AAPL Hits All-Time High -- May 22, 2026

Locator: 50849AAPL.

Tag: Apple AAPL egg eggs prices

Link here. 

People starting to talk about the "costs" of diversification.

 

********************************
The Book Page

For aficionados of Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Charles Dickens, A. N. Wilson, 2020. 

Notes here. 

Two Early Cases -- June NDIC Hearing Dockets -- Posted May 22, 2026

Locator: 50848DOCKETS.

Hearing dockets are found here at the NDIC.

Monday, Jue 15, 2026
Link here.
One case.

The case, again, this is a case, not a permit: 

• 32982, CLR, Brooklyn-Bakken, commingling, Williams County;

Monday, June 29, 2026
Link here.
Two cases.

 

The cases, again, these are cases, not permist: 

• 32915, Resonance Exploration, South Westhope-Spearfish / Charles (Wilmot) unitization, Bottineau County;
• 32916, Resonance Exploration, South Westhope-Spearfish/Charles (Wilmot), unitization, Bottineau County.

DAPL "Approved" -- A Decade In Place -- May 22, 2026

Locator: 50847B.

Market: futures surging. BRKB might appreciate 5 cents today. 

*********************************
Back to the Bakken 

DAPL: US govt approves DAPL.

WTI: $97.61.

New wells reporting:

• Sunday, May 24, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 
• None.
• Saturday, May 23, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 
• 41752, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-3BH, 
• 41590, conf, Hess, EN-Trout-157-93-3130H-4, 
• Friday, May 22, 2026: 50 for the month, 150 for the quarter, 307 for the year, 
• 41453, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 33-28 XE 1H, 

RBN Energy:  oil and gas prices supercharge 1H26 E&P results. Link here. Archived.

Oil and gas markets don’t stay quiet for long. Just as upstream producers settled into a lower-growth, shareholder-return-focused era, a geopolitical shock in the Middle East and one of the coldest Eastern winters in years sent commodity prices sharply higher during Q1 2026. WTI crude surged on fears surrounding the Iran conflict, while Appalachian natural gas prices briefly spiked into double digits as freezing temperatures tightened supply across key consuming markets. In today’s blog, we chronicle a massive rebound in profitability and cash flow from a dismal Q4 2025 for the 38 E&P companies we cover.

Crude oil prices soared during Q1 2026, but only in the last month of the quarter, so higher realizations tell only part of the earnings story. At the same time, commodity markets strengthened while producers continued to grind down operating costs, cut impairment charges and maintain disciplined spending — allowing much of the price upside to flow directly to their bottom line. The quarter also reinforced how structurally different today’s upstream sector has become compared with prior commodity upcycles, with producers now far more focused on returns and balance-sheet durability than on rapid production growth. Importantly, most producers resisted the temptation to materially accelerate drilling activity, continuing the capital discipline that has defined the sector since 2021. The result was one of the strongest quarters for upstream profitability since the post-pandemic recovery, with Gas-Weighted E&Ps briefly taking center stage before what already appears to be another shift in momentum heading into Q2 2026.

We made several changes to our peer-group composition during Q1 2026 to better reflect the evolving strategic profiles of the companies in our universe. ConocoPhillips was moved into the Oil-Weighted peer group, while EOG Resources was reclassified into the Diversified E&Ps because of its increasingly balanced commodity mix and broader operating footprint. In addition, Diversified Energy and SandRidge Energy were added to the list, expanding our coverage of mature asset and natural gas-focused operating strategies.

The 38 E&P companies covered in this analysis saw profits surge in Q1 2026 as oil prices (gray line and right axis in Figure 1 below) climbed following the Iran conflict and Appalachian natural gas prices — a pivotal benchmark for our Gas-Weighted E&Ps — spiked during an unusually cold winter across the eastern half of the U.S. At the same time, the companies in our universe reduced overall costs by more than $1/boe. Pre-tax profits (blue bars and left axis) more than doubled from Q4 2025 to $13.67/boe in Q1 2026, the second-highest result since mid-2023. Realized prices increased 24% to $38.15/boe, while total costs fell 4% to $24.28/boe. 

