The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): 12/14/25

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Electricity Costs Starting To Surge In The Northeast — December 14, 2025

Locator: 49705ELECTRICITY.

Google: electricity costs in New England start to surge again.

PJM: link here. See below -- all red central Atlantic seacoast.

ISO-NE: link here. Trending toward $200 / MWh.

ISO-NY: link here. Coming down from $175 / MWh.

All red -- all hands on deck --

Related to propane issue.

Propane issue: Mr Burns is on the case and has called in Mr Simpson to help trouble-shoot this problem --

Why?

A Reader Notified Me That Continental Resources Plans To Drill In This Area In Montana -- Case Was Scheduled To Be Presented To Montana Regulators December 11, 2025

Locator: 49704MONTANABAKKEN.

Note: there may be typographical and/or content errors. I often make errors with maps. If this is important to you, go to the source.

Just the maps:

Zoom way out: east Montana and western North Dakota, mostly along US Highway 2.

Zoom in: local area northwest of Culbertson, Montana.

Zoom in: four-section stand-up drilling unit, sections 6 / 7 / 18 / 19 -- T28N-R56E.

Best Places To Live In The US -- December 14, 2025

Locator: 49703TEXAS.

A continuation of my earlier blog / follow-up to earlier blog regarding net worth and home values.

Link here. Note: this is from May 23, 2025.

From US News & World Report, top 250 best places to live in the US. Link here.

Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.

For the 2025-2026 rankings, U.S. News expanded its coverage from 150 to 250 U.S. cities, and updated its methodology to examine each city based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration.

This was of interest to me because of our geographical location, just "down the street" from three of the most affluent suburbs in the DFW area: Flower Mound, Southlake, and Westlake (the latter, home of Schwab).

The top three best places to live are located in Johns Creek, Georgia (No. 1), Carmel, Indiana (No. 2), and the Houston-area suburb of Pearland, Texas (No. 3). [I've been to Pearland on many occasions -- taking our oldest granddaughter to water polo tournaments.]

Flower Mound ranked No. 14 nationwide, and it landed in the coveted No. 4 spot in U.S. News' separate rankings of the best places to live in Texas for 2025-2026.

Aspects of Flower Mound that put it at the top of the list include its high median household income ($163,766), median home values ($476,609), and its bustling population of more than 77,000 residents. [I've been to Flower Mound several times to take another granddaughter to a friends "ranch" to ride horses.]

The city's population is a healthy mix of young individuals and families, with 26 percent of residents being under 20 years old and 28 percent of the population being between the ages of 20-44. Nearly a third of Flower Mound's population is between 45-64 years old, while only 13 percent of residents are over 65, the report says.

In a separate report, Southlake ranked seventh -- this report by GOBankingRates was posted July 17, 2025. Link here. [Southlake is our "go-to" city for everything. Schwab, Costco, restaurants.]

A recent study by GOBankingRates once again confirms what many Texans already know — some of the most affluent communities in the country are right here in the Lone Star State.

The 2025 list of the Top 50 Wealthiest Suburbs in the United States evaluated cities and towns with at least 5,000 households, comparing average household income and average home values using the latest Census and Zillow data.

Previously ranked No. 13, Southlake has climbed to No. 7 on this year’s list. Known for its nationally recognized schools, high-end real estate, and family-friendly lifestyle, Southlake continues to attract affluent residents.
Average household income: $382,520
Average home value: $1,290,325

Westlake, Texas: from a local news station, June 24, 2023 --

Westlake, Texas, is the state's wealthiest city, according to an online study.

Utilizing mean household income and median sales prices of homes from US Census data and Redfin, Suburbs101 ranked the top 11 wealthiest cities in the Lone Star State and the affluent Tarrant County town topped the list.

Not to be confused with the West Lake Hills area of Austin (which is affluent in its own right and also in the list), Westlake and its sparse population of just over 1,600 people boasts an impressive $471,768 mean household income. The median sales price of homes in Westlake, according to the study, is $4,022,051.

That's what interested me in trying to sort out what I saw at the coin show yesterday in Grapevine, TX. Exactly what were these folks were worth and how much was tied up in homes, gold, and silver. LOL.

I eagerly looked forward to the show. The coin show in Grapevine -- perhaps one of the biggest in Texas -- needs to be fact-checked -- costs $5 to get in on Friday / Saturday ($5 for both days; come and go as you please) and $2 to get in on Sunday.

It's in town three or four times / year. I assume the Christmas event is the largest -- Grapevine, Texas, bills itself as the Christmas Capital of the world.

The coin show did not disappoint. It was shoulder-to-shoulder. I had my eyes on four specific coins. Maybe six.

But it was shoulder-to-shoulder, and I was clearly out of my depth. I spent about an hour but quickly realized how out of my depth I was. The coins featured with priced incredibly well, much less than what one sees in the trade magazines, but being out of my depth, I did not buy any coins. I might return today (Sunday) but not sure.

I am perplexed -- for lack of a better word -- whether to keep collecting coins, and what's the purpose of doing so. This is not a pastime for amateurs. And I'm clearly an amateur.

After reading the article about the shooting at Brown University, Rhode Island, it just struck me. I assume the coin show was packed with folks who carried handguns, but I did not see one handgun. I also did not see one uniformed policeman, but I assume the place was covered with law enforcement not in uniform. I don't know. But it was weird. Our local liquor store has move uniformed presence. [I think I wrote about that many, many years ago. Saturday night the store has a uniformed policeman on the second floor overlooking the main floor, with a rifle of some sort -- it doesn't appear to be an automatic -- but I don't spend a lot of time trying to sort those things out. When I first noted that some years ago, I asked one of the store employees the background with regard to that kind of "coverage." I was surprised at the answer but can't divulge it here.]

