record-breaking release of the SPR: to date, no effect on crude oil prices;
• E15 mandate for refiners; 2% of all retail outlets offer E15; most are in the midwest (fly-over country); and where available, most consumers do not want;
• backtracking: allowing drilling on federal land:
• of the three, the third, politically, is perhaps the most remarkable of all his announcements
• the area involved is so small it will make no difference, none whatsoever
• however, this was a huge blow to his ever-decreasing constituency;
• this was his campaign promise: no drilling on federal land
• this suggests his team is really, really in a panic over price of gasoline determining outcome of the midterm elections later this year
• the administration has run out of arrows in the quiver to affect gasoline prices
  

Week 15: April 10, 2022 -- April 16, 2022

Top story of the week:

• Joe Biden is still president.
  
• Ukraine sinks Russia's flagship battleship, the Moskva ("Moscow") -- truly legendary;
  
• Putin's War entering its sixth week.
• President Biden backtracks: will now allow drilling on federal land. And, here.
  
• Winter Storm Greta wallops North Dakota: three-day blizzard shutting down everything. Snow totals here. And, here. And, here. Historic blizzard.
  

Top international non-energy story:

• Tea leaves suggest Russian economy will implode in the next week or so.
• Much of China still under Covid lock down.
  

Top international energy story:

• Price of oil pretty much back where it was prior to the announcement that the US would release historic amount of oil.

Top national non-energy story:

• A Texan, Scottie Scheffler, wins The Masters in Augusta, Georgia;

Top national energy story:

• Natural gas hits $7; inventories could drop below five-year minimum.
• US petroleum / products exports hit an all-time record.
• Plummeting distillate inventories.
• Most astonishing number this week.
• Haynesville natural gas production hits all-time high.
• US gasoline demand slumps.
  

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

• The blizzard.

Top North Dakota energy story:

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:

• Quick connects.

Operators:

• Bakken's RimRock oil and gas up for sale.

Operations:

Wells:

• An XTO Pelton well maintained incredible production over three years.
• Oasis Cliff wells in Willow Creek: nice surprise.

Fracking:

Natural gas:

Pipelines:

Bakken economy: 

Commentary:

• In the Bakken, "PNC" does not mean "forever."

Miscellaneous:

• Family photo of the year.

No Daily Activity Report -- NDIC Remains Snowed-In -- April 15, 2022

Official snowfall records for 24 hours as of 9:00 a.m. Friday, April 15, 2022, link here:

This Is A Bigger Story Diplomatically, Strategically Than Militarily -- Apriil 15, 2022

This tweet suggests to me reports that Russia's economy is about to crater / implode are very accurate. 

Russia does not have the logistics -- food, uniforms, long guns / hand guns, nor ammunition to support such a large mobilization.

In addition, these will be the worst-trained soldiers in the world. This won't happen overnight; this will take at least six months to play out. 

I find it interesting that the tweet has no source, and the mainstream media is not yet reporting this story. Story planted by Ukraine?

It will be interesting to hear what Peter Zeihen has to say about this newest development. 

Back story:

• declaration of war: what? why?
• wiki entry here.

One might also want to look up up what it means if US "finds" evidence of genocide. 

How Bored Am I? And This Is Only The First Six Hours Of A Three-Day Weekend -- April 15, 2022

How bored am I? 

I'm reading IRS instructions just for the "fun" of it. LOL. That's how bored I am.

One of the themes of the blog is the incredible amount of money in the United States, in general, and then, specifically, for some individuals .

Break. Break. You have read that a lot of billionaires do not pay any Federal taxes. I think I have discovered the reason. Read on. 

I know that the US Congress will pass laws with language that specifically pertains to one individual or one corporation but by law the the law cannot name the specific individual or corporation, so they write a law that refers, for example, to any individual who owes more than $3 million in taxes, who lives in an under-populated county in a small midwestern state, and whose last name starts with "R" and ends with "N."

I doubt the IRS posts rules that pertain to only one individual in the entire United States. I assume that any rule the IRS posts is because there are are more than a handful of taxpayers that are targeted by the rule. 

I am beyond flabbergasted that the IRS has to post this rule:

The IRS is unable to accept checks of $100 million or more. Are you serious? Did you know that?

