The Energy And Market Page, T+80 -- April 11, 2017

Updates

April 13, 207: this is why I generally don't blog about (or, for that matter, care about) Libya: today, it is being reported that Libya's Wafa oil and gas field reopens; force majeure lifted. Libya's daily ups and downs are simply background noise.

Original Post

Break-even prices: consider the source (contributor: Art Berman). Read the few comments. Archived.

Libya: I generally don't blog about (or, for that matter, care about) Libya but this was the top story over at Rigzone today and the headline got my attention: Libya halts Sharara oil loadings as biggest field shuts down. Now the question is: why did the field shut down? I assume Libya is complying with OPEC decision to cut production. LOL. Data points:

• Libya declares force majeure over this stoppage
• unclear why the pipeline was shut down
• Sharara was pumping 200,000 bopd

WTI: futures. Down slightly. Obviously Libya force majeure has no effect on the oil market.

Update: the production for this Bakken well was posted yesterday. Overnight a reader sent me a note providing some background regarding a neighboring frack. The 8,808 bbls over 18 days extrapolates to 15,000 bbls over a 31-day month which is the best production this well has ever had. The first full month of production after its frack in late 2011 was 14,500 bbls, and then dropped, consistent with the well-known Bakken decline.

North Sea: decommissioning costs are looming on a scale not seen before anywhere in the world. An estimated 500 fixed installations must be removed from the North Sea, along with more than 500 subsea production systems. The plugging and abandoning of more than 10,000 wells is also anticipated. 

The Political Page, T+80 -- April 11, 2017

DAPL protester: data points from The Dickinson Press --

• body of a "California" man who was at the DAPL protest camps found in Cannonball River
• ID card: from Republic of Macedonia
• authorities have notified next of kin in the US and eastern Europe
• emergency responders notified of possible drowning back on October 20, 2016; no sign of any drowning at the time
• authorities: unlikely body has been in water from October 20 to April 9 

Russia could end up "controlling" CITGO, a US oil company. And such outrage! I guess folks forget that the Obama administration sold 20% (?) of America's uranium reserves to Russia. Or something like that. I forget the details. Citgo does not drill for oil: it is a refiner, and a fairly small one at that. But calling it an American company is even a stretch: it's a wholly owned subsidiary of the national oil company of Venezuela. Wow. If it's such a big deal, US regulators can step in. LOL.

Update, Citgo: see first comment below -- Russia's Lukoil has been in the US since it bought Getty Petroleum Marketing circa 1999....no outrage ...

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Active rigs:

	4/11/2017	04/11/2016	04/11/2015	04/11/2014	04/11/2013
Active Rigs	52	31	93	190	187

RBN Energy: ups and downs of Texas-to-Mexico natural gas exports.

Scott Adams: trusting your government in time of war.

The Literature Page -- Nothing About The Bakken -- What Comes Around, Goes Around -- April 10, 2017

This is pretty amazing. It appears I have mentioned Ayn Rand in no less than twenty or so posts, and in some posts, she was the reason for a significant part of the post. Do a word search, "Ayn Rand," on the blog and you will see what I mean.

Now, of all things, Drudge links Ayn Rand to The Guardian: the new age of Ayn Rand -- how she won over Trump and Silicon Valley. Her novel is one of the few works of fiction that Donald Trump likes and she has long been the darling of the US right. But only now do her devotees hold sway around the world.

The link to the article is here.

Some years ago I finally decided to read one of her books. I chose Atlas Shrugged. I got about halfway through before I finally quit. I thought it had become quite tedious. She had made her conservative point in the first 100 pages and I didn't think I needed another 300 pages to see if I missed anything.

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The Celts

I flew into Portland, Oregon, Monday, April 18, 2107, to spend a week visiting our daughter/son-in-law; my sister/her family; and my mother.

First full day in town my daughter took me to Powell's bookstore, the first store we visited. Following Powell's my daughter took me on a chocolate candy "tour" of downtown Portland. Her favorite: Verdan, imported Lebanese chocolate.

I'm still in my "Celts phase." I found an incredibly great book on the Celts:

The Celts; edited by Venceslas Kruta et al; Rizzoli publishers; translated from the Italian; c. 1997 (first copyright, 1991); Powell's bookstore, Portland, April 18, 2017. 

Reuters Oil Analyst Updates Saudi Arabia's Official Reserve Assets -- April 10, 2017