So, anyway, what started out as a simple day at the coin show turned out to be a quest to figure out a bit more about the demographics of the vendors and the buyers, net worth and home values. Truly amazing. Demographics: 99% white men. I think I saw a dozen women or thereabouts out of the hundreds (vendors and buyers). One child, in a stroller, under the age of a year. Probably under the age of six months. Vendors in mid-40's to mid-60's, I suppose. A fair number of old folks like me but clearly in the minority.

But now, I'm more interested in demographics of Westlake, TX. Of that, I was completely unaware. Westlake, TX, is the home of Schwab, and NASCAR's Texas Motor Speedway. And a Buc-ee's. At the intersection of State Highway 114 and I-35 West. TxDOT predicts this area to be the geo-population center of the DFW Metroplex. It's near the Alliance Airport, one of the most interesting airports I've seen -- location and purpose.

Link here.

Person Of Interest -- Brown University -- In Custody -- No Description -- December 14, 2025

Locator: 49702ARCHIVES.

Updates

00:28, early Monday morning, December 15: individual released. Authorities admit: can’t possibly be him.

Later, 5:00 p.m. CT: it should be noted that it was Trump's FBI that broke this case open, finding the person of interest about eighteen miles south of the university.{That certainly didn’t age well. That individual has been released,} Still, no identification, almost 24-hours after the shooting and almost eighteen hours after person-of-interest placed in custody. My hunch is that law enforcement is getting names of accomplices or at least names of those who were in on the shooting.

Original Post

Link here.

Most surprising to me: the university allowed law enforcement on campus in response to the incident. With guns.

Contributing to the AP story breaking the news:

Devon Energy Reporting Some Incredible Costanza Wells In Siverston -- December 14, 2025

Locator: 49701B.
Locator: 49649B.

Reposting, but placing the wells first and then the maps, and providing updated production data for some wells.

The wells:

32369, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23EXH, Siverston, npd
32370, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23A, Siverston, npd
32371, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23E, Siverston, npd
32372, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23B, Siverston, npd
32373, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23F, Siverston, npd
32416, conf, XTO, Hartel 14X-23BXC, Siverston, npd

40961, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-14 XW 1H, Siverston, t6/25; cum 100K 10/25;
40962, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 1TFH, Siverston, t6/25; cum 220K 10/25;
40963, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 2H, Siverston, t6/25; cum 170K 10/25;
40964, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 3TFH, Siverston, t6/25; cum 100K 10/25;
40968, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 4H, Siverston, t6/25; cum 190K 10/25;
40723, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 5TFH, Siverston, t6/25; cum 150K 10/25;
40969, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 6H, Siverston, t7/25; cum 200K 10/25;
40970, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 7TFH, Siverston, t7/25; cum 130K 10/25;
40971, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 8H, Siverston, t6/25; cum 170K 10/25;

Production profile for some of the Costanza wells above:

40969:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	25594	116939
9-2025	31155	99099
8-2025	57801	129773
7-2025	88937	157710

40962:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	16022	41023
9-2025	26564	80280
8-2025	36646	95454
7-2025	54546	133873
6-2025	46425	43043

40971, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 8H, Siverston,

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	21957	96339
9-2025	28808	86829
8-2025	39467	125402
7-2025	64277	140110
6-2025	20750	32769

40968, conf, Devon Energy, Costanza 24-13 4H, Siverston,

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	23321	118832
9-2025	30246	93014
8-2025	34410	102429
7-2025	80982	160811
6-2025	31991	42330

40961: test date, 6/13/25; flowing casing pressure, 2,577 psi; 51 stages; 225,427 bbls; 22,147,080 lbs of proppant; within the Watford City edge of town; total lateral depth of 21,480 feet; top of the target was 8' into the middle Bakken and extended 16' down; lateral began at 18:23 hours CDT on October 1, 2024; TD at 14:46 hrs, CDT, October 3, 2024; they drilled the lateral in less than 72 hours; total lateral depth, 21,480 feet. Spacing unit: 4 sections -- 13 / 14 / 23 / 24 - 150-98.

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2025	21	17165	17219	13562	54789	53718	1071
BAKKEN	9-2025	30	27659	27880	20807	99926	98636	1290
BAKKEN	8-2025	31	48396	48296	33081	196141	186386	9755
BAKKEN	7-2025	31	66276	66644	40983	170169	151660	18509
BAKKEN	6-2025	30	60869	60165	33335	129206	45535	83671
BAKKEN	5-2025	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

40963:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	21003	79308
9-2025	31444	108274
8-2025	36616	99160
7-2025	49316	108988
6-2025	26826	26962

40964:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	17457	57360
9-2025	22977	61103
8-2025	2114	3395
7-2025	41353	105233
6-2025	23117	29046

40723:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	17496	61479
9-2025	26822	65877
8-2025	12683	31888
7-2025	70819	148328
6-2025	11696	22286

40970:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
10-2025	22861	63495
9-2025	30937	65182
8-2025	18468	45475
7-2025	56205	118054

The maps:

Initial Production For Wells Coming Off Confidential List This Next Week -- December 14, 2025

Locator: 49700B.