Back To The Future -- Dickinson Firm Awarded Contract To Build 31 Miles Of The Wall -- December 2, 2019

See this post: https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2019/05/keeping-new-mexico-great-washington.html.

Now this story from KXNET, dated today, December 2, 2019, 6:54 p.m. CST:

A North Dakota company has been awarded a contract to help build a border wall in Yuma, Arizona.

U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer said Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a border wall contract to Fisher Sand and Gravel of Dickinson.
Fisher will receive nearly $270 million of a $400 million contract. Cramer says the contract will go toward designing and building physical barriers along about 31 miles (49.9 kilometers) of the southern border in Yuma.

It appears after the Dickinson company built a half-mile section it impressed the USACE and awarded the contract to Fisher Sand and Gravel. Not sure how this all evolved, but there you have it.

A mile of crude oil pipeline: one million dollars.

A mile of interstate highway: one million dollars

A mile of wall: $270 million / 31 miles = $8 million dollars; or,

A mile of wall: $400 million / 31 miles = $13 million dollars.

USAF toilet seat: $640 (link here).

Keeping America great.

Wind Farm Update -- Williston Herald -- December 2, 2019

From The Williston Herald, data points:

• Williams, Mountrail wind farm to use newest, largest turbines in the nation (Aurora Wind Farm; 
• one mile away fromt he Lindahl Wind Farm, near Tioga; 
• latest in a line of nine other wind energy projects either seeking permits or under construction;
• together they will add another 2,435 MW to North Dakota's already impressive energy portfolio; by itself, Aurora will produce 299 MW (nameplate, though historically, wind farms produce about 25% of nameplate capacity); 
• two types of turbines; the larger turbine will stand 181 meters from ground to tip-top blade, and product 4.8 MW; the rotor diameter of the wind turbine is 149 meters; 39 meters longer than Lindahl; 
• the federal credit was available in full for projects started by 2016, and is gradually phased out thereafter
• this year marks the last year for 40 percent of the credit; the Aurora Wind Farm, while breaking ground this year, was actually begun in 2016 due to the purchase of its turbines in that year;
• it will be receiving 100 percent of the original tax credit.

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Sophia Hitchhiking To Pre-School

Tell Me Again The "Downside" Of Global Warming -- December 2, 2019

Duluth, MN, early winter, 2019:

I never realized that I-35, here in Texas, extends all the way to Duluth, MN. Ninth-longest interstate and third-longest north-south interstate. It splits in two here in the DFW area as well as the Minneapolis-St Paul area. I love the symmetry.

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Recession Is Just Around The Corner

From another source; google phrases if you want to find source:

Don't throw in the towel on the U.S. economy just yet.

Black Friday sales are the latest sign that the U.S. consumer, which makes up about 70 percent of the economy, is alive and well.

"All this talk of recession, and you know I thought that was ridiculous talk, it's not going to happen," Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz Global Investors, told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Monday. "The U.S. consumer is in a really good place and the U.S. consumer is the main driver of this economy."

Spending figures from the Black Friday weekend showed online shoppers spent a record $7.4 billion, almost as much as the $7.9 billion they spent during last year's Cyber Monday. That’s in addition to the $4.2 billion they spent online on Thanksgiving Day, which was 14.5 percent higher than last year's spending.

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Why He Keeps Tweeting

He keeps tweeting because no one else will report this.

Snopes needs to fact check.

Link here:

New Operator In North Dakota: An Ethanol Producer, Red Trail Energy, LLC, Has An Oil And Gas Permit -- December 2, 2019

Updates

December 11, 2019: what is Red Trail up to? From April 20, 2019, US News, a carbon capture project. Data points:

• this is being done to meet West Coast fuel standards
• the company recently completed a geophysical survey of eight square miles around the plant
• company's goal is to produce ethanol that will meet the low carbon fuel standards of California and/or the Pacific Northwest
• the company and the EERC are targeting the Broom Creek formation, about 6,400 feet below ground that area
• proposal: to inject about 160,000 metric tons of CO2 per year into the well
• leaks? can anyone say Aliso Canyon gas leak?

December 7, 2019: from a reader, regarding the Red Trail Energy permit, see first comment:

The permit Red Trail is requesting for drilling could likely be related to research for a carbon sequestration project. Ive heard they have interest in a potential CO2 capture project. There will likely be permits requested for a well or wells in Oliver County in the near future as well which are related to Project Tundra, another potential CO2 capture project.

