A Graphic Is Worth A Thousand Words -- In This Case, Two -- December 21, 2020

Link here. 

China Flu Watch: India, Japan, And Taiwan -- December 21, 2020

With numbers like these, one has to ask: does anyone really think Japan is going to open its doors to thousands of foreign athletes and tens of thousands of foreign spectators for the 2020ne Olympics?

Link here.

Some years ago, well before Covid, folks were asking about the relevancy of the Olympics. With the huge carbon footprint of the Olympics, the question was being asked again. Now with the pandemic, is it finally time to say "sayonara" to the Olympics?

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If You're Going To Use A Big Word To Impress Someone,
At Least Spell It Correctly

Link here.

Lan-yap. Emphasis on second syllable. 

 

 

Minor point: it seems that the word is used more often with gifts of food, in restaurants or at grocers, but has spread to other areas. Link here.

This From The NY Times -- A Type Of Story Normally Seen At Internet Tabloids -- But In The NY Times? Note The Reference To "Record Cold" -- December 21, 2020

Global warming? What global warming? The impact "going green" is having on China. 

Wow, this is the kind of story I would expect to see over at Breitbart or ZeroHedge, but here it is, in the NY Times:  China running out of energy. The whole city was dark. China rations electricity for millions.

[It should be noted that there have been similar headlines coming out of California the past years.]

I was also surprised, that for some reason, despite this story being behind a paywall, I was able to access it directly without a password. Archived. 

From The NY Times (this link will likely be blocked by a paywall):

In the city of Yiwu in eastern China, the authorities turned off streetlights for several days and ordered factories to open only part-time. In coastal Wenzhou, the government ordered some companies not to heat their offices unless temperatures are close to freezing. In southern Hunan Province, workers have reported climbing dozens of flights of stairs after elevators were shut down.

Large swaths of China are scrambling to restrict electricity use this winter, as the country’s rapid economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and unexpectedly frigid temperatures have sent demand for power surging. Officials in at least three provinces — where a total of more than 150 million people live — have issued orders limiting energy use, warning of potential coal shortages.

Demand for coal is so high in the mining hub of Henan Province that buyers have been lining up in trucks at the gates of coal mines, jostling for access, according to a recent report in the state-run news media.

Chinese officials have sought to remind citizens of the country’s ambitious environmental goals while reassuring them that there is plenty of energy to keep people warm and the economy humming.

“In general, please believe that our ability to ensure stable energy supply is not a problem,” Zhao Chenxin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, which steers energy policy, said on Monday.

But the drastic measures point to potential longer-term problems in China’s energy universe, as leaders juggle competing priorities.

Perhaps I will post more of the story later. It's quite fascinating. 

With regard to locations mentioned in this story, see the "one-of-a-kind" China map at this post.  

Daily Activity Report Posted But Mis-Labeled; No New Permits; MRO With A Re-Entry Permit -- December 21, 2020

From Tsvetana Paraskova: 

Cushing, the home of the ‘black gold rush’ and the world’s largest onshore oil storage hub is once again reducing its oil stockpiles as an increase in demand looks set to continue into 2021.

In November, reports suggested that oil was once again being stockpiled in Cushing, Oklahoma. Commercial stocks increased to 61.1 million barrels in mid-November, once again reaching April levels; when oil was experiencing its lowest demand. This figure stood at over 1 million more than the previous week and 39.3 percent higher than the same week in 2019.

However, by the end of November the outlook was brighter as demand started to increase. Stocks dropped to around 60 million barrels, once again heading towards normal levels. This reflects the gradual strengthening of the market to the pre-Covid period, as optimism around the vaccine and the new year drive demand up.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$47.74	12/21/2020	12/21/2019	12/21/2018	12/21/2017	12/21/2016
Active Rigs	15	54	69	52	42

No new permits.

One re-entry permit:

• 17553, 681, MRO, Lil J. Reiss 34-9H, Killdeer, t2/10; cum 264K 10/20; 

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Re-Entry Permit

The well:

• 17553, 681, MRO, Lil J. Reiss 34-9H, Killdeer, t2/10; cum 264K 10/20; recent production;

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	10-2020	31	1084	1051	220	836	33	560
BAKKEN	9-2020	30	1032	1018	265	802	24	543
BAKKEN	8-2020	31	1079	1054	233	835	2	590
BAKKEN	7-2020	31	1038	1024	262	812	0	571
BAKKEN	6-2020	30	1046	1013	240	812	0	577
BAKKEN	5-2020	31	1097	1088	258	845	0	603
BAKKEN	4-2020	30	998	1051	215	774	0	549
BAKKEN	3-2020	31	1164	1114	300	881	0	633

• Initial production:

BAKKEN	7-2010	31	5198	5127	787	2270	2090	0
BAKKEN	6-2010	30	5793	6007	880	2658	2478	0
BAKKEN	5-2010	31	7066	6794	1047	3061	2877	0
BAKKEN	4-2010	30	8208	8263	1287	3600	3422	0
BAKKEN	3-2010	31	11498	11519	1740	5167	4981	0
BAKKEN	2-2010	26	14234	14220	3333	5902	5758	0
BAKKEN	1-2010	2	463	0	0	95	83	0

Sundry forms of interest:

• Approved: to re-enter; unit spacing consisting of sections 4/9-145-94; the Killdeer-Bakken pool is defined as that interval from 50 feet from above the top of the Bakken formation to 100 feet below the top of the Three Forks formation. Can drill no closer than the 150' setback from the south boundary and 50' setback from the north boundary and 500' setback from the east and west boundaries.
• MRO plans to re-frack this well; originally an open hole completion in 2009 and drilled when the setbacks were 500' from the respective section line. 
• MRO plans to put a drilling rig on this well, clean out the existing lateral to TD and extend/sidetrack the lateral at the last good survey on original lateral at a depth of 19,805. 
• MRO plans to drills an approximate 400' extension (north) to a BHL of 20,260' MD, approx 175' FNL of section 4, followed by a 45-stage frack.
• The well will be completed with offset wells to the west are scheduled to frack late 2020. 

The wells to the west (still permit only, not drilled):

• 37171,
• 37172,
• 37173,
• 37174,
• 37175,

There is one producing well a bit farther to the west:

• 17314, 431, MRO, Brown 24-9H, Killdeer, t8/08; cum 445K 10/20; this well had a large jump in production 10/14; this well was re-fracked/stimulated 9/21/14 with 1.34 million lbs proppant over 30 stages ( a very small re-frack).

  BAKKEN	6-2015	30	6375	6480	2345	5019	3068	1089
  BAKKEN	5-2015	31	6800	6672	2633	4905	820	3175
  BAKKEN	4-2015	30	6918	7133	2730	5270	1631	2721
  BAKKEN	3-2015	31	7670	7408	3390	5486	1320	3159
  BAKKEN	2-2015	28	7375	7316	3206	5831	2406	2468
  BAKKEN	1-2015	31	10114	10144	5408	7407	4226	1914
  BAKKEN	12-2014	17	8699	8735	5160	5689	3033	1627
  BAKKEN	11-2014	18	4062	4068	1995	2443	1133	772
  BAKKEN	10-2014	29	10727	10682	6558	6850	3832	1699
  BAKKEN	9-2014	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
  BAKKEN	8-2014	4	219	230	9	154	23	101
  BAKKEN	7-2014	31	1109	1099	200	894	516	77
  BAKKEN	6-2014	30	1102	902	260	867	473	96
  BAKKEN	5-2014	31	1120	1360	231	913	588	19
  BAKKEN	4-2014	30	1115	1102	245	912	559	54
  BAKKEN	3-2014	31	1153	1136	242	942	577	56
  BAKKEN	2-2014	28	1088	950	230	869	526	59
  BAKKEN	1-2014	31	1192	1161	236	956	522	124

Initial production:

BAKKEN	3-2009	28	3546	3467	430	1602	1602	0
BAKKEN	2-2009	28	3723	3806	517	1541	1541	0
BAKKEN	1-2009	31	4579	4408	692	1902	1902	0
BAKKEN	12-2008	31	5019	5076	753	1250	1250	0
BAKKEN	11-2008	27	6116	5805	935	2463	2463	0
BAKKEN	10-2008	28	4515	4773	533	1979	1979	0
BAKKEN	9-2008	30	6565	6608	942	2915	2915	0
BAKKEN	8-2008	27	7087	6654	2830	2911	2911	0

Comments:

• lots of work left to be done in the Bakken;
• one reason why I've never been overly worried about the decline rate;

MDU's Knife River Goes Green .... Or Perhaps More Green. .... December 21, 2020

Updates

December 22, 2020: a reader asked about "synthetic limestone." From this site, June 4, 2019:

This carbon dioxide removal technology is spearheaded by Blue Planet Rather than have CO2 excess gas from industry be let into the air, it’s captured from the air or industrial exhaust and then turned into a carbonate in solution. (Carbonate is CO2 with an extra molecule of oxygen.) This is combined with either calcium from waste material (another industrial process) or rocks. In the process, limestone forms – calcium carbonate.

Blue Planet breaks this down into pebbles that are used in construction as aggregate – small, coarse stone material added to water and cement to make concrete.

Energy usage: According to Blue Planet, this is a low cost and low energy carbon capture method. Constraints on purity are not that high because the reaction between the carbonate and calcium is itself a kind of extraction that takes care of impurities, serving essentially as another round of extraction.

Goal: Have synthetic limestone used in all concrete projects.

Cost: $ per ton of CO2 removed? Unknown. Per Blue Planet, their process does not add too much of an extra cost; usage depends mostly on willingness to manufacture this way.

Reading through the Blue Planet website, there seemed to be a bit of smoke and mirrors and obfuscation, or perhaps gilding the lily. As soon as a company mentions LifeCycle Carbon Analyses (LCA), I get a bit suspicious of the data. And even more suspicious when Leonardo DiCaprio is a huge financial backer.

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Original Post

Specifics not provided at the press release.

 Knife River Corporation today announced it is investing in Blue Planet Systems Corporation to pursue a commercial means of creating and marketing synthetic limestone. 

The limestone would be produced using sequestered carbon dioxide. 

With Blue Planet's proprietary technology and Knife River providing expertise in construction aggregates, the companies are working together to develop construction-grade rock and ultimately concrete that would have a net-zero or net-negative carbon footprint – while maintaining the strength for which concrete is known. 

Knife River is the construction materials subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc. 

David C. Barney, president and CEO of Knife River, has joined the five-member Board of Directors at Blue Planet.

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Chinese Flu Watch

Compare to data December 15, 2020.

North Dakota, as of December 21, 2020,