CenterPoint Energy To Invest Heavily Due To Rising Data Center Demand -- May 28, 2025

Locator: 48700ENERGY.

CenterPoint Energy: will increase CAPEX to $52.5 billion due to rising data center demand. Link here.

Mary Barra Throws In The Towel -- May 28, 2025

Locator: 48699GM.

GM: backpedals on EVs. Will invest "hugely" in V-8 engines. Are you kidding me. V-8 engines. Huge investment. Link here.

The plant, located in Buffalo, New York, will continue to produce the fifth generation of the engine while it prepares to start production on the new engines in 2027.

The engines, used in full-size trucks and SUVs, use new combustion and thermal management innovations to improve performance while reducing emissions.

The investment includes new machinery, equipment, tools and facility renovations, and builds on GM’s work to boost its manufacturing facilities in recent years, including a half-billion-dollar investment in its Flint engine plant in 2023.

The bean counters over at Ford and the Ford analysts have to be watching this very, very closely.

GM To Invest Large Sums In V-8 Engines As It Cuts Back On EVs -- May 28, 2025

Locator: 48698B.

Musk rocket failed to deploy mock satellites. Was the largest rocket ever to be launched. Third failure of this rocket in a row. The first two failures not particularly unexpected; this third failure is of greater concern. Fuel leak in booster which was critical to get mock payload into orbit.

GM: backpedals on EVs. Will invest "hugely" in V-8 engines. Are you kidding me. V-8 engines. Huge investment. Link here.

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

WTI: $61.76.

New wells:

• Thursday, May 29, 2025: 52 for the month, 152 for the quarter, 366 for the year,
• 40792, conf, Phoenix Operating, Jacobson 19-30-31 4H,
• Wednesday, May 28, 2025: 51 for the month, 151 for the quarter, 365 for the year,
• 41203, conf, Silver Hill Operating, Ringneck W 159-94-11-23-1MBHX,
• 40770, conf, Phoenix Operating, Jacobson 19-30-31 3H,  

RBN Energy: US propane market must delicately balance seasonal demand, steady production. 

With more than 9 billion gallons of propane delivered to U.S. customers each year, moving those volumes to their final destination is a complex task involving pipelines, rail cars, storage (be it underground or above ground) and, ultimately, trucks. Several major factors help determine the quantity and price of propane delivered to end-use customers, including the seasonality of demand versus the steady nature of production. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss highlights from our new Drill Down Report on propane. 

Let’s start with the basics. Looking at the far left in Figure 1 below, propane is produced from the wellhead and is entrained in the natural gas stream. The NGL stream is separated at a gas processing plant into a liquid stream that is a mix of NGLs, also known as raw mix or Y-grade. The cold temperatures of the processing plant cause the propane and associated NGLs to “fall out” of the stream as a liquid. The raw mix is then piped to a fractionator, where it is separated into purity product streams. (The raw mix can also be placed in storage and kept underground until it is ready to be fractionated.) Following fractionation, propane is either stored until needed (this often occurs with propane fractionated in the summer months for use during winter demand) or it can be taken directly to the next step, which is transportation to a wholesaler. Propane from refineries is also picked up at this step and put largely on rail cars.

[RBN’s Propane Master Class, set for Thursday, November 13, will dive into the details of each topic included in our new Drill Down Report and introduce modeling techniques, pricing mechanisms and a lot more info on the production, midstream and export sides of the business. Registration’s not open yet but will be soon — CLICK HERE to join the waitlist and receive updates.]

Figure 1. Wholesale-to-Retail Propane Value Chain. Source: RBN

Wholesalers (middle section in Figure 1 above) — companies that sell propane to retailers — have four primary functions. The first is supply aggregation, which includes acquiring propane from multiple sources. This is usually done by midstream companies that operate fractionation facilities. It is also done by “pure” wholesalers that buy directly from fractionators and refineries, and refiners that produce propane as a byproduct. The second function is operating logistics networks to ensure the timely delivery of propane across regions. Many wholesalers maintain large fleets of propane transport trucks to handle long-haul deliveries to terminals. They also have railcars to handle long-distance transport to terminals, roughly 60% of propane terminals in the U.S. have rail capacity. The third function is product trading. Wholesale propane marketers engage in both physical trading and financial hedging. The fourth and final primary function is midstream integration and wholesale competition. Some wholesale propane marketers are midstream companies that own assets such as pipelines, fractionation facilities and terminals. 

 

 

Absolutely Brilliant -- May 27, 2025

Locator: 48697ARCHIVES.

Holy mackerel: from ChatGPT tonight -- the question I asked ChatGPT -- "how many days has President Trump been in office? The answer (LOL). What am I missing?

                                        The correct answer is 127 days (second term). In his second term, President Trump has been in office for 127 days. Let that sink in.

Biggest news tonight: "NATO" agrees to let Ukraine strike as deep into Russia as it wants. Here we go.  

Almost as big: if this is true -- President Trump has directed that all US embassies quit scheduling student visa interviews. 

I have mixed feelings. Get out the yellow legal pad and line up the pros and cons. I personally think this is the singular act that will convince the doubters Trump means business. You may not want to take Trump literally, but you have to take him seriously. I think that's where journalists and pundits are not serving the American public well. Laughing at Trump, making jokes about Trump is not the right way to go about taking him on mano a mano. He likes making deals, and making deals for Trump is no laughing matter.

