EIA's Monthly Crude Oil And Natural Gas Production -- March, 2021, Data

Link here. 

A reader alerted me to the release with these comments, edited slightly:

• big rebound from the February, 2021, freeze. As expected. the only people surprised were the peak oilers, who confounded the freeze with real decline. Production at low 11 MM bopd.
• New Mexico is now producing more than North Dakota. 
• need to go kick your Bakken boys in the butt. No rest for the wicked. Get that rig count up!
• Texas was up almost a million bopd. Duh. But still...fun to kick the peak oilers with that rebound.
• GOM at 1.9 million bopd. More salt in the peak oiler wounds.
• there was a also a huge rebound in natural gas, following the freeze, or should we say, following the thaw? Not big long term increase. Still...irks the peak oilers.
  

The only thing missing is M. King Hubbert's name. LOL. 

For me the most interesting story coming out of the Bakken right now -- and really not having anything to do with the most recent "914" is the number of EOG permits announced by the NDIC this past week. It's possible EOG is not the only operator that owns minerals in this area, and there was pressure by other operators, "if EOG isn't going to drill this area, we will."

May 25, 2021	38324	L			EOG	Liberty LR 119-2320H	MNT	Parshall
May 25, 2021	38325	L			EOG	Liberty LR 56-2317H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38326	L			EOG	Liberty LR 59-2320H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38327	L			EOG	Liberty LR 121-2320H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38328	L			EOG	Liberty LR 123-2320H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38329	L			EOG	Liberty LR 62-2329H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38330	L			EOG	Liberty LR 66-2629H	MNT	Parshall
May 26, 2021	38331	L			EOG	Liberty LR 125-2629H	MNT	Parshall

********************************
The Literature Page 

Joshua Slocum, b. February 20, 1844 – d. on or shortly after November 14, 1909:

• the first person to sail single-handedly around the world
• a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and 
• a noted writer
• in 1900 he wrote a book about his journey, Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller; on line;
  
• he disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray, annual sail from NY/Boston to Cayman Islands
  

The voyage:

• departed, April 24, 1895
• returned three years later, 1898, during the first year of the Spanish-American War

Amazon: it's funny how things work out. I have read closely the first few chapters of Sailing Alone Around The World and quickly read through the rest of the book. 

The book is so full of sailing jargon I wondered if an annotated version existed. And there it was -- an annotated version. And, of all things, it was just published March 6, 2021 -- brand new. And at $10 it was "free" with the points I have accumulated on the Amazon credit card.

The book, ordered today, Friday, May 28, will arrive Sunday, May 30, on a three-day Memorial Day weekend. I don't like orders to arrive on a Sunday or a holiday, so I asked Amazon to deliver the book on Tuesday, June 1, which they said they will do. What a great operation. 

Burnaby -- May 28, 2021

From my in-box this morning:

So you asked, and although this is not a purely EV truck manufacturer, you can't build an EV truck without an engine....but HV might be the future of the future.

Fuel Cell & Clean Energy Solutions | Ballard Power

From google:

********************************
The Literature Page

Pop quiz: who is/was Alexander Selkirk?

Extra credit: name each of the three main volcanic Juan Fernandez Islands.

Brent -- May 28, 2021

Now that the early morning economic data is out, the only number I'm watching all day: Brent. 

Three-day weekend ahead of us.

PMI -- May, 2021

Holy mackerel: The Chicago PMI came in at 75.2 vs 68 estimate. Wow, incredible. 

Link here.

*******************************
That $6 Trillion Budget

Yesterday, I rhetorically asked:

One now wonders, with Biden's proposed $6 trillion budget, if the US economy could literally dwarf/drown the EU? My hunch: European leaders are watching "this stuff" closely.

someone reported if it's passed, Biden's $6 trillion budget would be the largest annual budget since WWII; does that mean in today's dollars, the US budget during WWII was bigger?

Right on cue, twitter provided the answer this morning.

See this link. 

No Wells Coming Off Confidential List -- May 28, 2021

Holy mackerel: The Chicago PMI came in at 75.2 vs 68 estimate. Wow, incredible.

Today's market: will be held back by Boeing. 

Victory declared: president will make the announcement later today. 

6: The government will spend close to, probably more than, $6 trillion even if "it does nothing." The Biden number is getting a lot of headlines, a lot of ink but in the big scheme of things he was mostly pointing out what was already baked in. However, and this is the thing, how that $6 trillion is spent is the real story.

6. Yesterday I rhetorically asked whether the US budget was simply going to swamp the rest of the world, particularly the EU. Wiki has the 2020 estimates. 

California: a staggering $75.7 billion surplus. 

California's coffers are bulging thanks to the high-flying Silicon Valley, surging stock market and a large share of professionals who were able to continue working remotely during Covid-19. The state has a progressive income tax structure that leans heavily on top earners, allowing the state to enjoy record revenues despite widespread job losses in the travel and service industries that have kept California's unemployment rate among the nation's highest. 

California is due to receive $26 billion in direct federal aid due to Covid-19. I guess that would put the budget surplus at a staggering-staggering $100 billion. 

Governor wants to sent $600 checks to all California residents; additional $500 for those with children.

Budgets: for comparison.

• Taiwan: $94 billion
• Ireland: $93 billion

Utilities: top three utilities stocks with best value, fastest growth, and most momentum, link here.

• SRE, UGI, and Entergy

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. 

Brent: $69.92.

WTI: $67.49.

**********************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$67.49	5/28/2021	05/28/2020	05/28/2019	05/28/2018	05/28/2017
Active Rigs	20	11	64	65	50

No wells coming off the confidential list.

RBN Energy: how Covid-19 reshaped the future of North American LNG projects.

Over the past year, we have witnessed a sort of slow-motion meltdown among the second wave of North American LNG export projects. Appetite for new LNG expansions was already waning due to oversupply even before the pandemic affected demand, but COVID-19 brought project developments to a standstill. Offtake agreements have expired, final investment decisions (FIDs) delayed, and projects have lost funding or been officially put on hold or even cancelled. Just one project, Sempra’s ECA LNG in Mexico, was able to reach an FID last year, and with the pandemic still raging, for a while it looked as if that would be the last project in North America to take FID in the foreseeable future. It’s abundantly clear that many more of the remaining proposed projects will be postponed indefinitely, and probably never be built at all. However, the news isn’t all bad. With the worst of COVID-19’s impacts on international gas demand appearing to be over and the ongoing extended run of high global gas prices, all eyes are back on the second-wave projects that are in various stages of pre-FID development. The pandemic may have forced a culling of the proposed projects, but those near the top now have a clearer path ahead. In fact, several projects could realistically achieve FID in the next few years. Today, we begin a short series providing an update on the second-wave projects.