Locator: 48461B.
Breaking: US to establish an American Wealth Sovereign Fund -- holy mackerel!
Breaking: Trump suspends increased tariffs on Mexico pending new positive news from the Mexican government. Last thing I heard: Mexico to send 10,000 troops along the border to stem the southern surge. Yes, President Trump while signing new EOs said the 10,000 troops will be based along the border permanently.
Breaking: Panama has stopped huge project with China after Marco Rubio's visit.
Breaking: Rubio could easily be our next US president -- this is best news ever -- the one-two punch -- Elon Musk stopped aid temporarily to sort things about; Rubin will open the portals in a step-wise, well-thought-out manner. US aid is going to come with conditions -- US aid won't come without conditions.
META to re-incorporate outside of Delaware: Texas is high on the list. Link here.
Investing: a reader asked me late last night if I would be "investing" today (adding to my positions or starting new positions). My answer:
- you betcha; and
- I'm always fully invested.
Prediction:
- market volume will set records today
- the same number of shares that are sold for every ticker will also equal the same number of shares bought
Local schools: students will get an additional two days "off" from school next year
- school year will still remain the same length -- first day to last day, but students will get two extra days off
- teachers will be school those days, as training days
- I'm thrilled! some of the best public elementary schools in the country and they continue to innovate
- by increasing length of day, the students will get same instructional time for full school year
Making a mountain out of a molehill:
- 99% of this is political -- will not affect the average American at all:
- take a look at what Canada will tax coming across the border: bourbon and peanut butter (LOL)
- the worst example: analysts suggesting it will add $3,000 to the price of a car. Oh, really, if so, that means you're not buying cars from the "right countries" -- last I heard, no tariffs on South Korea or Japan or Taiwan (at least not yet, but that could change also)
- perspective: we spent much of our adult lives in Europe -- the VAT (value-added tax) was horrendous -- much worse than the tariffs
- VAT is added at every step in the manufacturing / sales process; each country assesses its own VAT
- the average VAT is almost 22% -- meaning some European countries must be close to 30% VAT
- and yes, Canada has a VAT also, though much, much lower than that in Europe
- I never understood how the Europeans would/could put up with such a high VAT
- and, just think if this all leads to lower federal income taxes for average Americans ...
- by the way, overall prices for cars will decrease this way with Trump's new policies, yet to be announced.
The mountain / molehill of cars coming from Canada -- quick, raise your hand if you are affected. This, amazingly, includes all the cars from BOTH Mexico and Canada -- I see two from Mexico; several from Canada -- and the top four from Canada are NOT American names:
Another mountain out of a molehill, link here:
I'm not sure if Justin Trudeau has read The Art of the Deal. But one can guess. He certainly doesn't seem to understand the oil market.
Know what won't be affected by the tariffs? EGGS.
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $74.46. WTI up 2.7% overnight; up $1.93.
New wells:
- Tuesday, February 4, 2025: 5 for the month, 51 for the quarter, 51 for the year,
- 39389, conf, CLR, Dalin 2-16H,
- Monday, February 3, 2025: 4 for the month, 50 for the quarter, 50 for the year,
- 40703, conf, CLR, Bohmbach FIU 16-26HSL,
- Sunday, February 2, 2025: 3 for the month, 49 for the quarter, 49 for the year,
- 40455, conf, Hess, GO-Beck Living Tr-156-98-2017H-5,
- 39316, conf, CLR, Harms East Federal 1-33H,
- Saturday, February 1, 2025: 1 for the month, 47 for the quarter, 47 for the year,
- 39315, conf, CLR, Quale Federal 3-1H2,
RBN Energy: from last week, a reminder, Trump's tariffs will hurt Canadian oil producers more than US refiners. Link here.
RBN Energy: today, more recent -- Suriname sets its site on becoming major oil supplier with offshore boost. Archived.
As crude oil production surges off the coast of Guyana, its eastern
neighbor, Suriname, has set off on its own mission to become a global
oil supplier. With some onshore production active for decades, the tiny
South American nation now has its sights set on developing its vast
offshore reserves. While there have been some setbacks, its
international partners are getting their plans back on track. In today’s
RBN blog, we’ll take a deep dive into what’s ahead for Suriname.
We previously highlighted how Guyana has been a rising star (see Break My Stride) in the global crude market, even if it’s only a recent entrant. Guyana now has three crude grades to offer markets (see My Guy)
since its first major oil discovery just a decade ago. The offshore
Stabroek block’s only oil-producing area (yellow-shaded area in Figure 1
below) is churning out more than 650 Mb/d of oil from three projects in
the reserve-rich Guyana-Suriname Basin (area within dashed-green line).
Owners of these assets want to roughly double that volume by the end of
2027 with three more projects. It’s worth noting that in 2000, the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the underexplored areas of the
Suriname-Guyana Basin held 13.6 billion barrels of oil and 32 trillion
cubic feet (Tcf) of gas. But Guyana isn’t the only country with plans to
develop those reserves.
Figure 1. The Guyana-Suriname Basin and the Stabroek Block. Source: RBN
The Guyana-Suriname Basin stretches across three countries on the
Atlantic coast of South America: Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The
oil-rich formation has an onshore segment but is predominantly an
offshore play.
Suriname has been extracting minimal amounts of crude oil
from the onshore basin since the 1980s but the former Dutch colony
wants to raise its profile as a petroleum supplier with its offshore oil
bonanza, mirroring its neighbor’s success. (Suriname’s maritime border
indicated by dashed-pink line in Figure 1.)
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Other Energy-Related News
ISO-NE, link here:
MMF: my favorite chart, most recent data, w/w, link here.
