Sarah Palin And Svengoolie -- August 31, 2022

I'm off the net until tomorrow morning but I came back to post a reader's comment, and as long as I'm here I might as well clear two links in the queue.

I'm not following the market, and haven't been following the market since [the Fed chairman] Powell's speech and no plan to follow the market any time soon.

But I needed to check The WSJ for an article and in the process came across two articles of interest.

First, former VP-candidate Tina-Fey-lookalike Sarah Palin lost the special election to a Democrat for a GOP-held seat. This supports my hunch that those who think the GOP will easily take back the US Senate and the US House this fall may want to re-think this. 

Second, I've always thought the "A-Hed" column in The WSJ was consequential. I was quite disappointed in today's column on television personality "Svengooli." It was an entertaining article -- if one enjoys that sort of thing -- but to be found in a business newspaper of the stature of The WSJ was quite disappointing.

However, for investors there was an important data point:

Nearly one million Americans watch “Svengoolie” in prime time on Saturday nights, often giving its little-known network, MeTV, bigger ratings during that time slot than giants of the cable dial including TNT, CNN and the Paramount Network.

Comparing the Paramount Network with TNT, CNN, and MeTV speaks volumes. 

Okay, with that, I'm off the net until sometime tomorrow. I could be delayed due to errands.

SEG Williston Looking To See Six Wells In A 1280-Acre Unit In Stanley Oil Field -- August 31, 2022

From the July, 2022, hearing dockets, this is a case, not a permit:

• 29474: SEG Williston, LLC, Stanley-Bakken; a 1280-acre unit, sections 2/11-155-91, Mountrail County; six wells.

The graphics:

The wells in the graphic above:

• 23759, 1,350, Stephens Williston, LCC DBA SEG Williston, LLC, Stanley, F, t7/13; cum 247K 7/22;
• 23760, 930, Stephens Williston, LCC DBA SEG Williston, LLC, Stanley, F, t7/13; cum 229K 7/22;
• 19108, 1,200, Stephens Williston, LCC DBA SEG Williston, LLC, Stanley, F, t8/11; cum 221K 7/22;

For Investors: LNG -- Jim Cramer's Picks -- August 31, 2022

Sent to me by a reader. I'm not following the market right now. 

The companies, link here:

• LNG (Cheniere)
• Tellurian
• SRE
• ENB
• Excelerate Energy (EE)

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. Full disclaimer at tabbed link.

All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.  

US Field Production Data Posted Today -- August 31, 2022

EIA: the "914s"; the monthlies; the most accurate production data - US Field Production of Crude Oil, posted today.

Production by state, in "thousands of bbls," May, June, percent change:

• Texas: 4,966, 4,959, -0.1%
• New Mexico: 1,501, 1,531, +2.0%
• North Dakota: 1,053, 1,089, +3.4%

The dashboards, August, 2022:

• EIA pdf, Bakken: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/bakken.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Permian: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/permian.pdf
• EIA, pdf, Eagle Ford: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/eagleford.pdf

New-well oil production per rig:

• Bakken: 1,600
• Eagle Ford: 1,600
• Permian: 1,100

Legacy oil production change, 1000-bbls/day:

• Permian: 380
• Eagle Ford: 100
• Bakken: 40

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I'm Not Even Going To Ask

Just Practicing For 2035 -- California -- August 31, 2022

The grid can't handle it. Summer is practically over and the California grid is unable to take it. It's official. Link here.

California's grid operator issued a statewide Flex Alert on Wednesday, asking residents to voluntarily limit their electricity use from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in anticipation of increased energy demands with temperatures expected to soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The California Independent System Operator, which runs the energy grid, warned of possible power shortages during that time that could lead to blackouts, at the start of what is expected to be the year's worst heat wave, lasting almost a week.

Electricity use will build over the next week to top at 48 GW on Monday and Tuesday, which would be the highest demand on the state grid since 2017, according to California ISO.

California Governor Gavin Newsom also is asking residents to conserve electricity, warning that Sunday and Monday will be the most challenging days for the grid.

Three More CLR LCU Truman DUCs Reported As Completed -- August 31, 2022

From the daily activity report today, three more CLR LCU Truman DUCs reported as completed:

• 36980, 1,086, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 8-23H1, Williams County
  
• 36981, 1,338, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 7-23H, Williams County
• 36982, 818, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 6-23H1, Williams County

Two others were reported yesterday.

