Ethanol Plant Plans Still On Track For Jamestown? -- April 12, 2016

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

JAMESTOWN -- Plans for a $150 million cellulosic ethanol plant at the Spiritwood Energy Park Association industrial park are underway, according to Thomas Corle, founding partner of New Energy Investors, a Pennsylvania company.

If built, the ethanol plant would directly employ about 40 people with another 60 people working indirectly for the plant.

The JSDC Board of Directors on Monday approved recommending a $75,000 match to a $225,000 grant that New Energy Investors has applied for from the Agricultural Products Utilization Committee.

If the APUC grant is approved in May, the money would be used to continue the planning and engineering work for the project, said Robert Johnsen, CEO of New Energy Investors.

Corle said the planned plant would process corn stover, corn stalks and leaves removed from the field after the grain is harvested and wheat straw to produce ethanol for fuel and lignin, a solid fuel that can be burned by coal-fired generating plants reducing carbon emissions.

Corle said the plant would use proprietary technology developed by DONG Energy, which is Denmark's largest energy company.

The partnership between DONG and an American company is a first, Corle said.

“This will put Jamestown on the map,” he said. “This would be the first use of Danish technology to produce cellulosic ethanol in the Midwest. This will be covered by the national and international press.”

When operational, the plant will utilize about 190,000 tons of corn stover and wheat straw to produce about 13 million gallons of ethanol and 90,000 tons of lignin each year. This would amount to the crop residue from between 150,000 and 170,000 acres of cropland each year. Added income to the region’s farmers would amount to between $10 million and $15 million each year, Corle said.

Much, much more at the link.

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MRO To Sell Non-Core Assets

Reuters/Rigzone is reporting:

Marathon Oil Corporation said on Monday it had signed agreements to sell non-core assets for $950 million, bringing its total sales through divestitures to about $1.3 billion since last August.

The oil and natural gas producer, which did not identify the buyers, said it will divest all of its Wyoming upstream and midstream assets for $870 million, excluding closing adjustments.

The Wyoming properties, mainly waterflood developments in the Big Horn and Wind River basins, averaged 16,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day in first quarter 2016 production. The deal, expected to close in mid-2016, also includes a 570-mile pipeline.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016; The Chinese Love Ford SUVs; GM? Not So Much

Bloomberg: China is no longer the epicenter of global market activity. So which country is? Article doesn't say. Let's see if comments help: nope. Worthless article. Don't waste your time.

AP: demand for SUVs boosts China auto sales by 10 percent in March. Let's see which auto manufacturers stood out. Only three companies mentioned:

• GM: deliveries slipped 0.6%
• Ford: deliveries rose 5%, with SUV sales surging 29%
• BMW: delivers rose nearly 11%

I guess even the Chinese don't like Government Motors

Tea leaves suggest this is going to be a stellar year for investors. But note, this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. I think the market hinges on the outcome of Doha, April 17, 2016 and the outcome in the rigged election scheduled in the US on/about November 7, 2016.

Oh, by the way, all those stories over the past year about lack of crude oil storage at Cushing, OK, and elsewhere? Never mind or is it, "nevermind?" The free market capitalistic economy that Bernie Sanders disparages has solved the storage problem, also.

Let's go back to that article to post these data points. The storage at St James, LA, which is crucial for North Dakota crude oil:

