Biden Looking Good -- October 19, 2023

Locator: 45825POLITICS. 

Some say the best "speech" he has ever given.

Comes after a whirlwind tour to the Mideast via Germany and then back the very next day.

And then a rare presidential prime time "speech."

72 hours non-stop with almost no sleep, two major regional "hot spots" -- first president to fly into a "war zone." And then gives one of his best speeches ever.

Most importantly, he has the moral high ground. 

Meanwhile, the GOP can't come up with a Speaker for the US House -- which seems to be a pretty basic function of government.

And the ability to confirm US military flag / generals officers seems to be beyond the capabilities of the US Senate. 

The White House, by all comparisons, is looking pretty good in the eyes of some. 

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Bidenomics

How Long Has It Been Since We've Seen Gasoline For $2.75 / Gallon? October 19, 2023

Locator: 45824MILEAGE.  

2012 Honda Civic, bought in late 2011:

Clearing Out Just Some Of The In-Box -- October 19, 2023

Locator: 45823ECON.  

Sports tonight:

• NFL on Amazon Prime Video
• MLB: first pitch at 7:03 p.m. CT.

After a busy day of geopolitical news and economic news, only time for some headlines and comments:

• WTI is climbing a wall of worry, but incredibly slowly considering the news:
• known: tensions in the Mideast driving oil higher;
• unknown: how long this will go on; whether Hezbollah gets involved making this a more regional war;
• UAW: no news; but it certainly looks like GM and F have both placed their best and final offers on the table;
• regardless, by the time we get a contract, we're going to be getting into the holidays;
• for the US automakers, is CY over for all intents and purposes?
• October, November, December: that's one whole quarter;
• TSM: says tech has been through the worst; link here;
• Investing: the trusted 60-40 investing strategy has just had its worst year in generations; link here;
• my investment strategy has been 99-1 for as long as I can remember (99% equities; 1% cash);
• the bad news: hitting retirees late in life when they can least afford these downturns;
• Busing: I could be wrong, but it's my observation that blue states have favored busing ever since the 60s;
• all of a sudden, now in 2023, the blue states hate busing
• link here.
• A trend developing?
• former Trump legal advisor cops a plea in exchange for testifying against her old boss;
• the linked article at The WSJ implies she won't be the last.
• The energy transition is over. 
• The phrase President Biden used: "tremendous risk."

And it's his program. Ouch. 

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Jobs

Link here.

Four New Permits; 39 Active Rigs -- October 19, 2023

Locator: 45822B.

Active rigs: 39.

WTI:

Four new permits, #40278 - #40281, inclusive:

• Operators: CLR (2), Hess (2)
• Fields: Rattlesnake Point (Dunn); Big Butte (Mountrail)
• Comments:
• CLR has permits for a Cuskelly well and a Thorvald well,  lot 1, section 7-146-96; 
• one to be sited 275 FNL and 1034 FWL; 
• the other to be sited 275 FNL and 1079 FWL;
• Hess has permits for two EN-Lonetree Farm wells, SWSWW 8-156-94; 
• one to be sited 845 FSL and 1006 FWL; 
• the other to be sited 845 FSL and 973 FWL

WTI Hits $90.48 -- October 19, 2023

Locator: 45821B. 

Whoo-hoo!

WTI: closes just under $90.

Market:

• Devon Energy down.
• CVX up sightly; mostly flat.
• COP down slightly; mostly flat.

• Rivian: down 5% today.
• Lucid: down 4% today.
• Polestar: down 3% today.
• F: down 2% today.
• GM: down half a percent today.

UAW: no news today.

• striking members growing weary after five weeks;
• inventories dwindling;
• American GM/Ford/Chrysler owners looking at foreign replacements;
• F: says best and final offer on the table
• GM: can't meet UAW demands without "devastating effect" -- euphemism for bankruptcy

North Dakota On An Energy Roll -- Government $$$ For Hydrogen Hub; Now More For Electric Grid; Eight Wells Coming Off Confidential List Next Two Days -- October 19, 2023

Locator: 45820B.

Thursday, busy, busy, busy

• earnings reports continue to roll in;
• two huge speeches today: JPow and President Biden
• NFL: TNF -- JAX at NO

Tesla: Cybertruckwoes.

• too bad the UAW is on strike; what an opportuunity for F to take on Elon Musk

UAW:  no news now for several days;

• impasse on negotiations?
• Fain trying to salvage what he had?
• finally sees the light? 

Later: the box above -- posted after the original note -- as expected!

• GM says it can't meet demands without devastating effect;
• F has said the same thing
• UAW members grow "weary" after only five weeks -- really?
  
• putting that into perspective: military members deploy to the middle East for a year at a time; submariners go out for weeks at a time; a/c deploy on open-ended missions.
  
• poll: GM/F/Chryslers owners starting to look at Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia, VW, Volvo, Subaru, just to name a few options ...

Feature story today: rock-climbing -- if I have time.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $87.35.

Friday, October 20, 2023: 49 for the month; 49 for the quarter, 619 for the year
37451, conf, Hess, EN-Abrahamson-155-93-3019H-9, Alger,
36778, conf, BR, Bailey-George 1A TFH-ULW, Pershing,
39328, conf, CLR, Arthur 6-12H, Little Knife,

Thursday, October 19, 2023: 46 for the month; 46 for the quarter, 616 for the year
39682, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Farthing 4-30-31-158N-100W-MBH, Church
39329, conf, CLR, Skachenko FIU 5-31H1, Jim Creek,
39281, conf, Oasis, Osprey 5401 43-22 2B, Todd,
37450, conf, Hess, Austin 105-1929H, Parshall,
36779, conf, BR, George 1B MBH, Pershing,

RBN Energy: DOE follows its blueprint in selection of clean hydrogen hubs.

If you’re vying for billions in federal dollars, a predictable selection process with measurable criteria is probably what you’re hoping to see. And while there was much speculation about what projects would be ultimately picked for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) regional clean hydrogen hubs initiative, H2Hubs, the selections made October 13 included no curve balls and matched the agency’s previous guidance. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at the selections and how they fit into the DOE’s stated criteria. 

We’ve been following the discussions about hydrogen hubs since the DOE announced details around the hub initiative in a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) published in September 2022 that defined a hub as “a network of clean hydrogen producers, potential clean hydrogen consumers, and connective infrastructure located in close proximity.” The FOA set out the overall goals of the program: the creation of six to 10 regional hubs that would receive up to $7 billion in federal funding to help meet the Biden administration’s targets of producing 10 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of clean hydrogen by 2030, 20 MMtpa by 2040, and 50 MMtpa by 2050.