Figure 1. E&P Financial Results, 2014-Q1 2026. 
Source: Oil & Gas Financial Analytics LLC

I Get Around -- YouTube -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50846KYLE.

Link here. 

Six New Permits; Six Permits Renewed -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50845B.

The market today:

 

*********************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $98.20.

Active rigs: 25. 

Six new permits, #42961 - #42966, inclusive --

• Operators: BR (4); KODA Resources (2);
• Fields: Fertile Valley (Divide County); Jim Creek (Dunn County);
• Comments: 
• KODA Resources has permits for two Amber wells, lot 4, section 31-160-103, 
• to be sited 400 FSL ad 501 FWL;
• BR has permits for four BR wells, NWNE 12-145-96, 
• to be sited 465 / 625 FNL ad 2205 FEL.

Six permits renewed:

• Foundation Energy Management, four Little Mo Federal permits, Ash Coulee (Billings County) and two Cerkoney permits, Tree Top (Billings County).

Musk, Colossus And Anthropic -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50844TECH.

Tag: Elon Musk Colossus Grok Anthropic 

Link here. 

WTI At $100 -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50843B.

WTI: $100.60.

New wells reporting:

• Friday, May 22, 2026: 50 for the month, 150 for the quarter, 307 for the year, 
• 41453, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 33-28 XE 1H, 
• Thursday, May 21, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, 
• None.

RBN Energy: after years of declining interest, the Anadarko is now an M&A hotbed. Link here. Archived.

The competition for upstream assets in the best parts of the still-growing Permian is fierce and the prices being paid reflect that. It’s a different story in the Anadarko, where oil and gas production has been flat for several years and some larger E&Ps have been heading for the exits. But there’s been a lot of big-money M&A in the Anadarko lately, mostly by companies buying up steady-as-she-goes production assets at reasonable prices and looking for upside. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at the often-overlooked Anadarko and the slew of acquisitions happening there.

As we said in Part 1, the 50,000-square-mile Anadarko Basin (see Figure 1 below) in western Oklahoma, western Kansas and the Texas Panhandle has been among the, um, less exciting oil and gas plays in recent years, with relatively flat production and only modest prospects for a rebound to its late-2010s glory days. Still, a lot has been going on below the surface on the acquisitions front and M&A activity has really been picking up in 2025 and the first few months of 2026.

We noted that some of the recent activity has been driven in part by a handful of larger, publicly held producers selling their positions in the basin to focus on other production areas and, in the process, reduce their debt. The buying side, in turn, has been dominated by what we refer to as “serial acquirers” — a mix of private and public E&Ps that have been gobbling up one set of Anadarko production assets after another. Generally speaking, the buyers like the fact that Anadarko is a reliable, relatively low-cost producer; that the infrastructure to process and pipe away crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs is already in place; and that the acquisition prices are reasonable.

Figure 1. The Anadarko and Ardmore Basins. Source: RBN

WTI Finishes Near $100; Five New Permits; Seven Permits Renewed -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50842B.

Apple: Apple shares hit new all-time closing high. Link here. 

• rose $3.28 to close at $302.25; Apple's all-time intraday high was $303.20; today's intra-day high hit $302.80.
• much more information at the link. 

*************************************
 Back to the Bakken

WTI: $99.07. 

Active rigs: 25.

Five new permits, #42956 - #42960, inclusive:

• Operators: Formentera Operations (4); BR
• Fields: Noonan (Divide County); Jim Creek (Dunn County);
• Comments:
• Formentera Operations has permits for four Bernadette permits, SESW 13-162-95, 
• to be sited 495 FSL and 2247 / 2347 FWL;
• BR has a permit for a Firebird well, NWNE 12-145-96, 
• to sited 529 FNL and 2205 FEL.

Seven permits were renewed:

• Foundation Energy: seven Elkhorn Ranch Federal permits, Elkhorn Ranch, Billings County.

US Markets Surge; BRK Drops -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50841BRKB.

New HEB Opens In North Texas -- Euless, TX -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50840HEB.

