The Midight Hour --Rambling -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48887ARCHIVES.

It's 11:07 p.m. CT and I'm wide awake, eager to read, blog, and listen to YouTube music. 

I think back on all the hours I've spent awake after the midnight hours throughout my life. It's really quite amazing. College. Medical school. 24-hour emergency room duty during my USAF career. Red-eye flights. And, now, even now. Wide awake going into a new day. I might brew a cup of caffeinated coffee. LOL.  I even have a blog dedicated to what I call "The YouTube Fugue."

I am really in a great mood. I have some really great books right now. My "summer reading program" is as good as ever. Link here. The most recent addition:  

The French Dispatch, Matt Zoler Seitz, c. 2023. The Wes Anderson Series.

Which reminds me, look at this: 

Fort Worth's Alliance area is rapidly becoming a significant hub for the movie and television industry, largely due to the establishment of SGS Studios, a large film production campus developed by Taylor Sheridan and Hillwood. This development is part of a broader trend of increased film production in Texas, driven by factors like the state's diverse locations and financial incentives.

Here's a more detailed look:

• SGS Studios:
• This 450,000 square foot facility, located in AllianceTexas, includes sound stages, post-production suites, and other production-related spaces. Tag: Alliance, Texas.
  
• "Landman" and other Productions:
• The Paramount+ series "Landman," co-created by Taylor Sheridan, has been filming at SGS Studios, with other productions also utilizing the space.
• Job Creation:
• the studio complex is expected to create numerous jobs in various roles, including construction, administrative, and production crew positions.
• Training Programs:
• SGS Studios is partnering with Tarrant County College to offer training programs in areas like set construction and post-production, further contributing to workforce development in the film industry.
• Fort Worth as a Production Hub:
• Fort Worth is actively working to attract more film and television projects, including designating media production zones and increasing state film incentives. Texas Film Incentives:
• . Texas has increased its state film incentive program appropriation, making it more attractive for productions to film in the state. 

Today's news, link here:

From the linked article:

Fort Worth has seen a boom in film and television production over the last few years, and it’s about to get a whole lot bigger.

Through their company SGS Studios, “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan and 101 Studios CEO David Glasser are partnering with Hillwood and Paramount Television on a 450,000-square-foot film and television production campus in Fort Worth.

Hillwood, the Ross Perot Jr. company that developed AllianceTexas, says it will be the largest operating film studio in Texas.

The two-building campus in far north Fort Worth is as part of the Alliance development.

The campus features sound stages, post-production suites and ample space to build more sets and props. In total, the facility can support four large-scale film and television productions at the same time. “Landman” season 2 has already filmed at the new studio, and more productions will stop by soon, according to Glasser.Much more at the link. 

AllianceTexas [tag: Alliance, Texas] has been talked about many times on the blog. It's just down the road from where live. TxDOT says that Alliance, Texas, will be the geographic-population center of the DFW metroplex in 2025. It's out where they build BNSF locomotives; NASCAR's Texas Motor Speedway; and one of the first Bucc-ee's.

SGS?

• Sheridan, Glasser, and Schryer.
• Taylor Sheridan: the Yellowstone creator;
• David Glasser: producer; and,
• Dan Schryer, their business partner.

SGS also overseeing the renovation of Fort Worth's legendary Cattlemen's Steakhouse and expanding into studio production.

The Yellowstone franchise is just getting started. See wiki.

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Ten Monopolies Shaping the Future

Link here.

Beth: this should scare the crap out of a lot of folks, as they say. Link here. Tag: TSMC. 2-nm, 2 nm, 2 nanometer.

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A Musical Interlude

Link here. This is as good as it gets. Especially when he gets to the Seeger family.

Link here.

Skiffle.

We’ll Get To This Tomorrow — August 18, 2025

Locator: 48886LDC.

Tag: Ellendale Harwood Amazon Distribution Center 

Google: applied data $3 billion North Dakota.

US data centers.

Link here.

Applied Digital, the company operating data centers near Ellendale and Jamestown, on Monday announced plans to build a $3 billion data center at Harwood, north of Fargo.

Applied Digital plans to break ground in September on what it calls Polaris Forge 2, a 280-megawatt artificial intelligence computing center.

The plan calls for two facilities with room for expansion. Applied Digital has contracted more than 900 acres for its campus and secured power through Cass County Electric Cooperative, a member-owned nonprofit. The data center is expected to employ more than 200 full-time workers plus long-term contractors.

