Another Cryptocurrency Data Center In North Dakota? ISO NE -- Friday Night -- April 22, 2022

North Dakota -- Cryptocurrency -- Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary

• Link here to The Williston Herald. 

Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank Fame is interested in placing a $3 billion bitcoin mining operation in North Dakota, according to a media release from the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

“North Dakota has exactly what we need to build sustainable data centers,” said O’Leary, a well-known entrepreneur and a judge on TV’s Shark Tank. “In fact, I know that North Dakota is a great place to do business from my investment in PRx Performance in Fargo, which is one of the most successful companies featured on Shark Tank.”

O’Leary was joined in the visit by other representatives of the cyrptocurrency company Bitzero, including the company’s CEO, Akbar Shamji. They met with Gov. Doug Burgum, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, Commerce representatives, Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley and other state officials.

The company anticipates having an established location set up beginning within the next three to four months.

ISO NE: Link here.

• Friday night, 7:20 p.m. ET
• demand: low; 12,502 MW
• pricing: 6th decile, $110
• marginal fuel: hydro, wind
• mix:
• natural gas: 49%
• nuclear: 19%
• hydro: 19%
• renewables: 13%

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How Mother Cows Recognize Their Calves

It's calving season here in north Texas. Actually, I think it was calving season several weeks ago, but now that the weather has improved, ranchers are letting their cattle and their calves out on the range.

Almost daily Sophia and I pass a few fields where the cattle are out and about.

The other day I pointed out to Sophia that even though the calves wander away from their moms to play with each other, at the end of the day the mothers locate their calves when they head back to the barn.

I told Sophia that I really did not know how mother cows recognize their own calves ... it was a pretty open-ended statement, not really meant to go anywhere. 

Immediately Sophia told me how mother cows recognize their own calves. The conversation, and none of this is made up.

Sophia: "You know when cattle get sold, they have a tag in their ear."

Me: "Yes.

"Well, they put that tag on when they are born. That way the mother cow knows which calf is hers."

"Oh?"

"Yes, when they go back to the barn, the mother cows just look for the calf with the correct number on the calf's tag and they know which calf is hers."

"Okay. That explains it. I did not know."

Sophia will be eight years old this summer. I think she is going to be a veterinarian specializing in cognitive abilities of large domesticated animals.

Week 16: April 17, 2022 -- April 23 , 2022

Top video of the week;

• The presidential air-handshake.

Top story of the week:

• Joe Biden is still president.
• Biden blinked: opens federal land to drilling (and, fracking, OMG).
  
• US equity market implodes.
• Netflix plunges. And, here.
  
• Putin's War in its eighth week.
  
• US exports record amount of crude oil and refined oil products. And, here.
  
• Natural gas soaring.
  
• This is where it ends; the mask mandate ended.
  
• Haynesville: 2021 -- natural gas production record.
  

Top international non-energy story:

Top international energy story:

• Russian sanctions. And, here.
  
• Schlumberger making hay. 
• Saudi crude oil exports up a bit.
  

Top national non-energy story:

Top national energy story:

• SPR release: how big was it?
• E15 will make "no" impact.
  

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

• Kevin O'Leary visits North Dakota; another cryptocurrency venture?

Top North Dakota energy story:

• North Dakota light sweet pricing.

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:

• Quick connects.

Energy chaser, Renée Jean:

• Link here.

Operators:

• XTO reports completion of two huge DUCs.

Operations:

• Enerplus winter fur pad.

Wells:

• Enerplus Hudson: halo effect; trending toward 500K;
• Enerplus Leviathan pad updated.

Fracking:

• Why aren't they fracking in the Bakken?

Natural gas:

• Gas-to-oil ratio increasing in the Bakken.

Pipelines:

• Bridger Pipeline to bridge the Keystone XL gap.

Bakken economy:

Commentary;

Biden's Climate-Friendly Military -- Anas Alhajji -- April 22, 2022

I quit following Anas Alhajji over on twitter; most of his tweets were in Arabic. It's unfortunate because he usually had good information. Someone re-tweeted this tweet from Anas:

Slight Jump In Production In A Neighboring XTo Well To Two Completed DUCs -- April 22, 2022

It looks like this well might have had a slight jump in production (halo effect) when the two DUCs below were completed. My hunch: the increased production won't last long. The well:

• 29576, 1,184, XTO, Satter 31X-1H, Siverston, t12/15; cum 187K 2/22; recent productiona;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	28	4049	3472	4866	8623	8534	0
BAKKEN	1-2022	9	1141	1297	1318	1664	1643	0
BAKKEN	12-2021	20	2879	3113	3473	5455	5400	0
BAKKEN	11-2021	19	2751	2484	3449	4069	4012	0
BAKKEN	10-2021	13	1746	1501	2683	2641	2584	0
BAKKEN	9-2021	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	8-2021	0	0	166	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2021	17	830	886	829	2659	1948	679
BAKKEN	6-2021	30	1064	1189	1254	2632	2607	0

Two producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 35047, 2,511, XTO, Johnson Trust 21X-6EXH-N, Siverston, cum 157K in about 3.5 months;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	19	15093	15438	10317	56662	56465	0
BAKKEN	1-2022	31	32833	33307	21242	101786	101292	174
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	48538	48389	27863	121534	121207	0
BAKKEN	11-2021	29	59918	59089	36179	134008	133723	0
BAKKEN	10-2021	0	0	14	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2021	2	182	0	4144	966	0	966

• 35044, 2,629, XTO, Johnson GTrust 21X-6AXD, Siverston, cum 194K in about four months;
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	20	18443	18599	9972	52334	52128	0
BAKKEN	1-2022	22	21381	21989	10815	66969	65411	1340
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	34707	34621	16089	84412	81340	2747
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	58598	58587	25062	143681	138428	4936
BAKKEN	10-2021	26	60387	60364	29909	130702	130189	244
BAKKEN	9-2021	3	1027	0	3256	2554	0	2554

Blizzard Warning For The Weekend; XTO Reports Two Huge DUCs; CLR And Lime Rock Report Eight New Permits; Neset Consulting Has a Permit For A Wildcat In McKenzie County; Seven Permits Renewed By Enerplus -- April 22, 2022

Weather: Williston is the bull's eye for the next spring winter storm.  Blizzard warning:

• 4:00 a.m. CT, Saturday, to 7:00 p.m. Sunday
• this is Winter Storm Greta 2.0 

Morgan Stanley: calling for $130 oil 2Q22.

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Back to the Bakken

Weather: Williston is the bull's eye for the next spring winter storm.  Blizzard warning:

• 4:00 a.m. CT, Saturday, to 7:00 p.m. Sunday
• this is Winter Storm Greta 2.0 

NOG: to report 1Q22 earnings after market closes, Thursday, May 5, 2022.

Active rigs:

$102.10	4/22/2022	04/22/2021	04/22/2020	04/22/2019	04/22/2018
Active Rigs	37	16	29	62	59

Nine new permits, #38890 - #38898, inclusive:

• Operators: CLR (5); Lime Rock Resources (3), Neset Consulting Service
• Fields: Jim Creek, (Dunn County); Stanley (Mountrail County); and, wildcat, McKenzie County
• Comments:
• CLR has permits for five Bonney wells, 
• to be sited in SWSW and SESE section 3-145-96; 
• three to be sited between 489 FSL and between 353 FEL and 443 FEL; 
• two be sited between 313 FSL and 358 FSL and 1140 FWL
• Lime Rock Resources has permits for three Hanson B wells to be sited in NENE 18-155-97;
• to be sited between 717 FNL and between 205 FEL and 325 FEL;
• Neset Consulting has a permit for a wildcat, Halite 1, to be sited in SESE 30-152-100, McKenzie County; 
• to be sited 1110 FSL and 331 FEL;

Seven oil and gas permits renewed:

• Enerplus: a Quartet, an Opera, a Rhythm, a Hatch, a Paprika, a Chimayo, amd a Diablo, all in Dunn County;

Two producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 35047, 2,511, XTO, Johnson Trust 21X-6EXH-N, Siverston, cum 157K in about 3.5 months;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	19	15093	15438	10317	56662	56465	0
BAKKEN	1-2022	31	32833	33307	21242	101786	101292	174
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	48538	48389	27863	121534	121207	0
BAKKEN	11-2021	29	59918	59089	36179	134008	133723	0
BAKKEN	10-2021	0	0	14	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2021	2	182	0	4144	966	0	966

