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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Gotta Love The Israelis. -- Or Is It The Israelites? April 18, 2024

Locator: 47038PAYBACKISHELL.

Tag: revenge.  

Updates

April 19, 2024: never mind.

Original Post 

Keep track here. Faster than ABC. The nuclear facility is deep underground. Folks think Israel has to hit deep underground to "take out" that nuclear facility. Not true. Many other options, easily accomplished by Israel. Where's CNN? FlightRadar24. Targets in Iran, Syria and Iraq hit.


The Israelites:

WTI:

And now this:

A source:

Several Screenshots -- Links To Follow -- April 18, 2024

Locator: 47037DEBT.

Micron, link here, Barron's:


Walmart, link here, Barron's:

Dollar
, link here, WSJ:


Inflation, from social media:

Tech, link here, Barron's:

US LNG exports, from social media:

US LNG Exports -- Update -- Projection -- April 18, 2024

Locator: 47036LNG.

Again, this is simply incredible. An 18% increase in anything should get one's attention.

Link here

It would be interesting to see what the US could do if we had a pro-energy administration.

Proposed McLean County Wind Farm Permit Denied -- Not Likely To Be End Of Story -- But Vote Was Unanimous -- April 18, 2024

Locator: 47035WIND.

Link here. From The Bismarck Tribune.

Plans to put what would be North Dakota's largest standalone wind farm in the heart of coal country ran into a stumbling block when the McLean County Commission unanimously voted to deny a preliminary project area permit ....

The move has potential impacts to North Dakota's largest coal-fired power plant, which was saved from shutdown just a few years ago.

..... proposed Discovery Wind Farm, which would be built by Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy and have the potential to send 426 megawatts of electricity to the Twin Cities area in Minnesota.

Supporters -- many of whom signed easements to put turbines on their property -- highlighted the potential economic benefits the project would bring to the more than 100 landowners who signed contracts and to local businesses, as well as the tax dollars going to the county and schools -- around $735,000 a year for 30 years.
Executives from the area's prominent coal industry also provided comments in favor of the wind farm.

If one can't "get" a wind farm under these conditions -- it speak volumes about the future of renewable energy projects in oil country.

But key words: "preliminary" "stumbling block" suggest "this" is not yet over. But "unanimous" has an "ominous" tone for those pushing the project.

Personally, I would be happy if they built the wind farm in Minnesota. Or Virginia.

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A Map Of US Time Zones

Link here.

Isn't there some law that was passed in 1864?

Six New Permits; Two Permits Renewed; One DUC Reported As Completed -- August 18, 2024

Locator: 47034B.

Market: US equity markets continue to fall / tread water. 

This is what's going on. Money managers -- for all those mutual funds -- are pulling money out of the market knowing that the Fed won't raise rates and they feel we've seen the highs for the first half of the year, if not for the entire year. These mutual funds are putting their profits into bonds to lock in high rates for six months, if not for the rest of the year. They need to do this because these mutual funds report their returns on a quarterly basis.

Me? I always remain fully invested in US equities. For the next two months, possibly the next three months, there should be a lot of stuff "on sale." No recommendation. See disclaimers.  Again, I have a rolling 30-year horizon.

Recession? Whatever happened to all that foolish talk about a recession in 2024? A cut now would only be symbolic; can't affect the economy either way for 2024. However, 20% market correction could certainly result in a few repercussions -- isn't this a presidential election year?

The DUC report: see below. Quite remarkable. The number of DUCs has stabilized -- actually increased slightly suggesting the operators don't need to maximize replacement wells to maintain 1.2 million bopd production. See notes on Jane Nielson from yesterday.

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Back to the Bakken

DUCs: monthly DUC update. Reader sent me the spreadsheet. For the life of me I couldn't get it to load correctly on my spreadsheet, so had to take a screenshot. This is the Bakken: drilled, completed, DUCs as of month indicated. The reader wrote: "DUCs up first time in 13 months on rise in natgas DUCs."

WTI: $82.57.

Active rigs: 39.

Six new permits, #40679 - #40684, inclusive:

  • Operators: Slawson; Oasis (3), Hess, XTO
  • Fields: Big Bend (Mountrail); Tioga (Williams); Beaver Lodge (Williams); and Hofflund (Williams)
  • Comments:
    • Slawson has a permit for a Shad Federal well, lot 1, section 2-151-92; 
      • to be sited 540 FNL and 460 FEL;
    • Oasis has permits for three Ongstad wells, NWNE 15-157-95, 
      • to be sited 2580 FEL and between 447 FNL and 546 FNL;
    • Hess has a permit for a BL-Blanchard well, NENW 27-155-96, 
      • to be sited 331 FNL and 1980 FWL
    • XTO has a permit for an HBU Lizette State well, NENW 16-154-95; 
      • to be sited 910 FNL and 1669 FWL

Two permits renewed:

  • Foundation Energy Management: two Ellison Creek Federal permits, Morgan Draw, Billings County;

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

  • 40358, 7 (no typo), Murex, EMU-Annis Jeannette 1H, Renville,

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site.

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.

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

First Hour -- April 18, 2024

Locator: 47033B.

These are simply notes taken on the fly while watching the first hour of "Squawk on the Street." Some notes have nothing to do with "Squawk on the Street" or investing. 

First hour is generally superb with Jim Cramer. Again, if one sees it as idle chatter. Don't take that out of context. Second hour is better with Sara Eisen. 

All of this is a mix of factoids, facts, opinion, rambling, and all of it hard to tell one data point from another with regard to veracity / accuracy / relevancy. This is nothing more than idle chatter at Starbucks.

Don't quote me on any of this. Read at your own risk. If it's important to you go the source. Start with the hyperlinks. 

CSX CEO: that Baltimore bridge incident -- almost no impact on "anything" (including vehicles) except coal

  • export coal: biggest port: Baltimore. 
  • second and third export ports: Newport News and Mobile, AL. Newport News is pretty much maxed out; some additional capacity at Mobile. 
  • Ukraine war has resulted in huge coal resurgence.

WTI: $83.01.  

US economy? Take a look at D. R. Horton today. Not for investing but to get a snapshot of what the housing market looks like in the US in the short term.

Opening story: EVs. A debacle. Maybe EVs are the future, but not in my investing lifetime.

  • robotaxis: will have a niche but that's all
    • biggest niche: Mr Magoo -- elderly, wealthy, retiree (link here)
    • business niche: Uber, Lyft, Dash -- food delivery
  • the big story: EVs plunging in Europe. If EVs lose the European market -- it's all over -- at least for the western world. Link here.
  • there's some suggestion that EV sales in Norway are falling
    • biggest selling point: 25% state tax (VAT) waived for first Norway Kroner 500,000 (USD$43,000).
    • if you haven't lived in Europe for five years, you have no idea how much VAT costs consumers
    • Norway has highest cost of living among "western" nations; some exceptions, of course, but generally accurate
  • link to oilprice story here.


The bleeding might not be over
:

  • "sell in May, go away."

Chips: a serious correction. Look at AMD and SNOW.  Talking heads confusing listeners with "investing" vs "trading."

Fashion: watching old movies -- most interesting thing I noticed last night -- noting the wardrobe credits and then looking at the dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn, et al. Explains a lot. Product placement. Sort of like seeing Apple computers on desks in the movies today.

Streaming

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site.

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.

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

WTI Trending Toward $80 -- April 18, 2024

Locator: 47032B.

