Ellendale, North Dakota -- CoreWeave -- June 4, 2025

Locator: 48686COREWEAVE.
Locator: 48686ELLENDALE.

Updates

June 8, 2025: this story was posted on the web June 3, 2025 but provides a nice overview. Link here.

Original Post 

Ellendale pops up on my "x" feed every day. When it pops up that much, I know someone is marketing it.

Two readers have now asked me about CoreWeave.

My "not-ready-for-prime-time" response:

Two links: 

• Two pipelines competing for natural gas pipeline, Bakken to Ellendale:

• link here ... https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2025/04/companies-competing-for-new-bakken-to.html

• Ellendale, near Fargo. Huge story. But not much reporting on it. Link here:

• https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2025/05/ellendale-ai-center-update-may-25-2025.html.

To the reader today: you're the second reader to ask about CoreWeave. I've followed Ellendale as best I can but not much being posted in media. Kevin O'Leary on Shark Tank is very, very aware of Ellendale. Another story. But Ellendale would be a huge, huge story for North Dakota.

I have not written about CoreWeave because my site is turning into a tech site -- I just can't cover everything. LOL. More interested in the science, not so much in the investing.

From ChatGPT today:

CoreWeave has entered into a significant partnership with Applied Digital to expand its AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure at the Ellendale data center campus in North Dakota. This collaboration involves two 15-year lease agreements, totaling 250 megawatts (MW) of critical IT load, with an option for an additional 150 MW, potentially bringing the total to 400 MW. 

Key Details of the Ellendale Expansion

• Phased Deployment: The first 100 MW facility is slated to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2025, followed by a 150 MW facility in mid-2026. If CoreWeave exercises its option for the additional 150 MW, that facility could be available by 2027. 

• Financial Implications: Over the 15-year term, Applied Digital anticipates generating approximately $7 billion in total revenue from these leases. 

• Infrastructure Capacity: The Ellendale campus is designed to host up to 400 MW of critical IT load, with over 1 gigawatt (GW) of power capacity under review, positioning it as a scalable hub for AI and HPC workloads. 

Strategic Significance

This partnership underscores CoreWeave’s commitment to scaling its AI infrastructure to meet the growing demand for AI and HPC services. The Ellendale campus, originally developed for cryptocurrency mining, is being repurposed to support next-generation workloads, reflecting a broader industry shift towards AI-focused data center infrastructure. 

Applied Digital’s CEO, Wes Cummins, highlighted the strategic importance of this deal, stating that the leases solidify the company’s position as a provider of infrastructure critical to the next generation of AI and HPC. 

This expansion is part of CoreWeave’s broader growth strategy, which includes partnerships with major AI players and investments in data center infrastructure across the United States and Europe. The company’s rapid scaling efforts are supported by significant financial backing, including investments from Nvidia and Macquarie, with $900 million already allocated to the Ellendale site.

My thoughts: this story is huge for North Dakota. It's huge for Fargo. It's huge on so many levels. But for investors, it is but a tiny blip. But there are some Easter eggs / nuggets of gold in these stories reporting on CoreWeave, Ellendale, AI in North Dakota.

I have a great video of Kevin O'Leary talking about the wealth of North Dakota, specifically oil, natural gas, AI, and Norwegian. It's typical Kevin O'Leary. He would sell you the Brooklyn Bridge if it had not already been sold.  I did not find the video worth posting (because I was very aware / vaguely aware of everything he said), but maybe other readers will. Having said that, Kevin O'Leary is becoming the #1 influencer of Nort h Dakota AI / tech.

Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWklkb9-xMg.

California Bullet Train -- Update -- Thirty-Seven Days And Counting -- June 4, 2025

Locator: 48685BULLETTRAIN.

Updates

July 17, 2025: Trump won't further fund the California bullet train; at risk, $4 billion. Will end up in court, but the writing is on the wall.

Original Post

The link to this story is everywhere:

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Compliance Review Report, which includes a letter addressed to California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri, listed nine “broken promises” where the project allegedly breached terms outlined in its federal grants, including missed deadlines, funding gaps and a lack of adequate time and money to complete the project as promised.

This was not a partisan report. It was a review/report by the Federal Railroad Administration, a report that was begun and completed under the Biden and Newsom administrations. The report listed nine "broken promises" by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

In addition, the report says that the project has run out of time and has run out of money -- with or with federal aid -- to meet the 2033 deadline.

US Sec of Treasury has given the CEO of the CHSRA thirty-seven (37) days to respond. Pending that response, $4 billion in federal money is being held in escrow. There is a way to "thread this needle" but politically Trump is not (yet) so inclined.

The CHSRA said the project is mostly funded by state money -- which suggests to me -- the state does not need federal money to complete the project. That money would simply be "nice to have." 

If today is Day 0 and tomorrow is Day 1, then  Day 37 should be ... 26 + 11 -- COB, Friday, July 11, 2025?

Everyone agrees that there's no way, as it stands now, that the CHSRA has found a way forward to meet their first deadline of 2033 -- almost another decade of politics and spending more money.

The response by the CHSRA reminds me of the response by the Biden apologists when anyone suggested the 46th president was struggling with significant mental decline. Deny, deny, deny.

Ukraine Now Has A Russian-Free Gas Route -- Hugely Important -- June 4, 2025

Locator: 48684UKRAINE.

Link here to Charles Kennedy over at oilprice.

In a contentiously pivotal move toward energy independence, Ukraine on Wednesday confirmed the launch of natural gas imports via the Trans-Balkan pipeline, bypassing Russian supply and allowing Ukraine to draw gas from European sources, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported through Greece and Azerbaijani gas from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

The Trans-Balkan pipeline, which historically carried Russian gas southward, has now been reversed to bring non-Russian gas northward into Ukraine. 

Source: TSOUA

A Ukrainian energy ministry source told Reuters that the corridor will enable the import of up to 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas by October, with June volumes expected to reach 100 million cubic meters. 

Ukraine ceased transiting Russian gas to Europe at the end of 2024, choosing not to renew a longstanding agreement with Gazprom. Kyiv has emphasized that no Russian-origin gas will be involved in this newly activated corridor.

Pretty amazing. In the middle of a huge war, Ukraine is able to come up with a natural gas pipeline. Even the US was unable to get a Keystone XL pipeline approved during peacetime. 

I don't know if folks recall or if folks are able to connect the dots, but the Keystone XL provided US refineries along the Texas - Louisiana coast the heavy oil from Canada they might need if heavy oil from Venezuela was interrupted. But it was not to be. And now, every president has to thread the needle justifying the US to import heavy oil from Venezuela.

Having said that, I assume the "new" pipeline is on Putin's target list.

Phoenix Operating With Two New Charlene Ferrari Permits -- June 4, 2025

Locator: 48683B.

Uneasy feeling: it's too quiet, geopolitically. And then that weak jobs report earlier today. And BRK-B continuing to fall. It just gives me an uneasy feeling.

**********************************
Back to the Bakken

Locator: 46853B.

WTI: $62.85

Active rigs: 32.

Two new permits, #41978 - #41979, inclusive:

• Operator: Phoenix Operating
• Field: Big Meadow (Williams)
• Comments: 
• Phoenix Operating has permits for two Charlene Ferrari wells, SWSE 9-158-96; 
• to be sited 460 FSL and 2222 / 2252 FEL.

Four permits renewed:

• Formentera Operations (4) four LIG2 permits, Lignite oil field; Burke County;

Russia’s Wealth Fund Drops Almost $6 Billion Month Over Month — At This Rate Of Cash Burn, Russia's Wealth Fund Is Zero -- Charles Kennedy — June 4, 2025

Locator: 48682RUSSIA.

Link here.

Russia’s National Wealth Fund, a rainy-day reserves fund, saw its liquid assets drop by the equivalent of nearly $6 billion in May, data from the Russian finance ministry showed on Wednesday. The National Wealth Fund had its readily available liquid assets drop by $5.75 billion (453.8 billion Russian rubles) in May, and the total value dropped to $35.5 billion (2.8 trillion rubles). The National Wealth Fund’s liquid assets have plunged by 68% since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Bloomberg has estimated.

At this rate of cash burn, the NWF will be depleted by the end of this year (2025).

Everything suggests Putin is betting the entire country on his obsession with Ukraine. One truly has to ask whether he is sane by the usual hallmarks of sanity.

National Wealth Fund (NWF) Vs Russia's foreign exchange reserves:

In Russia, the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and foreign exchange reserves serve different but complementary economic purposes. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences:

1. Purpose

• National Wealth Fund (NWF): 
• Designed as a sovereign wealth fund to support long-term fiscal stability, fund budget deficits, and support pensions. 
• It’s essentially a savings fund from oil and gas revenues. 
• Foreign Reserves (Central Bank reserves): 
• Managed by the Central Bank of Russia, these are held to stabilize the ruble, manage balance of payments, and back up monetary policy. 
• Think of it as Russia’s rainy-day fund for defending the currency and managing external debt.

2. Management

• NWF: 
• Managed by the Russian Ministry of Finance.
• Foreign Reserves: 
• Managed by the Central Bank of Russia independently from the government.

3. Composition

• NWF: 
• Composed mainly of oil and gas revenues, and investments (in foreign currencies, gold, and sometimes domestic projects). 
• After 2022 sanctions, it’s increasingly held in Chinese yuan, gold, and ruble assets. 
• Foreign Reserves: 
• Includes a broader basket of assets: 
• Foreign currencies (USD, EUR, yuan, etc.) 
• Gold 
• Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) 
• MF reserve positions
• Highly liquid foreign government bonds 

4. Liquidity and Use

• NWF: 
• Can be tapped by the government to cover budget deficits. 
• Can invest in domestic projects (e.g., infrastructure, state companies). 
• More political discretion in its use. 
• Foreign Reserves
• Used for currency interventions to stabilize the ruble.
• Supports monetary and financial stability. • Not usually used directly for government spending. 

5. Size (as of mid-2024 estimates) 

• NWF: Around $148 billion (equivalent), though a portion is illiquid. 
• Foreign Reserves: Around $580 billion, though about half were frozen by Western sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

NWF: note mid-2024 estimate and May, 2025, estimate.

    mid-2024: $148 billion
    May, 2025: $35.5 billion (76% of it value one year earlier)