TSA: Just A Matter of Time Before It Becomes Branch of US Military -- Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken

Update

December 26, 2011: I see there is another link at Drudge regarding this story (although it could be the same one. But there's a bigger picture of the cabinet member in charge of TSA which really captures your attention. All I can think of is that the ACLU must be going nuts. Increased frisking at proms, and TSA authority to detain Americans at Gitmo without charging them with a crime. This is truly incredible. I could care less, or couldn't care less: I have no dog in this fight. I don't go to proms any more. But for those who think about these things, this is quite incredible, especially to be occurring under the most liberal president we have ever had. Illegal immigrants from Mexico are exempt, of course, from any federal statute, which is also fine with me, since I don't have a dog in that fight either.

Original Post 

Link here.

During peacetime, the Coast Guard is the Coast Guard. During declared war, it becomes part of the US Navy, or at least that's the way it was back in double-u double-u 2.

Reading the story at the link above, my first thought: this sounds like the Coast Guard paradigm. It's not much of a stretch to see these TSA folks becoming a domestic military force, operating within the borders taking orders from the commander in chief.

From the story linked above:

Congress is set to give the green light on funding for a massive expansion of TSA checkpoints, with the federal agency already responsible for over 9,000 such checkpoints in the last year amidst increased fears America is turning into a police state following the passage of the ‘indefinite detention’ bill.

The increase in funding has nothing to do with the TSA’s role in airports – this is about creating 12 more VIPR teams to add the federal agency’s 25 units that are already scattered across the country and responsible for manning checkpoints on highways, in bus and train terminals, at sports events and even high school prom nights.

Tie this expanded TSA story along with the just-passed law to detain American "terrorists" at Gitmo, and it's starting to look a lot like ....

The ACLU -- or is it UCLA -- I keep getting those acronyms mixed up -- must be thinking -- "how did it come to this?"

Prom night? TSA? Frisking?

Update on Williston Basin Activity in Northeastern Montana

Link here.

Native American Energy Group provided Wednesday an operational update on its recently announced five-well workover program of the company's lease holdings located in the Williston Basin in northeastern Montana:

Wright 5-35: In early December, NAGP completed the initial workover of the Wright 5-35 well, located on the company's 160-acre lease in McCone County, Montana....

NAGP is currently engaged in the workover, lateral jetting and winterization of the Beery 2-24 ... Beery 22-24 also saw work.... The Beery property produced approximately 350,000 barrels of the two million barrels of cumulative oil produced in the entire field.

Sandvick 1-11:  After jetting the laterals in the Ratcliffe formation, almost immediately, approximately 60 barrels of oil flowed back into the pits on location which indicated that NAGP definitely stimulated the pay zone.

The workover of the Cox 7-1 well was completed in late September and the well was brought online ...

Commenting on the Company's field operations, Doyle (Tony) Johnson, Chief Geologist & Petroleum Engineer at NAGP, stated, "Although we're re-entering mature wells ranging from 30 to 50 years old, the application of new technologies to these wells is reaching out further into these pay zones to access more of the oil in the reservoirs than the original completions in the past. Having been a part of many EOR projects during my 38 year career, I am very impressed with the results we are achieving with the various technologies we are applying on these wells, ...

I was completely unaware of this company. The EOR angle and the age of these wells are interesting data points for those wondering how long the Bakken wells might produce.

Unintended Consequences for Natural Gas as Drillers Turn to Oil

Link here.

The US is awash in natural gas, and the price for natural gas is incredibly low. Oil and gas producers are increasingly turning to more profitable oil. The only problem: they keep finding more natural gas.

A bit from the linked article above:

With U.S. natural gas prices maintaining a significant discount to crude oil, producers have every incentive to redirect both capital and drilling to oil and liquids-rich gas plays. And while that shift is paying off for corporate bottom lines, the domestic production mix has failed to turn as quickly as anticipated, putting further pressure on an oversupplied U.S. gas market.

Figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that gas production from the U.S. lower 48 reached a record 66.2 billion cubic feet per day in September, up 10.5 percent from the same month in 2010. That growth more than offset year-over-year declines in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

The uptick in domestic gas production comes even as the number of rigs directly searching for gas in the country has slipped 6 percent since the start of the year, to 856, and the number of horizontal gas rigs has flatlined since late 2010, Baker Hughes data show. As such, growing lower 48 production has instead been the consequence of associated gas volumes produced by rigs targeting oil as well as improved recovery rates at the "liquids-rich" gas plays whose natural gas liquids (NGLs) offer producers robust economics even as gas prices languish.

Wow, it would be great to have an administration that was pro-growth. The domestic energy picture is incredible. We are in the process of extricating ourselves from two wars. We've extended the payroll tax break putting $40/month (as much as $80/month for many) back in the pockets of the average American (for two months). It could be morning in America if we just had a Reaganesque outlook.

What California Could Learn From North Dakota

Link here.

The entire article is worth reading in full. Unfortunately, it won't be read in California. Or maybe fortunately. I'm looking forward to North Dakota moving to the #2 spot in the nation's oil production. We're already #1 in honey production.

Here's a bit from the linked article:

California's economic slide is one of choice and consequence, not of necessity. The state still possesses the resources for prosperity, even today, but policies advanced by ideologues and political zealots in the state capital have tarnished the Golden State.

North Dakota, by contrast, illustrates, as it rapidly becomes the economic envy of the nation, how a different approach to public policy bolsters economic activity and job creation.

North Dakota reaps the vast economic benefits of traditional energy procurement and production as well as agricultural spoils, while the Golden State reels from ideological obstinacy where its legislators kowtow to special interests and frolic in dream world where green jobs save the day. North Dakota's approach to energy policy has created a boon allowing the state to achieve notable economic accomplishments, especially as the rest of the nation, and world, lags.

ExxonMobil Drops to 2nd Place -- World Production -- Russian Company Takes 1st Place

Link here.

Russia’s state-run Rosneft oil company has become the world’s largest producer after surpassing American ExxonMobil. The difference in their volumes of production is about one mln tons, a small amount compared to their total production. Not only is the Russian company planning to preserve its position, it also intends to improve its key indicators.

Rosneft boasts oil production facilities in northern Russia, Siberia and the Far East, as well as seven oil refineries. Since 2004, it has been working at the world’s largest oil deposits. In the past nine months, it has produced almost 90 mln tons of oil, leaving the American company behind. At the same time, Rosneft has a huge potential, says Natalya Shulyar, an expert in the fuel and energy sector.

I've said many, many times the state-oil companies would eventually overtake the American exploration and production companies. I assume this will call for a toast in Hawaii this next week.