The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): 03/03/25

Monday, March 3, 2025

JPow: It's In Your Court Now -- March 3, 2025

Locator: 48450GDP.

GDP forecast continues to fall.

Next "Fed meeting": March 18 - 19, 2025.

Link here.

1Q25, forecast:

Are we about to witness a reversal of historic proportions?

Apple News -- March 3, 2025

Locator: 48449APPLE.

Neocons: wiki.

Apple, link here.

Apple plans to announce new MacBook Air models with the M4 chip "as early as this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Expect new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with Apple's already-released M4 chip, which has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.

Apple already updated the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini with M4 chips in October last year. Geekbench 6 results showed that the M4 chip is up to 25% faster than the M3 chip in terms of multi-core CPU performance.

Also in October, Apple increased the minimum RAM included in all MacBook Air models from 8GB to 16GB. The maximum RAM option could rise to 32GB.

Longer battery life is also likely.

This is what got my attention:

Following in the footsteps of the MacBook Pro, the next MacBook Air models will likely have an upgraded 12-megapixel camera with support for Center Stage, a feature that automatically keeps you centered on video as you move around. The camera should also support Desk View, which shows both you and an overhead view of your desk.

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AirPort: Back to the Future

Link to MacRumors.

Apple discontinued the AirPort line in 2018, but the company could return to the Wi-Fi router market in an unexpected way in the future.

Back in December, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was developing its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip that will debut in new Apple TV and HomePod mini models later this year. He said the chip is "so sophisticated" that it could "theoretically" turn these devices into a wireless access point. However, it is unclear if Apple will actually follow through with that idea, so temper your expectations for the time being.

Apple is reportedly aiming to make a bigger push into smart home products, with the company rumored to be planning an all-new smart home hub for release later this year. Apple is also said to be planning a HomeKit-enabled smart home camera that can connect to the hub, and together the products could serve as a home security system. If future Apple TV and/or HomePod models could effectively double as AirPort routers for Wi-Fi, that would be another way for Apple to expand its presence in the smart home market.

Apple's chip will support Wi-Fi 6E, according to Gurman, whereas the final AirPort models supported what is now known as Wi-Fi 5. However, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu believes the chip will actually support Wi-Fi 7.

It remains to be seen if the Apple TV and HomePod actually become Wi-Fi routers, but Apple is seemingly developing technology that allows for it.

It seems like the profit margin would be about 90%. LOL.

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Happy Birthday, Judah and Levi

Link here.

Monday Morning -- March 3, 2025

Locator: 48448B.

Texas two-step -- Apple and the economy: link to The WSJ. Position 1.

Texas notched another technology win this week when Apple said it is planning a new 250,000-square-foot factory in Houston to make servers for an artificial-intelligence system.

Tech investments are transforming the Texas economy, often via companies from California in search of lower taxes and fewer regulations on land use and labor.

Austin already has Apple’s second-largest concentration of employees outside the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. Samsung has a large and expanding semiconductor presence in the state. Earlier this year, Meta moved its trust and safety teams responsible for writing policy and reviewing content from California to Texas and other U.S. locations.

Others have moved their headquarters there, including Realtor.com, Tesla and Hewlett Packard. (News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, also operates Realtor.com.)

“In the end, it’s all about the cost of doing business, and the cost of doing business is just lower in Texas,” said John Diamond, an economist at Rice University in Houston.

Meanwhile, in Florida:

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $69.44.

New wells:

Tuesday, March 4, 2025: 11 for the month, 127 for the quarter, 127 for the year,

41036, conf, BR, Phantom Ship 7B,
39977, conf, BR, Manchester 2D,

Monday, March 3, 2025: 9 for the month, 125 for the quarter, 125 for the year,

39943, conf, Koda Resources, Stout 2033-7BH,

Sunday, March 2, 2025: 8 for the month, 124 for the quarter, 124 for the year,

40355, conf, Grayson Mill, Alfred South 20-22 3H,
39833, conf, Hess, EN-Meiers-154-93-1324H-8,
39832, conf, Hess, EN-Meiers-154-93-1324H-6,
30433, conf, BR, Manchester 2C,

Saturday, March 1, 2025: 4 for the month, 120 for the quarter, 120 for the year,

40566, conf, BR, Burned Edge 2A-ULW,
40498, conf, Hess, EN-Weyrach A-LW-154-93-1720H-1
39976, conf, BR, Manchester 2B,
39954, conf, Hess, EN-Wefald-156-94-2413H-5,

RBN Energy: propane rtailers take the final step on propane's windy road.

More than 9 billion gallons of propane were delivered to U.S. consumer markets in 2024, primarily for residential heating and cooking. The final step in propane’s pathway to the retail market is managed by a large group of companies known as retailers, which range in size from “mom and pop” operations that run only a couple of cars serving a local market to companies with fleets of cars and multiple supply points. As we detail in today’s RBN blog, the propane business requires a huge focus on logistics and personal relationships.
This is the third blog in our series about propane markets. In Part 1, we outlined the journey of propane from wellhead to burner tip and discussed the various segments of the domestic propane market, including industrial, petrochemical, commercial, residential and agricultural demand. We also introduced the role of wholesalers (middle column in Figure 1 below) and retailers (right column). In Part 2, we detailed the role of wholesalers, whose primary function is to aggregate supplies, operate logistics networks, trade propane and integrate midstream operations. Recently, in Should I Stay Or Should I Go?, we reviewed some issues facing wholesalers today. In today’s blog, we will review retailers’ role and purpose in the market.

Figure 1. Wholesale-to-Retail Propane Value Chain. Source: RBN

To get to the retailer, propane travels from the wholesaler (see RBN’s Propane Infrastructure Map for details about propane terminals, pipelines and rail) via transport trucks with a capacity of between 5,600 gallons and 20,950 gallons, with an average truck carrying 11,600 gallons. (For more on the propane molecule’s journey, check out The Long and Winding Road.) Propane is moved on these trucks to smaller bulk and retail store sites. From there it is picked up by bobtail trucks (see photo below) with a specialized design: a) a roughly 2,500-to-3,500-gallon tank (though both bigger and smaller-sized tanks are available), b) an onboard delivery system, and c) safety equipment, including but not limited to electrical grounding, pressure-relief valves and emergency gear. Bobtail trucks deliver propane into tanks at homes usually ranging from 100 gallons to 1,000 gallons, with larger tanks at some businesses. Some of the propane is delivered to sites where it is transferred into 20-gallon and other small tanks, such as those used for home grilling.

The Weekend Edition -- March 3, 2025

Locator: 48447ARCHIVES.

NATO: Trump talking about cutting US troops in Europe by 20%.

Trump, Hegseth, and JD Vance just the guys to do it. Musk makes case for leaving NATO. Before we take too many hits from the other side: both George Washing and and John Quincy Adams warned against entangling alliances. The Cold War was over decades ago. We need staging areas, long runways, and a different way of thinking. These reasons alone justify "replacing" the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The new world order: it’s beginning. X is lighting up. Bluesky is imploding.

Neo-cons: trending.