Schlumberger Sees Increased Oil Demand In 2015 -- October 17, 2014

Updates

Actually, a clarification, my error:  "everyone" sees increased demand for oil next year. IEA and OPEC cut that increase in demand estimate by 300,000 bopd to 1.1 million bopd. Schlumberger cited the increase in demand for 2015 in their spending plans for next year.  Wow, I'm glad folks keep me straight on all this. I had the same problem with debt and deficit. Ha.

That is interesting: a 1.1 million bopd increase in oil demand in 2015 -- that's not trivial. Something tells me the sell-off was a bit overdone.
 

Original Post

 
IEA and OPEC both suggest oil demand will decrease in 2015 due to global slowdown. Schlumberger's outlook? Schlumberger looks for higher oil demand in 2015. I agree. The world's two largest economies, China and the US, are not falling back into recession. From Rigzone:

Schlumberger Ltd, the world's largest oilfield services company, said oil and gas spending would increase in 2015 as global oil demand is poised to rise, downplaying fears of an investment slowdown due to weak crude prices.

Schlumberger shares were up 7 percent at $97.10 in early morning trading.

The company reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit after markets closed on Thursday, helped by strong drilling activity in North America.

Oil prices have slid nearly 20 percent since June due to oversupply, signs of weak demand growth and indications that key oil producers, particularly Saudi Arabia, have limited appetite to intervene in prices.

"The key to the overall oil market is still that the global oil demand is currently set to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day in 2015, which will require growth in exploration and production investments," Schlumberger Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard said on a post-earnings call on Friday.

The International Energy Agency earlier this week cut its 2015 estimate for oil demand growth by 300,000 barrels per day to 1.1 million bpd, citing weak global economies.

Oil demand was "largely unchanged," while supply was relatively "well balanced," Kibsgaard said on the call.

"WTI oil at $80 a barrel for a short time is unlikely to have an impact on growth and margins for the services companies, but $80 oil for more than a month or two certainly will," William Blair & Co analysts wrote in a note.

"Short time" vs "a month or two." Say what?

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What Do The Russians Say?

Rigzone/Reuters is reporting:

Gazprom Neft, Russia's fourth biggest oil producer by output, said on Friday it did not see a fall in the oil price as a long-term trend, expecting it to return to the level of $95-110 per barrel.

Gazprom Neft, the oil wing of state gas company Gazprom, added that its investment projects envisage an oil price of $95 per barrel.

Brent has lost more than 20 percent of its value since June and was dragged down earlier in the week by signals from key OPEC members that the group was unlikely to intervene. It is now trading at $85.93 per barrel.

No End In Sight For US Oil Production Boom -- October 17, 2014

The New York Times: no end in sight for US oil production boom.

My musings and others along the same line:

• Lynn Helms' comments
• Personal musings
• Countries at risk; Bakken actually sitting in a nice spot
• Could the shale oil boom be ending?

It's nice to see that The New York Times sees things the way I see things. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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Three More Brooklyn Oil Field Permits

CLR has permits for three more wells in the Brooklyn oil field.

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Also In The New York Times
Six Simple Words

Ever since President Clinton's presidency, parsing comments and parsing news articles has become a national pastime.

This is a another example. From The New York Times on article regarding the Ebola thing:

The business-as-usual sentiment at the White House changed abruptly, officials said, when a second nurse in Dallas contracted the disease early Wednesday morning. The fact that she had traveled on a Frontier Airlines flight despite having a fever added to the concern, officials said.

Did you see what was missing? If not, read it again.

The fact that the nurse "traveled on a Frontier Airlines flight despite having a fever" was barely the story.

Remember: she said she talked with the President Obama's health team (the CDC) about her "fever" -- not once, but perhaps several times in the course of one telephone call if not more than one telephone call -- and President Obama's health team (the CDC) said it was okay for her to fly. The CDC confirmed that (and it would not have come to light had it not been for the internet and talk radio. I think Mike Savage, more than anyone else, moved that story along (about the CDC being called) -- it was almost too much to believe. The nurse cannot be faulted; she had concerns and actually telephoned the CDC. (Actually I'm surprised she got through; I'm surprised they didn't hang up on her thinking she was a nut case, but I digress.)

That's why this story is all of a sudden so big: the president's health team told her it was okay despite her fever (albeit, low grade) and her very, very mild symptoms (a hint of malaise, perhaps).

My hunch is this: this is what the reporter's article looked like before the editor lined through six simple words:

The business-as-usual sentiment at the White House changed abruptly, officials said, when a second nurse in Dallas contracted the disease early Wednesday morning. The fact that she had traveled on a Frontier Airlines flight with the approval of the CDC despite having a fever added to the concern, officials said.

The CDC director, by all rights, should have taken the lead, perhaps be appointed the Ebola czar. The fact that he was not suggests that for all intents and purposes, the president lost faith in him, "fired him in place," and appointed someone else to be in charge.

More Than Just The Bakken In North Dakota -- Kenmare Goose Fest -- North Dakota -- October 17, 2014

Link here:

8 Day Hunting Festival

GooseFest has something for everyone!!

Held during the latter part of October, what is better than a day of goose hunting? How about eight days of goose hunting during Kenmare, North Dakota's GooseFest, an annual hunting festival which falls during the peak migration of snow geese?

Kenmare lies along the Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge and is also situated between the Upper Souris Refuge and the Lostwood Refuge. Each year, the three refuges are hosts to over 400,000 snow geese for several weeks during the fall migration.

Each fall the Kenmare area becomes the center of a true hunter's paradise. Besides the snow geese, hunters will find abundant populations of Canada geese, mallard ducks, Hungarian partridge, sharptail grouse, and ringneck pheasant. After bagging a limit of geese, the avid hunter can spend the afternoon flushing upland game.

I am definitely not a hunter. My brother was an excellent hunter. Self-taught. Bow-hunter: big game as well as fishing with a bow. I hunted occasionally with my dad, and then again went hunting with one of the closest friends I ever had while in the US Air Force, stationed at Grand Forks AFB. Some incredible memories. Wild duck may just be some of the best eating ever.

Williston Pays Off Its "New" Jail Eighteen (18) Years Early -- October 17, 2014

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting: Williston pays off "new" jail in six (6) year, eighteen years ahead of schedule. Williston is now looking at doubling the size of the "new" jail. From the link:

The county sold $14.5 million in bonds for the jail that was built in 2008, with a payoff date in 2032.

The half-percent sales tax enacted to fund the facility raised the entire amount in five years, and the county plans to pay off the bond on Nov. 1.

Commissioner Dan Kalil said the county could have continued the special tax, but that it notified the state earlier this month that it would not do so.

"We told the public it was for the jail and when we had the money it would end," he said. "It's done."

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A Reference To Mark Twain's Eve's Diary

 
Interview, Only Lovers Left Alive, Tilda Swinton

Week 42: October 12, 2014 -- October 18, 2014

Story of the week?
$4 billion plastics plant? In Bismarck?
$4 billion plastics plant announcement

CBR
Why the Bakken is sitting pretty, even with a price slump

Operations
North Dakota oil production hits new record in August, 2014 (latest data)
August production numbers

Bakken economy
Williston's taxable sales up 15% year-over-year

Slump in oil price
Lynn Helms' comments
Personal musings
Countries at risk; Bakken actually sitting in a nice spot
Could the shale oil boom be ending?

Other formations
A random look at the Silurian