Today: It Was All About Oil -- September 15, 2026

l

AI continues and memory is still an issue:

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

Apple (AAPL):

META, AVGO, TSMC:  

Iran: look at these numbers -- Iranian crude loadings have collapsed to 210,000 bopd -- compare to the Bakken -- 1.2 million bopd.

SPR: at record or near record lows.

US oil companies, refineries, a couple of tech companies:

• CVX: surged $5.62 today; trading at $218; hit an intraday 52-week high;
• PSX: surged $7.92 today; trading at $665, nearing its53-week high of $267;
• COP: surged $4.55; trading at $141, nearing its 52-week high of $142;
• MPC: huge surge today; up $14 today; also trading near its 52-week high:
• VLO: huge surge today; up $14 today; trading near its 52-week high;
• AAPL supplier Skyworks p 14% today:
• QCOM up 4% today

My exact sentiments: we've discussed this before -- pushing the US into a recession, I suppose, will end inflation? Raising interest rates to fight inflation caused by a shortage of oil has never made sense to me ---

Daily Activity Report -- Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Locator: 51735OIL.

Iran: look at these numbers -- Iranian crude loadings have collapsed to 210,000 bopd -- compare to the Bakken -- 1.2 million bopd.

SPR: at record or near record lows.

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

WTI: $105.40. 

Active rigs: 33.

Four new permits: 

43302, conf, CLR, Jenner 2-16H, Catwalk, SWNE 16-154-100, 1889 FNL 1375 4330FEL;
43303, conf, CLR, Maryland Federal 6-16H,  Catwalk, SWNE 16-154-100, 1931 FNL 1375 FEL;
43304, conf, EOG, Shell 57-3305H, Parshall, SENE 32-154-89, 2326 FNL 648 FEL;
43305, conf, EOG, Shell 58-3305H, Parshall, SENE 32-154-89, 2326 FNL 698 FEL;

Six producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:

• 40056, 2,406, CLR, Brakken FIU 2-6H, McKenzie, with regard to this well, see this post.
• 42215, 1,499, CLR, Louisville FIU 3-7H, McKenzie,
• 42217, 1,309, CLR, Louisville FIU 4-7H, McKenzie,
• 42241, 1,453, CLR, Addyson 6-14H, Williams County;
• 42447, 533, Petro-Hunt, Torgerson 158-94-10B-15-1HS, Mountrail County.

 

Tuesday -- September 15, 2026

Locator: 51734APPLE.

I have limited access to the real world today, so minimal blogging.

AI: it's "way early," but it seems we're starting to see how the chatbots are going to shake out. Link here.

Market share, now: ChatGPT and Google Gemini, combined: 80%; Anthropic's Claude at 10%. All the rest share what's left. Amazing: Microsoft Co-Pilot, 1.3%. 

For me, it's always been ChatGPT (OpenAI) vs Gemini. But in the past month or so, I've been using Gemini almost exclusively. 

It seems among the names I know, Anthropic (Claude) is the chatbot used by serious users. I haven't jumped on that wagon yet. Gemini is simply to easy to use.

The big excitement seems to be how OpenAI takes on Anthropic (or vice versa). At the enterprise level (including US military), Anthropic seems to be in the catbird seat. Sam Altman can try to convince us otherwise, but delaying the IPO may have been a strategic mistake. The question is whether Anthropic will delay its own IPO in the current environment.  

Market, futures:

• CVX: flat, but the last six months suggests CVX may have reset at around $210/share
• AAPL: down almost $2.00; only looks "bad" if one recently bought; up 30% in last six months.

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

WTI: $101.70. Amazing how volatile the price of oil has been.

New wells reporting:

• Wednesday, September 16, 2026: 36 for the month, 116 for the quarter, 473 for the year,
• 42027, conf, Oasis, Milkweed 5302 14-36 4B, 
• 41720, conf, BR, HBU Hazel 2N, MBH, 
• 41636, conf, BR, HBU Badlands 8S MBH, 
• Tuesday, September 15, 2026: 33 for the month, 113 for the quarter, 470 for the year,
• 42028, conf, Oasis, Milkweed 5302 14-365B, 
• 41996, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust C-157-94-2215H-6, 
• 41993, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust A-157-94-2734H-4, 
• 41727, conf, BR, HBU Hazel 6S MBH, 
• 41631, conf, BR, HBU Badlands 8S MBH,

RBN Energy: Enbridge saddles up for expanded crude service with Pony Express acquisition. Link here. Archived.

