Presidential Election -- Politics

Ohio is a toss-up; leaning to Obama.

Fracking is a godsend for the state.

A 2011 study conducted for the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program projected that oil and gas producers will spend more than $34 billion on exploration and development, [fracking], midstream, royalties and leasing through 2015.  

The study also concludes the oil and gas industry will create nearly 205,000 jobs in the state during the period. In addition, it predicts that oil and gas industry wages in the state will exceed $12 billion in annual salaries and personal income by 2015.  

Such projections signify good news for Ohio's high school and college graduates, displaced workers and career changers who wish to find a good-paying job in the oil and gas industry and stay in the region. Such a prospect was often unimaginable in Eastern Ohio in recent decades before the development of the Utica Shale, but it is keeping folks on the frontlines of oil and gas workforce development very busy.

Yup.

Japan Opts To "Draw Curtain" on Nuclear Energy -- Really?

Following in path of Germany, Japan will "draw curtain" on nuclear energy.

Link here to Bloomberg.

Not really.

Wages in North Dakota -- 2011

Link to another blog, the Fresh Mojo.

Average weekly wages across North Dakota for private and public workers went up in most counties for the 4th quarter in 2011.  

Only three North Dakota counties showed average lower wages from the 3rd to 4th quarters in 2011 – Mercer, Towner and Eddy counties. 

Not surprisingly, counties with top wages in the 4th quarter are counties where oil production is taking place. The counties with top five highest weekly wages in the 4th quarter of 2011 include McKenzie with $1,557 a week (up from $1,234 a week in the 3rd quarter); Williams with $1,486 a week (up from $1,365 a week); Slope with $1,331 a week (up from $1,303 a week); Burke $1,244 a week (up most dramatically from $878 a week in the 3rd quarter); and Dunn with $1,221 (up from $1,122).

Okay.

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If this doesn't put a smile on your face, ...
Poupée de cire, poupée de son, France Gall Memo to self: enroll in an adult education French language course.

And if you want to hear more, consider this: see if you can figure out who covers this.

But back to France Gall:
F Chick Habit, France Gall

White Topping in the Bakken -- A "Reverse Oreo"

Link to Oil Patch Dispatch.

WILLISTON, N.D. – A new technique being used in some North Dakota road repair projects aims to smooth out rough spots more quickly and with longer lasting results.  

The North Dakota Department of Transportation is placing a concrete overlay on top of existing asphalt to better handle heavy truck traffic in the Oil Patch and elsewhere.  

The technique, sometimes referred to as white topping, should eliminate the ruts that have been occurring on some northwest North Dakota highways, particularly at intersections, said Robert Seghetti, vice president for ACME Concrete Paving.  

ACME, of Spokane, Wash., is using this technique in a road rehabilitation projects on U.S. Highway 2 north of Williston. ACME also is doing work near New Town. “It should be a long-term solution to the rutting problem they have in North Dakota,” Seghetti said.  

In addition to improving load-carrying capacity and safety, the technique also is cheaper and can be completed more quickly than other resurfacing methods, said Clayton Schumaker, assistant materials and research engineering for the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

Interesting. Another experiment in the Bakken laboratory. Incredible. And I love that "Williston" byline.

I guess with white gravel - black asphalt - white topping, we have the equivalent of a "reverse Oreo" in the oil patch.

WLL Up For Sale?

Earlier this week a reader sent me a note suggesting, that based on public information regarding trading activity and WLL, that the latter might be up for sale.

I didn't have time to respond immediately, but when I did, it appeared the activity was consistent with all the general oil and gas activity this week, and I didn't think the trading activity suggested WLL was in play at this particular time. Both the correspondent and I agreed that WLL is often talked about as a possible takeover candidate.

But it appears I may be wrong, and there may be fire where there is smoke, as they say. From Wall Street Cheat Sheet:

Shares of Whiting Petroleum Corporation took off on chatter that the company will put itself up for sale, along with Thursday’s option action, in which almost 5,400 September $52.50 calls changed hands, which was well above open interest of fewer than 1,900 contracts. Whiting’s potential suitors are reportedly Apache Corporation, Chevron Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and Royal Dutch Shell.

The MDW alluded to Shell as a possible new Bakken entrant in an earlier post. Hooah!

WLL: market cap --  $6 billion; suitor needs to have $12 billion price tag in mind
Apache: $26 billion market cap; needs to increase oil exposure; only $360 million cash;
Chevron: $230 billion market cap; lots of cash; in best position to do this, but does it need to?
OXY: $75 billion market cap; only $4 billion in cash; operating cash similarly low
RDS: $227 billion market cap; similar cash position to CVX; Shell is ready and game