Original Post

Active rigs:

455.98	12/2/2019	12/02/2018	12/02/2017	12/02/2016	12/02/2015
Active Rigs	56	66	53	39	64

One permit renewed:

• Bruin: an FB Leviathan permit in McKenzie County

Four new permits, #37229 - #37232, inclusive

• Operator: WPX (3); Red Trail Energy, LLC
• Fields: Spotted Horn (McKenzie County); Wildcat (RTE 10, Stark County)
• WPX has permits for a 3-well Patricia Kelly pad in section 3-150-94, Spotted Horn oil field;
• Red Trail Energy, LLC, has a permit for a wildcat in SENE 10-139-92;

Over at the NDIC well search site, this is the first and only permit (so far) for Red Trail Energy, LLC.  The website for Red Trail Energy greets visitors with huge "Ethanol" banner.
From the website:

Red Trail Energy, LLC (RTE) is a North Dakota-based investor group formed to finance, construct and operate a corn-based ethanol production facility located near Richardton, North Dakota. This vision became a reality when the $99 million, state-of-the-art plant began producing ethanol, in January of 2007. RTE now employs 47 personnel with an annual payroll of $2.9 million.

As one of the first coal-fired ethanol plants in the nation, RTE produces 50 million gallons of ethanol, using 18-20 million bushels of corn and ~100,000 tons of coal, annually. The plant will generate 2.8 gallons of ethanol from every bushel of corn. Coproducts produced by RTE include 125,000 tons of dried distillers grain and 80,000 tons of modified-wetcake annually.

The Richardton plant’s physical layout is composed of eleven structures, totaling 100,000 square feet of buildings, including administration, maintenance, processing, grain receiving, dried distillers grains storage, coal island, dryers and a pump house. The second-generation plant incorporates all the latest advances in ethanol processing, including equipment and technologies proven to boost efficiency and return on investment.

No mention of oil and gas operations.  The wildcat will be drilled on/near RTE property north of Richardton, ND. Richardton is east of Dickinson and about 100 miles west of Sterling, ND, where one turns south to Linton, ND. Linton is the county seat for Emmons County. Folks may remember Linton, ND: that's where the recent NDIC hearing on the DAPL expansion was held. Emmons County is the location of the fabled "Sleeping Giant" natural gas field.

From a reader, alerting me to RTE, which could end up being quite a story:

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Hope Springs Eternal

Area under discussion:

Schwab Move To Ft Worth Update -- December 2, 2019

I still think this will be one of the bigger 2019 business stories -- Top national non-energy story, from week #47:

• Schwab moving out of California; moving to Texas; here; and, here;

Now an update from DallasBizJournal, said with a straight face, "finances were not a big driver in decision to move HQ to north Texas."

The Charles Schwab Corp. may be moving from San Francisco to North Texas, but a key executive doesn’t want you to think it’s all about saving money. [He said with a straight face. Perhaps it also has to do with quality of live.]

The discount brokerage announced last week plans to move its headquarters from California to Westlake, northwest of Dallas, after it closes its planned acquisition of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. Both companies [each] already have more than 4,000 employees locally.

During a call following the announcement, an analyst asked how Schwab thinks about relocation and its connection to cost savings and tax rates – factors that are cited as advantages for Texas businesses. The planned deal is set to bolster earnings.

“I wouldn’t think of the eventual headquarters move to Texas as being a big driver from a financial standpoint,” Chief Financial Officer Peter Crawford said. “It’s really more a reflection of the reality today, which is that we have a large campus in the Westlake area. TD Ameritrade has a large campus in the Southlake area. We have opportunity for expansion there.” [He said with a straight face.]

He said the company will continue to have a large presence in San Francisco, consistent with where it’s at today.

Yet more folks should be coming to the North Texas locale in the future.

“As we look over the next four or five-plus years, that is a location where we will be likely adding a significant number and certainly ... a more significant percentage of our staff,” Crawford said.

Schwab is joining other companies that are relocating to – or expanding in – North Texas as more companies look for ways to save money and find more talent.

Some 660 companies moved 765 facilities out of California in the past two years, and Dallas-Fort Worth has been the beneficiary of many of the relocations -- previously reported/posted.

Earlier this year, McKesson, a pharmaceuticals and health care supplies provider, moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Irving. At the time of the announcement last year, John H. Hammergren, McKesson’s then-CEO, pointed to reasons that included spending in a prepared statement.

My hunch: Schwab was having trouble competing for talent, competing with the likes of Apple and dozens of other tech companies.