Without question, the big news for the day, was the opening of the new HEB in south Glade Parks. I can ride my bike there in less than five minutes, open 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. HEB at the south end of Glade Parks; Target at the north end of Glade Parks. 

I was there at 5:30 a.m. for the grand opening. On my bike.

Earlier. 6:00 a.m. today: link here. 

Wednesday -- WTI Drops Below $100 -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50839B.

Hiring: strengthened. Link here. 

*****************************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $100.49 (as low as $99.92).

New wells reporting:

• Thursday, May 21, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, 
• None.
• Wednesday, May 20, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, \\
• 42029, conf, Kraken, Steen LW 12-13-24 10H, 

RBN Energy: NextEra Energy/Dominion combo may accelerate gas-fired plant buildout. Link here. Archived.

With their scale, financial wherewithal and 130-gigawatt (GW) pipeline of new large-load customers, the planned combination of electric utility and wholesale power giants NextEra Energy and Dominion has the potential to substantially accelerate the buildout of new natural gas-fired power plants and gas transmission infrastructure and, with that, the need for incremental gas production to support it all. There’s a caveat, though, namely that NextEra’s Florida Power & Light (FPL) so far is sticking to its plan to phase out all of its gas-fired generation within the next 20 years. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss how we view the likely impact of the NextEra/Dominion merger, focusing primarily on the near- and midterm.

Many of you have already heard or read about the deal, so we’ll keep our summary to a short paragraph. NextEra Energy, corporate parent of regulated utility FPL and wholesale power developer NextEra Energy Resources, on May 18 announced an agreement to merge with Dominion in an all-stock deal valued at more than $66 billion. NextEra shareholders will hold a 74.5% stake in the combined company and shareholders of Dominion, which has 3.6 million electric customers of its own in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina (plus a half-million gas customers in South Carolina), will hold a 25.5% stake. The massive deal is expected to close in 12 to 18 months; the duration is tied in part to the fact that it needs to be reviewed and approved by four state public service commissions. (Oh, and while a single entity will be formed, NextEra and Dominion will retain their names and operate out of dual headquarters in Florida and Virginia, respectively.)

In announcing the agreement, John Ketchum, NextEra’s chairman, president and CEO, said “To really put our size and scale into perspective, consider this: The combined company's enterprise value would make us the third-largest company in the energy sector in America, behind ExxonMobil and just barely behind Chevron, and bigger than the next two largest power companies combined.”

To get a handle on the merger’s significance to data centers, power development and U.S. gas consumption — the primary focus of our analysis today — let’s briefly describe the three biggest elements of the two parent companies:

• NextEra Energy’s (NEE) FPL subsidiary is the largest electric utility in the U.S., with more than 6 million customers, the vast majority of them on the Florida peninsula and a much smaller number in the state’s panhandle. FPL also is the nation’s #1 end-use consumer of natural gas; the utility’s 37-GW-plus generation fleet includes more than 20 GW of combined-cycle plants and 3 GW of combustion turbines (CTs) that likely consume an average of 1.5 to 2 Bcf/d in the warmer, more humid months of the year when air conditioning demand is highest. FPL’s pipeline supply contracts add up to some 2.2 Bcf/d, equal to the demand of an LNG export terminal. Its pipeline contracts represent about half of all the gas consumed in Florida.
• NEE’s NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) unit is the U.S.’s largest developer, owner and operator of independent power facilities, almost all of which sell their output to utilities and others under long-term power purchase agreements. NEER’s current generation portfolio tops 36 GW, with wind farms accounting for about 60% of the total, followed by solar (28%), nuclear (6%), natural gas (4%, or about 1.5 GW), and biomass and other renewables (2%). The subsidiary also has more than 5 GW of battery storage capacity.
• Dominion, finally, owns three regulated utilities: Dominion Energy Virginia, Dominion Energy North Carolina and Dominion Energy South Carolina. The North Carolina utility serves the northeastern corner of the state and operates in conjunction with its much larger Virginia counterpart. Their installed capacity totals more than 23 GW, including 8.4 GW of utility-owned gas-fired plants. Dominion Energy South Carolina, in turn, has about 6 GW of existing capacity, nearly half of it fueled by gas.

