A Reader Has A Question About Deductions And Royalties -- August 22, 2015; Polar Vortex Re-Visited

Updates

Saturday, August 29, 2015: from the discussion group --

Re: Is there a new deduction against royalties of 15%? (show original)

Well if it is 15% or what have you, it is write off on your next year's taxes, especially if U live out of state.  I did for last year and I had money coming back......

Sunday, August 23, 2015: how many folks remember this post about Chesapeake deducting transportation costs from royalty checks? Folks, I think we have the answer to the 15% deduction (unless Hess provides another explanation). A reader writes:

We are receiving royalty checks from Hess. I was told the new deduction they are showing on the checks is for transportation. In other words, they changed the gross pricing from wellhead to a collection point and show the difference as transportation.

They made the change some months ago and didn’t bother to tell the owners why.

XTO shows the gross as the wellhead price.

CLR includes a specific transportation charge each month. They all handle the pricing differently.

The deduction for the state income tax is 3.22% (code 12 on the Hess check). The severance tax withholding is 11.5%.

So, unless we get a note from Hess, we have the most likely answer. 

Sunday, August 23, 2015: a reader provides this answer which hopefully answers the original question --

I was reading your column this morning in regards to the 15% N.D. tax. I live outside N.D. and here is what the oil companies take out of my check:

• Gross Production = 5.00% 
• Oil Extraction = 6.50% N.D. 
• Withholding = 3.22% 
• Total: 14.72%

Sunday, August 23, 2015: see comment suggesting that Hess is taking 9.7% for taxes ("Tax Column"). The 15.7% is in the "Lease Other Deductions."

Later, 10:37 p.m. Central Time: a reader replies --

Keep in mind the 15% tax is a withholding tax, meaning that you will get credit for it as taxes paid in when you file your North Dakota individual tax return.  It was implemented by the state to make sure non-resident's filed their individual tax returns.  The withholding should be larger than your actual tax if you file so you should get a refund on your tax return if you have no other ND source income.

Again, I'm not sure the entire 15% is due to a withholding tax -- I don't know. The withholding went into effect in 2014 (that's accurate -- see link below) but the amount of withholding tax seems to be less than 15% but still not sure.  If the actual tax is 3.22% and withholding is 15%, a sizable refund seems to be in order.

Later, 7:57 p.m. Central Time: see first comment -- a reader suggested this to explain the 15% deduction:

The 15% is a change in ND Tax Law which requires oil companies to withhold the minimum tax on out of state owners of royalties. The change took effect July 1, 2015 I believe. 

I found the post I was looking for regarding new legislation affecting oil and gas industry but did not see the 15% deduction. Page 3 of the North Dakota income tax booklet says the withholding is only 3.22% and it began in 2014 -- see additional comments from other readers. It's possible the 15% includes this 3.22% withholding plus other deductions, but there must be much more to the story.

Original Post

 

Over at the discussion group, a reader had this question:

Is there a new deduction against royalties of 15%?

I just got my check for some new wells and just realized that there appears to be a 15% deduction showing up in the "Other Deductions" column - and last year there was never a charge in this column.

The wells are on pipelines and as far as I know, there shouldn't be flaring charges for the oil. Hess is the oil company. 

I don't have the answer to this one.

Maybe readers with minerals and royalties can provide some help. I do know that a long time ago when I followed other discussion groups there were comments about "Other Deductions." There have been new North Dakota regulations with regard to flaring (as noted by the reader) and removing volatile gases before shipping by rail.

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Chicagoans To Pay Higher Utility Bills Going Forward

Due To Polar Vortex, Extreme Winter 2013 - 2014

The Chicago Tribune is reporting:

Chicagoans will see a portion of their electricity bills rise in coming years because of new electric grid rules tied to the polar vortex back in 2013 - 2014.

The auction will increase part of the average ComEd residential customer's electricity bill in 2018-19 by roughly $82 a year compared with what customers are paying now, and by about $100 a year compared with what they might pay in 2017-18. The increases per month in the ComEd region are about two to three times greater than what some analysts had been predicting.

The auction, which is held every year and sets prices three years in advance, was the first to implement the controversial rules that were approved after the extreme winter of 2013-14, when grid operators had to scramble to keep the lights on. The rules allow power plants in northern Illinois and other states to make more money from consumers in order to shore up electricity in frigid weather.

Electricity generators and others in Chicago's regional grid system, which stretches from northern Illinois to the Atlantic Ocean, pulled in an additional $3.4 billion this year over last.

Driving prices even higher in the Commonwealth Edison region was a reduction in energy supply caused by limitations on imports, as well as Exelon's Quad Cities nuclear plant failing to be picked in the auction for the second year in a row.

The polar vortex, which brought one of the worst winters in decades to cities across the U.S., rendered nearly a quarter of PJM power producers inoperable on a particularly brutal January day that saw temperatures plummet to negative 12 degrees in the Chicago area.

At the time, some coal plants that had promised to provide electricity stopped working because their conveyor belts froze, while some natural gas plants could not obtain enough fuel because of increased demand for heating.

The new rules specifically apply to PJM's capacity market. Capacity is an industry term that generally refers to a power producer's ability to provide electricity to the grid. Power producers make money through capacity markets by committing to supply a certain amount of electricity to consumers three years in advance if needed.

There are so many story lines here, I can't even begin to go through them, but, of course, the biggest irony is the global warming myth superimposed on the polar vortex of 2013 - 2014.

Anyway, there's much, much more at the link. If you can't get to the linked story because a password/subscription is needed, google Chicagoans to be charged more for electricity in coming year.

That's how I got there after a reader alerted me to the story.

Those who live in North Dakota or grew up in North Dakota are probably re-reading the paragraph about " temperatures plummeting to negative 12 degrees in the Chicago area." Really?

From mid-January to mid-March, North Dakota can stay that cold 24/7 and much, much colder, routinely dropping to -40 degrees in February. To the best of my knowledge, REC or MDU do not have nuclear reactors to provide electricity. It's pretty much lignite, coal, and natural gas as far as I'm aware.

Yes, a  lot of story lines in that article. "Temperatures plummeting to negative 12 degrees?" The roughnecks keep working in that weather; maybe they don't frack, but they keep on drilling. And the truckers certainly continue hauling water and oil in minus-12 degree weather.

By the way, the Farmer's Almanac forecasts a colder-than-normal winter over much of the US this next winter. Previously posted.

Now, Five Earthquakes Hit Connecticut -- January 12, 2015

Updates

Later, 4:52 p.m. Central Time: now it's being reported a 3.3-magnitude earthquake hit Rhode Island's western border. I doubt there's much fracking there, either, but a lot of yachts hitting the shoreline.

Original Post

You have to love the spin. When a 3.6 earthquake hits the Dallas area, it's a "big" earthquake. And a "big" deal.

In Connecticut, five earthquakes, including one measuring 3.1: " Scientists Record 5 Small Earthquakes in Connecticut"-- AP:

Five small earthquakes were recorded within a 5 1/2-hour span in eastern Connecticut on Monday, including a 3.1-magnitude quake that was felt in parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to the Weston Observatory at Boston College and the U.S. Geological Survey.

