Spiritwood, ND (Jamestown) -- Back In The News -- August 20, 2021

Huge "thank you" to the reader who sent me this link. 

This story was reported many, many months ago by the Grand Forks Herald, which I must have missed. I'm glad that a read caught this one. 

Spiritwood, ND, is about ten miles from Jamestown, ND, and about 100,000 miles from the Bakken. At least when you drive it, it seems that far away. Only Nebraska is more desolate.

Link here.

Marathon Petroleum Corp and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co announced on Thursday a joint venture to produce soybean oil that will be exclusively sold to Marathon as a renewable diesel feedstock.

Refiners are on the hunt for secure access to feedstocks for renewable fuels amid supply constraints and soaring prices for fats, greases and oils.

The JV soybean processing complex in Spiritwood, North Dakota, is expected to produce about 600 million pounds of refined soybean oil annually, enough feedstock for about 75 million gallons of renewable diesel per year when complete in 2023, the companies said.

That is approximately 40% of the feedstock needed to supply Marathon's nearby Dickinson, North Dakota, plant, which can process about 180 million gallons of renewable diesel annually.

More at the link.  

Tag: ADM.

75 million gallons / year = 1.8 million bbls / year = 5,000 bbls/day. 

Small step for mankind; big step for Spiritwood.  

From The Grand Forks Herald.

The plans include redeveloping the former Cargill Malt plant for use in processing soybeans. ADM confirmed that the plant would produce soybean meal and vegetable oil for food, feed, industrial and fuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel.

"It is really a good day for Stutsman County, North Dakota," said Jamestown Mayor Dwaine Heinrich. "There are so many good things to say about ADM coming to the area."

The initial announcement did not include a construction start date but said completion was anticipated in 2023.

"This is absolutely awesome," said Connie Ova, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. "This is a decade-changing facility."

The Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. approved $2.5 million in forgivable loans and grants Monday as a local incentive for the project. The funding includes a $1 million grant at the time ADM signs a lease with the Spiritwood Energy Park Association, $500,000 at the completion of construction if it is within 24 months of the lease agreement and $500,000 upon proof that ADM has 25 people on the payroll at jobs paying more $20 per hour.

Comstock Resources Looking To Sell Bakken Assets? -- Source -- August 20, 2021

Updates

Later, 2:57 p.m. CT: see comments. Reader has comment/query regarding CLR's "East Region," hoping a reader might have some update.

Original Post 

For background to the next story, see this post first. 

A huge "thank you" to the reader who sent me this link. 

From hellenicshippingnews:

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ Comstock Resources oil company is offering to sell properties in North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield, a marketing document seen by Reuters shows, as rising energy prices lift buying and selling in the sector.

Crude oil prices are up about 38% year-to-date as economies bounce back and fuel demand recovers from travel restrictions to curb the pandemic. U.S. shale oil companies also are seeking larger scale to drive returns and operational efficiency.

The properties on offer include a non-operated working interest in 436 wellbores. The holdings are valued at about $200 million based on futures pricing, according to the document.

The 427 actively producing wells in the portfolio most recently had a six-month average net production of 6,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the teaser said.

Comstock’s decision to offload its Bakken assets comes as deal activity is rising in the Haynesville shale in Louisiana, where it produces most of its energy. Louisiana rivals Southwestern Energy recently bought Indigo Natural Resources and Chesapeake Energy’s acquired Vine Energy. 

“High oil prices and a resurgence in Bakken M&A activity may have led to the company’s decision to market its non-operated interests to help fund participation in Haynesville consolidation,” said Andrew Dittmar, a senior M&A analyst with data provider Enverus.

Another story suggesting that Harold Hamm's decision to drill in Louisiana may have been quite prescient. 

More at the link. 

Notes From All Over -- August 20, 2021

Updates

Later, 12:04 p.m. CT: this market is the best market I've seen in decades. There is just enough volatility to allow folks like me to buy on the dips, but the dips are not so bad to scare the heck out of me. The market provided two buying opportunities this week, Wednesday and Thursday, August 18 - August 19, 2021. Did anyone really think the Dow / S&P 500 would be down three days in a row?

And then the easy money (ten-year treasury bills paying 1.26%); the Fed talking about tapering (just talking); and then this, my favorite graphic:

Something no one talking about: Baby Boomers taking social security. Perhaps 70%, perhaps 75% of those baby boomers need that social security to survive, but a lot do not. Of those that do not, many are putting that $3,000 / month back into the market. And folks forget that spouses get to collect up to 50 percent of their spouses social security. 

Lana Del Rey, tired of singing the blues:

Original Post

The next big thing: Netflix -- one of my favorite subjects on the blog -- called this years ago; Netflix surges; up $22 yesterday; up 4% yesterday; trading at $544. 

From Tomi Kilgore: Netflix stock shoots up toward biggest gain in seven months. 

From Benzinga:

Streaming giants Disney Co, Netflix Inc and Roku Inc

are in constant competition to dominate the screens of viewers worldwide. Traders and investors may prefer the companies for different reasons: Netflix as a pure streaming play; Roku hosts a variety of different streaming services including Netflix on its set-top box; or Disney, which offers diversity through its streaming, cruises, amusement parks and retail footprints.

