Locator: 50239B.
Iran: top leadership wiped out (again). Again, many, many stories but I would trust IDF press --
- says Iran's National Security chief Larijani is dead
- most recently primarily responsible for killing tens of thousands (pick your own number) protestors
- taken out by Israeli precision strike overnight
- this is the guy who threatened Trump just five days ago
- still nothing is being heard from pegleg Khamenei
- last report: he had been flown to Moscow for post-traumatic management of lost leg
Bismark Tribune: always amazing what the BT chooses to post on x.
- BT's headline story today: Joe Kent resigns after less than one year in "office."
- nominated by Trump in February, 2025; confirmed by US Senate, July 31, 2025
- Joe Kent comes across as our own Greta Thunberg in US counterintelligence
Market:
- CVX: hits a 52-week high;
- QCOM: increases dividend and buyback
- NVDA: says revenue from chips to hit $1 trillion
- MU: Vera Rubin milestone
Cuba: getting little-to-no press from mainstream legacy press like WSJ, NYT.
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $94.69 (the current price vs change in price make absolutely no sense any more, as reported by oilprice).
New wells reporting:
- Wednesday, March 18, 2026: 24 for the month, 130 for the quarter, 130 for the year,
- 41029, conf, Devon Energy, Eide 6-7 6H,
- 40056, conf, CLR, Brakken FIU 2-6H,
- Tuesday, March 17, 2026: 22 for the month, 128 for the quarter, 128 for the year,
- 41604, conf, BR, Sivertson 6G,
- 40057, conf, CLR, Brakken FIu 3-6H,
- 39743, conf, Devon, Darlene 13-24F 6TFH,
RBN Energy: exchange of barrels from US SPR would drop storage to lowest levels since the 1980s. Link here. Archived.
First question: US oil in storage -- how many days "worth"?
The world has been closely watching the situation in the Middle
East and its impact on energy markets since late February. U.S. and
Israeli airstrikes on Iran have been followed by retaliatory strikes by
Iran on several of its neighbors, including crude oil tankers in the
critical Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to spike. As part of a
global response, the U.S. said it would release 172 MMbbl of crude oil
from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). In today’s RBN blog, we
detail the U.S.’s plans, examine how it compares with actions after the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and show why the reserve could drop
to levels not seen since the Reagan administration.
WTI
crude oil at Cushing, OK, mostly traded in a $55-$65/bbl range in
January and February and settled at $67.02/bbl on February 27, the last
trading day before the attacks against Iran began. Prices have moved up
steadily since then, reaching as high as $98.71/bbl on March 13 (see
Figure 1 below), up 47% from the start of the month, as the prospects
for an extended campaign (and disruption to global oil markets) have
appeared more likely, especially compared with the brief U.S. military action against Venezuela early this year. By comparison, WTI reached $123.70/bbl in March 2022, not long after the invasion of Ukraine.
