File Under: Are You Kidding?

This is the Yahoo/AP headline: California gas prices drop by a half-penny.

California gas prices dipped a half-penny Wednesday, the first drop after a week that saw prices surge a record 50 cents. The statewide average for regular unleaded was just under $4.67 a gallon, still the highest in the nation, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

I would assume this has more to do with California's Representative Waxman demanding the FTC investigate the spike in gasoline prices than with Governor Brown's "okay" for refineries to do whatever it takes to bring price of gasoline down. Refineries can't turn on a dime even if directed by the governor, but a threat of an FTC investigation will put the fear of Allah into Big Oil.

My hunch is that California motorists are speeding to service stations this a.m. to take advantage of this break in the price.

A little bit of irony, I suppose. The part of the Richmond refinery that caught fire was the unit that converted crude oil to the cheaper winter blend. That unit will remain down through the rest of the year. Hmmm.

Jobs Report: Numbers Improve Going Into The Election

Updates

Later, 1:30 pm: later, some clarity.


Later, 11:42 am: We're starting to find out why one of the biggest job-related stories in months was given such little ink. I noted that in the original post: that the story was very, very short, considering how big the story was. It's coming out in dribs and drabs, but we now learn that the information was incomplete: one "large" state did not report its numbers; worse, the federal government did not let us know which state that was. Tweets suggest that maybe all states did report. Wow, if the bureaucracy can't even determine if "all" states reported ... but then recall that some folks think there are 57 states in the union, so I can certainly understand the confusion. I cannot make this stuff up. This all comes from linked sources.

Original Post

Most important: North Dakota sets new record for production.

Now, on with the weekly jobs report.

Remember: the magic number is 400,000

Last week's numbers were revised upward by 2,000.

This week's numbers: 339,000 -- lowest in 4.5 years -- lowest since February, 2008

Better numbers than expectations.

The boiler-plate: the four-week moving average for new claims fell to 364,000.

So, the numbers are much improved going into the election.

Best jobs report in 4.5 years and not much of a news story. 

New Refinery in North Dakota? File Under: Why There's No Growth in the US -- A Decade To Get a Permit

Okay, maybe nine years. Whatever.

Link to Bismarck Tribune here. 

The Three Affiliated Tribes announced Wednesday that it has been given permit approval to take control of a piece of reservation land to build an oil refinery.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined with tribal leaders at tribal headquarters to announce the permit approval, which brings a refinery one step closer to reality.

Nine years ago the tribe had requested that the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a part of the Department of the Interior, accept the acreage into a trust. The trust will allow the Interior department to own the land while allowing the tribe to control and manage it.

The tribe has wanted to use a 469-acre piece of land near Makoti to build the refinery and produce feed for the tribe’s buffalo herd. Plans call for the refinery to be built on a 190-acre portion of the land. The other land will be used for the buffalo.

The permitting process, which was nearly a decade in the making, opens the door for the construction of a new refinery in more than 30 years.

SecInterior Ken Salazar sounded jubilant in the news story; he should have been dismayed that it took nine years to get a permit.

Data points:

• MHA Nation Clean Fuels Refinery
• $400 million refinery
• capacity of 13,000 bbls/day
• Bakken oil --> diesel, gasoline, propane (I still don't see the "clean fuels" aspect of this, yet)
• refinery site: along US Highway 23, on the edge of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
• 800 to 1,000 jobs during construction phase
• about 140 permanent jobs
• nine years to get the permit

File Under: I Can't Make This Stuff Up

A little humor for the day:

US Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s ranking minority member, has asked the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate a gasoline price surge in the Golden State.

“Over the past week, retail gasoline prices in California have soared by more than 50¢/gal to a record price of $4.67/gal,” Waxman said in an Oct. 9 letter FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

“There has been no similar surge in gasoline prices nationwide.”

Waxman noted that the most common explanation is that a series of refinery accidents and temporary shutdowns have created a California supply crunch. US Energy Information Administration data show that West Coast gasoline inventories are “unusually low for this time of year—at the lower edge of the 5-year range,” he added.

And, of course, regular readers already know which video comes up next.
I'm Shocked, Shocked, Casablanca "Soared by 50 cents/gallon to a record $4.67/gallon" -- so, I guess, $4.17 isn't so bad?

Before the increase, a 20-gallon SUV fill up cost: $83.40. After the increase: $93.40. Ten bucks on a $90 purchase. Pales in comparison to what California taxes will be after the November election. 

Something tells me Mr Waxman is getting a lot of mail from his constituents.

I wonder who will pay for this "investigation"?

Twenty-eight (28) New Permits; KOG, BEXP With Two Huge Wells;

Click here: North Dakota sets new daily and new monthly record for oil production.

Other Energy Links

RBN Energy: process for laying new NGL pipeline systems

Bakken Operations

Active rigs: 187, down 2 from yesterday

Twenty-eight (28) new permits

• Operators: BEXP (10),  Denbury (5), Marathon (4), Samson Resources (3), Oasis (2), Whiting (2), XTO, Liberty Resources,
• Fields: Sanish (Mountrail), Ray (Williams), Murphy Creek (Dunn), Heart Butte (Dunn), Banks (McKenzie), Bailey (Dunn), Werner (Dunn), Glass Bluff (McKenzie), Cedar Coulee (Dunn), Ambrose (Divide), North Tobacco Garden (McKenzie), Bicentennial (Golden Valley)
• Comments: No new permits for Newfield or OXY USA

Producing wells now completed:

• 21308, 2,461, KOG, Koala 14-32-29-3H, middle Bakken, Poe, t9/12; cum 71K 11/12; 28 stages; 4 million lbs ceramic; see pad diagram below
• 22023, 3,079, BEXP, Bill 14-23 1H, Alexander, t8/12; cum 23K 8/12;

Two wells coming off the confidential list tomorrow:

• 21251, 465, Whiting, Cymbaluk 21-25TFH, Wildcat, about 2K per month; located in Park oil field, in southwest North Dakota; t4/12; cum 15K 8/12;
• 21569, 723, CLR, Mittlestadt 2-20H, Chimney Butte, t7/12; cum 33K 8/12;

From the well file, a schematic of the pad where oil from three KOG wells will be commingled. These pads have to be quite impressive: