Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Disclaimer Briefly -- June 24, 2025

Locator: 48578AMZN.

USDA "roadless rule" rescinded. Link here. Poppycock at The Verge.

How good is Amazon? Link here. Jeff Bezos knows logistics.

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The Book Page

The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed The World, Jenny Uglow, c. 2003. 

I probably picked up this gem for a couple of bucks at a discount book store many years ago. In hardcover it's not longer available at Amazon. Paperback? $35.

I first read this book years ago; did not enjoy it; thought it poorly written. But now, after reading Christopher Benfey's newest book on "pottery," I wanted to re-read this book. I finished the first two chapters today, poolside, and not a bit disappointed. Really, really enjoyed it. 

First bit of trivia? Those belt buckles and shoe buckles that the Pilgrims made iconic? Now I know who, how, and why. LOL. That alone is almost worth the price of the book, but not quite. Again, it's the history of the Quakers and the potters that caught my interest. 

See also Jenny Uglow's review of Silk: A World History, by Aarathi Prasad, Williams Morrow, 293 pp.; $32.50. The NY Review mentions that Jenny has a new book coming out in 2025: A Year with Gilbert White: The First Great Nature Writer will be published in the UK this year. (June 2025).

Gilbert White, see wiki.

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Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

 Briefly:

  • I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.
  • 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 something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
  • 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. 
  • And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution.
  • I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.
  • I've now added Oracle to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Oracle.
  • Longer version here.  

Two New Permits; Six Permits Renewed -- June 24, 2025

Locator: 48577B.

Who would have guessed?


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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $64.37. Gasoline is well below $3.00 / gallon in our area. North Texas. Whoo-hoo! I think we're going to see that the price of oil has a great effect on inflation than Trump's tariffs.

Active rigs: 30.

Two new permits, #42050 - #42051, inclusive:

  • Operators: Devon Energy; Koda Resources
  • Fields: Camp (McKenzie); Fertile Valley (Divide County)
  • Comments:
    • Koda Resources has a permit for a Bock well, SESE 34-161-102, 
      • to be sited 543 FSL and 545 FEL;
    • Devon has a permit for a William well, NWNW 25-152-101, 
      • to be sited 354 FNL and 550 FWL.

Six permits renewed:

  • XTO (4): four Ruby State Federal permits, Grinnell (McKenzie County)
  • Grayson Mill: a Clear Creek Federal permit, Westberg oil field (McKenzie County)
  • EOg, an Austin permit, Parshall (Mountrail County)

Tuesday -- June 24, 2025

Locator: 48576WILDFIRES.
Locator: 48576ARCHIVES.

Update

Later, 5:15 p.m. CT: the biggest winner in the Mideast, other than Trump? Saudi Arabia. I don't think folks realize how transformative The Strike will be. Israel has neutralized:

  • Syria;
  • Hamas;
  • Hezbollah;
  • Iran.

Later, 5:12 p.m. CT: is Oracle the new poor man's Palantir? I may have missed Palantir (my bad) but I did not miss Oracle:

Later, 5:06 p.m. CT: link here. Wow, wow, wow. What a debacle. It's lead article this issue and completely missed the target. Timing could not have been worse. If you can't read the small print:

Trump’s election as President has been considered a bigger threat to our security than Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” a former secretary-general said. “That’s embarrassing.”

 Donald Trump will shape:

  • the new NATO;
  • the new Mideast;
  • probably not Ukraine, but hard to say.

Trump arrives at NATO stronger than ever.

Original Post

USDA "roadless rule" rescinded. Link here. Poppycock at The Verge.

The Strike, link here to The WSJ, a video explanation. Love seeing the B-2 in flight.

ISO-NE:

  • steady at $300 / MWh;
  • spikes to $430 / MWh.

EV cargo ship: burns and sinks in northern Pacific, north of Aleutian Islands.

NASDAQ 100: closes at an all-time.

  • Mag-7: all end in three green, except TSLA and AAPL;
  • AAPL: down $1.20 but manages to stay above $200.