I have to laugh. There are no wells in Dallas County, much less any fracking where the cluster of earthquakes hit Irvington last week and it was a big deal, including a "big" earthquake measuring 3.6.

Now, in Connecticut, a cluster of earthquakes -- five so far -- and pretty much blown off by the media I guess.

Two were recorded in the same area last week, so now seven (7) earthquakes in past few days. But small ones. Unlike the "big" earthquakes in Texas.

Memo to self: file under "What a bunch of malarkey." Key word: malarkey.

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Not Malarkey

Macrumors is reporting:

Apple saw an increase in its U.S. PC shipments during the recent holiday quarter, according to PC shipping estimates from Gartner. Apple shipped over 2.1 million Macs in 4Q14, up from 1.9 million Macs in 4Q13, marking an 11.5 percent increase. Though the company's shipments were up, its growth rate slightly trailed the overall market, resulting in a share of 11.7 percent down from 11.9 percent in the year ago quarter.

Also, from Macrumors:

GM today at Detroit's North American International Auto Show showcased the upcoming 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, and as spotted by The Verge, the latest Volt model includes an option for Apple CarPlay as well as MirrorLink in the vehicle's entertainment system settings.

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2014: CONUS Weather Wrap-Up

Hardly alarming. 

Since 1895, when national temperature records began, the CONUS has observed an average temperature increase of 0.13°F per decade.

Or 0.01 degree/year for CONUS. At this rate, a hundred years from now, in 2115, CONUS will average one degree warmer. And, of course, it depends where one places the thermometers.

Going Through Stories I Missed -- August 14, 2014; The Key Word: Relatively

Best interactive video of the week? Don sent me this: the climb to the top of Mt Everest. I have severe acrophobia and the initial two-thirds of the video did not particularly catch my attention, but I have to admit, I was feeling "uncomfortable" watching the last one-third of the video, when the ascent starts up the last rock to the Hillary notch, and then, of course, the summit. This is really quite incredible.

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Bakken production numbers posted for past several days. When I get caught up I will point out a story regarding these numbers that might interest newbies. We know the overall production numbers for latest reporting period (May, 2014) but we are waiting for the Director's Cut which will be out today or tomorrow.

Unemployment numbers posted; things are not improving in the job market, five years into the "recovery," no matter what the spin. Even The Los Angeles Times is surprised, their headline: jobless claims take surprising jump to 6-week high. (That headline was on the front page of the day's news summary; the headline at the story: "Jobless Claims Rise to 6-Week High, But Remain Relatively Low." I can't make this stuff up. Relatively? UC Irvine? Really?

Sent to me by readers while I was out-of-touch (literally and figuratively).

Bullet Train To Nowhere. California unable to get the land needed for 29-mile opening section in Fresno, California. Fresno? Really?

The state has yet to start full-blown, sustained construction of permanent structures — including bridges, tracks and train stations — at least partly because it lacks most of the Central Valley land needed for an initial 29-mile segment that will pass through Fresno. The state has acquired 71 of 526 parcels needed for the segment, about 13% of the total, according to figures provided by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

The start of heavy construction is not only symbolically important but could help weaken political and legal opposition to the project. However, slow progress could threaten the state's ability to meet funding deadlines.

RBN Energy: Canadian efforts to export LNG slip-sliding away.

RBN Energy: part 3 of the Enbridge story. Must-read; must-save.

Enbridge own and operate the longest liquids pipeline system in North America extending from Fort McMurray in Alberta to Montreal in Eastern Canada and south through the US Midwest to Freeport on the Texas Gulf Coast. Although the major purpose of the pipeline is to deliver heavy western Canadian crude, it also carries light crude to eastern Canada and the US Midwest. Projects underway that are expected to be completed at the end of 2014 will expand flows of light crude to the east by 400 Mb/d. Today we continue our series reviewing the Enbridge initiatives with the Light Oil Market Access (LOMA) projects.

In Episode One of this series, we reviewed the 9 refineries in eastern Canada with combined capacity of 1.3 MMb/d. These refineries mostly process light crude that until recently has come from offshore Atlantic seaboard production and imports, but they are processing growing volumes of US shale oil today. Extensive upgrades, reversals and expansions to the Enbridge network have begun to change the dynamics of crude supply to these refineries. In Episode Two we began with an overview of the Enbridge system and the two huge expansion projects underway to increase eastbound flows. Then we described the Eastern Access project to rebuild and expand Line 6B by the end of 2014. In this episode we cover the second major Eastern Access initiative - the reversal and expansion of Line 9 and start our description of the light oil market access (LOMA) initiative with the Sandpiper project.

RBN Energy: dead-cat bounce? Is Gulf of Mexico gas production set to rebound?

Natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has been falling for 15 years, hurt first by hurricane-related rig damage, then more recently by the side effects of the BP/Macondo disaster, the on-shore sale boom, and the resulting sag in gas prices.

But GOM gas production is about to uptick, due largely to two big, long-planned oil and gas projects finally coming online. Is the upcoming increase in gas production in the Gulf the first sign of resurgence, or is it the energy-sector equivalent of a “dead cat bounce.”

In this blog, we consider what is ahead for gas production in the GOM.

The few of us old enough to remember the Houston Astros winning more than 100 games in a season (it has only happened once, in 1998, and as of late July is mathematically impossible in 2014) also can recall a time when wells in the GOM produced a significant portion of US natural gas needs. In 1998, total GOM gas production marketed averaged more than 14 Bcf/d, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), providing 23% of the 61 Bcf/d the US consumed that year. 

Fast-forward to 2013. US gas consumption was up 17%, to 71 Bcf/d, but GOM gas production was way down—off 71% to 3.6 Bcf/d. Two events tell much of the tale. 

First, in the summer and fall of 2005, two major hurricanes—Katrina and Rita—wreaked havoc on gas (and oil) infrastructure in the Gulf; then, three years later, hurricanes Gustav and Ike did serious damage of their own. 

Yet another big hit to GOM gas production came in the aftermath of the BP/Macondo blowout in April 2010, which brought well permitting to a halt and slowed exploration activity. But perhaps the biggest hit of all came from the boom in the production of onshore shale gas, which rose from 5.5 Bcf/d in 2007 to 28 Bcf/d in 2012. In July 2014, the Marcellus region alone produced 15 Bcf/d, several times the Gulf’s total production. 

The shale boom resulted not only in ample gas supply and lower, more stable gas prices, but also in gas production nearer to consumption population centers. The model of piping GOM, Louisiana and Texas gas to the Northeast, for example, is now a thing of the past. 

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The Bakken

EOG: best developer in the Eagle Ford just keeps getting better -- over at SeekingAlpha; writer should have added "best developer in the Bakken, also

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Global Warming

The warmists predicted this: more snow. CTVNews is reporting:

It may be the middle of summer, but in Winnipeg, a little shred of winter just won't go away.