There are so many story lines there. 

I doubt the IRS posted a whole paragraph directed at one individual which means that there at least two folks who have estimated quarterly payments of $100 million or more. 

So, three things.

First, that corroborates my "theory" that there's a lot of money in the US.

Second, it explains why there is no billionaire tax. The IRS would have trouble "handling" quarterly estimated payments.

Third, this proves just how bored I am. Reading IRS instructions and blogging about them. LOL.

Twenty Inches Of White Global Warming In The Bakken -- Winter Storm Greta -- April 15, 2022

Greta: the northern plains blizzard the week before Easter, 2022, link here. It appears this story was updated, Friday, April 15, 2022, at approximately 9:00 a.m. meaning there is yet a bit of snow totals to yet to updated for this storm. 

The storm that started in the Pacific Northwest rolled over the Rockies and blasted into the Northern Plains early Tuesday, April 12, 2022.  

Bismarck got 10 inches of snow on Tuesday alone, shattering the city's April 12 record of 3 inches set in 1991, and the city narrowly missed another record on Wednesday.

The storm also left a trail of snowfall records from the Pacific Northwest to Montana, according to AccuWeather. Billings, Montana, on Tuesday had its snowiest April day in 67 years.

Bismarck as of early Thursday had received a storm total of 17.5 inches of snow -- coincidentally the exact same amount as during the devastating April 1997 blizzard. A bit more snow fell throughout the day Thursday, but less than an inch of accumulation was expected in southern North Dakota, with 2-3 more inches in the north, according to the National Weather Service. 

Fargo, which had escaped the blizzard, was expected to get an inch or two of snow.

Other storm totals as of Thursday afternoon included 17 inches in Williston, 18 in Watford City, 18.4 in Dickinson, 22 in Glen Ullin and McClusky, 22.5 in New Salem, 24 in Richardton and Hazen, 26 in Dunn Center, 26.5 in Hebron and 36 in Minot.

From another report (https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/north-dakota-historic-blizzard-horses-snow-ice), apparently these horses survived. A reader pointed out that the "barn" was, in fact, a covered, 3-wall shed. 

The Sports Page -- April 15, 2022

What's up with no commercials when one streams live sports events? Answer here. This seems like low-hanging fruit for operators like EPSN+. 

Jason Robertson: I know nothing about the NHL. 

I watch it occasionally but not often. Last night while watching an incredibly good game between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, I was struck by Jason Robertson. He did not appear to be the typical white, eastern European, northern American or Canadian player. He certainly did not have a last name I would associate with the NHL. I thought he was "part" Japanese. Wow, what a backstory. The wiki entry is here; worth a read. 

In the game last night, Jason Robertson scored both goals for Dallas. 

NASCAR this weekend: link here. Bristol Motor Speedway.

• looks like no junior varsity this weekend;
• truck series Saturday night, FS1;
• varsity, cup series, Sunday early evening, Fox;

NBA tonight, two games:

• Atlanta Hawks vs Cleveland Cavaliers (LeBron James will be watching)
• NOLA Pelicans vs LA Clippers

Good Friday -- Most Sites I Follow Will Be Closed Today — Oasis To Report Huge Well -- April 15, 2022

Active rigs:

$107.00	4/15/2022	04/15/2021	04/15/2020	04/15/2019	04/15/2018
Active Rigs	0	17	35	64	61

Friday, April 15, 2022: 28 for the month, 28 for the quarter, 187 for one year

• 38535, conf, Hunt, Halliiday 145-93-15-22H 3, Lake Ilo, no production data,
• 34222, conf, Oasis, Cliff 5300 43-35 4B, Willow Creek, producing

RBN Energy: energy transition slams into energy reality slams into war in Europe. 

If this sounds familiar: In observance of today’s holiday, we are revisiting a recently published blog discussing our upcoming School of Energy.  If you didn’t read it then, this is your opportunity to see what you missed! 

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Initial Production

The well:

• 34222, conf, Oasis, Cliff 5300 43-35 4B, Willow Creek, initial production:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
2-2022	27404	31677
1-2022	33882	31272
12-2021	41656	35003
11-2021	32682	34431
10-2021	19525	21265