Market surges today:

  • if oil and shares in oil companies plummeted; and,
  • if defense industries plunged today; and ...
  • well, what's left?
  • tech. See below.

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Commentary

WTI: down about 14% since the strike. Wow. 

The strike: talking heads are completely missing the big story. 

The big story is never "behind us." The big story is always in front of us. The big story is always "what comes next?" Right now: the US is back and we have a "young" Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose background is the United States Air Force

US:

  • awash in oil;
  • owns the AI sector:
  • military might? Iran: "what just happened?"

The Mideast: the map is being re-shaped as we talk. Who are the cartographers? Trump and Netanyahu.

The Mideast: talking heads still don't get it.

Biggest laggards in a surging market today: US defense stocks, like Lockheed Grumman. 

Shaming Biden: it appears the mainstream press can't get enough of bashing Biden. Those folks bashing Biden are bashing the wrong Biden. That Biden's pronouns are "she," "her," and "hers."

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Market



Oracle -- For The Archives -- Two Days After "The Strike" -- June 24, 2025

Locator: 48575TECH.

Whatever Happened To Saguaro Energia? June 24, 2025

Locator: 48574LNGMEXICO.

Mexico Pacific Limited LNG export terminal update.

An update from Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, June 24, 2025. The information was obtained directly from the source, not edited. I cannot on the veracity of the report and it has not been fact-checked:

For almost eight years, Mexico Pacific Limited (MPL) has worked to secure financing for its proposed Saguaro Energía liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The project, reported to cost at least $15 billion, would export as much as 15 million tons per year (Mtpa) of LNG from a facility near the small town of Puerto Libertad in Sonora, Mexico. A potential second phase would double that capacity. Natural gas would be transported from Texas to the Pacific coast via a 500-mile (800-kilometer) pipeline that would be built specifically to supply gas to the liquefaction facility.

Saguaro Energía’s Pacific location offers comparatively direct access to the Asian markets that are expected to drive LNG demand growth in the coming decades. MPL estimates that its terminal would shave $1 in shipping costs per million British thermal units (MMBtu) of LNG produced, when compared with Atlantic and Gulf Coast export facilities that must route Asian shipments through the increasingly unreliable Panama Canal, the security-challenged Suez Canal, or around Africa or South America.

MPL was launched in 2017 but didn’t attract its first customer until 2022, when global natural gas prices spiked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the curtailment of gas shipments to Europe. From 2022-24, MPL was able to leverage those price spikes and its shipping cost advantages to lock in 14 Mtpa of LNG sales agreements with ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Woodside Energy, and two Chinese buyers.

But despite this commercial progress, internal turmoil—including frequent changes in investors and executives, evolving project designs, and critical permitting errors—has slowed the project’s momentum. Even if the project could solve its internal challenges, it would still face a tangled web of external obstacles, including rising construction costs, contracting difficulties, shifting trade politics, legal challenges, regulatory barriers, safety concerns, and growing local opposition. 

From AI this morning:

Saguaro Energía and Costa Azul are not the same facility, although they are both liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects located in Mexico.

Here's why they are different:

Saguaro Energía:
Proposed large-scale LNG export facility on Mexico's Pacific coast, in Puerto Libertad, Sonora, Mexico. Being developed by Mexico Pacific.

Focuses on leveraging low-cost U.S. natural gas (from the Permian Basin) and a shorter shipping route to deliver LNG to Asian markets.

Faces potential challenges including legal setbacks, community opposition, and concerns about its environmental impact.
Costa Azul:
Located in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, north of Ensenada.

Originally built as an LNG import terminal and is currently being converted into an export terminal.

Being developed by Sempra Infrastructure, with TotalEnergies also involved in the export phase.

A smaller facility compared to the proposed Saguaro Energía project, but is moving forward with construction.

Anticipated to begin commercial operations in spring 2026.
In summary, Saguaro Energía and Costa Azul are distinct LNG projects with different locations, developers, and statuses.

Enerplus Starting To Report Results On Newly Completed "Fishing Pad" Wells; Older Wells Have Blown Through 500K Bbls Crude Oil Cumulative -- June 24, 2025

Locator: 48573B.