A filthy, muddy, massive snow pile has defied the seasons and survived the summer heat at the Kenaston snow dump site on the edge of the city. The 18-metre snow pile is the largest of a handful of snow piles still lingering at Winnipeg's four snow-dumping sites, where the city stores the snow it collects in the winter.

Jim Berezowsky, Winnipeg's manager of streets maintenance, says it's not unusual for snow at the dump sites to survive into August. But this year, he's seeing more snow than usual.

"It is significantly higher than in years past," Berezowsky told CTV's Canada AM on Friday. "We didn't receive the extreme heat that we usually do."

So, should this be tagged global warming for 2013-2014, or 2014-2015. Okay, both.

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File Under: You Have Got To Be Kidding

From fantasy land as reported by Reuters:

EU regulators have begun legal proceedings against 24 member states, including Germany, for failing to enforce a law on energy efficiency, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Energy saving has risen up the list of EU priorities since the conflict with the European Union's biggest oil and gas supplier Russia over its actions in Ukraine increased concerns about energy security.

Commission spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told reporters proceedings began automatically against Germany because it had not enforced EU legislation on saving energy. She only named Germany, but the Commission said that in total, 24 of the bloc's 28 member states missed a June 5 deadline for fully transposing the European Union's Energy Efficiency Directive into their national laws.

The directive was agreed by member states in 2012 to enforce an existing target to cut energy use by 20 percent by 2020 compared with projected use. The Commission now says the bloc is broadly on track to meet that target through measures such as building insulation.

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On The Road To New England

Hey, Maybe Fossil Fuel Isn't So Bad, After All

Better than freezing:

PORTLAND, Maine — Wyman Station, the state’s largest power plant, is no longer on the market as its owners saw increasing profits from the oil-fired power plant in the first quarter of 2014, when winter constraints on natural gas supply for electric generation resulted in greater demand for power from the oil-fired generator.

After logging a loss from its Maine fossil fuel assets in 2013, Florida-based owner NextEra Energy — which owns Wyman Station — revealed in an earnings statement that it would keep the 796-megawatt portfolio of oil-fired generation resources in Maine.

“During the first quarter of 2014, based on a reassessment of valuation in light of new market information, the company reversed its earlier decision to sell its 796-megawatt merchant fossil portfolio in Maine,” the company said in its first-quarter earnings statement.

It looks like the environmental nuts got their wish: stop the transmission lines from the hydroelectric power from Canada and stop the NG pipelines, and continues burning oil for electricity.

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Renewable Energy

Plenty of corn for ethanol: this year's corn production should exceed government forecasts.

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Secular Stagflation

Cheap Money

Real cheap money: GE borrows $1.2 billion for ten years for 4.25%

New theory concerning the Fed: secular stagflation:

Recent comments by the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Stanley Fischer, indicate questions within the central bank about whether the slow growth that has followed the recent recession could reflect, or at least could potentially morph into, longer-term issues within the economy. And while Fischer avoided the phrase "secular stagnation" in his Monday speech, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota is planning to host a November symposium that directly addresses the issue of secular stagnation by name, CNBC has learned.

The theory of secular stagnation was first developed by Alvin Hansen, who wondered in the midst of the Great Depression whether diminishing investment opportunities in a maturing economy would stunt economic growth and permanently prevent full employment—at least in the absence of robust government intervention, which soon came in the form of the second world war.

These theories have found a new life in the aftermath of the so-called Great Recession, as the U.S. is experiencing (albeit to a much less dramatic degree) slow growth over a relatively long time period.

In November 2013, noted economist Larry Summers (who was considered, alongside current Chair Janet Yellen, a leading candidate to head the Fed) began to invoke the same phrase in arguing that the interest rate that the economy requires has fallen below zero.
he problem is that it is very difficult for nominal interest rates to fall below zero due to a constraint known as the zero lower bound. The upshot? Even with the Fed keeping short-term rates just above zero, market interest rates cannot possibly create adequate demand for loans, and thus the economy stagnates.

Without embracing the secular stagnation thesis, in Sweden on Monday, second highest-ranking Fed official Fischer gestured toward those concerns.

Noting slow growth in "labor supply, capital investment and productivity," Fischer warned that "This may well reflect factors related to or predating the recession that are also holding down growth" and noted: "How much of this weakness on the supply side will turn out to be structural—perhaps contributing to a secular slowdown—and how much is temporary but longer than usual lasting remains a crucial and open question."

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From The Land of Fruits and Nuts and Peaches

And so it goes:

A group of California farm workers for the nation's largest peach operation voted on whether to kick out or accept representation by the United Farm Workers. That was last November.

They still don't know the results of the vote. 

Why?

The state's Agriculture Labor Relations Board (ALRB) won't reveal the vote pending the outcome of an investigation into the voting. The investigation has been going on for months, and no one knows when it will be completed. 

In the meantime, the ALRB appointed a mediator who wrote up a three-year contract that, under California law, can unilaterally be imposed on the farmer, Dan Gerawan. He's gone to court to stop that.

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And That's The Way It Is

With regard to global warming, shut up and color: the debate is over. We're all doomed.

With regard to the president's Syrian policy: any criticism of that policy is "horseshit." The president's words, not mine.

The funny thing is this: I was unaware that President had a Syrian policy. Hillary said the same thing: the emperor has no clothes. I never understood that idiom until this president came along.

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Broken Promises

"As president, I won't take any vacations."

For Investors Only -- June 30, 2014 -- The Last Day Of The Quarter; Hottest Month On Record? July, 1936

An interesting market today. The broader market is slightly negative, the S&P up slightly. Crude oil down slightly. But shares in oil-related companies seem to be doing well.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you may have read here.

Trading at new 52-week highs: AEP, BK, BKH, CLR, CNP, CRR, DVN, EEP, EEQ, EPD, ERF, HAL, HK, NFX, NOV, ONE, QEP, SLB. Ah, yes, it looks like SLB will close at a new high.

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Hottest Month On Record For GM Recalls?
GM Adds Another 8 Million Cars To Ignition-Switch Recall
Link: here.


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NOAA: July, 2012, 1936, Was / Is Still The Hottest Month On Record

The mainstream media is NOT reporting:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, criticized for manipulating temperature records to create a warming trend, has now been caught warming the past and cooling the present.

July 2012 became the hottest month on record in the U.S. during a summer that was declared “too hot to handle” by NASA scientists. That summer more than half the country was experiencing drought and wildfires had scorched more than 1.3 million acres of land, according to NASA.

According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in 2012, the “average temperature for the contiguous U.S. during July was 77.6°F, 3.3°F above the 20th century average, marking the warmest July and all-time warmest month on record for the nation in a period of record that dates back to 1895.”

Watts ran the same data plot again on Sunday and found that NOAA inserted a new number in for July 1936. The average temperature for July 1936 was made slightly higher than July 2012, meaning, once again, July 1936 is the hottest year on record. 

Someone is not getting the memo: "The science is settled. Shut up and color."

The next thing we're gonna hear is that this past winter wasn't all that cold.

