Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Four New Permits; Seven Permits Renewed; Two Permits Canceled; Sixteen DUCs Reported as Completed -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44672B.

Active rigs: 34 (amazing).

WTI: $72.67.

Natural gas: $2.367.

Four new permits, #39900 - #39903, inclusive:

  • Operator: Liberty Resources
  • Field: Temple (Williams)
  • Comments:
    • Liberty Resources has permits for one Elroy E well and three Alvin E wells, SWSE 7-158-95; 
      • to be sited 380 FSL and between 1722 FEL and 1832 FEL

Seven permits renewed:

  • CLR (4): four Harms Federal permits in Elm Tree, McKenzie County;
  • BR (3): three Patton permits in Bailey, Dunn County

Two permits canceled:

  • MRO: #31959, Erbe permit, Dunn County;
  • Koda Resources: #39435, Stout, Divide County;

Sixteen producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

  • XTO (5): four FBIR Stephen and one FBIR Bird, none particularly remarkable;
  • CLR (5): three Medicine Hole; one Dennis FIU and one Flint Chips FIU;
  • Grayson Mill (4): three ONeill and one Dave Arnon; all very, very nice wells;
  • WPX (2): two Skunk Creek wells; one at 263 bopd; the other at 650 bopd; disappointing (?);

Photos Of The Week -- May 17. 2023

Locator: 44671FAMARCH. 

Following her performance in her second Jiu-Jitsu tournament, in which she won a gold medal, Sophia earned her fourth stripe on her white belt this week. The next milestone: a grey belt. 

The photos are very candid, and I was lucky to get these, because there is no pre-announcement and the "process" happens very, very quickly.



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Close Friend: Captain America

Or in this case, Captain Arizona:


77 years old.

Recent cancer diagnosis.

Surgical removal followed by several weeks of radiation treatment.

Continued to bike through much of that ordeal, is now cancer-free, and biking upwards of 30 miles daily. 

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Happy Mother's Day

The card that Sophia made for her mother.

Investing -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44670INV.

It took me a long time to figure out what Warren Buffett meant when he was said to have said, 

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run it is a weighing machine.”

But it certainly makes sense now.

For the past week, the market has drifted lower on talk from the GOP Speaker of the House that a "US default" was on the table. 

Today, the Dow surges when news media reports that both the President and the GOP Speaker of the House are telegraphing that the debt ceiling will be raised and there will be no default.

Whew. 

For me personally, as a long term investor, anxiety over a default has been wonderful.

Going back to Warren Buffett, I've been able to add to positions at very nice prices during all this talk.

With a rolling 30-year horizon it hardly matters whether I pay $35 / share for XYX, Inc, or $30/share, but it just feels good when I'm able to buy shares of great companies at discounted prices. 

I don't time the market; I simply buy every two weeks, twice a month. I may vary a little bit on what I buy based on the market but not by much, and certainly that will make no difference thirty years from now.

For example, some weeks ago I said I would no longer add any more energy to my portfolio, but when I see shares of great energy companies being sold at discount, I am likely to sell shares in other energy companies to take advantage of companies being sold at a discount. My overall energy allotment in the portfolio may not have changed, but the mix of energy companies may have changed. 

For at least twenty years, I wished I was part owner of the MMP pipeline network. Now I am, and, will likely have more exposure when I buy in June.

But "new" money is no longer going to energy. I am simply way too overweight in energy. It's as simple as that. 

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.

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

Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.

NVDA: up 91% in six months; NVDA is an AI play, specifically ChatGPT:

My hunch: within a year, Chrome or Google or Microsoft will market a device that will look a lot like a laptop computer or a tablet, that does two things: generates ChatGPT reports, and prints them wirelessly to a HPQ printer. 

The ChatGPT device will sell for less than $250 and the printer for less than $75, and bundled, the two will be sold at discount for $299. The Chinese will get there first, and American software / hardware companies will race to be second. 

I think a tablet, about 7" by 5" makes more sense than a laptop device. Every teacher in American will have two devices on his/her desk: a computer of some sort and a ChatGPT device.

And, going a step further/farther: incorporate the software / hardware in an EV and call it CarChatGPT.

"Siri: I'm driving into San Antonio today. Give me a 300-word summary -- bullet format -- of what I need to know."

Wow, there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do. LOL.

Speaking of which, TSM has had a great few days. Check out the one day, five-day and six-month action. TSM is an Apple, Inc.,  play.

Folks might recall these stories from the other day:

Locator: 44655AAPL.

Link here.

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Apple > Russell 2000

Link here.

Locator: 44658SEMIS. 

Semis are tracked here.

Link here.

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I Know A Guy That Knows A Guy That Knows A Guy

Gilding the lily.

I'm no apologist for Warren Buffett but I'm a bit disappointed in the "title of this article" suggesting that Warren Buffett was hooked.

