New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs: 181 (steady)

Seventeen (17) new permits --

• Operators: XTO (7), HRC (5), Sequel (2), Sinclair (1), Enduro (1), Hess (1)
• Fields: Ellisville (Williams), Lone Tree Lake (Williams), Robinson Lake (Mountrail), Mouse River Park (Renville), Beaver Lodge (Williams), Otter (Williams), Temple (Williams), Bully (McKenzie),  Siverston (McKenzie)
• Comments: Beaver Lodge -- where the North Dakota discovery well -- the "Clarence Iverson" was spud in 1951

Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier today; see sidebar at the right.

35 wells were transferred from Liberty Resources to KOG.

Wells coming off the confidential list, Friday, October 25, 2013:

• 22211, 1,827, WPX, George Evans 13-23HC, Van Hook, t9/13; cum 6K 8/13;
• 23735, drl, BR, Bryce 11-5MBH, Westberg, no production data,
• 24299, drl, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-95-13A-24-3H, Eagle Nest, no production data,
• 24588, 978, HRC, Rossland 157-101-22C-15-2H, Otter, t6/13; cum 20K 8/13;
• 25317, 329, Slawson, Bandit 3-29H, Van Hook, t7/13; cum 13K 8/13;
• 25369, 1,559, XTO, Thaxton 24X-35A, West Capa, t9/13; cum --

CNBC In Williston

I wish I had more time to write more about this video, but I am pressed for time. Maybe more later.

A reader sent this to me. I had just missed the video yesterday, so I was thrilled to get it.

There are several story lines in this short segment. Enjoy.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000210668&play=1#

The interview is taking place in Williston's El Rancho sports restaurant. 

Let's Just Say Whiting Blew Away The Analysts

Average estimate: $1.09.

Actual earnings: $1.71/share. Earning call here (i assume this link will break over time.)

Sweet.

As in sweet crude.

As in Bakken sweet crude.

Reuters is reporting:

Whiting Petroleum Corp, which drills for oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and other shale-rich states, said its quarterly profit more than doubled as production jumped 12 percent.

The company posted third-quarter net income of $204.1 million, or $1.71 per share, compared with $82.9 million, or 70 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding a non-cash $15.7 million loss on crude oil and natural gas derivatives and other one-time items, Whiting posted profit of $1.28 per share.

By that measure, analysts had forecast earnings of $1.09 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Average quarterly production rose 12 percent over the same period last year to 92,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

The stock is up only 46% this year.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Please, whatever you do, do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you might have read here. 

Hey, on another note, here is a video of bringing in some Percheron horses east of Williston, just west of the Epping oil field. These are colts, I assume yearlings, being brought in for the winter:

  East of Williston, North Dakota, heart of the Bakken; note all the oil wells in the background. 
 

For Investors Only

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you might have read here. 

Sixteen companies announced dividend increases, including AEP.

Several companies reported earnings today; many beat expectations.

Noble Energy beats by $0.01, beats on revs: Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.97 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.96; revenues rose 38.7% year/year to $1.39 bln vs the $1.38 bln consensus.

Does It Even Matter Any More? The Weekly Jobless Reports

The revisions always how an increase in the number of first-time jobless applying for benefits: this time it was 4,000. Four thousand first-time jobless applied for benefits more than were initially reported. (Does that grammatically sound right?)

There is always an "excuse." The excuse this time: computer glitches in California. I think they've been using the "California computer glitch" ("my dog ate my homework") excuse for about two months now.

So, in the Obama Parallel Universe everything is hunky dory -- everyone is signing up for ObamaCare and everybody is working. It is simply the computer glitches and the websites that are not reporting accurate data. What, me worry? [Which reminds me: the federal government has asked Blue Cross/Blue Shield NOT to report numbers of new ObamaCare enrollees. I can't make this stuff up, either.]

Reuters is reporting:

A Labor Department analyst said claims from the backlog in California were still working their way through the system.

Technical problems as California converted to a new computer system have distorted the claims data since September, making it difficult to get a clear read of labor market conditions.

I can't make this stuff up. And folks think the ObamaCare webpage can handle 7 million enrollees. Or whatever number one chooses.

But, for the archives, what are the fictitious numbers this week?

• analysts expected number to fall to 340,000
• actual: numbers rose to 350,000 (note how perfectly round that number is)
• revised from last week: add 4,000 to the number

The four-week moving average for new claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, rose 10,750 to 348,250. So, five years into this administration, umpteen years into this "recovery" and the four-week moving average is increasing. This is great news for the stock market: Ms Yellen is not going to taper, and the market knows it. It is up almost 50 points in early trading.

And for newbies: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here; or what you think you may have read here. For investment advice, follow: Jim Cramer, Herb Greenberg, and Alfred E Neuman. And 10,000 other talking heads.