The Week In Pictures -- From Power Line -- May 30, 2020

Link here.

Only New York, Rhode Island Exceed North Dakota In Covid-19 Testing -- May 30, 2020

Link here:

At #18, Michigan must have missed the memo on testing. I guess they were focused on Ford Motor Co. making masks and ventilators, and whether President Trump would wear a mask when touring Ford Motor Company. He did. 

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Enquiring Minds Want To Know: 

Why Are CDs 120 MM In Size?

CDs: compact discs, not certificates of deposit.

Link here. 

The story that Sony Vice-President Norio Ohga insisted on the new medium being able to accommodate Wilhelm Furtwängler’s reading of Beethoven’s Ninth — at the time, the longest recorded performance of the piece — has passed not only into legend, but into many official histories.

However, according to former Philips researcher Kees Immink, the 120mm diameter and 74-minute running time of the CD were actually the result of undignified horse-trading between Sony and Philips, whose relationship as co-developers of the format was sometimes rocky.

Until quite late in the development process, the disc was to have been 115mm in diameter, but this would have given Philips a competitive advantage, as their subsidiary Polygram already had a plant set up to produce 115mm discs. To level the playing field, Ohga insisted on a late change in the size of the disc.

FWIW: a standard 120 mm CD-ROM holds about 650 megabytes, which is 0.64 gigabytes or 0.68 billion bytes.

Sophia: what's a CD? 

Saudi Arabia Moved $40 Billion In Reserves To Sovereign Fund -- May 30, 2002

Link here.

Saudi Arabia transferred 150 billion riyals ($40 billion) from its central bank to its sovereign wealth fund as it went on an investment spree seeking to take advantage of recent market turmoil.

The transfers from the kingdom’s foreign-currency reserves to its Public Investment Fund were made in March and April on an “exceptional” basis, and will “strengthen the investment capacity of the fund,” Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency on Friday.

The move comes as the world’s largest crude exporter faces exceptional fiscal pressure from a crash in global oil markets. Al-Jadaan said the central bank transfer contributed to a historic drop in Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets, which fell at the fastest rate in two decades in March, and will also have an impact on April’s central bank data, expected to be released on Sunday.

“This procedure was taken after comprehensive study and taking into consideration the sufficient level for foreign-currency reserves,” Al-Jadaan said. The PIF has an “important role in diversifying and strengthening economic growth,” he said, noting that the fund’s investment returns “will be available to support public finances if needed.”

A regulatory filing earlier this month showed that the sovereign fund has spent billions of dollars this year buying equities, including stakes in cruise operator Carnival as well as BP Plc, Boeing Co., Citigroup Inc and Facebook Inc.

Trading Economics will post the monthly foreign exchange reserves data as early as Sunday, maybe Monday. Most recent data, February, 2020, data, is posted here.

Two weeks ago I was aware of this impending transfer and asked my son-in-law, a Harvard MBA graduate, how this transfer of funds from the kingdom's foreign currency reserves to its sovereign fund affected its foreign currency reserves fund. He did not have an answer. I guess we will see Monday.

By the way, it is very likely that the transfer was made for the reason the Saudis said: to take advantage of really, really inexpensive stocks. On the other hand, one wonders how much of htis might have been due to short covering. One assumes the kingdom's PIF was heavily invested in oil companies. 

Week 22: May 24, 2020 -- May 30, 2020

Most under-reported story all week: for the first time ever, the percentage of SUVs to total car sales hit 40%. 

Top of the list:

• Mexico says "no" to renewable energy;
• Vern Whitting photography coffee-table book;
• Minneapolis burning: no links; story everywhere;
• The corona virus story is dead; fake news; here; here; here; and, here;
• There won't be enough COVID-19 cases on which to adequately test the vaccines;
• AAPL valuation exceeds $1.3 trillion; matches Microsoft;
• The US stock market is back;
• NASCAR is back;

Top story of the week:

• Minneapolis burning

Top energy story of the week:

• US imports record amount of crude oil in recent memory;

Favorite video:

• Sophia after the storm;

Best news all week:

• EVs: the harsh reality -- KPMG; and, here;
• SUV sales exceed 40% of global car sales for first time ever; 
• EVs: unsafe at any speed;

Biggest non-story of the entire week:

• US GDP contracts 5%;

Top international non-energy story:

Top international energy story:

• US imports of Saudi crude oil surge; averaging one VLCC/day; 
• Dutch natural gas flows to Germany at record highs;

Top national non-energy story:

• Saudi Arabia transfers $40 billion to back sovereign wealth fund's spending spree;

Top national energy story:

• Crude oil inventory increases by a whopping 7 million bbls; US imports record amount of crude oil; 
• The best we can do? $40-oil by the end of the year?

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

• Bismarck not burning;

Top North Dakota energy story:

• NDARC trending toward ten;
• NDIC hearing dockets: not one interesting case;

Geoff Simon's top North Dakota stories:

• Steep drop in wind farm output after ten years suggests wind dependent on subsidies -- study; here;
• Court rejects bid to revive cancelled US pipeline program
• Oasis halts production through May, 2020
• Governor Burgum waives budget reserve limit for school districts
• New Williston Basin International Airport nearing completion of final projects
• Federal Court in Montana strikes down 440 oil and gas leases across the western US

Operators:

• OXY cuts dividend to one cent; massive debt;

Operations:

Advantaged oil:

• Oasis Nordeng well with 10-fold jump in production;
• CLR Simmental;

500K wells:

• Rimrock Moccasin Creek;
• An XTO Lost Bridge well;
• A WPX Van Hook well;

Natural gas:

• Rigs don't matter; production keeps rising; 

Commentary:

• CAPEX as an issue;
• "Loners" going offline: how does that affect the lease?
• Why the Bakken will come back stronger than ever;
• The rule, not the exception, in the Bakken;

Rigs Don't Matter -- Laying Down Rigs, Shutting In Wells, And Still It Rises .... Natural Gas -- May 30, 2020

Natural gas fill rate, link here. Look at these numbers, simply staggering. And this comes despite the industry "shutting down" as fast as it can:

• working gas storage: an increase of 109 BCF from the previous week
• working gas storage: an increase of 42% year-over-year
• working gas storage: an increase of 19% over 5-year-average (and the 5-year average keeps increasing)
• week-over-week increases:
• total: 4%
• east: 7.5%
• midwest; 5%

The weather has been incredible. No evidence of global warming that would necessitate increased a/c, and no really cold weather that requires natural gas. Also, with everything shut down, the large retail sector is not using energy to heat/cool their stores. 

A musical interlude. For those who may have missed my earlier posts on the viola da gamba:

Bach's Sonata For Harpischord and Viola da Gamba in G Minor, Lucile Boulanger, Arnaud De Pasquale