There are three more things we should note here — all of which will play into what we’ll be discussing in a moment. One is that Dominion Energy Virginia serves the largest concentration of energy-intensive data centers on the planet (see Sweet Virginia). Another is that FPL and the Dominion utilities have locked up a substantial share of the existing and planned pipeline capacity serving the lower half of the East Coast. Yet another is that NextEra in the past couple of years has entered into several agreements — with gas-plant provider GE Vernova, utility giants Entergy and Xcel Energy, and mega-tech companies Google and Meta, among others — aimed at quickly advancing the development of power projects to support massive data center plans across the U.S.

Before we get into some details, Figure 1 below puts the size and ambitions of NextEra and Dominion into perspective. The short green bar to the right illustrates the capacity of Dominion’s (stock symbol D) existing generation fleet (about 30 GW), while the blue bar shows NextEra’s (stock symbol NEE) 80 GW and the black bar shows the pro forma company’s combined 110 GW. The tall green bar to the far left shows what the companies see as the potential size of NextEra/Dominion’s fleet in 2032, by which time they expect to add another 115 to 150 GW of capacity, most of it from solar, battery storage and gas-fired projects (and maybe some nuclear). NextEra’s Ketchum, who will serve as the merged company’s CEO, noted that the expected addition of about 130 GW of capacity over the next six years is “more than three times the total installed capacity of the entire state of New York.”

Figure 1. Top 10 Electric Generators in the U.S. (in GW). Source: NextEra/Dominion

Five New Permits; Six Permits Renewed -- May 19, 2026

Locator: 50838B.

WTI: $104.30. Though, CNBC suggests WTI is >$105. [Yes, late tonight: oilprice shows the price of WTI at $107.80.]

Active rigs: 21.

Five new permits, #42951 - 42955; 

• 42951, Enerplus, Magnum 5301 36 4BHP, Baker, lot 7, section 4-152-101; 1287 FNL and 2283 FEL;
• 42952, BR, Ole Clemens 2F-MBH-ULW, Dimmick Lake, SESW 7-151-96; 438 FSL 2145 FWL; 
• 42953, KODA Resources, Pilsner 2511-1BHN, East Goose Lake, SWSW 25-162-103, 606 FSL and 552 FWL. 
• 42954, KODA Resources, Pilser 2514-3BH, East Goose Lake, SWSW 25-162-103, 606 FSL and 587 FWL. 
• 42955, KODA Resources, Pilsner 2512-2BHN, East Goose Lake, SWSW 25-162-103, 606 FSL and 6222 FWL. 

Six permits renewed:

• Oasis (5): four Aune Federal ...3B / 2BX and ne Ernie Federal ... 2BX; Eightmile oil field, Williams County;
• Devon Energy: one Sorenson 29-32 9TFH permit; Alger oil field, Mountrail County. 

Scientific Technical Revolution (STR) -- One Of Three Revlutions In The Modern World -- May 19, 2026

Locator: 50837STR.

Walter Isaacson: said there were three.

******************************

The Book Page

The Mystery of Charles Dickens, A. N. Wilson, 2020.

Notes here.

 

The Annotated A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, Susanne Alleyn, c. 2014.

 

Notes here.  

Tuesday -- May 19, 2026

Locator: 50836B.

Google Gemini / Spark AI introduced. 

Qeshm Island: explosions heard overnight. Mum's the word. 

WTI: spikes to $108.80 mid-morning. Later, $107.70. CVX up $2.70 today; trading at $197.06/

****************************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $103.30, but there are reports that WTI has hit $107.10 overnight.

New wells reporting:

• Tuesday, May 19, 2026: 48 for the month, 148 for the quarter, 305 for the year, 
• 42030, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East LE 2-36-26 11H, 
• 41750, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-1BH, 
• 19795, conf, Devon Energy, Johnson 150-99-34-27-1H, 
• Monday, May 18, 2026: 45 for the month, 145 for the quarter, 302 for the year, 
• 41956, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East 26-35 8H, 

RBN Energy: After years of declining interest, the Anadarko is now an M&A hotbed. Link here. Archived.

