Wow, How Do You Spell Gouging? -- And, Original Post Re-Visited

Updates

September 21, 2012: Speaking of gouging -- this has nothing to do with the Delta story, except for gouging. New York City is considering a $15 toll for the Verranzano Bridge (connects Staten Island and Brooklyn Island). This puts the story below in perspective.

September 19, 2012: As I comment below --

Now that I've had a night to sleep on it (the story), and given it a bit more thought, maybe it's not so bad. I realized when I first read the story these prices were targeted for businessmen on an expense account.  It's a lot cheaper than owning one's own jet.

I can't get too excited. I over-reacted when I posted the story. As others have noted, this price will bring in competitors, and over time the prices should drop.  

With regard to hotel/man-camp prices: if the $70 figure is accurate, I encourage folks to check the rates of hotels/motels in cities  where the unemployment rate is less than 5%.

I will leave the original post up, for archival purposes. [I took my older granddaughter horseback riding last weekend; it was an awesome experience. I thought the price for riding was very, very fair, but yet, it was expensive. But, like flying to Williston, it was much less expensive to rent a horse for one day of riding, than to own the horse which would probably be ridden once a week at most.]

Bottom line: I have no problem with airlines charging what they do. Life goes on.

Original Post

Delta has announced prices for the Minneapolis to Williston flights: $550 to $700. The article does not say if that is round trip.  It sounds like a  one-way ticket the way the article is written but I could be wrong.

A one-way Boston-to-Los Angeles flight can be bought for $199. That's coast-to-coast. A $700 flight from Minneapolis to Williston is unconscionable. Even Delta had this to say:

Representatives with Delta say the nonstops aren’t just a way to get people to Williston, but to get those doing business there, to key markets around the world.

Sure. And the government looks into gouging when service stations raise the price of gasoline along a hurricane evacuation route. Gimme a break. This makes Amtrak look like a bargain.

Remember, that's just the flight from Minneapolis. If you live in Texas or Louisiana, you still have to pay for a flight to get to Minneapolis. I hope the $700 ticket includes an in-flight meal.

A huge "thank you" for a reader sending me this link.

Public Television Documentary on the Bakken

I have not watched the documentary (I don't watch television any more, unless I am somewhere where I can catch NASCAR, or maybe some football). My television watching is pretty much limited to the original Perry Mason series on Hulu.com. But I digress.

What makes me think this documentary would be about par for public television? Here's the synopsis, verbatim, from the website: The 60-minute documentary shows us:

• the towns that don’t have the infrastructure to support the uncontrolled and dramatic growth;
• the ranchers who now view bumper-to-bumper traffic all day rather than the rare vehicle traveling along the two-lane horizon to horizon; and, 
• the oil workers who earn huge salaries but live in makeshift housing without hope of finding homes suitable for their families. 

Sounds pretty grim up there in the Bakken. I guess the roughnecks and truck drivers earning $100,000 salaries could be flocking to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, or other such oil countries to drill wells and experience the above, along with:

• roadside bombs;
• miserably hot weather most of the year;
• sand;
• more sand;
• no alcohol (which might be good);
• sand;
• burning US embassies;
• makeshift housing without hope of finding homes suitable for their families; and,
• did I mention, sand?

Anyway, it's there if you want to watch it, at the link.

Investment Teaser

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.

This story was sent to me by a reader. All I initially saw was the OPEC forecast for increased oil demand for 2012 and 2013. To keep it simple: demand will increase about 1 million bopd this year and next year (one million bopd each year).

But then I noticed that the article was really a teaser to order "stock research" on two Bakken-centric companies: Abraxas and Triangle.

Migratory Birds Are Clapping Their Wings

Absolutely nothing about the Bakken. 

If you came here for the Bakken, scroll down. 

Link here to the Des Moines Register.

Siemens has notified Fort Madison that it will lay off 407 of the 660 workers at the blade manufacturing plant that is one of the five largest employers in the city.

Siemens said the layoff is in response to uncertainties surrounding the wind industry with the pending expiration of the 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour production tax credit Dec. 31. 

No action is expected by congress until after the November election. Siemens spokesperson Melanie Forbrick says 407 employees will be laid off at the Fort Madison plant. A total of 220 will remain at the plant, which has 600,000 square feet. 