Dumb and dumber:

  • on CNBC, Becky Quick to former under-secretary of defense: can you trust Mossad's intel?
  • from AI one minute ago:

in the past month, at least six high-level Iranian generals and five nuclear scientists have been reported killed, primarily in Israeli strikesThese strikes targeted key figures within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and individuals involved in Iran's nuclear program. Most, if not all, "kills" have been confirmed by top Iranian leadership. Specifically:

Generals: At least six IRGC generals, including Hossein Salami, the IRGC commander, and Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.

Nuclear Scientists: Individuals like Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, and several nuclear faculty members at Shahid Beheshti University, such as Ahmadreza Zolfaghari and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.

This would be like Hitler taking out the US Manhattan's project in 1945, and Becky Quick is asking whether we can trust Mossad's intel abilities. LOL. Dumb and dumber. 

After all these years Becky Quick has not gotten any better. She's the Hegseth of CNBC. Okay, I'm being unfair to Hegseth. But not much. Exhibit A: Hegseth's briefing yesterday with Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. The latter was incredible. Explains why the B-2 strike went off flawlessly over the weekend.

Most inspired nomination by President Trump:

John Daniel Caine (born August 10, 1968 -- a Leo; born ~ 57 years ago) is an American Air Force general and venture capitalist who is currently serving as the 22nd chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served as the associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2021 to 2024.
Can you imagine if this was the norm for the president's cabinet?

More on Mideast

Defense stocks: companies involved in production of bunker busters -- after gain yesterday, lose those gains today. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX are all down significantly today (futures). Not unexpected. FOMO, MOJO yesterday; today, reality. One exception: Boeing doing well in early training, but probably unrelated to B-2 strikes. Later: Boeing is in the red for the day. Completes the group that might have seen a "good" reaction to the strike. They did not, as a group or individually.

Comment: anti-Trumpers focusing on the wrong aspect of the B-2 strike. Missing at least three big stories coming out of the B-2 strike. 

FlightRadar24: being tracked right now -- USAF tanker, KC-135R over Israel right now -- took off from northwestern tip of Crete (Chania) and appears to be landing in Israel. The primary military base near Chania, Greece is Souda Bay Naval Support Activity (NSA), located on the island of Crete. It's situated within the larger Hellenic Air Force Base, near the village of Mouzouras, about 10 miles east of Chania. The base is a strategically important location for the U.S. Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean

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Back To Energy

Electricity demand in focus:

EIA:
ISO-NE (oh-oh; using oil, coal, and still spiking to $400 MWh):
ISO New York (doing well):
ERCOT Texas (ERCOT looking good):

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $66.12. Truce in Mideast holds for 24 hours. Well, maybe sort of. Trump stomps on Israel for any early violations. Taking out a single radar station is background noise. Israel doing a fly-by over Tehran. Think about this: Iran is a free-fly zone for Israel. Personally I find this amazing. WTI plunged 6% yesterday; looks like it will plunge another 3% today.

New wells:

  • Wednesday, June 25, 2025: 54 for the month, 207 for the quarter, 421 for the year,
    • 40896, conf, Hess, EN-McKenna-157-93-3328H-3,
  • Tuesday, June 24, 2025: 53 for the month, 206 for the quarter, 420 for the year,
    • 41260, conf, CLR, Putnam 3-25H,
    • 40659, conf, Enerplus, Rod 149-95-36D-25H, see below.

 Enerplus' "Fishing Pad"

Enerplus' "Fishing Pad" is tracked here.