Wow, this just made it under the wire. Starting tomorrow, the new tag will be "Global_Warming_2014_2015."

Good luck to all, regardless of what side of the fence you're sitting on when it comes to this scam hoax science.

Wells Coming Off The North Dakota Confidential List Monday; Extent Of Sea Ice Hits New Record "Anomaly" -- Yes, Just An Anomaly; June 29, 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

• 25963, 987, Petro-Hunt, Syverson 156-99-30A-31-3H, East Fork, t5/14; cum 2K 5/14;
• 26858, drl, Hess, EN-State D-154-93-2636H-8, Robinson Lake, no production data,

Sunday, June 29, 2014

• 26663, drl, Hess, HA-Link-152-95-3526H-4, Hawkeye, no production data,
• 26696, 396, Hess, EN-Schroeder-157-94-1102H-1, White Earth, t5/14; cum 4K 4/14;

Saturday, June 28, 2014

• 25966, 955, CLR, Rehak Federal 5-25H1, Alkali Creek, t5/14; cum --
• 26424, drl, KOG, P Manning 154-99-2-2-11-14H, Stockyard Creek, no production data,
• 26497, drl, Hess, GN-Ring-158-98-1522H-1, Rainbow, no production data,
• 27083, drl, BR, Denali 44-33TFH, Johnson Corner, no production data

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Global Warming: Another Inconvenient Truth

This Is Climate, Not Weather

What's Up With That?

Antarctica sets new record for ice extent is being reported by What's Up With That based on studies coming out of one of President Obama's home states, Illinois, 

The sea ice surrounding Antarctica, which, as I reported in my book, has been steadily increasing throughout the period of satellite measurement that began in 1979, has hit a new all-time record high for areal coverage.

The new record anomaly for Southern Hemisphere sea ice, the ice encircling the southernmost continent, is 2.074 million square kilometers and was posted for the first time by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s The Cryosphere Today early Sunday morning. 

The previous record anomaly for Southern Hemisphere sea ice area was 1.840 million square kilometers and occurred on December 20, 2007.

Global sea ice area, as of Sunday morning, stood at 1.005 million square kilometers above average.

What's up with that?

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Russian Jets Arrive In Baghdad

What's up with this? rt.com is reporting: the first batch of Russian jets have arrived in Baghdad. President Obama refused to sell our allies* in Iraq any jets, not even any old ones mothballed in the desert.

What's up with that?  I assume the primary need for the jets is to protect a) the Baghdad government; and, b) the oil fields that will now become Russia's. Russia is playing two chess games now, magnificently: one in the Ukraine; and, now one in Iraq.

*Allies? One year ago, Mr Maliki seemed to think the US and Iraq were allies, and Mr Obama certainly suggested the same, as reported in this Washington Post op-ed:

But does that mean Iraq is not the "sovereign partner" of the United States that Maliki describes? The assessments are mixed. Speaking with Maliki as U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq in December 2011, President Obama declared, "Our strong presence in the Middle East endures, and the United States will never waiver in the defense of our allies, our partners, and our interests."

As far as chess goes, Russia supplying the jets was Putin executing an en passant capture, and done quite well, one might add. Which I just did.

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Main Street Bistro and Bakery, Grapevine, Texas

It's funny how things work out. When we were stationed in Germany (decades ago), my wife and I would go out every so often, late in the evening, for frog legs and a beverage. In England we often went for afternoon tea between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m., not often, but often enough. Since then, back in the states, we've tried to relive those memories. We've come close, but it's never quite the same.

Today, of all things, after watching "Moonstruck" with Cher and Nicolas Cage, I suggested afternoon tea, either at the Cheesecake Factory in Southlake, or the bakery on Main Street in Grapevine. Both of us preferred the bakery.

I always thought the Main Street Bistro and Bakery had been part of Grapevine in one form or another for decades. It is modeled after a European bistro, but has the feeling that it's been there for decades. I was surprised to see that it opened for business on October 27, 2000.

We had coffee and shared an almond croissant, and then, totally unexpected, in one corner was a flat-screen television tuned to the Costa Rica - Greece World Cup soccer game. It was an incredible game, but the almond croissant was not going to last the length of the game. Earlier I had talked with one of the bistro employees so I knew that their mussels were one of their most asked-for appetizers. During the shoot-out (Costa Rica won, 5-3) we had the mussels and shared a glass of white wine. It was incredible.

It came as close to our afternoon teas that we remember in England as anything we've experienced back in the states.

Earlier this week I read a short essay on "modern-day" dating; I thought the article was in The Wall Street Journal but I can't find it now. Whatever. The writer noted that women these days were frustrated that when they "went out" with their male friends, they did not know if they were on a "date" or not. The writer said women were still interested in real dates: planned events, one-on-one, no distractions (like mobile devices). So, taking that to heart, I asked my wife if she would like a standing date: every Sunday after when we are in town, no other conflicts, we would have Sunday tea at the Main Street Bistro, and dinner at the same location on Thursday evenings.

So, after our first year in our new home, we finally have a new dating tradition. We'll see how it goes.

[Update: I found that story on "dating." It was in The Los Angeles Times. I should have guessed. From the article:

“In a new Glamour survey, 73 percent of single women said they often can’t even tell whether they’ve been on a date or not — and, shockingly, 19 percent said they had never been on a ‘real date’ at all. Women in relationships aren’t faring much better; just 12 percent of them have a regular date night with their significant other. There seem to be no dating rules anymore — or even any expectations.

“Here’s what is happening instead: ‘My boyfriend won’t turn off his phone alerts when we’re out,’ says Alexandra Einstein, 26, an account manager from Greenville, South Carolina. ‘The other night I grabbed it and read ‘Drunk fan falls asleep in front row during Blazers game.’ Thank God we were alerted.’ And everyone’s gotten lazy about planning time together, as evidenced by this, spotted recently on a Tinder profile: ‘No more Netflix on a first date.’ No wonder we’re all complaining about our love lives. The bar for acceptable night-out behavior has dropped to the floor.”]

For Investors Only; Market Surges After Yellen Speaks -- June 18, 2014; Snow Falls In Idaho; Freezes In Oregon -- In June, 2014; Eighteen Years Of No Warming

The Fed: Generally after Bernanke spoke, the stock market fell; after Yellen talks the stock market surges. The market surged after she spoke, now up about 90 points even with these data points:

• growth forecast cut;
• tapering continues;
• the Fed wouldn't raise interest rates until 2015 

 It was that last point that moved the market -- another year of easy money.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you may have read here.

Trading at new 52-week highs: APA, BP, BCEI, CSX, CVX, COP, DVN, ECA, ERF, Floteck, Genesee & Wyoming, KOG, NRG, NFX, SD, SRE, TPLM, WLL. 

SRE: surged. That's a surprise. Oh, that's right. I forgot to post this this other day. Zack's is reporting:

SRE announced that its Mexican unit Infraestructura Energetica Nova SAB (IEnova) has received a loan worth $270 million. The company will utilize the fund for the completion of the first phase of its wind energy generation project called Energia Sierra Juarez.

