Locator: 51688B.
Finally, they get it (see disclaimer):
Mutual fund: not my favorite but a holding for many years. It's holdings / composition (see disclaimer below):
- financials: 20%
- health care: 15%
- AI: 14%
- nothing else matters
- matches my personal portfolio perfectly -- new money only
In another "mutual fund," three portfolios:
- large-cap
- 45 holdings
- of the top ten, range, by company, 3.0% to 11%
- of major market sectors:
- AI: 43%
- consumer svs: 15%
- consumer discretionary: 13%
- industrials: 11%
- financials: 8%
- health care: 6%
- mid-cap
- 66 holdings
- of the top ten, range, by company, 1.9% to 3.1% of overall holdings
- by major market sectors:
- industrials: 20%
- AI: 18%
- financials: 14%
- health care: 4%
- small-cap
- 82 holdings
- top ten holdings by company, range, 1.8% - 2.7%
- by major market sectors:
- industrials: 20%
- AI: 18%
- financials: 14%
- health care: 12%
- consumer discretionary: 12%
Iran overnight: least favorite phrase right now -- "strikes in retaliation for ...."
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $94.99 (4:39 a.m. CT, September 9, 2026).
New wells being reported:
- Thursday, September 10, 2026: 17 for the month, 97 for the quarter, 454 for the year,
- 41567, conf, Oasis, Dolls Daisy 5301 31-31 3B,
- Wednesday, September 9, 2026: 16 for the month, 96 for the quarter, 453 for the year,
- 41868, conf, Oasis, Dolls Daisy 5301 31-31 2BX,
RBN Energy: US oil deals have Venezuela poised for long-term growth, but it's far from certain. Link here. Archived.
Venezuela’s oil industry spent more than a decade moving in the wrong direction, with crude production, exports and refinery operations falling far below their former levels. But 2026 has brought a notable change. Production has begun to recover, exports have risen and even refinery throughput has moved slightly higher. A sweeping new agreement with the U.S. could accelerate investment and development across the country’s upstream oil sector, although that outcome is far from certain. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the recent improvements in Venezuelan crude oil production and exports in light of its deal with the U.S., and although that deal does not involve refining, we will also address the prospects there.
Under the first-of-its-kind agreement announced in late August, Venezuela agreed to grant 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields with proven reserves of approximately 65 billion barrels to North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the country’s second-largest private oil producer. NABEP, which said it expects to spend nearly $100 billion on new infrastructure in Venezuela, granted the U.S. a 35% equity stake in its corporate parent and also gave the U.S. the right to purchase, at production cost, 20% of the offtake from all current and future fields NABEP will operate, according to a White House fact sheet published August 31. The U.S. also has the right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 80% of its production, per the fact sheet. The deal greatly expands U.S. control of Venezuela’s energy sector.
We should note at the top that there are a seemingly endless number of questions about the practical and legal concerns around the highly unusual deal. Can the U.S. government legally take a majority stake in a foreign joint venture? How politically durable will the agreement be in the U.S. and Venezuela? Will it encourage other oil and gas companies to invest in Venezuela? Those, and others, are thorny questions and we’re not going to attempt to answer them here. Our focus today is what the deal, and a separate announcement by Chevron (more on that below), could mean for Venezuela’s oil sector going forward given the changes already seen this year.
Venezuela’s oil industry has been in long-term decline, but its massive reserves alone provide hope for a lasting turnaround. Venezuela reported in 2023 that it has 303 billion barrels of proved reserves (far-left bar in Figure 1 below) — roughly equal to 17% of the global total and the highest of any country. The announced deal with the NABEP would give the U.S. access to 65 billion barrels (green bar segment at far left; about 21% of the total) but would not include the other 248 billion barrels (orange bar segment). The U.S. has about 74 billion barrels of proved reserves (red bar segment), ranking #9 globally.
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Disclaimer
Briefly:
I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken. 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 something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything. 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 Bakken, 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. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution. I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom. Now, I've added Amazon. And QCOM. Longer version here.