The Wells

On separate pads in Eagle Nest:

  • 32341, loc/drl, Enerplus, Quillfish 149-95-36C-25H-TF-LLW, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 450K 6/24;
  • 31071, loc/drl, Enerplus, Bait 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 535K 6/24;
  • 31072, loc/drl, Enerplus, Tackle 149-95-36C-25H TF, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 491K 6/24;
  • 40654, loc/drl, Enerplus, Bobber 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest,
  • 40655, loc/drl, Enerplus, Hook 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest,
  • 40656, loc/drl, Enerplus, Waders 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
  • 40657, loc/drl, Enerplus, Line 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
  • 40658, loc/drl, Enerplus, Reel 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
  • 40659, loc/drl, Enerplus, Rod 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,

 Early Production

The wells:

  • 32341, loc/drl, Enerplus, Quillfish 149-95-36C-25H-TF-LLW, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 450K 6/24; cum 464K 4/24;
  • 31071, loc/drl, Enerplus, Bait 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 535K 6/24; cum 544K 4/25;
  • 31072, loc/drl, Enerplus, Tackle 149-95-36C-25H TF, Eagle Nest, t10/16; cum 491K 6/24; cum 514K 4/25;
  • 40654, loc/drl, Enerplus, Bobber 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20252396345624
3-20252654952166
2-20253326546838
  • 40655, loc/drl, Enerplus, Hook 149-95-36C-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20252997153639
3-20252807054229
2-20253495153245
  • 40656, loc/drl, Enerplus, Waders 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20252827748156
3-20253337361932
2-20253925258417
  • 40657, loc/drl, Enerplus, Line 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20253640163605
3-20252655450754
2-20253218748568
  • 40658, loc/drl, Enerplus, Reel 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20253616158361
3-20252277941581
2-20253018842003
  • 40659, loc/drl, Enerplus, Rod 149-95-36D-25H, Eagle Nest,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
4-20252266536999
3-20252816550981
2-20253858857346

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RBN Energy

RBN Energy: Even in a market rife with uncertainty, producers continue reshaping their portfoliosArchived.

RBN Energy: Kinder Morgan Pipeline projects to boost Deep South's access to Appalachian gas. Archived

For several years now, the biggest hurdle to natural gas production growth in the Marcellus/Utica was takeaway constraints — there simply wasn’t enough capacity on gas pipelines out of Appalachia to support a significant bump-up in regional output. Things have been changing though. The Mountain Valley Pipeline and a slew of expansion projects along Transco are allowing increasing volumes of gas to move to and through Virginia and the Carolinas. The proposed Borealis Pipeline across Ohio would enable up to 2 Bcf/d to move down the Texas Gas Transmission system to the Gulf Coast. And, as we discuss in today’s RBN blog, Kinder Morgan is planning several major projects in the Deep South — including the 2.1-Bcf/d Mississippi Crossing and 1.3-Bcf/d South System Expansion 4 projects — to move more gas into Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

As we said in our Don’t Stop Believin’ blog series on the Marcellus/Utica, production in the world-class shale play soared through the 2010s as hundreds of new wells were drilled and completed and many Bcf/d of new takeaway capacity was built. However, the play’s output has been largely rangebound through the first half of the 2020s, hovering between 34 and 36 Bcf/d, largely due to takeaway constraints and the painfully slow pace of capacity additions.

More recently, a number of important projects have advanced to construction and operation — the 2-Bcf/d Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from northern West Virginia to Transco Station 165 in south-central Virginia being a prime example. Just as important, Williams Cos. (Transco’s owner) has been undertaking a long list of projects that allow considerably more gas to flow south on Transco into North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Williams and others also have been planning and building pipelines to deliver gas from Transco to points east of the system.

Williams isn’t the only midstream “family” making a series of improvements to its long-haul pipeline systems to facilitate more gas deliveries out of the Marcellus/Utica. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, owner of the Texas Gas Transmission (TGT) system, is seeking to advance its proposed Borealis Pipeline, a greenfield pipe that would run 180 miles from Clarington, OH, to the northeastern tip of the TGT system in Lebanon, OH. Borealis, along with enhancements to TGT itself, would allow up to 2 Bcf/d to flow south/southwest to the Gulf Coast. Boardwalk is also planning the 1.16-Bcf/d Kosci Junction Pipeline, which will run 110 miles south/southeast from a TGT leg near Kosciusko, MS — Kosci for short — to an interconnect with the company’s Gulf South system south of Meridian, MS.

Figure 1. Tennessee Gas and Southern Natural Gas Systems. Source: RBN