The prospect of procuring steady-as-she-goes production assets at reasonable prices has been spurring interest in the sprawling Anadarko Basin. In just the past few weeks, two privately held producers closed on deals totaling more than $4 billion, and earlier this month, publicly held Diversified Energy — in partnership with Carlyle Group, the global investment firm — announced an agreement to buy a big set of assets from Camino Natural Resources for nearly $1.2 billion. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the big-money M&A happening in the Anadarko and the drivers behind it.

The 50,000-square-mile Anadarko Basin, which is centered in western Oklahoma but extends into the Texas Panhandle and western Kansas, has seen its ups and downs during the Shale Era. Back in the early-to-mid 2010s — after the booms in the Bakken and the Eagle Ford, and before the Permian took (and held) the spotlight — it seemed for a moment that all eyes were on the Anadarko’s SCOOP/STACK (see Figure 1 below; we’ll make brief mention of the adjoining Ardmore Basin in Part 2). Production from horizontal wells in the Anadarko continued rising through 2019, with crude oil output peaking at about 500 Mb/d and natural gas production approaching 7 Bcf/d.

But a combination of the Covid shock and better rock (and economics) elsewhere — especially the Permian — took the wind out of the Anadarko’s sails; so did the determination there was “pressure communication” between the STACK’s Meramec and Woodford formations, complicating development there. (Put simply, pressure communication means that wells in one formation are interfering with the other rather than behaving independently — a bad thing.) E&Ps in the play ratcheted down their Oklahoma capex; production sagged and then plateaued at less-impressive levels: about 300 Mb/d of oil and 5 to 5.5 Bcf/d of gas in recent years.

Figure 1. The Anadarko and Ardmore Basins. Source: RBN

Google, Blackstone To Create New AI Cloud Company -- May 18, 2026

Locator: 50835GOOG.

"You can howl at the wind, but AI is not going away." -- Amazon CEO Andy Jesse. 

Link here. 

 From the linked article:

Alphabet’s Google and Blackstone plan to create an artificial-intelligence cloud company to rival the likes of CoreWeave using Google’s specialized chips, according to people familiar with the matter.

The duo plans to launch the unnamed U.S. company with $5 billion in equity capital from Blackstone, which will be the majority owner, the people said. The deal is set to be announced later Monday. 

The venture, the biggest attempt yet by Google to sell and monetize its own chips to external parties, will sharpen a rivalry with Nvidia, the market leader in AI computing.

The new company aims in 2027 to bring 500 megawatts of capacity online—roughly the same amount of electric power required to serve a midsize city—and substantially increase capacity over time, the people familiar with the matter said.

The companies are forming the venture as demand for computing power to train and run advanced AI models reaches unprecedented levels. Most of the major AI companies currently rely, at least in part, on computing infrastructure from CoreWeave, which uses Nvidia’s chips. A class of smaller so-called neocloud companies have also cropped up in response to ravenous demand.

Google last month introduced a new processor that is customized for AI inference, or the computing required to run models rather than train them. Demand for that type of processing has exploded as businesses embrace AI. Google also introduced a new version of its chips that is specially designed for training models.

Google will supply hardware—including its specialized chips known as Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs—as well as software and services to the venture, the people said. Benjamin Treynor Sloss, a longtime Google executive, will serve as the new company’s CEO.

Google and Blackstone have identified data centers that will likely be part of the venture, some of which are in the process of being built.

Industry observers have wondered for years whether Google will commercialize its TPUs for widespread use. The technology giant has signed two major deals with outsiders: one to give Claude-maker Anthropic access to about one million of its chips, and another with Facebook owner Meta Platforms.

News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms.

Bakken End-Of-Day Report -- May 18, 2026

Locator: 50834B.

Back to the Bakken

WTI: $104.40.

Active rigs: 22. 

Five new permits, #42946 - #42950, inclusive:

• Operators: Hunt Oil Company
• Fields: Parshall (Mountrail County)
• Comments:
• Hunt Oil has permits for three Oakland wells and two Severance wells, lot 4, section 4-153-89, 
• to be sited 434 FNL and 883 / 1003 FWL.