The layoff will be the second in Iowa this year. Clipper Windpower in Cedar Rapids reduced its workforce there by 76 workers of its 300 employees beginning on Aug. 27.

A big "thank you" to a reader for sending me this link. I don't generally read the Des Moines Register.

This story took me by complete surprise. I just posted a feel-good story not too long ago that renewables (solar and wind) were beating the heck out of coal, the renewables being such a great deal, saving everyone money, etc., etc. Here it is:

September 1, 2012: Germany sets new solar record. It's the details that are scary. 

It was a solar story, but close enough. Wind is even cheaper than solar, I'm told. So, there you have it. Just when solar and wind seemed to be on a roll, Congress goes and messes it up, letting subsidies and grants and whatever expire. We'll have to see if these new numbers are reflected in next week's job watch. Where's the chair on this one? This isn't rocket science.

"They" say the Keystone XL pipeline would have hired upwards of 20,000. Just saying.

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Speaking of "solar," have you seen the migratory birds' new banners on renewables? "Kick the 'el" out of solar."  And, "Wind beneath our wings, not turbines in our flight paths."

ONEOK Announces "Open Season" Bakken Crude Express Pipeline

Link here.

Data points:

• open season will close November 20, 2012
• previously announced 1,300-mile-crude-oil pipeline
• 200,000 bopd with multiple access points in the Williston Basin
• terminus: Cushing, OK
• construction to begin in early 2014; completed by mid-2015

No State Department approval required.

Isn't is amazing, really, when you think about it, that the entire Keystone XL project was killed because of a few miles of pipeline route in Nebraska. Really? Someday, someone is going to ask: "what were they thinking?" Not that it would have made any difference at this time, but with the price of gasoline at < $2.00 / gallon a few years ago, and now it's $4.00 / gallon. Americans appear to be content to let the decision to kill the Keystone XL "ride."

Americans are content. [as in "satisfied."] We have a pretty good life, all things considered.

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Note for the Granddaughters

Not To Be Read By Anyone Else

There Is Nothing In Here About the Bakken

Read At Your Own Risk

Speaking of being content: McDonald's again. I blogged about it the other day. I know Michelle is concerned about obesity in this country. At the other end of the scale, I see AARP is worried about starvation among our younger seniors, especially those between the ages of 50 - 59. I guess they call it "risk of hunger." The younger seniors are out of work and too young to qualify for programs that are provided for senior seniors, according to the AARP website.

With seniors and "risk of hunger," I suppose there are two issues: a) access to food; and, b) cost of food.

With obesity, I suppose there are two issues: a) access to food; and, b) cost of food. Food is so plentiful in this country and so cheap, it's easy for children to become obese with the wrong choices.

McDonald's can hardly be beat for both demographics.

For the obese, a hamburger is all of 250 calories; apple slices are 15 calories; and water or diet drinks have zero calories. We're talking 265 calories for dinner with the correct choice. [For fruits and vegetables, Michelle would have you garden.]

For seniors at "risk of hunger," it's hard not to find a McDonald's in any community. I don't know how AARP proposes to get food to their seniors but whether it's McDonald's or someone else, the challenge is the same. But on cost, the hamburger is a buck, french fries are a buck (the seniors at "risk of hunger" can afford the caloric-laden french fries) and any drink is a buck. We're talking $3.00 for dinner. If you can do it for less, go for it. Throw in a banana, and many seniors at "risk of hunger" will be slightly less hunger-challenged.

I spent a fair amount of time at the AARP site to learn more about their programs. I was disappointed; it was pretty sparse with specifics. The site was best on helping folks learn how to send in money. Eighty-seven cents of every dollar will go directly to help those who need it. They didn't say where the other thirteen cents would go.

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While riding my bike in the drizzling rain this evening after dark to the aforementioned McDonald's, I saw a sign in someone's yard: "Say No To Wal-Mart. No More Big Box Stores." I had to chuckle. They may get their wish sooner than later now that Amazon's strategic plan to compete head-on with brick-and-mortar stores everywhere will spell the demise of big box stores more quickly than signs in people's front yards. 

Yes, I would say Americans have it pretty good, and where there are problems, they are not insurmountable. McDonald's could be part of the solution for many of the food-related problems in this country.