Cleaning Off The Desktop -- September 30, 2024

Locator: 48439INV.

Screenshots from last week:

Mystery solved:

Someone doesn't know their geography!

Last Day Of The Third Quarter -- Entering The Holiday Season -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter Break And New Year's -- September 30, 2024

Locator: 48438B.

Most surprising: the little mainstream press that Hurricane Helene seemed to have gotten over the past few days in the media that I follow compared to how bad this storm was. 

It looks like this may go down as the worst hurricane ever -- but it was a flooding event -- and insurance does not cover flooding. USAA getting claims from as far north as Ohio. USAA has gotten more claims in the first four days than they got from Ian and Michael. Many homeowners had no house insurance whatsoever. Once the mortgage is paid off -- and that's common in this area -- folks are not required have house insurance. Will add to the housing crisis already in place in the US. So far, not much action from the Biden administration or FEMA according to media I follow.

The port strike: no formal talks have been held since last June. There will be winners and losers. It will be interesting to follow UNP and BRK (proxy for Burlington Northern). UNP is up slightly today; BRK-B is down.

AAPL: not on my bingo card today -- AAPL up almost $4.00 today. 

WTI: negative overnight but as all-out war looks more likely in the Mideast, WTI is creeping up this morning.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $68.81.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024: 4 for the month; 4 for the quarter, 518 for the year
40330, conf, Hess, EN-Lonetree Farm-LW-156-94-0805H-1,
38260, conf, Hess, BB-Olson-150-95-0817H-6, Blue Buttes, BB-Olson Wells (Hess, Blue Buttes) and now, here, as of September,2023. Big wells.
37824, conf, Enerplus, Vulpes 149-93-10A-15H,
37819, conf, Enerplus, Troop 149-93-10B-15H-LL,

Monday, September 30, 2024: 62 for the month; 190 for the quarter, 514 for the year
40238, conf, Hess, BL-Kerbaugh-LW-156-96-3427H-1, Beaver Lodge, oldest oil field in North Dakota.
37825, conf, Enerplus, Kit 149-93-10A-15H, Mandaree, results somewhat disappointing.

RBN Energy: midstream consolidation in the DJ Basin. Not archived.

The Denver-Julesburg Basin isn’t the Permian — no argument there. But like its much bigger brother in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the DJ Basin has been a hotbed of M&A in both the upstream and midstream sectors. Among DJ producers, Chevron, Civitas Resources and Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) are now the top dogs, with big hopes for the future there. And, as we’ll discuss in today’s RBN blog, a handful of midstreamers have taken on leading roles in crude oil and gas gathering (and processing) in Weld County, CO, the heart of the basin.

Veren, Inc -- First Note On The Blog -- September 29, 2024

Locator: 48437B.

Folks may have noticed a new name in the box below as part of an earlier blog today:

If one goes to the Crescent Point webpage one will find that Crescent Point trades under two tickers: CPG and VRN.

From deals in the Bakken -- 2023:

• Kraken Resources Will Acquire / Has Acquired Crescent Point Energy Assets In North Dakota -- October 16, 2023 -- link here. Neptune Operating is a subsidiary of Kraken. 

Meanwhile, Crescent Point will now rebrand to Veren, according to Hart Energy:

A "well search" over at the NDIC webpage does not yet list Veren. 

There is a note out there that although Veren is only drilling in Canada at the moment, there are indications that Veren may return to the Three Forks "south of the border" -- i.e., North Dakota. 

Personal Finance -- Not Ready For Prime Time -- September 29, 2024

Locator: 48436PERSINV.

This is a personal note as part of a conversation with one of my extended family members. Four extended family members -- including the individual to whom this note was addressed and myself -- are undertaking a formal personal finance course.

Remember: I'm 73 years old and have been investing for decades.

To an extended family member, not ready for prime time, under the break.

********************************
Personal Finance

Dear _____

I've mentioned that "personal finance course" that four of us are taking.

You have no idea how helpful the "personal finance course" has been for me. Seriously.

Two big things:

1. It gave me an opportunity to take another look at how I approach investing and am now passing this information to [other extended family members]. From my blog as a direct result of the "personal finance course":

https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2024/09/it-really-can-make-difference-comparing.html

2. The one thing I was missing was "Mint."  I was completely unaware of "Mint" but now I know that "Mint" is/was part of the large family of "account aggregators."

I found googling Rocket Money vs Mint vs Schwab quite helpful.

One of the hits was a "Reddit" hit -- I can't think of a much less credible site than Reddit (LOL) but it does provide a starting point for folks like me who don't understand a particular subject, in this case, "account aggregators" or "Mint" or Rocket Money.

As you know, I am very partial to Schwab and Schwab offers this service. From Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Schwab/comments/198dven/anyone_use_schwab_as_an_account_aggregator/

One comment that jumped out, of course, posted nine months ago:

I use Schwab for aggregation and have 30+ accounts linked. It works fine if you just want to see balances, your net worth, and positions for investment accounts. You can use the Portfolio Checkup Tool to run portfolio reports on your Schwab plus non-Schwab investment accounts. Also, the linked accounts flow through to your financial plan at Schwab, which is primarily what I use the aggregator for.

I was a devout Mint user for 10+ years, and I'm currently looking for a replacement for that. Schwab is nice if all you need is aggregation of balances and for running holistic portfolio reports and financial planning. But Mint was good at the micro-budgeting level--like aggregating transactions, too, and I used Mint's budgets and goals tools, so that's what I'm looking for. No brokerage firm is going to have the level of detail Mint had, since that's a full-time business keeping up with all the software issues for customers (and it doesn't make Schwab or any brokerage firm any money), so I imagine this needs to be a standalone budgeting site that's meant for this like Mint was.

Empower was also mentioned but I won't add yet another financial website if Schwab offers the same service.

 

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Again, Not Ready For Prime Time
Audience: Extended Family Members

**********************************
Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

• NOTE: content and typographical errors may increase due to a number of factors. I correct them when I find them. But if something seems wrong or doesn't make sense, it's likely to be a typographical error as anything else. (Updated: September 28, 2024).
  
• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• 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. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia.  
  

Devon - Grayson Mill -- September 29, 2024

Locator: 48435B.

Devon closed on its Grayson Mill deal on Friday, September 27, 2024.  

The announcement last July, 2024.

From the blog: last July, 2024.

How the complexion of the Bakken changes with the Devon - Grayson Mill deal. Link here.

The agreement with Grayson Mill adds 307,000 net acres and 100 Mboe/d of production (55% oil) to Devon in North Dakota and Montana. The package includes 500 gross locations and 300 refrac candidates, plus ownership in 950 miles of gathering lines for gas, water and crude.

The deal by DVN is the latest in a consolidation wave that will winnow the Bakken oil patch down to only eight main operators by the end of 2024. These eight producers will account for 80% of the basin’s 1.3 MMb/d of crude oil production.

A year ago, 11 companies produced at least 50 Mb/d of oil in the Bakken, of which only seven were public. By YE24, these 11 companies will consolidate into eight; one merger has closed and three are pending. Currently, there are only six public companies out of 130 producers in the play.

Nothing new here, just clearing off the desktop.