Eight permits renewed:

• Silver Hill (5):  four Haustveit permits (Capa, Williams County); and, one Tank permit (Wheelock, Williams County);
• Lime Rock Resources (3): two Robert Sadowsky permits (Manning, Dunn County); and, one Harlan Rebsom permit Murphy Creek (Dunn County).

Monday, May 18, 2026

Locator: 50833B.

Bonds: everything points to a bull market! 

Deal: holy mackerel! NextEra Energy to buy Dominion!

WNBA: Another day, another record for Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, who is now the WNBA's all-time leader in 20-point, 10-assist games.

Clark, who had 21 points and 10 assists on Sunday, now has 12 20-and-10 games -- in just 57 career appearances. Clark technically broke the record on Friday night in the team's overtime loss to the Washington Mystics but just for good measure, she had another big night on 5-of-10 shooting from the field in the Fever's 89-78 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.  

******************************
Back to the Bakken 

WTI: $102.90.

New wells reporting:

• Tuesday, May 19, 2026: 48 for the month, 148 for the quarter, 305 for the year, 
• 42030, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East LE 2-36-26 11H, 
• 41750, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-1BH, 
• 19795, conf, Devon Energy, Johnson 150-99-34-27-1H, 
• Monday, May 18, 2026: 45 for the month, 145 for the quarter, 302 for the year, 
• 41956, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East 26-35 8H, 
• Sunday, May 17, 2026: 44 for the month, 144 for the quarter, 301 for the year, 
• 41955, conf, Kraken Dwyer East 26-35 7H, 
• 41858, conf, Devon Energy, Finn 13-25F XW 1H, 
• 41497, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-6, 
• 41496, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-6325H-5, 
• 41495, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-4, 
• 41452, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 32-29 6H, 
• Saturday, May 16, 2026: 38 for the month, 138 for the quarter, 295 for the year, 
• 41957, conf, Kraken, McCabe 24-13 5H, 
• 41751, conf, KODA resources, Stout 1301 2BH, 

RBN Energy: after a long, steady decline, Alaska oil production is on the rise. Link here. Archived.

Last year, Alaska produced only 421 Mb/d of crude oil, barely one-fifth the more than 2 MMb/d that wells there were churning out back in 1988, when North Slope production peaked. It’s been a long, steady decline, but two new projects — one already producing and the other only weeks away from “first oil” — will add a combined 100 Mb/d once both are fully up and running. And Alaska’s biggest new project in years, ConocoPhillips’s massive Willow effort, will contribute another 180 Mb/d by 2030. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the ongoing rebound in North Slope production and the prospects for even more growth going forward.

As we said five years ago in The End?, it’s been a challenging few decades for producers in the 49th state. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, Alaska was seen as the next big thing for U.S. crude oil production. With the 1977 completion of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) from Prudhoe Bay in the north to Valdez in the south, Alaska North Slope (ANS) production took off (blue line in Figure 1 below), and just 11 years later the state not only accounted for 25% of total U.S. crude oil output, it also briefly knocked Texas off its perch as the #1 oil-producing state. Alaska crude oil production was all downhill from there, however. By 1995, it had fallen to less than 1.5 MMb/d, and by 2000, it was below 1 MMb/d. The slide didn’t end there. Through the mid-2010s, production was hovering around 500 Mb/d, and so far in the 2020s it’s been averaging less than 450 Mb/d — or just over 3% of total U.S. output.

Figure 1. Alaska Crude Oil Production. Source: EIA

 

Teres Major -- An Amazing Cut Of Meat -- Getting Ready For Summer -- May 17, 2026

Locator: 50832TERESMAJOR.

This was from 2010, link here:

A couple of readers and I have been talking about grilling teres major. The reader who brought it to my attention mentioned they had it again this week and continue to really enjoy it. Another reader, a real grill master / a Weber aficionado said he had not grilled teres major before but was always looking for something new.

He ordered teres major from Snake River Farms about a week ago, and coincidentally it arrived today:

And tonight, just moments ago, he sent this photograph and this comment: "This cut is amazing!"

