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Friday, June 16, 2023

Week 24: June 12, 2023 — June 18, 2023

Locator: 44960B.

Top story:

  • Government central bank action:
    • US holds rates steady
    • China cuts rates
    • EU rates raised; highest in 22 years.

Top international non-energy story

  • Russian-Ukraine war continues.

Top international energy story:

  • Saudi Arabia running out of patience with regard to Russian oil production and pricing.

Top national non-energy story:

  • Stock market rally.

Top national energy story

  • WTI holds at $70

Focus on frackingmost recent edition

Top North Dakota non-energy story:


Top North Dakota energy story:


Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories

Bakken economy:

Commentary:

Entertainment

TGIF -- End-Of-Day Report -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44959TGIF.  

PGA: snarky -- is it time for Phil to move on -- to the "senior" tour?

  • of the four majors, the only one Phil has not won, the US Open
  • today, missed the cut at the US Open
  • his play was incredibly uneven, even for Phil

Market: I skipped this week; will let the dust settle

  • it was a wild week
  • will invest next week

EVs:

Merger:

  • Charles Kennedy reviews the biggest oil and gas deal of the year so far:
  • link here; if it's by Charles Kennedy, you know it's a must-read article.

**************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs: 39.

WTI: $71.41. Finishes out the week on a high note.

No new permits.

Six permits renewed:

  • Grayson: four Orville permits, Todd oil field, Williams County; and, two Dave Arnson permits, same oil field; all six in lot four, section 4-154-101.

Isacc Asimov Is Not Part Of The Package -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44958INV.

Link here.

Well, let's see how that affects NVDA?

NVDA is up antoher $7 today. Up 1.7% today. 

AAPL was green, then red, now pretty much flat.

Am I Misreading This? UMich Sentiment Survey Just Released -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44957ECON.

Wow, wow, wow, break, break, break: look what just popped up. Link here.

I wonder if President Biden gets any credit for this? JPow? Biden, Schumer, McCarthy?

I can guarantee that none of my readers will send me this link. LOL. It doesn't fit the narrative. LOL.

Apple Talk -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44956AAPL.

Tech specs. Multiple configurations. Configurations for PowerMac and Mac Studio below are generally not found in the "base" model.

Power Mac (the "cheese grater"): these specs are identical to the Mac Studio M2 Ultra but costs $3,000 more than the Mac Studio. How come? We'll come to later.

  • 24-core CPU
  • 76-core GPU
  • 192GB unified memory (RAM)
  • 800GB/s memory bandwidth
  • supports up to 8 displays

Mac Studio:

  • M2 Max:
    • 12-core CPU
    • 38-core GPU
    • 96GB unified memory (RAM)
    • 400GB/s memory bandwidth
  • M2 Ultra:
    • 24-core CPU
    • 76-core GPU
    • 192GB unified memory (RAM)
    • 800GB/s memory bandwidth
    • supports up to 8 displays

MacBook Air 15":

  • 8-core CPU
  • 10-core GPU
  • 24GB unified memory (RAM)
  • 2TB maximum configurable storage (memory)
  • up to 18 hours battery life

FOMO --> Short Squeeze -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44954INV.  

Yesterday: FOMO --> rally --> short squeeze --> profit-taking.

For the life of me, I couldn't find anyone who noted the same thing. It took a lot of internet searching but I finally found one mention.

Wow, wow, wow, break, break, break: look what just popped up. Link here.

I wonder if President Biden gets any credit for this? JPow? Biden, Schumer, McCarthy?

I can guarantee that none of my readers will send me this link. LOL. It doesn't fit the narrative. LOL. 

By the way, Chuck Klosterman noted this phenomenon. If I find his/that quote, I will post it. 

Now, where was I? Oh, yes, short squeeze. This is the "tease." Unfortunately it's behind a paywall. But you can see it here and that's all you need to know. From here we find other sources.

Yesterday's crazy rally: FOMO --> rally --> short squeeze / gamma squeeze --> triple-witching hour --> profit taking.

AMIRITE?

I don't have time for any more of this nonsense, so just the links (I don't understand it anyway, and I'm anxious to post about Apple's phenomenal technology).

Gamma squeeze:

My hunch: a short squeeze plus a gamma squeeze is greeater than the sum of the two. Throw in the triple witching hour ...

Most Expensive City For Electricity In The Lower 48 -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44953RATES.

Electricity rates by region, state: link here.

Most expensive city in the lower 48, link here.