Back to student visas. My alma mater won't survive without Asian students. Nor will many other universities. Not in their present form. My hunch: every major university president is calling the Harvard president. His/her days are numbered if, in fact, it's true that the Trump administration has stopped all embassy interviews for student visas. Wow.

ESPN: NBA on TNT -- absolutely excellent. For me, I get ESPS via Hulu. Absolutely worth the subscription price of Hulu.  

Beer: I don't think I've had a beer in over a year. Finally I had one tonight -- while watching Knicks play the Indiana Pacers. 

"Half-Life" by Manhattan Project Beer Co., Dallas, TX, hazy IPA. Incredibly good. $10.00 for a six-pack. I see "Hop and Sting," made locally here in Grapevine is still $7.99. It was a toss-up whether to get "Hop and Sting" or a Manhattan Project Beer, but, I can't say otherwise, Manhattan Project Beer is absolutely the best.

They must make about a dozen varieties, varying in price from $10 to $20 for a six-pack. I'm wrong. They make 19 craft brews. My go-to: "Half-Life." Amazing. If you were a young college student, why would you have a part-time job at Lowe's when you could have a part-time job at Total Wine, specializing in Manhattan Project Beer with a minor in Bitburger Pils. LOL.

Life is complicated: 

I get so much good stuff from so many readers, it's hard to remember how they sent me something when I want to go back and capture it: e-mail; group chat; direct text; a blog link; etc. Life is getting complicated. 

Portland:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/3936816733131112

        This is why I enjoyed 30 years in the service, including 14 of those years overseas -- I met so many interesting folks. This guy is someone who I met so may times overseas.

Working on "sight words": 

Wow, never quit reading. 

I was blogging and a note happened to fall off the side of my chair, something I had written earlier; this made my night, LOL:

Ermen: supposed that Hatshepsut as Tuthmosis (Thutmose) III's sister  (p. 163) -- in fact she was his aunt.

Time for a musical interlude. I may not post anything, but I'm surfing YouTube.

Paradise: I see CNBC has a fluff piece on how "living in paradise differs from visiting paradise." 

I know exactly what they mean. I lived in paradise for 20 years or thereabouts -- hitchhiking during my college days; medical school in southern California; thirteen years with the family overseas, mostly Europe; 100 sorties in the F-15D; a summer in a NYC suburb; four years by myself in England; thirteen weeks in Yorkshire, England; a significant "other" at all times; a year reading Hunter S. Thompson; and four years of high school in Williston, North Dakota. 

If Tom Cruise had done nothing else, his legacy would have exceeded most with Top Gun. 

Keep a journal. The other day, an extended family member asked me the name of the first wife of another extended family member and their son -- it took me a few minutes to find the answer in my journal from 30+ years ago, but I found it. 

Some of the most iconic movie scenes in Moreno J's remix of Haddaway's "What Is Love?" Quick, who sang the female "accompaniment"?

The market: after a most remarkable day, the market is holding, at least for now. 

Time to read. Enjoy some music.

Tueday -- May 27, 2025

Locator: 48696B.

The market: the Trump administration says progress is being made with regard to EU tariffs. 

Harvard: the Trump administration is in the process of canceling contracts with Harvard. See link. One would assume The New York Times, reporting this story, would come up with the most egregious examples of contracts being canceled -- contracts that are key to the US in some form or fashion. So let's see what the Times is reporting that is so critical and so worthy of taxpayer dollars. This is directly from the linked article. I can't make this stuff up.

"Examples of contracts that would be affected, according to a federal database, include a $49,858 National Institutes of Health contract to investigate the effects of coffee drinking and a $25,800 Homeland Security Department contract for senior executive training. Some of the Harvard contracts under review may have already been subject to “stop work” orders." -- NY Times. 

Comment: yeah, that's the type of research that US taxpayers are paying Harvard to undertake.

When you see this, all I can say, it's about time there was some "adulting" in Washington, DC (Trump, DOGE, Musk, et al). It's amazing The NY Times would print this with a "straight face."

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

WTI: $61.13.

Active rigs: 35.

Four #new permits, #41955 - #41958, inclusive:

• Operator: Kraken
• Field: Rawson (McKenzie)
• Comments:
• Kraken has permits for two Dwyer East wells and two McCabe wells SESE 23-150-101, 
• to be sited 878 / 977 FSL and 402 FEL.

Two DUCs reported as completed:

• 40875, 1,105, Oasis, Barnes Federal 5202 43-11 2B, McKenzie County;
• 40876, 1,130, Oasis, Barnes Federal 5202 43-11 3B, McKenzie County;

Two interesting name changes:

• Koda Resources: two wells with "BH" (Bakken Horizontal) changed to "BHC."
• Oasis: with one well changed from "3B" (middle Bakken) to "3BU."

Well of interest with regard to the Oasis Barnes Federal wells noted above, two verticals and one horizontal:

• 15170 (vertical), 364, White Rock Oil & Gas, Barnes Federal 1-2, Indian Hill, t9/01; cum 290K 11/24; off line; total depth, 13,630 feet; spacing 320 acres (N2, section 2-152-102)
  
• 20485 (horizontal), 762, Oasis, Barnes Federal 2-2H, Elk (borders Indian Hill on the west), t7/11; cum 373K 12/24; off-line; 
• 11407, (vertical), Citation Oil & Gas, Fredrickson 1-2, Indian Hill, t5/85, cum 167K 2/25 (only one day in 3/25); producing from the Madison Formation;  Red River, dry; total depth, 13,60 feet; spacing, 160 acres (1/4 section).