Wow, is that not impressive!

In the upper midwest, your butcher may know it as chuck-eye. It comes from the shoulder (chuck) of the steer, but it's an elongated muscle that is a pain for the butcher to separate out from the rest of the shoulder, so one seldom sees it (at least based on what others have said). On a transverse cut of the chuck, the teres major looks like the eye -- or the center -- and thus chuck-eye.

At least that's my understanding. 

***************************

A reader wrote me tonight -- 

There’s a butcher I try to get to every once in a while just to see and viola , there it is. Got lucky I guess. 

Found this earlier this week:

Wishing all a great summer of grilling!

Sunday Night: WTI Surges; Breaks Through $107 -- May 17, 2026

Locator: 50831SUNDAYNIGHT.

WTI: Its "go time" for Trump. Sunday night; Trump just back from a successful China trip. WTI surges at the open. Up 1.75%; up $1.84; opens at $107.30. Overall market continues to fall (futures). Trump has called a meeting in the "Situation Room" for Tuesday, two days from now. [Later: drops back to $106.50.]

PGA: Aaron Rai runs away from the field. Wins by three. Scottie Scheffler, T14.

Amazon (AMZN): "You can howl at the wind, but AI is not going away." -- CEO Andy Jessy over at Amazon.

MSFT: from an investment point of view, this may be the most interesting. See this link. BRK holds more MSFT than any of the other funds being tracked.

Computer choice: Verge provides options. Starts with three Apple computers. Link here. The M5 MacBook Air 15-inch, 2026, $1,149); the same, but 13-inch, $949; MacBook Neo, $599. Best price lower by $100 for verified students, educators. 

And while the MacBook Neo's A18 Pro processor is technically a smartphone chip, it’s faster than most Windows laptop chips in single-core performance — making it more than enough for everyday tasks. 

Its 8GB of RAM and relatively slow storage may feel lean for more intensive users, but the Neo performs great unless you really push it with dozens of Chrome tabs or heavier content creation apps.

Three-Mile Island: it's being reported that Unit 1 is being reopened as early as early 2027. Constellation Energy is working with FERC to see that it opens on time to provide power to Microsoft's LDCs. 

*********************
The Book Page

I finally finished A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. Notes here. I've now become obsessed with the book and will spend weeks studying it and discussing it with the only one that will listen to me regarding it: the chatbots. LOL.

Since I had just recently finished three books on India and now knowing the backstory to this book, I will be re-reading the history of India at the time Charles Dickens wrote this novel. 

• Indian Mutiny: Indian Rebellion of 1857 -- see wiki.
• "the events of 1857 ... have provoked more impassioned literature than any other single event in Indian history." -- p. 436 -- at the bottom.  
• connection: A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859
• the end of the English East India Company ruling India ended
• the beginning of the British Raj 

The first thing I'll do is read A. N. Wilson's The Mystery of Charles Dickens.  Have ordered a copy from Amazon.  

Query: Charles Dickens died fairly young. What was that all about?

Reply:  

Early Production Data For Wells Coming Off Confidential List This Next Week -- May 17, 2026

Locator: 50830B.

The wells: 

• 41753, conf, Stout 1301-4BH, Fertile Valley, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	20192	2352
2-2026	18798	2829
1-2026	23493	8580
12-2025	21138	8449

• 41752, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-3BH, Fertile Valley, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	17843	2086
2-2026	18074	2721
1-2026	24592	9039
12-2025	24663	10319

• 41590, conf, Hess, EN-Trout-157-93-3130H-4, Big Butte, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	15395	24273
2-2026	12939	18564
1-2026	24934	29403
12-2025	41359	34509
11-2025	7074	1790

• 41453, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 33-28 XE 1H, Todd, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	13615	12387
2-2026	4451	3898
1-2026	27074	24664
12-2025	27140	22820
11-2025	13746	10930

• 42029, conf, Kraken, Steen LW 12-13-24 10H, Antelope Creek, npd, 
• 42030, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East LE 2-36-26 11H, Antelope Creek, npd, 
• 41750, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-1BH, Fertile Valley, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	17452	2046
2-2026	17084	2685
1-2026	23628	9196
12-2025	22945	10598