• 35044, 2,629, XTO, Johnson GTrust 21X-6AXD, Siverston, cum 194K in about four months;
  

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	2-2022	20	18443	18599	9972	52334	52128	0
BAKKEN	1-2022	22	21381	21989	10815	66969	65411	1340
BAKKEN	12-2021	31	34707	34621	16089	84412	81340	2747
BAKKEN	11-2021	30	58598	58587	25062	143681	138428	4936
BAKKEN	10-2021	26	60387	60364	29909	130702	130189	244
BAKKEN	9-2021	3	1027	0	3256	2554	0	2554

Just To Clarify: This Appeared In The WSJ, Not The Onion Or Babylon Bee -- April 22, 2022

Link to The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON—The nation’s biggest oil industry trade group has drafted a proposal urging Congress to adopt a carbon tax, which would put a surcharge on gasoline and other fossil fuels to discourage greenhouse-gas emissions.

The draft proposal was approved by the American Petroleum Institute’s climate committee last month.  

A carbon tax would raise gasoline prices and other energy costs for consumers. 

Some API members want to delay action on the proposal amid near-record prices at the pump, contending it could alienate not only voters but Republican lawmakers friendly to the oil industry ahead of midterm elections.

The API proposal calls for assessing gasoline wholesalers, power plants and others a tax starting at $35 to $50 a ton for carbon dioxide generated by the fossil fuel they sell or use, with annual adjustments for inflation and other factors.

Some Democrats who once supported a carbon tax now oppose it, on grounds that the costs are passed on to consumers, including many who can’t afford it. The API proposal suggests rebating some of the revenue collected by the carbon tax to households and to invest the rest of the money in new technology.

The draft proposal says a carbon tax is “the most impactful and transparent way to achieve meaningful progress on the dual goals of reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions while simultaneously ensuring continued economic growth.”

Data point:

• one gallon of gasoline, non-ethanol, produces about 19 pounds of CO2 -- let's call it 20 pounds.
• currently a gallon of gasoline runs about $4.00 / gallon
• ($50 / ton CO2) (ton CO2/2,000 lbs)(20 lbs / 1 gallon) = (50*20) / 2000 = 50 cents a gallon.
• okay.

So, the conversion is easy: every $10 / ton carbon dioxide = 10 cents / gallon of gasoline. 

This is nothing more than raising federal excise tax which hasn't been raised in years by 10 cents / gallon. Big deal. 

The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, was last raised October 1, 1983, and is not indexed to inflation. 

Feel free to fact-check the data points.

TSMC --> 2NM --> Hitting On All Cylnders -- April 22, 2022

I did not post the story or the SeekingAlpha story suggesting TSM was dead. LOL. Everybody saw that as a "crazy" article. 

So, now, after that crazy article, that "TSM was dead," here's the update. Link here.

Apple could adopt the 2nm process for its iPhone and Mac chips as early as 2025 as the company's main chip supplier, TSMC, has set in motion a plan to produce that process in the early parts of that year.

All of Apple's latest chips feature the 5nm process, including the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 series and the entire M1 Apple silicon line. TSMC will begin mass production of 3nm chips later this year with 2nm following in 2025 with Apple and Intel being among the first to use the newer technology.

TSMC has set a timetable to move its 2nm GAA process to production in 2025 while commercializing its 3nm FInFET process with improved yield rates in the second half of 2022, with Apple and Intel among the first clients to adopt both nodes, further consolidating its dominance in the advanced foundry sector, according to industry sources.

A report from last year claimed that the next iPad Pro, expected to be announced later this year, will feature a 3nm process. The current ‌iPad Pro‌ features the ‌M1‌ chip and the 2022 version is expected to include Apple's all-new "M2" chip. The 3nm process technology features performance improvements of up to 15% while being at least 25% less battery-hungry, according to TSMC.

As a reminder, INTC was having problems with 10nm chips and has now outsourced their work to TSMC. 

Just saying.

*************************************
TILD

Dominique You wiki entry. 

Why haven't I seen the movie?

***********************
Duolingo

Sophia and I love Duolingo.

We're taking Spanish together. I will never be fluent, but it is amazing how much I've learned in less than two years. Now, I can read the comments in YouTube. LOL.