IEnova is engaged in the construction and operation of energy infrastructure in Mexico. It is the only energy company in the country, which is publicly traded. The company has two segments – Gas and Electricity. In 2013, IEnova invested $2.4 billion in natural gas distribution, transportation and storage and electricity generation projects. Currently, the company is spending around $1.8 billion in new energy infrastructure ventures.

The 155-megawatts ESJ wind project is located in the Municipality of Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. The $300 million project is jointly owned by IEnova and InterGen. It is the first cross-border wind generation project between the U.S. and Mexico. The company has used 47 units of 3.3-MW Vestas turbines in the project, which is expected to start commercial operations in the first half of 2015.

The output from the ESJ project will be purchased by Sempra Energy’s subsidiary San Diego Gas and Electric Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Inking long-term contracts will ensure IEnova a steady cash inflow, which will support it to repay its loan on time.

KOG: goes over $14. Up almost 4% today.

The Market: earlier today most everything was red, some green. Everything has turned green. The market surges almost 100 points after Yellen speaks.

Phillips 66 Acquires New Storage Terminal Along The Gulf

I can't recall if I've previously posted this, another exciting energy story, Motley Fool is reporting:

Earlier this month, Phillips 66 announced the acquisition of a Gulf Coast terminal facility to little fanfare. The company didn't even disclose the price of the terminal that it purchased from Chevron.

This is just another quiet step the company is taking to profit from increased American energy exports by following in the footsteps of leading exporters such as Enterprise Products Partners.

Phillips 66 is acquiring Chevron's Beaumont Terminal complex near Beaumont, Texas. The terminal has 7.1 million barrels of storage capacity that encompasses 4.7 million barrels of crude-oil capacity and 2.4 million barrels of refined products capacity.

Most noteworthy, the facility has deepwater access via two marine docks capable of handling Aframax tankers and one large barge dock. It also has rail and truck loading and unloading facilities, as well as access to major crude oil and refined product pipelines.

The company noted that the facility is strategically positioned for the increased movement of North American crude oil into the Gulf Coast, as well as for the growth in refined product exports. Furthermore, Phillips 66 pointed out that the asset has significant expansion potential. Bottom line here is this site is perfectly positioned for the export market.

Much more at the link.

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Meanwhile, President Obama Has Drawn A Red Line Against Global Warming

I can't make this up. Over at IceAgeNow:

On June 14 he gave a commencement speech to graduates of the University of California at Irvine, using it to tell Big Fat Lies, not the least of which was that the Earth’s temperatures were rising when in fact they have been falling for nearly eighteen years.

It is an endless source of wonder to me that no part of the mainstream media disputes him when he says things like this. For years now they have been reporting the evidence of increasingly cold weather worldwide.

On the same day the President was lying about warming, eight inches of snow fell in Rize, Turkey. It has fallen as well in South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia while closer to home snow fell on several cities in Idaho with cold freezes extending into Oregon. In June!

Obama used the speech to demand that politicians take steps to acknowledge climate change which used to be called global warming until it became undeniable to everyone except the charlatans lining their pockets with utterly bogus “research” that underwrites the source of the lies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

UC Irvine. Really?

Snowing In The Rockies; Eighteen (18) New Oil And Gas Permits, North Dakota; Several New Sanish Wells In The Antelope Field By Different Operators

Wells coming off the confidential list Wednesday:

• 24652, 570, OXY USA, Henry Kovash 3-7-6H-142-95, Manning, t12/13; cum 22K 4/14;
• 26021, 331, North Plains Energy, State 160-100-3-10-36-15E-1H, Smoky Butte, t5/14; cum --
• 26022, 439, North Plains Energy, State 160-100-4-9-36-15A-1H, Smoky Butte, t3/14; cum 26K 4/14;
• 26157, drl, Statoil, Johnston 7-6 4H, Banks, no production data,
• 27024, drl, Hess, HA-Nelson A-152-95-3427H-3, Hawkeye, no production data

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Kennedy Snow Alert

I'm getting ready to post a summary of today's daily activity report but if anyone in the Kennedy clan happens to be reading this, note: there is still an opportunity for you children and grandchildren to see snow -- in the middle of the summer, yet, from a Facebook posting:

BEARTOOTH PASS HAS BEEN CLOSED FROM VISTA POINT ON THE MONTANA SIDE TO LONG LAKE ON THE WYOMING SIDE due to falling snow on top of the pass plus high winds creating blowing and drifting conditions. Travelers on the MT side will need to turn around at Vista PT and come back down to Red Lodge. Travelers on the Wyoming side will be turned around at Long Lake. Updates will occur as they are received. Montana Dep't of Transporation and the National Park Service are both up on the pass plowing at this time but it is drifting as soon as they go through with their plows.

This ends the "Kennedy Snow Alert" but a picture is worth a thousand words"

Global Warming, June 16, 2014

 
On July 1, 2014, I will be using the new tag "Global Warming 2014 - 2014; just a couple more weeks to use the current tag.

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Active rigs in North Dakota:

	6/17/2014	06/17/2013	06/17/2012	06/17/2011	06/17/2010
Active Rigs	187	184	214	173	129

Eighteen (18) new permits --

• Operators: Oasis (7), CLR (6), Whiting (3), American Eagle, XTO,
• Fields: Baker (McKenzie), Brooklyn (Williams), Sanish (Mountrail), Skjermo (Divide), Capa (Williams),
• Comments: All the CLR permits are for the Brooklyn; all the Oasis permits are for the Baker oil field

Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Twelve (12) producing wells completed:

• 22555, loc, Whiting, Tarpon Federal 44-19-2RTF (name change, was Taron Federal 44-19-2H), Sand Creek,
• 22682, 912, Hess, EN-Jeffrey A-155-94-2734H-3, Alkali Creek, 4 sections, t6/14; cum --
• 22707, 1,959, HRC, Fort Berthold 151-94-26B-35-3H, Antelope, a Sanish well, t4/14; cum --
• 22708, 1,776, HRC, Fort Berthold 151-94-26B-35-2H, Antelope, a Sanish well, t4/14; cum --
• 24807, 354, CLR, Wahpeton 11-16H1, Banks, t6/14; cum --
• 25700, 1,263, Hess, AN-Evenson 152-95-0310H-3, Antelope, a Sanish well, t5/14; cum --
• 25814, 1,256, CLR, Salers 1-27H, Antelope, a Sanish well, t5/14; cum --
• 25815, 1,351, CLR, Salers 2-27H, Antelope, a Sanish well, t6/14; cum --
• 25986, 490, Hess, EN-Frandson-154-93-2116H-5, Robinson Lake, t5/14; cum --
• 26115, 364, Hess, EN-Chamley 156-93-0508H-5, Baskin, t5/14; cum --
• 26173, 1,066, Hess, SC-4WX-153-98-3130H-3, Banks, t5/14; cum --
• 26380, 1,371, Hess, HA-Chapin-2560-152-95-3229-3328H-1, Hawkeye, 4 sections, t5/14; cum --

Non-Iraqi Stories

Non-Iraqi articles -- yes, there is still some other news out there. Some of these stories have been reported elsewhere. Some of these stories were originally sent to me by readers but I never had a chance to get them posted. The stories start with those from Rigzone.

