"Chest Cold" Update -- December 30, 2022

I'll post the rest of the graphs later, but this pretty much tells the story. Unless we get a second wave, this will be a most remarkable season.

Link here.

All "chest colds" -- seasonal flu, RSV, unspecified, and Covid-19, out-patient visits as percentage of all clinic visits:

Laboratory-confirmed seasonal flu for which we have a vaccine:

As far as Covid-19 goes, new cases reported on a daily basis two days ago, link here:

WTI: $80 At End Of 2022; Two New Permits; Seven Permits Renewed -- December 30, 2022

Active rigs: 45.

Two new permits, #39539 - 39540, inclusive:

• Operator: WPX
• Field: Heart Butte (Dunn County)
• Comments:
• WPX has permits for two more Two Shields Butte wells, SESE 8-149-92, 
• one to be sited  635 FSL and 180 FEL, and the other to be sited 606 FSL and 178 FEL

Seven permits renewed:

• CLR (4): four Sodbuster permits in Williams County;
• Enerplus: a Widgeon permit, a Scaup permit, and a Pintail permit, Dunn County; the Enerplus "Daffy Duck" pad is tracked here;
  

ERCOT: My Electricity Statement -- December 22, 2022

We only have electricity, no natural gas. This is our only monthly utility bill.

********************
Elsewhere

New Hampshire:

• set to double:

• EnergySage:

Connecticut:

• EnergySage:

*******************
New Hampshire

From the New Hampshire link above:

One of the state’s major utilities is set to double the price of electricity in August, and it’s likely other utilities will be forced to raise their prices, too. The price hikes are being driven by projected high costs of natural gas.

In a Monday filing with the Public Utilities Commission, Liberty Utilities proposed increasing the per kilowatt hour price of electricity from 11.11 cents, the rate in effect from February to July of this year, to 22.23 cents starting in July.

That means a typical household would see a 47 percent increase in its electric bill, according to consumer advocate Don Kreis. (Other charges on the bill would remain unchanged.) A household currently paying $150 per month would see their electricity increase to $220 per month.

“I think people are really going to feel this in their pocketbooks. It’s going to be a very unpleasant winter for everyone in New Hampshire,” said Kreis, adding that low prices for natural gas have lulled the state and region into complacency over the last decade.

Those low prices have evaporated, with some natural gas prices reaching $8.78 per million British thermal units in May, the highest they’ve been since 2008. Projections show that cost more than tripling to $30 per mmBtu.

Laser-Focuseed On Dividends -- December 30, 2022

Link here.

Vardah Gill: sixteen best dividend stocks of 2022.

For this list, we selected dividend stocks (regardless of yield) with the highest returns in 2022 so far.

These companies also have strong balance sheets and sound financials. The stocks are ranked according to their year-to-date returns, as of December 12, 2022.

In reverse order, #16 first:

• DVN, PSX, EOG, ADM, CF
• MRK, COP, MCK, CAH, APA,
• MRO, XOM, EQT, HES, OXY,

and #1:

• INSW -- International Seaways.

WTI Turns "Green" On Last Trading Day Of The Year -- December 30, 2022

South Korea: link here.

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Back to the Bakken

The Far Side: link here.

Active rigs: 46.

WTI: $79.19. On last trading day of the year, WTI is up 1.01%; up 79 cents.

Natural gas: $4.494.

Monday, January 2, 2023:
38531, conf, Whiting, Kannianen 43-31XH,
38198, conf, Hess, EN-Rehak A-155-94-1423H-5,

Sunday, January 1, 2023:
38955, conf, Ovintiv, Anderson Federal 152-96-9-4-6H,

Saturday, December 31, 2022:
None. There was no June 31, 2022.

Friday, December 30, 2022:
37642, conf, Slawson, Genekat Federal 5-13-12TFH, 

RBN Energy: the top ten RBN blogs of 2022 -- all about energy security. Archived.

• #10 – 6/26/22 – U.S. Refinery Shutdowns a Major Contributor to Refined Products Squeeze and High Prices
• #9 – 8/21/22 – As the U.S. Races Toward 30 Bcf/d of LNG Exports, What Could It Mean for Upstream Markets?
• #8 – 7/24/22 – Will the Propane Market Be Prepared for Winter?
• #7 – 3/31/22 – The Real-life Impacts of the Planned Crude Oil Releases from the SPR
• #6 – 2/28/22 – Unseen Costs of the Energy Transition: Minerals, Metals, and Construction Materials
• #5 – 3/6/2022 – What Do U.S. Refineries Import from Russia? And What If They Stop?
• #4 – 2/27/22 – An Update on LNG Export Projects Along Canada's West Coast
• #3 – 3/13/2022 – Cushing's Running Low on Crude Oil. How Much is Left In the Tanks?
• #2 – 2/6/2022 – Alberta's Oil Sands Production Setting Up For Another Record Year In 2022
• #1 – 5/6/2022 – What's Driving U.S. Refiners' Sky-High Crack Spreads?

Twenty Photos -- Vern Whitten -- From 2022

Link here. 

Mr Whitten would love to hear from you.

Vern Whitten Photography
www.vernwhittenphotography.com
(701) 261-7658