All three stocks have settled into patterns that could give both bulls and bears a way to play.

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. 

Deere: quarterly profit surges. 

• third-quarter profit more than doubled, as higher agricultural income on the back of strong crop prices boosted demand for farm and construction equipment.
• net income attributable to the company rose to $1.67 billion, or $5.32 per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 2, from $811 million, or $2.57 per share, a year earlier. 
  

Toyota, VW: we talked about this earlier. Semiconductor shortages put world's largest automakers at risk. Link here. 

Sabbath Mode: self-help. Link to The WSJ. If link breaks or one encounters a paywall, google sabbath mode overn.

Cargo ships again idling off jammed southern California ports: again, WSJ.

Apple: patents "removable key" to double as a micro-mouse. Link here.

Credit cards: more businesses are assessing fees on purchases made with credit cards. This story interests me not one bit, but I'm posting it because this practice was pretty much the standard among local, mom-and-pop shops in Kalispell, MT, when I was there this past summer. 

I don't frequent such retail establishments if they add additional fees, unless there are not options. There are seldom any situations when there is no option. Wouldn't it be better to simply quietly raise the price of merchandise by 3% and off a three-percent discount on items purchased with cash? Or better yet, no discount at all. But don't add a fee to my credit card purchase that is so obvious. 

My hunch: shoplifting (by customers and staff) is a bigger problem than the credit card fee charged by the issuing company. As long as I'm on this rant, one week where credit card customers don't pay for anything with a credit card, and this craze will go away overnight. Processing checks (and especially the checks that bounce) cost a whole lot more than credit card transactions.

Covid-19 Update -- August 20, 2021

Israel: out of control? All that talk about being first out of the gate to get its citizens vaccinated? Wasn't Israel the poster-child for getting its citizens vaccinated?

• Israel: grim warning;
• Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine is 39% effective as delta spreads; turns viral disease into a "cold":
• this is why the US is now recommending a booster shot eight months out;
• fifth wave (if you count the smallish first wave, double-humped 2nd/3rd wave)); and worse, deaths also increasing;
  

Japan

• cases surging; this fourth wave is 3 - 4 times greater than previous 2nd and 3rd wave;
• as a reminder:
• the most recent Japanese began before the Olympics official starting date, but there would have been a lot of international traffic in/out preparing for the Olympics;
• Tokyo Olympics, last wee of July, first week of August, 2021

Pretty much corroborates everything "we" knew from the beginning.

WTI Drops Well Below $63 -- One Well Coming Off Confidential List -- August 20, 2021

Deflation: talking heads on CNBC now talking about deflation, not about inflation. At "best," inflation concerns for the market (for investors) has now moved to 2022. Investors are still looking for the global economy to open, and now that the delta virus is pushing that opening to the right, the Fed will remain wary. I still maintain this market is the absolute best ever. 

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.

Renewables: Big Oil's foray into renewables has changed everything. Link to Irina Slav. This is another story that interests me not but it may be important for the archives:

Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies, on the other hand, can afford to pay millions upon millions to beat competitors for new renewable energy projects. They are highly motivated, with shareholders, governments, and environmentalists looking over their shoulders at how they are tackling their carbon footprints. And however blasphemous it may sound to the ideologically inclined, they are partnering with renewables companies.

The thing about business is that it is not driven by ideology. Business is driven by the need to turn in a profit. Orsed, Vestas, and Siemens Gamesa know this, as do BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies. The influx of competitors in the wind and solar space is bound to sooner or later result in partnerships of mutual benefit. This would help Big Oil morph into Big Energy. Like it or not, it would be the natural way.

"Skimming Stones": link to Alex Kimani. Forecasting oil prices is a fool's errand.

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

Liberty Resources: I'm being told by a reader to watch Liberty Resources drill two wells north of Tioga in the near future. 

Active rigs:

$62.82	8/20/2021	08/20/2020	08/20/2019	08/20/2018	08/20/2017
Active Rigs	24*	12	63	58	53

*Active rigs: current list posted COB daily.

One well coming off confidential list: 

Friday, August 20, 2021: 11 for the month, 22 for the quarter, 202 for the year:

• 37989, conf, CLR, Harms Federal 17-33H1, Antelope, first production, 6/21; t--; cum 30K 6/21;

RBN Energy: the surprising simplicity of many rocket fuels.  

The high-tech space programs of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson may seem far removed from the down-to-earth business of producing and processing hydrocarbons. In fact, however, the multibillion-dollar efforts by SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic to normalize space travel — and maybe even put the first men and women on Mars! — depend at least in part on some pretty basic oil and gas products, including regular jet fuel, highly refined kerosene, and LNG. Oh, and hydrogen too — or, more specifically, the liquid form of the fuel that has recently caught the attention of a number of old-school energy companies. In today’s blog, we look at what’s propelling the latest generation of space vehicles.