Bloomberg, Sierra Club -- War On Coal -- April 8, 2015

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

The Huffington Post is reporting:

The Sierra Club and Michael Bloomberg are upping the ante in their effort to close down coal-fired power plants, announcing on Wednesday another $60 million in funding for their anti-coal campaign. The Sierra Club is also raising its target for coal plant closures, setting a goal to close half of all coal plants in the U.S. by 2017.

The group’s previous goal, set in 2011, was to close a third of coal plants by 2020. So far, the organizers have claimed victory on 187 plants, all of which have closed or are slated for closure in the near future. If successful, the Sierra Club wants to see 166,000 megawatts of coal-fired power shut down or slated for closure in the U.S. in the next two years. Coal plants are responsible for about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists have found are causing climate change.

Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York whose philanthropy donated $50 million to Sierra Club's anti-coal work in 2011, announced another $30 million in support for the campaign on Wednesday. About a dozen additional donors such as the Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Grantham Foundation have pledged another $30 million to the effort. 

All good news for natural gas investors.

Solar energy accounted for zero percent of US energy consumption in 2014. 

COP On The Bakken -- Seeking Alpha -- April 8, 2015

Just a sample from the Seeking Alpha article:

So that concludes our section on the Eagle Ford we still have the best position in the play and we're certainly one of the most effective operators in the play. And those same characteristics apply to our Bakken position we are in the highest value part of the play in the Bakken top on the Nesson Anticline. We're developing the Bakken at the moment on 320 acre spacing in the Middle Bakken and Upper Three Forks which results in 160 acre combined spacing we just have most of the operators in the Bakken talk about their spacing.

Now like the Eagle Ford we have a lot of capital flexibility in the Bakken and we're exercising that flexibility we're going drop down to an average of five operated rigs this year. In fact we'll get as a low as three operated rigs by the middle of the year. And then we'll ramp-up to 10 rigs by 2017 and that results in 20% increase in Bakken production between 2014 and 2017. And that level of capital activity with our 600 million barrel resource base we've got at least 10 years of drilling inventory to continue development of the Bakken.

And like the Eagle Ford we're continuing to focus on capital efficiency. And in fact since 2011 we've dropped our well costs drilling costs by 40% and our unit completion cost by 50%. And we're still on that learning curve as you can see on the right hand side here. And one of the reasons that we’re continuing to see this learning curve and cost benefit is because most of our wells now are drilled from multi-well pads. In fact in 2015 90% of our wells will be drilled from multi-well pads.

And then continuing:

So I think you can see from Matt is just showing that we’re continuing to deliver cost efficiencies in the Bakken as well. But we're not stopping there with just the cost efficiencies we're also continuing to work on the science the technical side with our unconventional reservoir models to continue to enhance those and our field pilot testing. So I'm going to talk about that a little bit next.

As Matt mentioned as shown on the left hand side of the different well configurations if you look at our Middle Bakken and our Upper Three Forks development together on a combined basis we're on 160 acre spacing. But our reservoir models are telling us that they'd be a benefit to go to tighter spacing. So it is what we expect from our models. And so we're testing that now we actually have different pilot tests looking at different spacings those are shown by the five red dots on the map each of those tests. Looking at different spacings to test what our models are telling us we don’t have definitive results yet from those tests so we are continuing to drill our 160 acre spacing until we have that.

Another kind of pilot testing that we're doing is looking at developing the Middle Three Forks that lowest zone in separately. So we have two pilots shown by the grey dots here on the map that are testing independent development of the Middle Three Forks. Now we also have in the Middle Three Forks a single well that we drilled earlier that we've got some early results from that are pretty promising. So I will show you those next this was a well that was drilled near the crest of the Nesson Anticline and you’d see the results in the graphic on the middle. In this case our Middle Three Forks production actually is quite similar to typical Upper Three Forks production that we've been getting on our acreage. So that’s a real potential resource upside for us if we can make this work over a broader area so these pilots are starting to look at how broader an area can we get these kind of results out of the Middle Three Forks. And ultimately that will allow us to evaluate a multi-layer development of this area along the lines of what you see on the left hand side in terms of the well configuration.

This article will be archived at the source in the not-too-distant future.

This was Bloomberg's take on the presentation: COP bets the farm on shale. 

ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s largest shale producers, sees crude prices rising by the end of the year, bolstering the company’s growing wager on U.S. oil. Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance is staking a big part of the company’s future on shale, pledging to spend 50 percent more over the next three years primarily in the U.S. and Canada even as crude prices fell by more than half.

ConocoPhillips joins Exxon Mobil Corp. in making wells from Texas to North Dakota a central focus as oil companies adapt to market conditions that require the ability to ramp up or cut back drilling swiftly.

Relying on flexible, low-cost opportunities that can stop and start on a dime will be critical as U.S. drillers become the world’s swing suppliers, Lance said Wednesday in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters office in New York.

“This is my fifth rodeo,” Lance said of his previous experience with energy downturns. “We’re going into a world that’s going to be characterized by lower, gradually rising prices and a lot of volatility.”

The shift for ConocoPhillips away from billion-dollar projects that take years or decades to complete is rooted in a belief that crude prices could gyrate wildly for years to come. Any price recovery in the near term will be modest, he said, as slowing U.S. production helps push up prices to between $70 and $80 a barrel within three years.

In the Bakken, COP operates as Burlington Resources. 