MPC -- Buyback Heavy, Dividend Light -- Michael Fitzsimmons -- April 22, 2022

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Link here.

• Marathon Petroleum, the largest refiner in the United States, will certainly be a beneficiary of the current macro environment.
• The relatively low price of domestic natural gas is a competitive advantage as compared to foreign refiners - especially those in Europe.
• Sanctions on Russian heavy crude will also likely lead to a boost in global diesel prices, another tailwind for MPC.
• However, for the ordinary shareholder, MPC will be spending much more on share buybacks (at high prices) as compared to dividends directly into their pockets.

The merger of Marathon Petroleum and Endeavor in 2018 created the largest US refiner with facilities on the Gulf Coast, the Mid-Continent, and the West Coast. 

Such a broad and geographically diverse footprint enables MPC to optimize feedstock and export refined products to the global market. 

Given the relatively low cost of domestic natural gas as compared to much of the rest of the world (and especially Europe), those exports are at a competitive advantage. Meantime, sanctions on Russian oil exports are pushing up the price of diesel in many parts of the world - another tailwind for MPC. However, despite the relatively bullish macro-environment, it would appear that MPC will continue to greatly over-emphasize share buybacks, as compared to dividends directly into the pockets of its ordinary shareholders.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Inflation Watch -- April 22, 2022

Tracked here, of course.

April 22, 2022: Target --

• out of eggs; a few cartons left, mostly those with a broken egg or two, but essentially out of eggs;
• silver lining:
• with smaller packages, increased prices, I'm eating less, losing more (weight)
• since I bicycle whenever I grocery shop, I can now carry more items home, because each is smaller in size;

Three meals a day, now cut back to twice a day: breakfast (toast, peanut butter, and coffee) and lunch. But no more "formal" dinners. Will have a salad for dinner but that's it. Not sure how long this craziness will last, but .... whatever. 

Bakken DUCs Update -- At A Record Low? April 22, 2022

From a reader:

	Bakken
	Drilled	Completed	DUC
Dec-13	--	--	570
Jan-14	178	143	605
Feb-14	210	158	657
Mar-14	224	218	663
Apr-14	217	207	673
May-14	226	208	691
Jun-14	236	225	702
Jul-14	250	243	709
Aug-14	226	207	728
Sep-14	256	232	752
Oct-14	186	243	695
Nov-14	209	202	702
Dec-14	224	194	732
Jan-17	62	52	781
Feb-17	51	58	774
Mar-17	78	71	781
Apr-17	78	104	755
May-17	94	82	767
Jun-17	76	105	738
Jul-17	95	103	730
Aug-17	99	110	719
Sep-17	98	97	720
Oct-17	104	110	714
Nov-17	93	86	721
Dec-17	77	65	733
Jan-18	107	72	768
Feb-18	74	74	768
Mar-18	95	90	773
Apr-18	109	110	772
May-18	124	131	765
Jun-18	108	118	755
Jul-18	134	155	734
Aug-18	108	138	704
Sep-18	108	122	690
Oct-18	120	118	692
Nov-18	110	99	703
Dec-18	108	70	741
Jan-19	120	71	790
Feb-19	108	56	842
Mar-19	111	110	843
Apr-19	118	112	849
May-19	127	127	849
Jun-19	118	149	818
Jul-19	122	122	818
Aug-19	122	144	796
Sep-19	110	88	818
Oct-19	116	108	826
Nov-19	96	88	834
Dec-19	94	86	842
Jan-20	99	98	843
Feb-20	94	100	837
Mar-20	94	108	823
Apr-20	69	33	859
May-20	33	14	878
Jun-20	18	11	885
Jul-20	18	22	881
Aug-20	19	27	873
Sep-20	18	51	840
Oct-20	19	41	818
Nov-20	20	31	807
Dec-20	20	50	777
Jan-21	20	41	756
Feb-21	19	24	751
Mar-21	25	45	731
Apr-21	27	47	711
May-21	29	68	672
Jun-21	31	42	661
Jul-21	32	62	631
Aug-21	39	70	600
Sep-21	41	80	561
Oct-21	42	82	521
Nov-21	45	78	488
Dec-21	50	75	463
Jan-22	51	75	439
Feb-22	62	75	426
Mar-22	65	76	415