Close reading of the article suggests that Warren Buffett himself was never involved, and that those involved were executives of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and who noticed something was fishy before the deal closed. The fact that the author does not say the deal closed, suggests to me, in fact, Berkshire Hathaway wholly-owned subsidiary executives never closed on the deal. 

More importantly, the Obama administration -- the Obama White House -- was definitely snagged, at least based on my reading of the article.

The article is more about the alleged crook and how the Ponzi scheme worked than about any major financial issue. The money lost -- and we're taking dozens of very big corporations -- amounted to "about" $1 billion.

In comparison:

  • Bernie Madoff: $19 billion
  • R. Allen Stanford: $7 billion
  • Solyndra: $535 million federal loan guarantee; bankruptcy two years later.

For me: a great yarn but hardly worth suggesting Warren Buffett was hooked. And if he was, a small, very small percent of $1 billion vs a market cap of $720 billion for Berkshire Hathaway.

CA Bullet Train -- Update -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44669CA.

Some reminders, to put the Bullet Train into perspective:

  • California annual budget: $300 billion
  • California is fiscally broke:
    • last year: a $100-billion surplus
    • this year, May, 2023, revision: a $35-billion deficit for current fiscal / calendar year
  • a state review board / agency has just recommended "slave reparations"
    • cost: $700 billion

Now, the bullet train.

The project has spent $9.8 billion so far, according to Brian Kelly, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

The CA bullet train is tracked here.

CNBC provided an update today:


A reader sent me that link today. My not-ready-for-prime-time reply:

Nice update.

One of my favorite stories. 

I don't know if you noticed, but I completely flip-flopped on this one (posted earlier on the blog). 

"California" needs to maximize efforts to get this done -- no matter what it costs, they need to do it. It's sort of like a movie: we've seen the trailer (the previews) and we've seen a lot of "behind-the-scenes" production and we've seen some of the early filming but we're now ready to see whole film.

I fault the California GOP conservatives for holding up funding. Short-sighted. Small minds. Small men (and women). Small ideas.

I imagine it will be the "Waterworld" of man-made projects in the history of the world, except possibly for the "Tower of Babel."

Gasoline Demand -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44668B.

Link here

EIA Weekly Petroleum Report -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44667B.

Home page here. Link here. 

Ironically, this headline foreshadows thoughts on the Keystone XL pipeline that I had planned to post later today. I may or may not get to that today.

 

The numbers:

  • US crude oil in commercial storage:
    • increased by a whopping 5.0 million bbls; with commercial storage at 467.6 million bbls, US crude oil inventories are slightly below the  five-year average (we'll take about this later)
    • days supply, crude oil, has increased again; now at 29.5 days.
  • US refiners are operating at a very, very respectable 92.0% of their capacity
  • imports: averaged 6.9 million bbls; this is at the high range of historical data; 
    • imports increased by a whopping 1.306 million bopd from the previous week
    • imports averaged 6.3 million bopd, 0.3% more than same period last year
  • distillate inventories increased by 0.1 million bbls last week
    • distillate inventories are 16% below the five-year average
  • propane inventories increased by 2.3 million bbls; an astounding 30% above the five-year average
  • jet fuel supplied: up by 4.4% compared with same four-week period last year

Comments:

  • I doubt any analyst "worth his salt," as they say, is interested in the historical five-year average
  • much more important: extrapolating forward three months, and six months
    • I doubt anyone can accurately extrapolate even one year out any more, nor is it really necessary
    • if an analyst feels the need to look backward, that analyst needs to do an "eight-year look-back" and exclude the calendar years 2020, 2021, and 2022; and,
    • having said that, even that look-back is pretty worthless except to put things in perspective
  • the cancellation of the Keystone years ago had a profound effect on global energy, US oil, and Canadian oil
    • when first proposed and through the Obama administration I was firmly in support of the Keystone XL project; in hindsight, my "beliefs" were naive, emotional, and tribal;
    • the Keystone XL would have disproportionately benefited TC, Canada, and US refiners but would have done little for the US in general (in so many ways)
    • somewhere along the line, I flipped. I don't recall exactly when, but without question the Bakken would have withered on the vine and the Permian would have been slower to develop had the Keystone XL been completed prior to or during the Obama administration
    • but the Bakken / Permian aspect were minor details in the big scheme of things
    • I don't have time / won't find time to debate this. 
    • Sorry. Not sorry.
  • I am not an apologist, by any means for the current SecEnergy nor POTUS with regard to energy policy in the US, but one can argue they are at least listening, or in the case of SecEnergy, fast studies.
    • I prefer the current process than the process one might expect under the former president
    • that's also a huge flip-flop for me but after blogging on global oil and US oil with a focus on the Bakken since 2007, I've learned a lot

Ramblings -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44666B.

Random thoughts / ramblings this a.m. until things "get going."

Weather: an incredibly beautiful / perfect day for biking. Short bike-ride to Starbucks this a.m. I'm averaging once a week, maybe (Starbucks). Riding every day now. Meanwhile, elsewhere, from Bloomberg:

Headphones: for the time-being, not sure how long it will last, I no longer wear headphones or ear pods. Will minimize my time on YouTube videos; Hulu; etc. No specific reason, just tired of headphones for now.