The CLR LCU Truman Federal wells are tracked here.

Abraxas Wells Are Starting To Be Transferred To Lime Rock -- August 31, 2022

From the daily activity report today:

Change of operator: from Abraxas to Lime Rock, about 75 wells; this acquisition is tracked at the blog here.

• the families of wells include,
• the Jore Fed
• the Jore Maddy Fed
• the Jore Yellowstone
• the Lillibridge
• the Ravin
• the Yellowstone
• The Stenehjem

"Mistakes Were Made"; WTI Slips Below $90 -- August 31, 2022

For the archives. 

Television. I gave it a chance, but it did not work out -- "The Bear" -- an FX/Hulu original;

• met with critical acclaim, this FX/Hulu original was greenlighted for a second season
• I was intrigued by the first episode, and continued to watch it for two more episodes
• it had potential; it could fill the gap until "Only Murders In The Building" returned next season
• but after three episodes, I was ready to give up; I gave it one more chance, watching the fourth episode last night
• if anything the episodes have gotten worse
• if there is a plot, I've not discovered it, certainly no murder in the restaurant
• with the exception of two, maybe three characters, the cast is not endearing; one character is incredibly awful and has not improved over time
• so, that's it
• for me, it lasted one more episode than "Ted Lasso" (an Apple original)
• from The Wall Street Journal.
  

Mistakes were made. Link here. The big question: in what context was she bringing this up again?

Sophia did just fine, but she had a huge support system: her mom, two older sisters, and I mentored her for an entire school year while she studied with her class remotely on Zoom. In fact, she did quite well. I think she would prefer a hybrid system of in-school and Zoom. 

EVs: Honda just announced an EV battery factory in partnership with LG Energy to be built somewhere in Ohio, most likely near Columbus. 

Now, Honda says that lithium-ion EVs won't reach price parity with gasoline cars. Link here to Charles Kennedy. Again, Charles Kennedy reports the big stories. Of course, anyone following the EV story knew this all along, but it's interesting that an EV manufacturer is now admitting it, just when California announces plans to ban gasoline car sales by 2035. 

The tea leaves suggest the board rooms of auto manufacturers are still having second thoughts about going all in with EVs.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $88.88. This tells me there is a lot of oil sloshing around.

Natural gas: $9.109. China is quietly re-selling its excess Russian LNG to Europe. Russia and Iran working to establish a huge natural gas "hub" to "corner the market. Putin is playing chess while the weest plays checkers. Perhaps the US doesn't need to be sending so much natural gas to Europe.

Active rigs: 46.

Four new permits, #39215 - #39218, inclusive:

• Operators: Sinclair (3); Petro-Hunt
• Fields: Lone Butte (McKenzie); Little Knife (Dunn)
• Comments:
• Sinclair has permits for three Grasslands Federal wells in NESW 13-147-98, to be sited between 1784 FSL and 1849 FSL and between 2213 FWL and 2275 FWL
• Petro-Hunt has a permit for a USA well in SENE 29-146-97; to be sited 1932 FNL and 676 FEL;

Three producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 36980, 1,086, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 8-23H1,
• 36981, 1,338, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 7-23H,
• 36982, 818, CLR, LCU Truman Federal 6-23H1,

Change of operator: from Abraxas to Lime Rock, about 75 wells; this acquisition is tracked at the blog here.

• the families of wells include,
• the Jore Fed
• the Jore Maddy Fed
• the Jore Yellowstone
• the Lillibridge
• the Ravin
• the Yellowstone
• The Stenehjem

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Speaks volumes how much clout the Biden administration and the EU have / has (my hunch: Biden doesn't care; US gasoline price coming down):

EIA weekly petroleum report, link here:

• US crude oil decreased by 3.3 million bbls;
• US crude oil now stands at 418.3 million bbls, 6% below the five-year average;
• US crude oil imports ... yawn
• US refiners operating at 92.7% of their operable capacity last week;
• distillate fuel in storage increased by 0.1 million bbls last week; remain 23% below the five-year average;
  
• jet fuel supplied was up 10.9% compared with same four-week period last year.