EIA data for past year has average electricity cost in San Diego with a 40-handle.

For those worried about inflation under the current administration, one might want to look at total cost of living, quality of life, Disneyland, and the decline in unicorn sightings.

Wind Is Free Except When It's Needed Most, Then It Gets Really Expensive -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44952WIND.   

Updates

Later, 6:56 p.m. CDT: what a joke, what a scam.

Original Post

Texas ERCOT wind production, today, link here:

Atmospheric CO2 -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44951WHOCARESANYMORE.   

Atmospheric CO2, link here:


 

GDPNow -- 2Q23 Estimates Updated -- Decreased Government Spending --> GDP Estimate Drops -- Well, That's Not Good! June 16, 2023

Locator: 44950ECON.  

GDPNow, link here

Recent government data, multiple sources:

  • personal consumption expenditures growth dropped from 1.4% too 0.9%
  • government spending dropped from 2.7% to 2.3%.

My Favorite Chart -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44949ECON. 

Updates

June 17, 2023: link here.


Original Post

My favorite chart, link here. Huge surprise.

Third consecutive month of huge inflows.

It's hard to tell, but are P Morgan and Goldman Sachs the biggest beneficiaries (or losers?) depending on what one thinks about this phenomenon. Beneficiaries or losers? Probably depends on where that money is coming from.

TGIF -- WTI Holds Above $70 -- June 16, 2023

Locator: 44948GMA.  

101 days of summer: day 20.

  • biking weather on scale of 1 - 10: a seven; quite windy

Wow. What a day. Yesterday. Today it's going to be even busier as far as blogging goes. A lot of charts to update.

WTI: a reader sent a chart corroborating my thoughts on the price of oil -- thoughts I posted yesterday or the day before.

Short squeeze: it took awhile but I finally one mention of the phenomenon that propelled the market yesterday to new highs across the board. FOMO-->rally-->short squeeze-->profit taking.

Apple: one or two more updates today. Truly incredible, the technology for such a low price. The brand new 15-inch M2 Macbook Air is already on sale at Amazon, from $1,299 to $1,199. 

Atmospheric CO2: new numbers out. No surprises.

My favorite chart: new numbers out and a big surprise.

TGT: Barron's writer "missed" the big story. I'll update the TGT post later.

ERCOT: easily meeting demand. Most recent electricity rates by state (EIA data) posted. Of the cities in the lower 48 (does not include Hawaii or Alaska) guess which major city has the highest electric rate. You might be surprised. Or not.

GDPNow: new chart released yesterday.

**************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $70.76.

Sunday, June 18, 2023: 36 for the month; 144 for the quarter, 399 for the year
39398, conf, Kraken, Wiseman 31-36-35-34 2H,
39303, conf, CLR, Meadowlark FIU 8-6H,

Saturday, June 17, 2023: 34 for the month; 142 for the quarter, 397 for the year
38633, conf, SOGC (Sinclair), Grasslands Federal 14-15-2H,

Friday, June 16, 2023: 33 for the month; 141 for the quarter, 396 for the year
39397, conf, Krakken, Wiseman 31-36-35-34 3H,

 

RBN Energy: E&Ps face tougher decisions about allocating dwindling free cash flow.

We’re now in the midst of the summer vacation season, but a recent survey showed that just two out of five Americans are planning a trip that requires a flight and/or hotel stay — the fact is, inflation has whittled away at discretionary income. U.S. E&P companies are in a similar boat. After a brutal decade marked by intense commodity price volatility, oil and gas producers over the past couple of years have won back investors with a new fiscally conservative approach that prioritizes harvesting free cash flow to fund surging shareholder returns. But more recently, lower commodity prices and persistent inflation have significantly eroded the funds available for dividends and share repurchases. In today’s RBN blog, we analyze the increasingly difficult cash allocation decisions oil and gas producers made in Q1 2023 and are likely to face in future quarters.

First, a couple definitions. Discretionary income is what’s left after we pay our taxes and fixed costs like housing, food, and clothing. We can use the remainder to save or invest, treat ourselves to luxuries, donate to charity, indulge in recreation, etc. The equivalent for E&Ps is cash flow from operating activities (CFOA), which is the net income the company generates adjusted for non-cash expenses like depreciation and stock-based compensation, and for changes in working capital. The largest allocation of this cash is investing in replenishing oil and gas reserves and growing production through capital expenditures. What’s left is free cash flow, the funds available to fund acquisitions, pay down debt, and return capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.