• two midstream operators have added at least 13 million bbls of crude storage to the St James ub during the past 8 years
• there are 12 refineries supplied by the St James hub
• total crude oil storage at St James is currently just under 32 million bbls with an additional 3 million in maintenance (compare with 80 million bbls at Cushing)
• NuStar is using 76% of its 9 million-bbl storage capacity
• Plains is using exactly the same percentage, 76% of their 11 million-bbl storage capacity
• NuStar is in the process of adding almost another 3/4 million bbls of storage capacity
• most of NuStar St James terminal is designed for light crude oil (WTI, Bakken)
• the first rail terminal (70,000 bopd) is mostly contracted to one shipper: EOG; EOG has exclusive use of 50,000 bopd; its rail-loading terminal is at Stanley, ND; EOG's use of CBR has declined; EOG hardly used this terminal in 2015 -- delivering 19 trainloads in 2015 
• Plains will add another 1.5 million bbls of storage capacity in 2016
• remember: Texas/Bakken condensate can be sent to western Canada as a diluent; however, Canada might be using natural gas as a diluent rather than Texas condensate
• EOE's SPR, 2.8 million bbls storage; used by Shell/Saudi Aramco at a cost of $2 million/year to lease
•  (70 cents/bbl/year)
• Ergon Terminal: 2 million bbls storage capacity; can handle Aframax size vessels (up to 750,000 bbls)
• MRO: has a huge 539,000 bopd refinery 20 miles away in Garyville, LA; linked by a company-owned 630,000 bopd pipeline
• XOM: 400,000 bbls of storage capacity; utilizing only 43% right nw
• LOCAP: 2.6 million bbls of operational storage; only 32% utilized
• Capline: 3.5 million bbls of operational storage; 61% being utilized
• Petroplex: construction of a proposed 10 million bbl storage terminal tied up in court over alleged lack of progress developing the terminal

Someday Everyone Will Own An Apple -- Cleaning Out The In-Box, April 12, 2016

https://www.unitedvanlines.com/uvl/migration-map/

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Apple: still on top and the one bright spot in declining PC sales. From MacRumors -- worldwide Mac sales hold steady (actually increase slightly) as PC market SLUMPS almost 10% in 1Q16.

Amid a decline in worldwide PC shipments, Apple's Mac sales have held steady, according to new PC shipping estimates from Gartner. During the first quarter of 2016, Apple shipped 4.6 million Macs worldwide and held 7.1 percent of the market, up from 4.56 million Mac shipments and 6.4 percent of the market during the first quarter of 2015.

While Apple only saw 1 percent worldwide growth, it fared better than the overall PC market, which saw total worldwide shipments of 64.8 million, a 9.6 percent decline from 71.7 million shipments in Q1 2015. Among other vendors, Lenovo and HP saw some of the biggest shipment drops with 12.5 million and 11.4 million shipments in 1Q 2016, down from 13.5 million and 12.5 million, respectively, in the year-ago quarter.  

I still "wish" Tim Cook would take the company private and I think there's a very good chance he he entertains the idea once the Mother Ship is completed. 

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I'm not sure why this was in the in-box. But we will press on. Maybe there was something in the body of the article. The Wall Street Journal reports something we already know: Alcoa results hurt by weak aluminum price. Well, duh. Oh, this is it. The jobs that will be loss: Alcoa says it could cut up to 2,000 jobs as it prepares to split. And every week we hear from Washington, DC, the jobs picture has never been brighter. Unfortunately, the 2,000 jobs that will be cut by Alcoa are high-paying jobs with great benefits. 

And then we get this jobs story from Fox News. Yes, I know. As soon as one reads Fox News one stops reading or goes to the next story. Fox News is the least reliable news source out there. But we will forge ahead, fair and balanced. SEIU losing the battle by any measure.

The Service Employees International Union is believed to have spent $20 million on its campaign to have the minimum wage raised to $15 last year, according to a new report.

The report by the Center for Union Facts, a watchdog group, says that the new figure is in addition to the $50 million already spent since 2012. The numbers come from the 2015 financial disclosures released by the SEIU that were was analyzed by the CUF. [The spending was likely much more because staff salaries, legal services, and lobbying money was not included.]

And then this:

“While the SEIU has made some headway in its push for a job-killing $15 minimum wage, working Americans appear to be sending a clear message to SEIU big spenders: ‘Find a way to create jobs rather than diminishing them.’" CUF Executive Director Richard Berman said in a statement. “The $15 campaign may generate some legislative wins, but even former SEIU boss Andy Stern has acknowledged that this big-spending strategy isn't sustainable."

