Judge Allows DAPL To Continue To Flow -- October 13, 2017

Updates

Later, 2:34 p.m. local time, whatever that might be, traveling: markets: late day trading, NYSE new highs, 259.

• new, 29

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Original Post

Markets: rising for the fourth consecutive day, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit new records.  In early morning trading, 145 new highs, including Boeing, CAT, CVX, Dollar General, GM, Royal Dutch A,

• new lows: 9

GM to idle factory: to close for 6 weeks starting in mid-November. Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac CT6, Buick LaCrosse. Dealers are sitting on a roughly 10-month supply of the Buick LaCrosse, another car built at the plant. A two-month supply is considered healthy. 

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Judge allows DAPL to continue to flow. PennEnergy story here.


Active rigs:

$51.56↑	10/13/2017	10/13/2016	10/13/2015	10/13/2014	10/13/2013
Active Rigs	59	33	67	191	184

RBN Energy: impact of new supplies on infrastructure prices.

The U.S. natural gas market tightened considerably in 2016, with a pull-back in production volumes leaving total gas supply, including imports, within a hair’s breadth of total demand (including exports) on an annual average basis. In 2017, however, gas production has climbed again.

And it’s not just from the Marcellus/Utica, which grew through even the downturn over the past few years, but also from other basins, particularly ones focused on crude oil. Current production economics and drilling activity suggest continued growth over at least the next five years. Could it be too much? Will demand expand fast enough and will all the growing supply regions be able to access that demand? Or, are producers headed for another contraction before they’re barely out of the last one? In today’s blog, we begin a series unpacking RBN’s five-year natural gas supply-demand outlook.

Red Queen is still upright. I still get a kick out of this. Despite all the headwinds, North Dakota is still producing more than one million bbls oil per day.  And that's with 2,400 wells either shut-in or drilled but not completed. Unfettered, the Bakken could easily produce 2 million bopd.

China Nearing One BIllion Bbls In "Excess" Crude Oil Reserves -- October 12, 2017

Crude oil inventories:

• US: 460 million bbls
• China: 850 million bbls -- could hit 1 billion bbls by end of the year; data points:
• built up its stockpiles at a record pace i 2017
• has spent around $24 billion on building its crude reserves since 2015
• average cost: $50/bbl
• $24 billion pales in comparison to its $680 billion current account surplus
• "excess" crude now equal to that of Japan and South Korea combined

Preaching To The Choir -- But Even This Graph Got My Attention -- October 12, 2017

This is a NASA graph. Keep that in mind when looking at this graph. The graph is not from some crackpot -- unless of course ....

Anyway, it's a NASA graph.

Not only are sea levels falling, but sea levels have been "level" for the past year or so.

Source: iceagenow.

This has happened before. And, yes, the overall trend is UP ... at a rate of 3.4 millimeters / year.

• One year = 3.4 mm
• Ten years = 34 mm
• 100 years = 340 mm
• 100 years = 34 cm = 13 inches

From 1993 to 2016: a rise of 80 mm

• 80 mm = 8 cms over 23 years
• 3 inches over 23 years
• it seems technology should be able to handle 3 inches over 23 years (or simply not building on the beach)

I assume Algore has already added this graph to his Nobel-Prize-winning Power Point presentation. LOL.

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North Dakotans Stand For The National Anthem

Great story at KFGO. Be sure to listen to the interview.

 

The message even garnered the attention of President Donald Trump, who has been critical of NFL players who take a knee in protest during the national anthem. Trump took to social media to recognize Hanson:

"Thank you Gene Hanson — a GREAT American (and farmer) who is standing up for our flag, our anthem, and our country!"

See also this post. 

Oasis With Permits For An 8-Well Pad In Willow Creek -- October 12, 2017

Active rigs:

$50.75→	10/12/2017	10/12/2016	10/12/2015	10/12/2014	10/12/2013
Active Rigs	59	33	68	190	184

Eleven new permits:

• Operators: Oasis (8); WPX (3)
• Fields: Willow Creek (Williams County); Reunion Bay (Mountrail County)
• Comments: Oasis has permits for an 8-well Borden Federal / Fraser Federal pad in NESW 35-153-100; see graphic below

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Making America Great -- Total Number Of Laid-Off Workers Receiving Unemployment Benefits Falls To Lowest Level In 43 Years -- October 12, 2017

Source: Washington Examiner.

The total number of laid-off workers receiving unemployment benefits fell to 1.89 million at the end of September, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, the lowest such mark in nearly 44 years.

And new claims for unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 to 243,000 in the first full week of October, according to the agency, as the job market bounces back from hurricane damage even faster than forecasters expected.

It goes without saying that President Trump was not mentioned in the article.

From Reuters:

• expected: 251,000
• actual: 243,000
• previous week: revised downward by 2,000
• from the article:

  Underscoring the labor market's underlying strength, claims have now been below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with a robust labor market, for 136 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller.