For Investors Only -- February 12, 2014 -- Only Two Days Until Valentine's Day

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you may have read here.

Oil continues to trade up: up almost 1%, nearing $101.

Trading at new highs: BHI, CAH, CMCSA, ERF, MDU, UNP, and XLNX.

Montana Update: Three Bakken Completions

The Fairfield Sun Times is reporting two Bakken completions in Richland Count (west of McKenzie County) and one Bakken completion in Roosevelt County (west of Williams County).

Richland County:

• Continental Resources Inc., Prevost-Mondalin HSU, TD =  20,300 feet; IP, 426 bopd. 
• Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation, Sundheim 21-3-1H, with two laterals (TD = 13,704 feet and 17,005 feet). No IP provided.

Roosevelt County:

• Oasis, Crocket 2958 42-21 1H; TD = 20,694 feet, IP of 554 bopd. 

For Investors Only -- Deere Beats By 28 Cents -- Wednesday -- February 12, 2014

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site; do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

Huge: Deere beats by $0.28, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below consensus; reaffirms FY14 EPS guidance, revs guidance: Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $1.81 per share, $0.28 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.53; net sales of equipment operations rose 2.3% year/year to $6.95 bln vs the $6.76 bln consensus.

Ten companies announced increased dividends or distributions including Xilinx with a pretty healthy increase from 25 cents to 29 cents. Whiting USA Trust I reduced its distribution from ~59 cents to ~56 cents.

Owens Corning beats by $0.16, beats on revs; guides Fy14; iniates $0.16 quarterly dividend: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.16 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.28; revenues rose 10.3% year/year to $1.28 bln vs the $1.21 bln consensus.

MDU Resources to purchase Powder River Basin Production assets; expected to be accretive to 2014 earnings per share: Co announced that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Fidelity Exploration & Production Company, agreed to purchase working interests and leasehold positions in oil and natural gas production assets in the southern Powder River Basin of Wyoming from undisclosed private sellers. The purchase also includes working interests in a number of producing wells and an ongoing two rig development drilling program targeting the heart of the prolific Frontier play. 

Tuesday -- Oil Hovering At $100; Some Expect It To Go Higher

Active rigs:

	2/12/2014	02/12/2013	02/12/2012	02/12/2011	02/12/2010
Active Rigs	195	183	203	165	92

RBN Energy: Jones Act, Gulf Coast

In the first episode in this series we described the regulations of the Jones Act that restricts marine transport between US inland and coastal ports to US Flag vessels. In episode two we began a deep dive look at the Jones Act self-propelled tanker fleet and its ownership covering Crowley Maritime, Seabulk Tankers and the recent Kinder Morgan acquisition American Petroleum Tankers. In Episode Three we rounded out coverage of the Jones Act tanker fleet owners with a look at Overseas Shipping Group and the ExxonMobil, BP and Conoco Alaska fleets. This time we turn our attention to the large Ocean going articulated tank barge (ATB) fleet that also operates in the coastwise trade.

The Wall Street Journal

What can new pilots make? Near minimum wage. 

Some small businesses see little relief in delayed Obamacare.

Oil hovers at $100.

Prices for the benchmark U.S. oil contract have risen more than 9% since early January. The gains were fueled by the opening of a new pipeline connecting America's biggest oil-storage hub with the main refining zone on the Gulf Coast. In Tuesday's trading, March futures ended 12 cents lower at $99.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Futures settled on Monday above $100 a barrel for the first time since December.

The rally is the latest example of how the boom in North American oil output is no guarantee of abundant—or cheap—U.S. crude.

The increasing number of barrels that are making it to Gulf Coast refiners are being processed into fuels and exported to other countries. Meanwhile, a cold winter is helping to drive up consumption of distillates, a category of fuel that includes heating oil, at home. "The recent rise is a healthy sign of some of the bottlenecks loosening up," said John Brynjolfsson, chief investment officer of hedge fund Armored Wolf LLC, which manages about $1 billion.

Mr. Brynjolfsson is wagering that U.S. oil futures on Nymex will increase, outperforming Brent, a benchmark for European crude that many investors use as a gauge of global oil prices.

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I hope this story gets wide coverage, especially down south: don't come to North Dakota without plan, a job, and a place to live.

The Dickinson Press brings us up to speed on the challenges of coming to western North Dakota looking for a job without a plan. It isn't easy.

I'm not going to quote the article: there is nothing new being reported. Just another reminder, North Dakota is not a place to be, especially in the winter, if one has no job, no place to live, and no plan.

Another Government Solution In Search Of A Problem

Reuters is reporting through Rigzone:

U.S. oil and gas drillers must get permits to use a range of diesel fuels in hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. environment regulator said on Tuesday, in its first clarification of laws restricting the use of the fuel considered harmful to water supplies. The 2005 Energy Policy Act signed by then-President George W. Bush contained a provision limiting federal regulation of fracking under safe drinking water law unless drillers were using diesel in fracking fluids.

Well, that's good, about time.

Diesel has pretty much been phased out, according to the industry.

An energy industry group said the EPA move does not have much impact because drillers have already slashed use of diesel fuel voluntarily.

"This appears to be a solution in search of a problem: Based on actual industry practices, diesel fuel use has already been effectively phased out of hydraulic fracturing operations," Lee Fuller, a government relations official with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said in a release.

Meanwhile, slicers and dicers (wind turbines) can still kill golden eagles, bald eagles, whooping cranes, and migratory ducks with impunity and immunity.