Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Book Of The Day! Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, Isaac Asimov, c. 1970 -- March 5, 2025

Locator: 48464ASHWEDNESDAY.

Six weeks to Easter Sunday. Easter:

  • first Sunday after first full moon after spring equinox
    • spring equinox, 2025: March 20;
    • full moon occurs on that very day, March 20, 2025;
    • so we need to wait for next full moon: April 14, 2025;
    • the first Sunday after that full moon: April 20, 2025
  • late Easter this year

Department of Education: executive order coming -- front page, The WSJ --

And Barack Obama called himself audacious

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The Book Page

Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare, Isaac Asimov, c. 1970; this Random House hardcover edition, c. 1993. Bought today, at Powell's Books, Portland, Oregon.

Five New Permits; Four DUCs Reported As Completed -- March 5, 2025

Locator: 48463B.

WTI: $66.72.

Active rigs: 33.

Five new permits, #41669 - #41672, inclusive:

  • Operators: CLR (3); Stephens Williston DBA SEG Williston (2)
  • Field: Glass Bluff (McKenzie); Ross (Mountrail)
  • Comments: 
    • Stephens Williston has permits for two Gernand wells, NWSW 32-156-90, to be sited 2252 / 2282 FSL and 444 FWL;
    • CLR has permits for three Frisco wells, SWSE 31-152-102, to be sited 855 FSL and 2346 / 2410 FEL;

Four producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

  • 39678, 669, Neptune Operating, CPEUSC Gaetlaf 3-25-36-158-101W-MBH,
  • 39679, 750, Neptune Operating, CPEUSC Gaetlaf 2-25-36-158-101W-MBH,
  • 39680, 749, Neptune Operating, CPEUSC Farthing 5-30-31-158-100W-MBH;
  • 39681, 546, Neptune Operating, CPEUSC Clermont 5-19-18-158-100W-MBH-LL,

WTI Continues To Fall -- Despite Tariff Threats -- Promises Made, Promises Kept — March 5, 2025

Locator: 48462B.

Europe: green is dead. Must-read at Bloomberg.  Trump scores a two-fer: kills "green energy" and make Europe pay more for its own defense.

Cat and mouse: link here

The "chip connection: Taiwanese airline EVA Air announced it will add (introduce?) five nonstop flights to Dallas Fort Worth international airport this year (2025). 

  • just some of the many new national and international flights that will added to DFW in 2025. Southwest Air is still considering moving from LUV to DFW. 
    • Wright Amendment prevent that move until 2025
    • the Wright Amendment expired in 2014, but a restriction on SWA' ability to expand at Love Field expires in 2025 (I don't think I've ever come across a more confusing Federal law)
  • EVA air
    • from DFW to Taiwan Taohuan International Airport
    • non-stop: 7,718 miles

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $65.73. Promises made, promises kept -- President Trump.

New wells:

  • Thursday, March 6, 2025: 17 for the month, 133 for the quarter, 133 for the year,
    • 40204, conf, Hess, EN-Weyrauch A-LW-154-93-1719H-2,
    • 39945, conf, Hunt Oil, Halliday 146-93-10-2H-1,
    • 39834, conf, Hess, EN-Meiers-154-93-1324H-9,
  • Wednesday, March 5, 2025: 14 for the month, 130 for the quarter, 130 for the year,
    • 41017, conf, WGO Resources, Koon Harkins 1-35.
    • 39978, conf, BR, Manchester 2E,
    • 39944, conf, Koda Resources, Stout 2033-8BH,

RBN Energy: NYMEX leads the way on WTI futures contracts, but there's room for more.

The U.S. crude oil market has undergone a drastic shift since the Shale Revolution. After a quarter-century of declining production and increasing dependence on imported oil, the U.S. has become the world’s leading producer. This transformation turned the U.S. into a major exporter and a critical supplier to the international market and also led to an evolution in crude oil trading. In today’s RBN blog, the first in a series, we’ll explore the history of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts. 

Before the export market blossomed for U.S. crude oil in the late 2010s, most domestic production flowed through the important Midcontinent hub of Cushing, OK (see Give and Take). That location might seem odd on the surface for a global energy hub — the closest major cities are Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and the nearest refineries (HF Sinclair in Tulsa and Phillips 66 in Ponca City, OK) only account for about 325 Mb/d of demand. However, if you look a little deeper, you’ll see that Cushing has a rich history (see The Heart of the Matter), an astonishing 94 MMbbl of aboveground storage, and a long-standing role as a “trading post.”

The strong physical trading liquidity at Cushing attracted paper traders, allowing market participants to hedge their physical business and bet on the market via the WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures contract (contract symbol: CL) on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). This contract, which launched more than 40 years ago, became important in the domestic market and internationally. In 2008, NYMEX was acquired by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which currently manages the CL contract. CL remains the world’s most liquid crude oil contract. While this contract was initially supplied with WTI directly from West Texas, it did not exclude crude oil that originated elsewhere but met the contract standards. (See Trading in the U.S.A.; more on this in the next blog in this series.) 

Something Is In The Air -- March 6, 2025

Locator: 48461APPLE.

Surprised a lot of folks. The new M4 MacBook Air.

Later: The Verge -- first look, hands on.

Other surprises:

  • MagSafe charging cable.
  • headphone jack -- are you kidding me! I thought we would lose that! Amazing.
    • kids still use these jacks; and,
    • it's a much improved jack -- wow
  • Sky Blue along with three other colors
  • battery life: 18 hours
  • video camera: "when you move, it moves," keeping you center stage
    • includes "desk view" -- wow
  • can connect up to two external displays: gives you three displays simultaneously

I have two old MacBook Air computers -- all of a sudden I can have three displays simultaneously -- 

Link here.


Top story over at The Verge.

Huge, huge upgrade. Lowers cost. Now under $1,000!

WSJ scooped: hasn't posted the story yet!

Just one of many huge stories over on MacRumors, link here:

The new ‌MacBook Air‌ introduces a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, which automatically keeps users centered in the frame as they move around during video calls. It also supports Desk View, which simultaneously displays the user and a top-down view of their desk.

The ‌MacBook Air‌ now features a lower starting price of $999. Education pricing starts at $899. It is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning Wednesday, March 12.

It looks like I can get one for Sophia and take advantage of "education pricing." 

Other headlines at MacRumors

  • BestBuy already introducing first discounts on Apple's new M3 iPad Air. For members: $549.00;
  • Apple discontinues M2 and M3 MacBook Air
  • Apple introductes M3 Ultra chip with up to a 32-core CPU, with 24 performance cores and eight efficiency cores; a 32-core Neural Engine
    • up to 1.5x faster than the M2 Ultra chip and up to 1.8x faster than the M1 Ultra chip
    • wow, wow, wow -- can be configured up to an 80-core CPU
  • Apple introduced new Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 ultra chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports
  • Qualcomm claimes its new modem will create a "huge delta" in performance versus Apple, largely thanks to its AI-powered features -- will be use in Android devices
    • download speeds up to 12.5 Gbps
    • peak upload speeds of up to 3.7 Gbps
    • for more on Qualcomm modems vs Apple's C1, click here.