Nick Phillips, executive vice president of Applied Digital who works from the Ellendale campus, said the data center will not use the entire 900 acres with the initial build. He said the buildings will be just over 900,000 square feet, a little smaller than the Amazon distribution center between Fargo and Harwood.

The site will be just south and east of Harwood, a town of about 800 people.

The first part of the facility will be operational in the second half of 2026 and phase two operational in 2027.

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End Of Farmland Being Converted To Solar Farms

Comcast's NBCUniversal TV Empire Breaking Up -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48885MEDIA.

CNBC will separate from MSNBC.

From NY Times:

For three decades, news and progressive opinion on the cable dial has been defined by five capital letters: MSNBC. By the end of this year, a couple of those letters are changing.

As part of a corporate spinoff from Comcast, MSNBC is changing its name to My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW for short. The name is meant to reflect the channel’s mission to provide “breaking news and best-in-class opinion journalism,” Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president, said in a memo to employees on Monday.

“I want to acknowledge that for many of you who have spent years or decades here, it is hard to imagine the network by any other name,” Ms. Kutler said. “This was not a decision that was made quickly or without significant debate.”

Most of the cable channels that were part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal TV empire are being spun out this year into a new company called Versant. The spinoff will require the new company to stop using the NBC brand and its signature Peacock, which are both staying with Comcast, said Mark Lazarus, chief executive of Versant.

Intel: Stayin' Alive -- Softbank Invests $2 Billion In Intel; US Government Might Take 10% Stake In Intel -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48884CHIPS.

Sal De Maras -- Anyone Can Buy Himalayan Pink Salt But Only A Few Of Us Can Get "Sal Incas" From Peru -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48883SALS.

What's so special about Inca pink salt from Peru? 

From ChatGPT:  

“Inca pink salt” (often called Peruvian pink salt or Maras salt) is special for a few reasons — geological, cultural, and culinary: ⸻ 

1. Unique Origin

• It comes from salt pans at Maras, a site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, about 10,000 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes.
• Unlike sea salt harvested from oceans, this salt comes from a subterranean spring that’s been flowing through mineral-rich mountains for thousands of years. 
• The water evaporates in terraced ponds (over 3,000 of them, built by the Incas in the 1400s), leaving behind crystalline pinkish-white salt. 

2. Mineral Composition & Color 

• Its pinkish hue comes from trace minerals — iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. 
• The mineral mix gives it a slightly different taste than standard sea salt: often described as softer, less bitter, and more complex, with a faint sweetness or earthiness. 

3. Cultural & Historical Importance

• These salt pans have been in continuous use since Inca times (and possibly earlier).
• Entire families still manage individual ponds, passing them down through generations. The system remains largely community-run and artisanal. 
• This makes it not just an ingredient but also part of Peru’s living cultural heritage. 

4. Culinary Value, chefs prize it for: 

• Its crunchy texture as a finishing salt. 
• The delicate, less briny taste compared to heavily processed table salt. 
• The aesthetic of its pinkish crystals, which look striking on dishes. 

5. Sustainability & Authenticity

• Unlike mass-produced Himalayan pink salt (which is mined industrially in Pakistan and shipped worldwide), Inca pink salt is harvested in small batches by local communities in Maras. 
• Buying authentic Maras salt supports traditional livelihoods — though there’s also some concern about over-commercialization and knockoffs. 
• In short: What makes Inca pink salt “special” is the combination of geography (Andes spring water), mineral richness (pink hue, mild taste), and deep Incan heritage (centuries-old salt ponds still in use). It’s as much a cultural artifact as it is a seasoning.

 

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The Book Page 

The French Dispatch, Matt Zoler Seitz, c. 2023. The Wes Anderson Series.

Six New Permits; One DUC Reported As Completed -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48882B.

WTI:

Active rigs: 31.

Six new permits, #42224 - #42229, inclusive:

• Operators: Whiting (5); Devon Energy
• Fields: Assiniboine (McKenzie); Painted Woods (Williams)
• Comments:
• Devon Energy has a permit for another Corvette well, lot 12, section 34-155-102, 
• to be sited 1228 FSL and 352 FWL;
• Whiting has permits for five Paulson / Paulson Federal wells, ESE 13-151-104, 
• to be sited 1697 / 1733 FSL and 266 / 393 FEL.

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 41240, 453, Hunt Oil, Clearwater 157-90-13-12H-3, Mountrail County;

The Story Of Semiconductors -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48881BOOKS.

The book page.

 

 

Foxconn, SoftBank, Stargate Team Up -- Foxconn / Softbank To Make Data Center Equipment In Ohio -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48880AI.