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The Science Page

Northernmost "city" in the world, what is its name, multiple choice:

• Sunallesnacht
• Longyearbyen
• Kaltallestime
• Freezinhere

Reminder: the name of the all-seeing, many-eyed giant of Greek mythology, link here:

• Argus Panoptes
• now, that god takes physical form as an array of 38 small telescopes in the mountains of North Carolina
• the array will monitor a slice of sky 1700 times the size of the full moon
• will be known as the Argus Array Pathfinder -- will register changes in the stars second-by-second.

Mama-mia: this makes my day.

• only once before on the blog have I mentioned the Yamnaya
• now, in the most recent issue of Science, we read about Yamnaya again
• one of four prehistoric groups that settled in the Southern Arc about 10,000 years ago 
• Southern Arc: from Greece to modern-day Turkey to Iraq
  
• the four groups spread the precursors of modern language and peopled Homer's epics

Another genetic contribution came from the east about 6500 years ago, as hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus entered the region. Then about 5000 years ago, a fourth group—nomads from the steppes north of the Black Sea, known as the Yamnaya— arrived, adding to the genetic picture but not fundamentally redrawing it. 

“The people of the Southern Arc are mostly coming from Levantine, Anatolian, and Caucasus components,” University of Harvard professor Lazaridis says. “The Yamnaya are like a layer of sauce, added after 3000 B.C.E.”

"A layer of sauce"?

Sort of like the Mexican tacos in San Antonio? I can't make this stuff up. What is it with folks in the northeast comparing Hispanics and Turks to tacos and salsa? 

I know when I was growing up in Williston, my Latino friends called me "lefsa," as in "I lefsa my books at school again."

The Sports Page -- August 31, 2022

Dr Pepper ads: best thing about a new football season. At eight seconds, priceless, or maybe at fifty-two seconds:

PGA: watch the "Golf Channel" if you want to "understand" LIV. I keep flip-flopping on this issue, but the more you know, the more you know the LIV is Saudi. And 911. And Khashoggi. and MsB.

Katie Ledecky:

• "Just Been On Fire": Michael Phelps reacts too Katie Ledecky dethroning him in the swimming world. Link here. A real gentleman.
• the four best Katie Ledecky swimming records as of 2022, link here, from August 13, 2022:

From the second link:

Few swimmers have completely stood above their peers like Katie Ledecky. 

She is perhaps the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time, holding countless records and routinely dominating competitions. 

At the Phillips 66 USA National Swimming Championships 2022, Ledecky did not perform her best in one event, but still managed to beat her opponents by nearly 20 seconds.

All her records are impressive, and they showcase just how incredible Katie Ledecky really is. However, they do not always stand the test of time, as the champion has broken her own records multiple times.

A look at four of the best swimming records that Katie Ledecky currently holds:

• 800-meter freestyle world record, 2013;
• debuted at the 2012 London Olympics
• new 800-metre freestyle world record in 2016;
• shattered the 400-meter freestyle record at the 2016 Olympics:
• Katie's stunning total medals record:
• June, 2022: her 21st career World Swimming Championship medal;
• that 21st medal broke the tie she had with another legendary swimmer, Natalie Coughlin;
• with 21 medals, Katie trails only Michael Phelps (33) and Ryan Lochte (27)
• at age 25, Katie could catch Lochte, but unlikelhy to catch Michael Phelps

Amazing: California Will Ask EV Owners To Minimize Charging On Big Driving Day -- August 31, 2022

If my health holds, I should be around to see this.

• California to ban gasoline-automobiles in thirteen years.
• California to ban charging EVs in thirteen hours.

Southern California heat wave:

• this is being reported everywhere;
• top story in California today
• link here and here but links everywhere;

OPEC: putting ducks in order to announce a million-bbl-day production cut.

• already unable to meet current production quotas
• every autumn Saudi Arabia cuts production as domestic demand for air conditioning plummets
• a million-bbl-day cut is a non-story

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Back to the Bakken

The Far Side: link here.

WTI: $90.36.

Natural gas: $8.989.

No new wells coming off confidential list until Friday and then only one.

RBN Energy: incentives, technology have carbon capture poised for global breakout.

Not long ago, many considered large-scale industrial carbon capture to be a pie-in-the-sky concept. But neither the capturing of carbon dioxide (CO2) nor permanent underground sequestration is new — naturally occurring sources of CO₂ have been used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for decades. And, with new financial incentives and a renewed sense of urgency regarding climate action, things are changing fast — so quickly, in fact, that the carbon-capture industry may be poised for exponential growth, both in the U.S. and abroad. Highlights discussed.