First, Mexico doesn't sound a whole lot better off than Iraq. Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:

To grasp the difficulties Mexico faces in capitalizing on a North American shale boom, just wander into the dusty landscape due south of the U.S. border.

On one side of the fence, thousands of wells work around the clock in Texas to produce record volumes of shale oil and gas, transforming towns like Carrizo Springs in a modern-day gold rush.

On the other side, violent drug cartels roam above untapped shale riches, leaving behind a trail of blood. The relatively few conventional wells operated by state oil giant Pemex and its contractors close down overnight as a security precaution. But surging crime, while dramatic, is just one of many obstacles thwarting a Mexican shale boom that is seen as years off at best.

"Organized crime is an additional operating cost companies will be keeping a close eye on," said Alberto Islas, head of Mexico City-based consultancy firm Risk Evaluation.

Bullet-riddled corpses are piling up in and around the city of Reynosa in the heart of one of Mexico's richest shale deposits, a major flashpoint of gang wars where hundreds of troops have deployed in recent weeks.

Since April, there have been dozens of murders in Reynosa, a city of 600,000, as the Gulf Cartel battles the infamous Zetas. The dead include a top Tamaulipas state intelligence officer. The head bodyguard to the state governor has been implicated in the crime.

The article goes on for five internet pages.

Next up: Reuters via Rigzone is reporting that Norway will cut back on oil and gas CAPEX in 2015, and it will affect the state's economy:

Norway's oil and gas investments, a key economic growth factor, will fall sharply in 2015, an official survey showed on Thursday, increasing chances that the central bank will keep interest rates low for an extended period.

Investments in the Norwegian continental shelf were expected to come in at $30.39 billion in 2015, a 12 percent drop compared with the initial estimate for 2014, published in June last year, and the lowest comparable level since 2012. The preliminary figures, compiled from oil firms by Statistics Norway, are expected to grow somewhat as companies update their plans later, but the analysts said they were already pointing to lower economic growth.

"This is a significant draw-down on Norwegian growth and suggests a lower interest rate path," Nordea Markets economist Joachim Bernhardsen said of the 2015 investment plans.

Next, for investors, Reuters is reporting via Rigzone:

Consol Energy Inc and Noble Energy Inc said on Thursday they would form a master limited partnership (MLP) for pipeline operations they control in Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale region.

The move will give both companies cash to drill wells in the natural gas-rich Marcellus region and also give investors higher yields, though the MLP governance structure has been criticized by some as weaker and more confusing for investors than those of corporations.

Consol and Noble have confidentially filed paperwork for the MLP to launch an initial public offering. The confidential filing, made possible by a 2012 U.S. law designed to shield small companies from a media frenzy, enables the Securities and Exchange Commission to privately review the IPO documents before they are made public.

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Global Warming: Glacier National Park, Montana

This little snippet from the crew plowing snow off the "Going-To-The-Sun-Road" (probably a dynamic link):

On Wednesday, June 11th, the West Lakes Road Crew plowed to the Big Drift where they started initial work on. Although there was not a depth estimate, the Road Crew thought it was a lot bigger than it has been in years past. They started blowing out the parking lot at Logan Pass, installed guard rails, and performed road clean up.

Perhaps the Kennedy clan can get their children and grandchildren out there to see snow in June.

Random Update On A Couple Of Wells In The Williston Basin; It's Snowing Near Sheridan, WY -- The Winter That Never Ends

Under my page, "Things To Follow Up On:"

1. This item can now be removed. This well was reported as dry.

• 26761, DRY, Flatirons Resources, Sundsbak 31-11, Torning oil field, a Madison well, completed 12/13;

2. I am leaving this one on the page, but maybe some knows whether this well was re-fracked or simply a workover or some other reason for the improvement in January 2014; the increase in production suggests a work-over, not a refracking, but Marathon had targeted a number of older wells for re-fracking some time ago:

• 17310, 459/IA, Marathon, Eckelberg 41-26H, 49,138 bbls in 15 months; t8/08; cum 117K 11/13; taken off-line 7/13; went back on line 1/14; significant increase in oil production; no explanation in well file; production profile:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	4-2014	30	1398	1383	260	956	81	695
BAKKEN	3-2014	31	1398	1411	226	960	36	738
BAKKEN	2-2014	28	1334	1412	173	907	0	739
BAKKEN	1-2014	25	1181	942	237	796	0	654
BAKKEN	12-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	8-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2013	16	158	235	29	104	3	9
BAKKEN	6-2013	30	565	461	130	193	5	8
BAKKEN	5-2013	31	715	827	146	235	33	16
BAKKEN	4-2013	30	899	918	215	364	161	32
BAKKEN	3-2013	31	1037	928	268	397	136	75

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Global Warming

Regular readers know the fun I have with Patrick Kennedy (or whichever Kennedy it was) who said that due to global warming, the Kennedy children (and your children) would never see snow again. I can't make that up. He didn't say your great-great-great-great grandchildren, but your children. My children and grandchildren have seen a lot of snow since that comment was made. If the Kennedys have missed that snow (unlikely since Boston had an incredibly snowy winter, 2013 - 2014) they will get another chance. It's currently snowing near Sheridan, Wyoming, in the high country, which will continue into tonight and tomorrow. The Beartooth Highway south of Livingston, MT, could be closed tonight due to snow. Plan accordingly.

Can Hess, ONEOK Get North Dakota Flaring Down To 10 Percent? Active Rigs Drop To Temporary Low; Global Warming Has Been Very, Very Good For Investors

Tioga / Hess natural gas processing plant, expanded, back on-line. The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Hill said that since the upgrades, Hess has reduced natural gas flaring from between 25 and 30 percent to between 15 and 20 percent. The company expects to reduce its flaring in North Dakota to below 10 percent in coming years.

Also, from The Dickinson Press:

The expanded gas plant now produces ethane, a new product for North Dakota. The ethane is transported by pipeline to a plastics plant in Alberta, Canada.

The production of ethane is significant for North Dakota, with several companies looking at petrochemical manufacturing opportunities in the state, said Director of Mineral Resources Lynn Helms.

Active rigs:

	5/20/2014	05/20/2013	05/20/2012	05/20/2011	05/20/2010
Active Rigs	187	189	209	178	112

 
RBN Energy: one in a series of installments on all the pipeline required to carry natural gas from the Marcellus/Utica. I don't think the average American (including me) realizes how big this story is. Look at the opening paragraph:

Surging natural gas production volumes in the Marcellus/Utica will need to move in just about every direction. No single market—not the Northeast, the Midwest, the Southeast, or even the Gulf Coast—is big enough to absorb it all. Midstream companies are considering every cost-effective way to replumb and expand their existing pipelines to add takeaway capacity, and when still more is needed, are turning to greenfield projects. In this, the first of several company-by-company episodes on who is planning what, we examine Spectra Energy’s plans to add at least 2 Bcf/d of new Marcellus/Utica takeaway capacity by 2017, and maybe another 2 or 3 Bcf/d by the end of the decade.