Followed by this story: former CEO of McDonald's says $15 minimum wage is a job killer. No, I did not read that article. I went on to read that the Kepler emergency is over; the probe has been stabilized and will continue its journey to look for intelligent life -- having not found much on Earth.

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Debacle: the Dodge Dart: from USA Today -- there's no reason to post this story, but I've always wondered about the Dodge Dart. I thought it was second only to the American Motors Gremlin for ugliness; I thought it died long ago. But apparently not.

The Dart has been a disappointing car for Fiat Chrysler ever since it was launched in 2012. At the time, the automaker hoped the Dart would become a credible competitor to other compact cars such as the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

The car is a little larger than many of its direct competitors and was under-powered when it was launched. It also came in a dizzying array of color and option combinations that were intended to appeal to young buyers but made it difficult for dealers to predict which variations to order for customers.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne also said in January that both the Dart and the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan will "run their course" -- meaning they will eventually be phased out.

Until then, the Dart will be sold as the Dart SXT Sport, Dart Turbo and Dart GT Sport. Currently, the 2016 is available in SE, SXT, Aero, Limited and GT variants.

The good news: one can get a brand new Dodge Dart for about the price of a top-of-the-line Apple Watch.

GM's Orion plant: plans cancelled to build small Cadillac -- will move operations to Kansas to save costs. I can't make this stuff up. From The Wall Street Journal:

General Motors Co. has scrapped a plan to invest an additional $245 million in a factory north of Detroit to build a small Cadillac, with management deciding instead to build the future product in Kansas to contain costs.

The move, communicated to employees earlier in the year, threatens the security of workers at GM’s Orion assembly who have long dealt with uncertainty due to product mix. The plant, left open as a condition of 2009 federal auto bailouts, is working on one shift and logging overtime as the company plans to start producing the Chevrolet Bolt electric car in the facility later this year.

The company hasn’t confirmed the brand of the new product it plans to build, but multiple people familiar with the plans say it is a Cadillac luxury product designed to compete with other premium small cars. The vehicle will be built at the Fairfax facility in Kansas City, KS, a 3,200-worker factory that builds the Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

The story just gets worse and worse as you read through it, but nothing was said how the move to Kansas will save costs.

Reason #54 Why I Love To Blog -- April 12, 2016

Yesterday I posted/linked two stories about the trainwreck (their word, not mine) AKA ObamaCare AKA the All-But-Affordable Care Act (ABACA). Today, in The Boston Globe, the editors -- or least an op-ed -- opine that the model for ABACA, Romneycare, is another trainwreck, though they did not use that exact word. The headline: the misguided and costly evolution of Romneycare -- yes, that is in The Boston Globe, Romneycare was the blueprint for Obamacare. A few excerpts:

The Affordable Care Act is now six years old. Perhaps more important for Massachusetts, this month marks the 10th anniversary of “Romneycare,” making it a good time to review that law’s impact.

Governor Mitt Romney’s original proposal was simple: Stop subsidizing hospital care and redirect the money to ensure that all residents have “minimum coverage” — in his mind, catastrophic insurance. Individuals could choose and pay for anything beyond that. The premise was that taxpayers should not have to cover the cost of care for those unwilling to pay for it.

Today the Connector’s few offerings are over-standardized, with little variety or innovation in plan design. The exchange has attracted principally subsidized enrollees, and the remaining private market is very expensive.

Obamacare further altered Romneycare. Massachusetts’ troubled implementation of the ACA — including creation of a new exchange that became an IT disaster and triggered an ongoing FBI investigation — should disabuse anyone of the notion that these were parallel laws. Consider Massachusetts’ half dozen waiver requests from the federal law (one citing the fear of “extreme premium increases”); the introduction of Accountable Care Organizations; $10 billion in new taxes on medical devices, insurance, payroll for Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years; and a $14 billion reduction in Medicare Advantage payments. 