• 19795, conf, Devon Energy, Johnson 150-99-34-27-1H, South Tobacco Garden, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	16265	42395
2-2026	16239	34072
1-2026	17135	32302
12-2025	13479	19657

• 41956, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East 26-35 8H, Rawson, npd, 
• 41955, conf, Kraken Dwyer East 26-35 7H, Rawson, npd,
• 41858, conf, Devon Energy, Finn 13-25F XW 1H, Briar Creek, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	29311	23574
2-2026	28284	23348
1-2026	28918	21007
12-2025	35768	23505
11-2025	30310	27836

• 41497, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-6, Juniper,

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	16237	31220
2-2026	16589	33359
1-2026	20638	40714
12-2025	25958	48124
11-2025	14117	30369

• 41496, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-6325H-5, Juniper, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	14283	29743
2-2026	16602	30781
1-2026	18681	36955
12-2025	27547	46679
11-2025	11367	17369

• 41495, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-4, Juniper, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	12017	29574
2-2026	13334	27546
1-2026	19513	40299
12-2025	21146	42262
11-2025	1602	2463

• 41452, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 32-29 6H, Todd, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	17887	16859
2-2026	20170	17503
1-2026	29186	25743
12-2025	28630	24078
11-2025	30541	26622

• 41957, conf, Kraken, McCabe 24-13 5H, Rawson, npd, 
• 41751, conf, KODA resources, Stout 1301 2BH, Fertile Valley, 

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
3-2026	27387	3128
2-2026	26412	3848
1-2026	32517	11783
12-2025	26444	11310

Wells Coming Off Confidential List This Next Week -- May 17, 2027

Locator: 50829B.

Wednesday, May 27, 2026: 53 for the month, 153 for the quarter, 310 for the year, 
41753, conf, Stout 1301-4BH, 

Tuesday, May 26, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 

Monday, May 25, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 

Sunday, May 24, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 
None.

Saturday, May 23, 2026: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 309 for the year, 
41752, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-3BH, 
41590, conf, Hess, EN-Trout-157-93-3130H-4, 

Friday, May 22, 2026: 50 for the month, 150 for the quarter, 307 for the year, 
41453, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 33-28 XE 1H, 

Thursday, May 21, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, 
None.

Wednesday, May 20, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, 
42029, conf, Kraken, Steen LW 12-13-24 10H, 

Tuesday, May 19, 2026: 48 for the month, 148 for the quarter, 305 for the year, 
42030, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East LE 2-36-26 11H, 
41750, conf, KODA Resources, Stout 1301-1BH, 
19795, conf, Devon Energy, Johnson 150-99-34-27-1H, 

Monday, May 18, 2026: 45 for the month, 145 for the quarter, 302 for the year, 
41956, conf, Kraken, Dwyer East 26-35 8H, 

Sunday, May 17, 2026: 44 for the month, 144 for the quarter, 301 for the year, 
41955, conf, Kraken Dwyer EAst 26-35 7H, 
41858, conf, Devon Energy, Finn 13-25F XW 1H, 
41497, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-6, 
41496, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-6325H-5, 
41495, conf, Hess, BW-Wilson-149-99-3625H-4, 
41452, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 32-29 6H, 

Saturday, May 16, 2026: 38 for the month, 138 for the quarter, 295 for the year, 
41957, conf, Kraken, McCabe 24-13 5H, 
41751, conf, KODA resources, Stout 1301 2BH, 

The Mac Mini -- This Is Simply An Incredible Story -- May 17, 2026

Locator: 50828AAPL.

Quote: "Because of this surge in demand, high-memory Mac Minis are frequently selling out, prompting Apple to expand domestic production at their Apple Newsroom facilities in Houston, TX."

Apple's Newsroom in Houston: 

May 17, 2026: this is simply crazy. Is Apple's Mac Mini becoming a "must-have" AI peripheral? 

May 17, 2026 -- link here -- this is quite the story -- and we've discussing it for quite some time, see links below:

 

The background: link here -- a very, very, very good blog that explains all this --