Nominee For The 2017 Geico Rock Award -- July 23, 2017

Updates

This banner appeared shortly after Senator Schumer made some of the most ridiculous comments ever made in the history of political interviews. I find it amazing that Americans do not thank the oil companies for doing what they do. (The arrow points out that US gasoline is at a 12-year low; six months into the Trump presidency.)

What a doofus
Original Post

Unless you've been under a rock for the past year, you know that US gasoline prices are at record lows. 

Apparently, at least one "celebrity" has been under the Geico Rock for at least the past year.

From grabiennews.com:

Even as gas prices have fallen to the lowest point in years under President Trump, Senate Minority Leader is claiming the price of petrol has only gone up.

The nationwide price for gas closed the week of July 17th at $2:39/gallon, down from $2.47/gallon when Trump took office.

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, gas prices were at their lowest point since 2005, according to the AAA.

"At $2.23, today’s average national gas price is the cheapest the country has seen all year," AAA reported. "On the week, gas prices fell in 46 states. Only Illinois, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. saw prices increase, albeit by one cent each, while Hawaii and Maine remained flat. South Carolina continues to carry the cheapest gas in the country at $1.90. Today, consumers can find gas for $2.00 or less at one out of every four gas stations in the country."

Chuck Schumer, appearing on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, claimed Sunday the prices are only rising, thanks to "huge companies buying up other big companies."

"Gas prices are sticky -- you know, when the domestic price goes, uh, when the, uh, price for oil goes up on the markets, it goes right up but it never goes down.," Schumer said. "How the heck did we let Exxon and Mobil merge?"

Schumer also appeared confused over the "sticky prices" economic theory, as gasoline is cited by the Federal Reserve as an example of prices that aren't "sticky."

Can you imagine if Hillary were president with Maxine as vice-president; and, Schumer and Pelosi were in charge of Congress? Wow. 

Saudi Arabia's Iraqi Problem -- July 23, 207

This was the headline over at Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia turns off the US oil tap. The self-identified "gadfly" suggests that Saudi Arabia is finally doing what it will take to raise the price oil. Read the article.

Then look at the Saudi imports at this link. This is "old" data compared to the linked Bloomberg data but it gives you an idea of how much Saudi oil the US imports: about 1 million bopd. On a monthly basis, the US imports about 35 million bbls from Saudi Arabia, and it has remained fairly stable (except for one outlier in January, 2017).

Now look at Iraq. At the same database, the US imports from Iraq have jumped from 13 million bbls in November, 2016, to what-must-be-a-recent record 24 million bbls in the most recent month for which data is available.

The "gadfly" ends with this:

The Saudis have belatedly woken up to how oil traders react to a U.S. that's visibly awash with crude. It will amount to very little unless they deal with their Africa problem (Libya, Nigeria).

Libyan output is negligible compared to total OPEC output; Nigeria is significantly more but, in the big scheme of things, not much has changed in Nigeria.

To me, right now, Saudi has an Iraqi problem.

***************************

Heavy Oil

Also at Bloomberg, an update on Venezuelan oil exports. From my perspective, Venezuelan heavy oil = Canadian heavy oil. Any loss in Venezuelan exports will be a win for Canada. Too bad the Keystone XL was never built.

Which begs the question: if Venezuela goes belly-up, would Trump have the opportunity to get that pipeline built? I'm sure the Canadians are watching closely.

I track Venezuela here. 

Coal Surge? Worth Reposting -- July 23, 2017

Speaking of Japanese Coal

Japan plans to build at least 45 new coal plants. From joannenova:

One of the world's largest economies with no land available for wind or solar farms; has also given up on nuclear power. I doubt South Korea has much land available for wind or solar farms. China would have the land, but the overwhelming need for electricity pretty much precludes any significant use of intermittent, undependable, non-dispatchable energy. I assume India is in the same energy boat.

Another Black Snake -- July 23, 2017

This is pretty funny. Yesterday, this post: Natural gas from the Bakken hitting all-time records; another pipeline necessary?

Today, this story. Perhaps not another natural gas pipeline (yet) but a new refined products pipeline. Data points from The Dickinson Press:

• Cenex Pipeline LLC, a subsidiary of CHS
• will build a 180-mile pipeline from Sidney, MT, to Minot, ND
• will carry refined products such as gasoline and diesel fuel
• would replace a portion of an existing pipeline and add additional capacity
• needed to meet increased demand for refined fuels in the region
• back-of-the-envelope: 180 x 1 million = $180 million; Cenex estimates: $160 million
• pipeline will cross the Missouri River in Montana
• in North Dakota, will cross the Little Muddy, White Earth, Little Knife
• once all permits obtained, it will take about 18 months to complete
• entire Cenex Pipeline: Laurel, MT, to Fargo, ND
• most of the article was devoted to discussing how officials will work with Native Americans on this project

Many, many story lines, starting with the Dickinson refinery and MDU.

******************************

Flashback

This was taken from an October 12, 2011, post:

The Bakken is the largest industrial park in the US -- not just the county. The entire Bakken is being defined as one huge industrial park; it is the second largest industrial park in North America -- the Canadian oil sands are #1.

The Houston area would be a similarly huge industrial park but perhaps in total geographical area, the Bakken in the western one-third of North Dakota is hard to beat, in terms of area.

First Order Of Business -- A Shoutout To The Volunteer Rural Firemen Across North Dakota -- July 23, 2017

Suggested by a reader -- I was remiss not to bring this up sooner. I haven't been reporting on the severe drought in North Dakota, but it is very, very bad up there. Compounding the immense damage to the crops, the prairie fires are putting a huge toll on rural fire departments across the state. From The Bismarck Tribune:

At least 268 rural wildfires have been reported in North Dakota this year, raising concern about stress being placed on volunteer fire departments as drought conditions continue to exacerbate the fire risk.

State officials may consider the possibility of stipends for rural volunteer firefighters who are leaving their jobs to fight fires, sometimes responding to multiple incidents a day.

“We’re very concerned at the level of use that our volunteer departments are seeing, They’ve been outstanding so far, but having to respond to three, four and five a day is really tough.”

The North Dakota Department of Emergency Services recently asked fire districts to begin reporting local fires to help officials make decisions about deploying state resources.