TGIF -- March 15, 2024

Locator: 46763B.

Players: already missing 15 players, the projected cut line suggests we could lose the following players:

• Justin Thomas
• Will Zalatoris
• Steve Stricker
• Ricky Fowler
• Jordan Spieth

The market: it's very possible I won't check in on the market or CNBC today. I'm watching "The Players" PGA championship, and doing some reading.

Maybe something to talk about later:

• copper prices
• Biden pause (LNG export permits)
• Lukoil suicide -- #4

Personal investing: added to my position in CRH today. No recommendation. Just letting family and friends know what I'm doing. CRH is in my big cap, infrastructure bucket for new money.  

Over at the BBC today:

• the real question -- can you spot the Kate Middleton photo-shopped family photo?

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Back to the Bakken

January freeze: Bakken production decreased but still above one million bopd.

WTI: $80.77.

Sunday, March 17, 2024: 116 for the month; 175 for the quarter, 175 for the year
None.

Saturday, March 16, 2024: 116 for the month; 175 for the quarter, 175 for the year
38100, conf, BR, Stafford 11-34TFH,

Friday, March 15, 2024: 115 for the month; 174 for the quarter, 174 for the year
39247, conf, Whiting, S-Bar Laurel 5393 34-1 4B,
38101, conf, BR, Stafford 11-34MBH, 

RBN Energy: in efforts to bolster power grid, ERCOT seeks to balance reliability, system cost. Archived.

In the three years since the deadly electrical outages caused by Winter Storm Uri, the Texas Legislature, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) have been working overtime to design and implement changes to ensure a more reliable Texas power grid. But it hasn’t been easy.

The state’s energy-only electricity market and its outsized reliance on intermittently available wind and solar power have forced policymakers, regulators and the electric-grid operator to develop a wide range of fixes aimed at maintaining a competitive atmosphere while at the same time incentivizing market players to have power available when it’s needed most. In today’s RBN blog, we look at what they’ve been up to. 

Texas is the energy state. It produced 42% of the U.S.’s crude oil, 25% of its natural gas and more than 12% of its electricity in 2022 — tops among the states in all three categories. Given its large industrial base, Texas is also the largest energy-consuming state. The industrial sector comprises roughly a third of the nation’s refineries, three-quarters of basic U.S. chemical production capacity, and a growing number of semiconductor manufacturing plants. Texas industrials account for more than half of the state’s electricity consumption and 23% of the nation’s total industrial use. Maintaining a low cost of electricity is essential for these industries, making it more critical to the Texas economy — and jobs — than any other state.