Survey results show variations in the uninsured population, but the rate appears to have dropped from around 9 percent to 3 or 4 percent. The rise in the number insured has plateaued, with a tenth of the population lacking coverage at some point during any given year.

The increased coverage was achieved almost exclusively through taxpayer-funded Medicaid (MassHealth). In fiscal year 2007 MassHealth served just over a million enrollees at a cost of $7 billion. The governor’s 2017 budget projects it will serve almost 1.9 million individuals, 30 percent of the state population, for $15 billion, or $8,000/person. [And it's going to get worse.]

Spending billions on higher Medicaid enrollments and generous exchange subsidies is a fiscally irresponsible way to increase coverage, especially without offsetting savings from reform of the costly Health Safety Net pool and with continuing billion-dollar “supplemental payments” to hospitals. 

For individuals, access remains an issue. Fewer report a routine source of care, doctor’s office wait times are long, and in some regions even insured patients struggle to locate doctors with availability in their practices. Over half of low-income individuals, many enrolled in free or heavily subsidized coverage, went without needed care last year, largely due to costs and access issues. Residents report difficulty paying their medical bills at virtually the same rate as in 2006.

Ten years into Massachusetts’ experiment with an “exchange,” the results demonstrate that it is time to re-think [Romneycare].

And so it goes.

Update On Crude Oil Storage At St James Hub -- RBN Energy -- April 12, 2016

Active rigs:

	4/12/2016	04/12/2015	04/12/2014	04/12/2013	04/12/2012
Active Rigs	31	93	190	186	209

RBN Energy: update on storage at St James.

Two midstream operators have added at least 13 MMBbl of crude storage to the St. James hub during the past 8 years (NuStar and Plains All American). These companies have invested in the hub because of its proximity to the Gulf Coast and pipeline connectivity to refineries throughout the Eastern U.S. and as far northwest as Edmonton, Alberta. St. James has also been an active recipient of crude flowing east across the Gulf by barge and tanker from the Eagle Ford via Corpus Christi. These crude movements require terminal, storage and blending facilities. Today we describe crude storage facilities at St. James.

In Part 1 of this series we discussed how the St. James, LA crude trading hub (located on the Mississippi River 60 miles upriver from New Orleans) provides feedstock to 2.6 MMb/d of regional refining capacity on the Eastern Gulf Coast as well as to refineries in the Midwest. St. James is also an important storage and distribution hub for crude produced in North Dakota, South Texas, the Gulf of Mexico and onshore Louisiana as well as imports arriving at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). We detailed the 12 refineries that St. James supplies directly in the Gulf Coast region as well as pipeline connections bringing crude into and out of St. James. This time we detail the growth of storage capacity at St. James. 

According to our friends at Genscape, total crude storage at St. James is just under 32 MMBbl currently operational with another 3 MMBbl in maintenance. Storage capacity has grown rapidly in recent years in response to new flows of crude into St. James from domestic shale production in North Dakota and Texas. In their weekly supply hub report, Genscape list 7 storage operators at St. James and we provide more details on each of these below. Just two of these companies – NuStar and Plains All American – offer significant commercial storage at St. James with 20 MMBbl of capacity between them.

As we shall see, the rest is either privately owned by refiners or used operationally by the 8 pipeline systems that connect St. James with refinery capacity in the Gulf region and the Midwest. The chart in Figure 1 shows Genscape data estimating NuStar and Plains storage use over the past year at St. James. Storage use peaked in February and March of 2016. NuStar is currently (as of April 1, 2016) using 76% (6.8 MMBbl) of their 9 MMBbl of storage at St. James and Plains is using 8.2 of their 11 MMBBl capacity (76%).

In part the increased storage reflects record overall crude storage levels in the U.S. (569 MMBbl according to the latest Energy Information Administration – EIA data for the week ending April 1, 2016) and the Gulf Coast region (278 MMBbl) in the past several weeks – in response to low prices today and prospects of a higher prices in the future (a market condition known as contango.