Along this very same line, PowerSource is reporting:

“The Marcellus is at the epicenter of the change in gas flows across North America,” stated Moody’s in a report released last week. The firm’s data shows that, of the advanced projects nationally meant to increase pipeline capacity by 20 percent by 2017–2018, 88 percent are in the East.

Mihoko Manabe, senior vice president at Moody’s and the report’s author, said those pipelines are transporting Marcellus and Utica gas to a variety of regions.

“The industry wants options,” Ms. Manabe said. “They want to be able to send it to Canada and the Northeast — we all saw the impact of the polar vortex — as well as to the Southeast’s growing power generation market, to hubs around Chicago and to LNG export terminals on the Gulf Coast.” LNG refers to liquefied natural gas.

The Wall Street Journal

Global warming has been very, very good for investors. Good for 22.2%, to be exact.

Growth in utility-company earnings in the first quarter This year's harsh winter weather hobbled the retailing, shipping and construction industries, but the polar vortex powered utilities to higher profits. First-quarter earnings at utilities, which generate electricity and, in many cases, also sell natural gas, were up 22.2% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That's their largest jump since at least the third quarter of 2008, which is as far back as FactSet's records go. 

The Los Angeles Times

I always wondered when we would get down to these brass tacks? "Mark Twain: Inexcusable racist or man of his time?"

A decision by a Nevada state panel sheds light on another descriptor for the American man of letters held by many, even today: racist.

The Nevada State Board on Geographic Names has voted to delay a decision on whether to name a cove on Lake Tahoe for Samuel Clemens, Twain's real name, after a local tribe complained that the author held demeaning views of Native Americans.

It looks like everyone has WAY too much time on their hands. 

After Dithering For Six Years ... Was It All A Hoax To Form A New Government Agency? Here It Comes: The Federal Fracking Permitting Agency (FFPA)

President Obama, at this linked Argus Media story which appears not to be a hoax:

The Obama administration plans to take steps to streamline federal permitting of infrastructure projects, including renewable energy generation, electricity transmission and pipelines. [Some murmuring in the audience. The Tea Party is on the edge of its collective seat.]

The plan announced yesterday by President Barack Obama calls for better coordination among agencies, making it easier for the public to track permit reviews and an interagency "permitting center" to help implement the reforms at executive branch agencies. [LOL]

"We are cutting bureaucratic red tape that stalls good projects from breaking ground," Obama said. [The speech was momentarily interrupted by fifteen minutes of laughter.]

The plan calls for 15 specific reforms to meet overall goals for speeding up reviews and improving transparency, such as developing coordinated project schedules, posting more projects to an online "dashboard," and improving project planning and site selection early in the process. [Some squirming among the Sierra Club who had hoped for 17 specific reforms. The Native American Senator from Massachusetts is checking her notes.]

Environmentalists said the plan will help speed permitting of "worthy projects" that will increase US use of renewable energy. [NY Times reporter is mouthing: "what worthy projects?"]

I'm not exactly sure what renewable energy - wind or solar -- uses pipelines.  LOL.

I'm not sure why anyone would even consider "unworthy" projects.

It will take at least two months for each agency director to review fracking permits, leading to a two-year frack permitting process. Regular readers remember the BLM permitting process when the boom first began; it was "a two-year process" to get a permit in Fort Berthold until North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan stepped in and got that "fixed." Now, as far as I know, permits on Fort Berthold are approved in as timely a matter as non-BLM state permits. Don't quote me on that.

By the way, the dashboard concept is interesting: the first major operating system to use a desktop "dashboard" was Apple Inc. Google "dashboard desktop" and the first hits are all Apple.

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Global Warming or Perpetual Winter?

IceAgeNow is reporting:

Rockford, IL, had never had accumulating snow after May 2nd … until this year… two weeks past the latest date. Records since 1905.

It’s also the longest snow season in 109 years in Rockford … started October 22 and most likely ended May 16th.

It has snowed in the U.S for 9 straight months now since the rare September snowfall in Wyoming.

This might be a good year for the Kennedy clan in Massachusetts to visit Illinois or Wyoming; it might be the last year their children see snow. LOL.

FERC Approves WMB Natural Gas Pipeline For New York City; For Investors Only: May 12, 2014; Has Coal Touched Bottom; Global Warming In Colorado; WMB, CHK, COP All At New 52-Week Highs

Top energy story for the day:

Williams Partners’ and its wholly-owned subsidiary Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC  today announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved its application to construct and operate two related projects designed to increase natural gas delivery capacity to Brooklyn and Queens in time for next winter’s heating season.

The Transco pipeline is the nation’s largest-volume interstate natural gas pipeline system; it is a major supplier of natural gas to New York City. Customers in a dozen states along the 1,800-mile pipeline route spanning South Texas to New York City receive natural gas shipped on the Transco system.

Thirteen companies announce increased dividends or distributions.

Samson Oil & Gas announces 100% increase in proved reserve value: Co announces estimated the company's Proved reserves to be 1.805 MMBOE and valued at $47.7 million.

Companies trading at new 52-week highs: CHK, COP, TRN, WMB.  CHK goes over $30.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.  

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Nebraska: Pipeline Vs Wind Farms

Outa Sight, Outa Mind vs In Your Face, Every Day

Having just spent a better part of a long day driving through western Nebraska this was a particularly timely. A big thank you to a reader for sending it to me. One can read it for free at the link below, or pay a few pennies to read it at the source.

From National Review On-Line, a nice little essay on energy in Nebraska: the Keystone XL vs wind farms. I like this bit best: 

There is almost no visible evidence of the pipelines. Now and then, you'll see an above-ground station. Otherwise, the pipelines are buried, "out of sight and out of mind," as Robert Milligan, who has a farm in this area, says.

You can see wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail (some 150 years after they first appeared). The pipelines, not really.

What is very much visible is the wind farm: the Steele Flats Wind Farm. The turbines are enormous, inescapable, "in your face," as Cynthia Milligan says. They utterly alter the landscape, and, in some eyes, blight it. [Wait until the turbines start to show inevitable wear and tear.]

The Nebraska Public Power District set a goal: By 2020, 10 percent of energy should come from renewable sources. The relevant boards in this part of Nebraska held hearings last spring. The subject was the wind farm. Arguments flew back and forth, naturally. Also naturally, there was an element of NIMBY: "Not in my backyard." This affects families high and low. In Massachusetts, the Kennedy family objected to the Cape Wind Project -- which would spoil the view from their storied compound.

Here in the Diller-Steele City area, Kevin McIntyre objected to the Steele Flats project. For one thing, he didn't want to put up with the noise of the turbines. He was quoted by the Beatrice Daily Sun as saying, "I want to go out on my back deck and sit in peace and quiet and listen to the cows or to the birds. We all pray for rain at church. I'm going to pray for lack of wind."

Other residents were friendlier to the turbines, including those who would have them on their property: They would receive about $7,000 per turbine, per year. The turbines are expected to be in place for 20 years.

There are 44 of them. They went up last summer and fall. They were installed by NextEra Energy Resources, a company out of Florida. The company got in under the wire: At the end of the year, Congress let the tax subsidy for wind expire. But those who began construction before December 31 get to enjoy their subsidy for the next ten years.

These turbines are enormous, as I said. You almost have to see them to understand how dominating they are. Each turbine is 426 feet tall -- taller than the capitol tower in Lincoln, as Cynthia Milligan points out. (Nebraska's capitol is the second-tallest in the country, after Louisiana's.)  

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Coal

Don sent me a number of stories on coal. The good news: presidents come and go. Coal will be here forever.

Peabody Energy is upgraded by Morgan Stanley: Commenting on the 2014 outlook for the industry, Kurtz wrote, "We believe coal burn will increase by 63 mt in 2014. While production should be able to keep pace, this is a major change from the heavy destocking environment dogging the market since 2012."

Barron's calls a "bottom" in coal, due to the Polar Vortex.

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Colorado's Global Warming Ice Age

Reuters is reporting:

A mid-May snowstorm dumped as much as 3 feet of snow on Colorado's Rocky Mountains on Monday while the U.S. Midwest braced for hail and other severe weather, forecasters said.

Snowplows cleared the way for the Monday morning rush hour after the storm, which is expected to taper off by midday, blanketed Denver with more than 4 inches and the mountains northeast of Steamboat Springs with 36 inches  of snow, said Jim Kalina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado.

I had hoped to change the "Global_Warming_2013_2014" tag to "2014_2015" in June but I may have to wait until the end of July. Just saying. This has been one heckuva winter.

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A Note for the Granddaughters

This is so cool. I just discovered Brenda Wineapple's 2003 biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne. It turns out I've read another of Wineapple's biography, one on Gertrude Stein.

A few weeks ago I happened to pick up another biography: Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein by Brenda Wineapple. Now, about one-third of the way through, I realize that the first third of the book could have been subtitled "The Boston (or Harvard) Years." This first third of the book dovetails nicely with Richardson's William James, who in fact was one of Gertrude Stein's professors. She eventually received a "B" from his one semester course that she took. She did "A" work in the first half of the semester, but "C" work during the latter half, during the opera season.

I might be back in a Boston/Harvard/Salem phase with discovering this new biography. I've read the first two chapters and the book is delightful. It's a big book and one I can enjoy for a few weeks, I suppose.

My "library" blog is here. 

For The Archives: The Expanding Williston Footprint; Global Warming Shuts Down I-80 In Wyoming

When I was growing up in Williston, the boundaries were pretty much:

• east: University Avenue
• north: Spring Lake Park
• west: the bypass
• south: the railroad tracks

In the graphic below, the blue-outlined rectangle delineates the "Williston" footprint that existed when I grew up. It was approximately rectangular 2.5 sections by 2 sections, and then with a bit of the "Million Dollar Way up to Spring Lake Park included.

Williston has expanded to the west, but the greatest growth has occurred north of Spring Lake Park.  The west has seen the most residential growth but the north is yet to fill in.

Williston Footprint Outlined In Blue Before The Bakken Boom (before 2010)

Rumor: the new airport will be in section 35-155-101 or thereabouts. The rumor comes from an extremely unreliable source and I wouldn't put much stock in it, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out twenty years from now. For the archives.

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I-80 Closed Due To Global Warming

Let's see, this is the middle of May. I-80 is closed due to a winter storm. I sure hope Algore wasn't trying to get home from skiiing in the Rockies.

A screenshot (because the link is dynamic):

 At the link, one will see that portions of I-25 are also affected though not yet closed.

Reason #45,690 Why I Love To Blog; Two 100-Tank-Car-Unit Trains Every Three Days With Propane/Butane From The Bakken To Washington State

This was posted yesterday, April 15, 2014:

RBN Energy: an update on the LPG export industry in Washington State.

On March 4th, Petrogas announced the purchase of the Ferndale, WA LPG terminal, the only functioning butane and propane export facility on the U.S. west coast.  Then last Thursday (April 10th) Sage Midstream announced a project to build another world scale LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) export terminal a couple of hundred miles south at the Port of Longview, WA.  These are big developments for the west coast LPG markets. Today we begin a blog series that examines the history of Ferndale, how it has been used in the past, and what these two announcements mean for the future of west coast propane and butane markets.

Rusty and I both have a warm spot in our heart for Ferndale, having managed the commercial activities out of that terminal more than two decades ago when we were with Texaco.  Ferndale is a 750MBbl storage, tank car, truck and waterborne import/export facility that sits near several Northwest area refineries, and is just a tank car ride away from some of the richest natural gas liquids (NGL) producing areas in North America.  For most of its existence, Ferndale has been the backwater of NGL markets, almost exclusively used for butane exports to Latin America and the Asia/Pacific markets.  But now NGL markets are changing dramatically due to the onslaught of new production from the shale revolution.  And exports have become the market of choice for NGL surpluses.  Up to now most of the action in exports has been along the Gulf Coast, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast out of the Marcus Hook terminal.   

That article was pretty much all about propane- and butane-by-rail to Washington State.

Today, Don sends me this TDN.com news story:

Port of Longview commissioners will hold two special meetings Wednesday about Haven Energy’s proposed propane and butane export terminal in Longview. The meetings are at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The meetings, which will take place at the Cowlitz Expo Center, will allow the company to make a public presentation about the proposal and give citizens a chance to ask questions.

Last week, Haven announced it wants to build the $275 million terminal at the port’s vacant Berth 4. The project would create 2,000 construction jobs for the 21-months needed to build it, according to the company.

Haven officials say the completed terminal would create 110-125 full-time permanent jobs, including 26 to 35 direct company jobs and 22 direct railroad and maritime industry jobs — all at what the company described as above-average wages.

Liquid propane and butane would be shipped from North Dakota by rail car at an average of two 100-car-long trains every three days. Haven President Greg Bowles said the trains would use the existing rail corridor and not effect public roads. From the rail cars, liquid products would be transferred to two 100-foot-tall concrete storage tanks before eventually making its way to oceangoing ships bound for Hawaii, Mexico, the U.S. Pacific Coast and Asia.

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Global Warming Climate Change Extreme Weather

Call It What You Want: Another Winter Storm In Minnesota; Another 12 Inches Of Snow

The Weather Channel is reporting:

Issued by The National Weather Service Minneapolis, MN
Wed, Apr 16, 2014, 4:52 PM CDT .. WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM CDT THURSDAY
... A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM CDT THURSDAY.
* TIMING... PERIODS OF SNOW... SOME HEAVY AT TIMES... WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.
* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION... 6 TO 10 INCHES. NARROW BANDS OF 12 TO 15 INCHES.
* OTHER IMPACTS... TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. THIS WILL BE A WET SNOW WHICH WILL BE DIFFICULT TO SHOVEL.