Talking About Re-Fracks -- Filloon On Whiting -- April 8, 20

Regular readers know my interest and inappropriate exuberance with regard to refracking the early wells in the Bakken. We're starting to see others talk about the potential.

Michael Filloon over at Seeking Alpha:

• Whiting's refrac inventory in Sanish Field is significant and could provide excellent economics using newer completion techniques
• if refracced, Brehm 13-7H may payback as soon as 6 months at a realized oil price of $50/bbl;
• in just the Sanish Field, Whiting's refrac inventory could be as high as 313 wells
• results could be even better if we use EOG's current wells results as a guide 

This is an incredible article. I might come back to it later. I can almost guarantee this article will be available by subscription in the not-too-distant future. 

Down To 91 Active Rigs In North Dakota -- April 8, 2015

Active rigs:

	4/8/2015	04/08/2014	04/08/2013	04/08/2012	04/08/2011
Active Rigs	91	191	185	208	173

Three (3) new permits --

• Operator: Hess
• Field: Robinson Lake (Mountrail)
• Comments:

Wells coming off the confidential list Thursday:

• 26387, drl, BR, CCU North Coast 31-25MBH, Corral Creek, no production data,
• 26934, drl, CLR, Kuhn 6-13H1, Camp, no production data,
• 28949, 653, Samson Resources, Ness 3229-6H, Blooming Prairie, t2/15; cum 3K 2/15;
• 29032, 557, Samson Resources, Odyssey 0508-6H, Blooming Prairie, t2/15; cum 3K 2/15;
• 29154, drl, XTO, Hanson 11X-12B, Murphy Creek, no production data,
• 29280, drl, MBI, Bahley 31-1, Wildcat, no production data,
• 29440, SI/IA, Murex, Johan Stephen 13-24H, Temple, no production data,
• 29488, drl, Statoil, Charlie Sorenson 17-8 7TFH, Alger, no production data,

Three (3) Slawson permits canceled: permits for three Slawson Phalanx Federal wells in McKenzie County were canceled.

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Alive And Well?

With only 91 active rigs in North Dakota, one might wonder about the credibility of the analyst. Bakken.com is reporting that the Bakken and the Niobrara are both alive and well:

The Bakken and Niobrara Shale formations are alive and well, for the most part. At last week’s DUG Bakken and Niobrara conference, analysts were present to talk with industry leaders.

Market analysts at the conference agree that operators are remaining optimistic about shifting focus to the formations’ core acreage and break-even costs remain on the upper end of $40 per barrel price range.

On the flip side, they found less optimism surrounding the formations’ natural gas market. After speaking with midstream companies and consultants, it became apparent that the market demand for natural gas has declined due to project permitting delays in the Gulf Coast region, especially for petrochemical projects.

Permitting delays affecting projects in the Gulf Coast have become a major roadblock for projects that could increase the demand for natural gas. Midstream representatives told the analysts that without these various projects moving forward, the demand growth for 2016 will likely be impacted. Additionally, approval for new Gulf Coast storage facilities can take as long as 18 months compared to the three-week permitting process found in North Dakota.

Another key takeaway from the conference was the break-even prices for both the Williston and Denver-Julesberg Basins. After speaking with management teams from four oil and gas companies, [the analysts] found that companies were operating with full-cycle costs that would break even with barrel of oil equivalent prices between $44 and $53. In both shale plays, the two found that many operators were drilling across larger areas of their acreage.

As operators continue to shift focus onto the play’s core acreage, though, many have seen a 10 to 20 percent reduction in break-even costs. For the coming year, many companies are moving away from the more costly, less productive areas to focus on their most promising acreage.

The core areas of the Bakken and Niobrara formations also have existing midstream and water transport infrastructure installed, further reducing the costs for companies to focus on these pay zones. By shifting focus to these core areas, companies will be able to further reduce the year-end finding and development costs while also reducing the break-even costs. By utilizing infrastructure already in place, operators could potentially lower their operating expenses by $2 to $3 per barrel of oil equivalent for the upcoming year.

There is more at the linked article.

Mercedes Sets High Bar For Rivals Audi, BMW In The Race For The Top Premium Brand -- April 8, 2015

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment or financial or car-buying decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

MarketWatch is reporting:

Mercedes-Benz sold nearly 15% more cars in the first quarter from the same period last year, setting the bar high for rivals Audi and BMW in the race for the top premium brand, amid strong demand for its C-Class sedans, sport-utility vehicles and luxury compact cars.

The German the luxury car maker owned by Daimler AG, said on Wednesday that it sold 429,602 cars in the quarter. Mercedes-Benz's sales growth accelerated in March when it sold nearly 16% more vehicles than in the same month last year.

Now, let's go back to that article on EV sales in March. Mercedes B-Class Electric was #10 on the list, having sold 145 of those EVs in March, 2015, compared with 0 in March, 2014 (obviously a new model). Sales of the Mercedes B-Class Electric, year-to-date: #9 on the list with 494 sold.

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Surprise! Surprise!

Marathon bomber found guilty. 

565 comments so far.

Boston citizens stereotypically against the death penalty. I wonder if Pocahontas will weigh in; she's a legal scholar. My hunch is she won't touch this one with a 10-foot pole.

Jury decided in less time than an Apple Watch needs re-charging.

I like the "death penalty with no chance of parole and no chance of actually being put to death by society." Inmates facing a death penalty -- whether it happens or not -- are subject to different rules in prison than "life without chance of parole."