BP: without question, this is the biggest energy story of the day -- 

  • if folks recall, BP changed it's name to "Beyond Petroleum" about a decade ago.  Now, today, not so much. In fact, not only is BP's renewable energy boss stepping down, the whole division is being folded into other operations -- never to be heard from again
    • boss says she wants to spend more time with her family
  • E&P industry to take note

Mexico: see RBN Energy below, but look how bad this is for Pemex -- new Dos Bocas refinery --

  • won't reach consistent levels of meaningful fuel output until at least 2026;
  • won't see full ramp-up earlier than 2028;
  • throughput will more likely plateau at no more than 60% of the nameplate capacity 
  • actual throughput likely to be around 200 Mb/d of crude oil on a calendar-day basis

Global warming

  • UAE rainstorms; country in third day of flooding
  • record-breaking storm this week brought much of the country to a standstill
  • operations at the Dubai airport remain disrupted after Tuesday's storm flooded the runway, resulting in flight diversions, delays and cancellations

Israel:

  • Israel forcing Europe to put more sanctions on Iran
    • brilliant
    • if US, Europe want to see Israeli restraint, Israel needs to see more sanctions on Iran
  • pause? Israel re-loading

Politics:

  • Trump ties up in court for at least two weeks:
  • the longer the trial goes, the less time he's on the campaign trail
  • fund-raising disrupted

TSM:

  • posted a 9% rise in first-quarter net profit
  • beat market expectations
  • rides a wave of demand for semiconductors
  • world's largest contract chipmaker has benefited from a surge towards AI

China: numbers don't make sense; renewable energy numbers confuse analysts; this is nothing new; not sure what business writers don't understand. From Bloomberg today:

The boom in renewable energy in China is exacerbating a problem measuring electricity data in the world’s second-largest economy.

The gap between power consumption and production grew to 46.5 billion kilowatt-hours in March.

That means 6.2% of generation was missing from monthly output statistics that investors and policymakers use to assess important economic growth factors like gross domestic product.

Going out on a limb here:

  • LinkedIn: huge; much bigger than most folks realize; I don't use it; have an account but not in that universe any more
  • Reddit: this might be worth a look; most recently had a really, really good explanation of global chips

Today, later:

  • EVs, Europe
  • Trucks, California ports

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: trending toward $80. Not on my bingo card.

Friday, April 19, 2024: 42 for the month; 42 for the quarter, 241 for the year
40151, conf, Armstrong Operating, Harkness 2,
37517, conf, BR, Mazama 1D MBH,

Thursday, April 18, 2024: 40 for the month; 40 for the quarter, 239 for the year
40141, conf, CLR, Veigel 8-9H,
39881, conf, Whiting, Van Buren Federal 5103 42-36 2B,
36086, conf, Hess, BB-Federal A-LS-151-95-0915H-7,

RBN Energy: Pemex's Dos Bocas refinery still facing the startup blues.

One of the most anticipated and potentially impactful refinery startups in North America in years is the Dos Bocas project (officially the Olmeca Refinery), a 340 Mb/d plant under development by Mexico’s state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the southeastern state of Tabasco. The project was seen as the cornerstone of Pemex’s plans to reduce Mexico’s dependence on the U.S. for refined fuels. Construction began in 2019 with startup originally scheduled for 2022, but that timeline was never really feasible, and the Mexican government has issued multiple public statements since mid-2023 proclaiming that construction was complete and startup was imminent. However, almost a year has passed and there is no indication that any meaningful operations have occurred. So how close is Dos Bocas to startup and, more importantly, full (or close to full) production? In today’s RBN blog, we’ll provide our views on those vitally important questions. 

RBN’s downstream consulting group doesn’t see Dos Bocas reaching consistent levels of meaningful fuel output until at least 2026. It also expects full ramp-up no earlier than 2028 , with throughput more likely plateauing at no more than 60% of the nameplate capacity (implying actual throughput of around 200 Mb/d of crude oil on a calendar-day basis).  While that sounds quite pessimistic, we believe it to be realistic, taking into account the number of operating challenges which the project still has to overcome and the many years of performance issues Mexico’s refining sector has experienced.