Sven's Reading List

On the sidebar at the right, I have linked a handful of blogs that, for some reason or another, have caught my interest. I don't want to forget to check in on them once in awhile, so I keep them at the sidebar. I used to have a much longer list but in an effort to shorten the sidebar, I have minimized the "blog list." Two of the blogs are by folks living and working in western North Dakota.

Tonight, I happened to take a bit of time to look at Sven's reading list. The list is very, very eclectic. His list reminds me of my early library of about 30 books that I read during short periods of "temporary duty" to a remote air base in northern England over the course of four years.

I am very, very impressed with Sven's list. There are some challenging books on that list, particularly the Russian novels, that I have in my library. Although I have often wanted to start reading them, I've never had "whatever it takes" to actually get started.

Interestingly, there are some books on Sven's list that are also in my library, and books that I put near the top of my reading list, to include:

• Beowulf (a different translation than the one Sven has)
• The Sagas of the Icelanders (one of my favorites)
• The Sorrows of Young Werther -- Goethe (how this ended up on both our lists, I have no idea)
• Asimov's Guide to the Bible
• The Hidden Reality -- Brian Greene (actually I have a different book by this author)

It is very likely I would not have posted this note had it not been for this book on his list:

• Better Living Through Plastic Explosives – Zsuzsi Gartner

That one caught my interest. I will definitely have to obtain a copy. I hate to pay full price, so I will see if "Half-Price Books" has a copy before ordering from Amazon.com. Check out the reviews at Amazon.com to see what this book is all about.  Something tells me it would fit right in there with the Russian novels, though much shorter and much easier to read.

CarpeDiem Provides Update Of Bakken Production In North Dakota

Link here to Carpe Diem.

Two data points from the linked article:

• The Bakken region in western North Dakota produced more than 800,000 bpd in September for the third straight month, and established a new all-time monthly output record of 867,242 bpd, which represented a new record-high 93.0% of the state’s monthly oil production. In contrast, the Bakken region produced less than 9% of the state’s oil output at the beginning of 2007, before breakthrough drilling techniques (hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling) were able to tap into a bonanza of unconventional oil in the shale-rich areas of western North Dakota.
• North Dakota’s natural gas output in September increased 33% from a year earlier to exceed 30 billion cubic feet of production for the third month in a row, and established a new monthly record high at 31.81 billion cubic feet. Amazingly, natural gas output in the Peace Garden state has more doubled in less than two years, from 15.78 billion cubic feet in November of 2011 to more than 31 billion cubic feet in September this year, which represents an increase of 101.6% in just 22 months.

For Investors Only: It Looks Like Warren Buffett Wasn't The Only One Buying Oil And Gas This Past Quarter

John Vincent over at SeekingAlpha provides a quarterly update of changes in George Soros' portfolio.

Disclaimer: 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. 

This is only a partial listing. There may be typographic errors. There are definitely omissions. For complete listing, go to the linked article:

George Soros took new positions in:

• Schlumberger
• Halliburton
• Microsoft
• FedEx

George Soros closed out positions in:

• Delta Airlines
• United Continental
• NRG Energy

George Soros increased his stakes in:

• Chevron
• Baker Hughes
• Energen
  

George Soros decreased his stakes in:

• JC Penney
• Google (a trading stock for Soros; history of "in and out")

How Big A Deal Is The Apple iPad? Yes, It's A Bakken Story

Platts is reporting:

If [the American Airlines-US Airways merger]  had not been allowed to proceed, American likely would have aggressively added routes and flights in a bid to grow as big as United and Delta, but any sudden rise in fuel costs may have put American back into the bankruptcy court it is still trying to exit, sources said. 

It’s a perilous, cost-heavy industry that in total had lost money since the dawn of aviation until just a few years ago. Even now, US airlines can only tout profit margins of 2% or less.

Fuel buyers had expressed little doubt that the merger would be allowed to proceed, with some divestitures. But they said the industry was already doing all it could to contain fuel costs, from exchanging smaller planes for larger ones to rerouting into more efficient flight patterns.

How intense is the weight management / fuel use issue?

Look at this:

Simple weight-control measures like swapping heavy flight books for tablets [for example Apple iPads] are saving millions of dollars. “Those are real deals. It’s pretty significant dollar savings. And it reduces fuel demand,” the fuel buyer said.

If switching from heavy flight books to iPads can make that much difference, imagine what it means to Delta to own its own refinery running on Bakken crude selling at $15 discount to the US benchmark.

[Update: see first comment -- there is so much in that first comment, I have brought it up here to the post itself. Comments are not generally "searchable" through search engines. And some readers may not read comments. Here is that first comment:

I fly for the first airline to adopt the iPad.

The cost saving in fuel were not just to eliminate two 35 pound flight bags but also included several other savings.

Compliance with publication currency was an issue during FAA inspections. Now there are just two buttons that need to be selected and a wi-fi connection that will up date company manuals and flight charts.

Previously, updates were done manually and involved adding and deleting a couple thousand pages annually. Additionally, there is the issue worker comp claims, every year several pilots would injure their backs from placing their 35 pound flight bag in the cockpit which involves a bending, twisting and reaching motion. Lastly, there is the additional benefit of remote training. We have eliminated two days of annual ground school that can now be done on the iPad. We still get paid but having remote training has other cost savings to the company.

All of the above savings are part of a “green effort” by the company which reduces paper usage. Besides the paper saving related to manuals each flight generates about 30 to 40 pages of paper, (flight plans, weather, weight and balance, passenger loads) this can now be pushed to the iPad or other tablet device. For compliance each item is given an electronic stamp of what was sent and time received and the document is retained on the sending server.

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For the airlines: tracking every last drop of aviation fuel. (A pdf file).  Note the iPad in the presentation. (Don sent me the PDF.)

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TabTimes is reporting, April 30, 2013:

All 16,000 of American’s crew members worldwide have been given Galaxy Notes. “We’re the first airline to give a tablet to every single crew member,” said O’Keeffe.

The other American “first” goes back to the iPad. American got on the iPad bandwagon early and has since, in partnership with Apple, lobbied the FAA for broader use in flight.

More at idownloadblog.com, June 25, 2013:

American Airlines is now using Apple’s iPad in all its flights, the tablet replacing millions of pages and pounds of documents pilots previously had to carry into the cockpit. In a Monday announcement, the airline said switching to the tablet will save the company more than $1 million in fuel costs every year.

In addition,

... American Eagle will become the first regional airline to adopt the iPad flight bags starting July 10.

Update On The Sandpiper

Duluth News Tribune is reporting:

Enbridge Energy officials said Tuesday that they want to drop part of a proposed new pipeline route in Carlton County that had farmers and rural residents upset.

Company officials said they will ask the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to consider a revised route for about 1.5 miles of the proposed Sandpiper pipeline that would have crossed undisturbed farm and woods in Carlton County.

Enbridge wants the PUC to consider a new alignment that will follow existing pipelines and then follow electric and gas-utility corridors for that portion of the pipeline.

The news came after the Carlton County Board voted 4-0 Tuesday morning to ask the PUC to back existing utility lines as state regulators consider approving the proposed pipeline and where it will go.

A reminder: Enbridge is getting ready to announce the "open season" on the Sandpiper.