Enbridge is buying Tallgrass Energy’s crude oil transportation, gathering and storage business for US$2.55 billion in cash. The deal includes a 75% interest in the 1,050-mile Pony Express Pipeline, a roughly 460-Mb/d crude oil system linking Rockies production with the Cushing, OK, storage hub and providing direct access to about 500 Mb/d of refining capacity. Enbridge also gets a 51% interest in the Powder River Gateway system, about 8.4 MMbbl of storage capacity across nine crude terminals, and Stanchion Energy, a crude marketing business. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss what the acquisition means for Enbridge.

First, some background on Tallgrass Energy, a midstream company formed in 2012 and based in Leawood, KS, initially focused on natural-gas transportation. It entered the crude business following its August 2012 purchase of about 432 miles of the existing Pony Express Pipeline (pink line in Figure 1 below) from Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission. The line had originally been a crude-oil pipeline but was converted to natural-gas service in the mid-1990s. After receiving Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization in September 2013, Tallgrass abandoned the line’s natural-gas service in December 2013 and converted it back to crude-oil service. It also constructed approximately 260 miles of new pipeline from Lincoln County, KS, south to Cushing, creating the original Guernsey-to-Cushing mainline, which entered commercial service in October 2014.

Apple In The News -- Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Locator: 51733APPLE.

Page views: went over 104 million page views overnight. Early run rate this morning, 2.5 million page views / day. Dropped to a low of 20,000 page views late last night.  

Tag: Apple TV AAPL Rhys Widow's Bay

Last night:

 

Tuesday -- September 15, 2026

Locator: 51732B.

WTI: $103.30.

New wells reporting:

• Wednesday, September 16, 2026: 36 for the month, 116 for the quarter, 473 for the year,
• 42027, conf, Oasis, Milkweed 5302 14-36 4B, 
• 41720, conf, BR, HBU Hazel 2N, MBH, 
• 41636, conf, BR, HBU Badlands 8S MBH, 
• Tuesday, September 15, 2026: 33 for the month, 113 for the quarter, 470 for the year,
• 42028, conf, Oasis, Milkweed 5302 14-365B, 
• 41996, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust C-157-94-2215H-6, 
• 41993, conf, Hess, EN-Will Trust A-157-94-2734H-4, 
• 41727, conf, BR, HBU Hazel 6S MBH, 
• 41631, conf, BR, HBU Badlands 8S MBH,

RBN Energy: Enbridge saddles up for expanded crude service with Pony Express acquisition. Link here. Archived.

Enbridge is buying Tallgrass Energy’s crude oil transportation, gathering and storage business for US$2.55 billion in cash. The deal includes a 75% interest in the 1,050-mile Pony Express Pipeline, a roughly 460-Mb/d crude oil system linking Rockies production with the Cushing, OK, storage hub and providing direct access to about 500 Mb/d of refining capacity. Enbridge also gets a 51% interest in the Powder River Gateway system, about 8.4 MMbbl of storage capacity across nine crude terminals, and Stanchion Energy, a crude marketing business. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss what the acquisition means for Enbridge.

First, some background on Tallgrass Energy, a midstream company formed in 2012 and based in Leawood, KS, initially focused on natural-gas transportation. It entered the crude business following its August 2012 purchase of about 432 miles of the existing Pony Express Pipeline (pink line in Figure 1 below) from Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission. The line had originally been a crude-oil pipeline but was converted to natural-gas service in the mid-1990s. After receiving Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization in September 2013, Tallgrass abandoned the line’s natural-gas service in December 2013 and converted it back to crude-oil service. It also constructed approximately 260 miles of new pipeline from Lincoln County, KS, south to Cushing, creating the original Guernsey-to-Cushing mainline, which entered commercial service in October 2014.