Los Angeles: much of my adult life revolves around Los Angeles county, including the four years I lived, studied, and married there (lived in LA but married in Las Vegas). LA is incredible. 

Bullet train: update.

Automobiles: I was off by a year. I thought we would new record June, 2022. I was off by almost a whole year. From Liz Ann Sonders --

Lego: two new sets arriving soon --

  • set #76252, Batman Shadow Box; this one is going to be huge
    • arrives June 8, 2023
    • 3,981 pieces
    • $399.99
  • set #42157, John Deere 948L-II Skidder; this one is going to be huge
    • arrives August 1, 2023
    • 1,492 pieces
    • $199.99

Lego: discount? 

I've never seen this before. Set #10291. Forty percent off. Sold out. At Amazon, the price is not easily seen, but appears to be $79.57, though Amazon says other options as low at $69.39. Interestingly, it is not listed as a set that was scheduled to be retired in 2023.

Lego: backorder

  • the incredible nice-looking Ford Mustang
  • pickup truck
  • bookshop
  • assembly square

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The Blog

Updates

May 18, 2023: with regard to the Atlantic article on On Liberty (discussed below) I was very, very unhappy with the writer's thesis / conclusion. He, too, decides it would be better if he could make end-of-life decisions for me. Another faux liberal. 

Original Post

I have lived and breathed "the blog" since 2009, though its first iteration existed from from 2007 to 2009. 

My original intent: to simply understand the Bakken.

That intent has evolved: to leave a journal of sorts to my grandchildren. 

If I were to recommend one article to read today it would be from the Atlantic, June, 2023, "The Canadian Way of Death: the nation legalized assisted suicide -- and exposed the limits of liberalism," by David Brooks, pp. 84 - 95, though a few of those pages are advertisements. I've read the first two pages, twice, but have not finished the article. The first two pages "stopped me in my tracks," as they say. I had to stop reading, and reflect on the whole issue of assisted suicide. 

I do not know where the author is headed -- even with the "hint" provided by the "title" to the essay. 

The Canadian experiment: from initial consideration of assisted suicide to execution of the existing laws, which, I assume, will also evolve over time. 

The essay starts out with a look back to John Stuart Mill and his book On Liberty, "one of the founding documents of our liberal world."

Now, first things first, "research" On Life. I don't recall having ever read it or even parts of it. If that's true, that's a sad commentary on my reading program. 

So, we take a break.

Wow, wow, wow, the first two pages of the David Brooks essay was the perfect background to John Stuart Mill and On Liberty

I'll have to ask my very wonderfully liberal-minded granddaughter if she has read On Liberty, and if not, to refer her to this link: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm. Wow.

I just ordered it from Amazon. It will be here Friday (today is Wednesday) for less than the price of coffee and croissant at Starbucks. 

The essay is juxtaposed with the much, much longer lead article on what I call "Putin's War" -- the Russian-Ukraine war. The article: "Counteroffensive," by Anne Applebaum and Jeffrey Goldberg. The article, with photos, drawings and ads take up sixteen pages of the magazine.

Hump Day -- May 17, 2023

Locator: 44665B.

Lego: two new items arriving soon.

Putin's war: Ukraine takes out Russian "hypersonic" missiles. Link here.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs: 36 -- pretty amazing.

Peter Zeihan newsletter.

WTI: $70.87.

Natural gas: $2.415.

Thursday, May 18, 2023: 29 for the month; 81 for the quarter, 336 for the year
39286, conf, CLR, Smouse 8-28H,
39216, conf, SOGC (Sinclair), Grasslands Federal 14-15-4H
39182, conf, Ragnar, Danneskjold 1-21H,
38628, conf, Whiting, Kannianen Federal 11-4HU,

Wednesday, May 17, 2023: 25 for the month; 77 for the quarter, 332 for the year
39276, conf, Kraken, Sumner 12-13-24 6H,
38971, conf, Hess, GO-Aslakson-156-97-2734H-2,

RBN Energy: new DOE rule changes push LNG projects to move fast or get left behind.

The incredible growth in U.S. LNG export capacity over the past few years has been facilitated by a mostly predictable federal permitting process. It may sometimes be slower than developers like and leave them more open to pushback at the state and local level, but LNG export projects that enter the federal permitting process with both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are generally granted their authorizations and export licenses. And once they have them, they’ve been able to hold onto them — until now. Both FERC and the DOE had been granting extensions to these permits as their authorization windows were closing, meaning that projects that were authorized a decade ago and still not online have retained their authorizations and export licenses. But with a DOE rule change announced April 21, the era of repeatedly renewing authorizations appears to be over. The DOE is sending a clear message to LNG developers: Get your project across the finish line in a timely manner or get out of the way and make space for someone who can. In today’s RBN blog, we take a closer look at the DOE rule change and its impact on LNG projects currently under development.