Stargate is tracked here. Stargate is huge. 

All of a sudden, the US seems to have a new tech center to challenge Texas, Utah, North Carolina, etc: Ohio. 

Stargate: 

I assume folks remember Stargate. Trump-supported $500 billion initiative to build-out AI centers across the US. By the way, this is very much like the FDR's Manhattan Project, JFK's space program, and Reagan's StarWars -- all huge efforts to take a commanding lead over the rest of the world in a national security arena.

Previously posted, link here, August 14, 2025:

Quick: what state is JD Vance from? What is Intel doing in Ohio?

Intel is heavily invested in Ohio, particularly in Licking County, where they are building two new leading-edge chip factories. This $28 billion project, known as Intel Ohio One, aims to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity and create a new chipmaking ecosystem. The project is a significant part of Intel's IDM 2.0 strategy and is expected to generate thousands of jobs and attract further investment in the region.

None of this is rocket science.

Ohio used to be a swing state. Since Trump, Ohio has been red. This move, if it occurs with Intel, solidifies Ohio for JD Vance.

Now, today, August 18, 2025 -- 

... at the Taiwanese firm's former electric vehicle factory in Ohio, part of the Stargate project to advance U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Softbank has purchased the Lordstown site, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told reporters, adding that Foxconn will continue operating the site via a venture the two companies will set up.

Again:

Stargate is tracked here. Stargate is huge. 

All of a sudden, the US seems to have a new tech center to challenge Texas, Utah, North Carolina, etc: Ohio. 

Manic Monday -- Seems Calm Today -- WTI Continues To Slip -- August 18, 2025

Locator: 48879B.

Most incredible sports video from the weekend, link here: 

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $62.43.

New wells:

• Tuesday, August 19, 2025: 33 for the month, 81 for the quarter, 511 for the year,
• 37545, conf, Hess, AN-Lone Tree-152-95-1207H-7,
• 35236, conf, CLR, Michael State Federal 6-16H1,
• Monday, August 18, 2025: 31 for the month, 79 for the quarter, 509 for the year, 
• 40786, conf, Oasis, Nordby 5793 13-12 4B,
• 39522, conf, BR, Rader Dodge 3E MBH-ULW,
• Sunday, August 17, 2025: 29 for the month, 77 for the quarter, 507 for the year,
• 40754, conf, Oasis, Van Berkom 5793 13-11 3B,
• Saturday, August 16, 2025: 28 for the month, 76 for the quarter, 506 for the year, 
• 35233, conf, CLR, Michael State Federal 5-16H,

RBN Energy: competing plans eye a direct route south for more western Canadian crude.

A few months ago, Enbridge unveiled its plans to expand its massive Mainline and smaller Express/Platte crude oil pipeline systems into the U.S. Midwest/Great Plains. We blogged about those plans, and followed up with a look at how the incremental volumes of Western Canadian crude on the Mainline and Express/Platte might move south from PADD 2 to where they’re wanted most: the Gulf Coast. In today’s RBN blog, we examine what we hear is a fierce competition among midstreamers to piece together a more direct pipeline route from Alberta to Cushing and on to the Texas/Louisiana coast. The stakes are high, and it’s likely that only one of the competing projects will get built. 

Two of the surest bets in the North American energy space these days are that (1) Western Canadian production of heavy crude oil will continue rising and (2) new pipeline takeaway capacity will be needed — sooner or later — to handle those increasing volumes. In Here, There and Everywhere, we discussed Enbridge’s plan to spend up to C$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) by 2028 to improve the efficiency and reliability of its 3.28-MMb/d Mainline pipeline system from Alberta to the Midwest. We noted that Enbridge is investing another C$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) by 2027 on a multiphase optimization project that will boost the system’s capacity by 150 Mb/d — and maybe more, if demand warrants. In addition, the company is looking to add up to 30 Mb/d of capacity to its 310-Mb/d Express-Platte pipeline system, which runs from Hardisty, AB, to Wood River, IL, just west of the Patoka, IL, crude oil hub.

More recently, in Take the Long Way Home, we looked at where those incremental barrels being piped south to PADD 2 (Midwest/Great Plains) would end up and, just as important, how they would get there. As we explained, most of those barrels will be heavy crude from the Alberta oil sands and, given that PADD 2 refineries can’t shoehorn much more low-API oil into their crude slates, almost all of the incremental imports will need to flow through the Midwest to the Cushing, OK, hub and on to refineries and export terminals along the Gulf Coast.

Figure 1. Selected Crude Oil Pipelines in Western Canada and the U.S. Source: RBN