The Dreaded Bakken Decline -- July 7, 2021

I last updated this well a year ago:

16424, 700, Petro-Hunt, USA 11B-2-2H, Charlson, t7/07; cum 673K 4/20; off line 5/20; remains off line 12/20; two days in 7/20; significant decline beginning 4/20;

So, how is it doing these days.

Now:

• 16424, 700, Petro-Hunt, USA 11B-2-2H, Charlson, t7/07; cum 700K 5/21; off line 5/20; remains off line 12/20; two days in 7/20; significant decline beginning 4/20; huge jump in production.
  

Recent production:

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	5-2021	31	14470	14523	16716	18182	13202	3630
BAKKEN	4-2021	25	11514	11390	19738	17500	7562	9764
BAKKEN	3-2021	1	85	0	2851	313	0	313
BAKKEN	2-2021	1	8	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2021	1	7	210	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	10-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	9-2020	1	104	0	12	184	0	177
BAKKEN	8-2020	2	138	0	38	12	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2020	2	240	479	19	125	0	125
BAKKEN	6-2020	1	140	0	30	66	0	66
BAKKEN	5-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2020	28	900	1059	348	391	0	196
BAKKEN	3-2020	31	1452	1403	626	2803	0	2593
BAKKEN	2-2020	29	1899	1949	701	2638	0	2436
BAKKEN	1-2020	31	2169	2142	740	2814	0	2598

Updating An Incredible Petro-Hunt Charlson Well Drilled In 2006; Recently Re-Entered And Lengthened -- July 7, 2021

See this note first. 

• This well was re-entered and lengthened:16059, 729, Petro-Hunt, USA 2D-3-1H, Charlson field, t10/06; cum 1.776024 million bbls 4/20; still producing 6,000 bbls/month, 11/19; update at this post; off line 5/20; remains off line 6/20; two days in 7/20; to be lengthened; confidential noted 11/20; still confidential but now producing again after being lengthened; update here; cum 1.810626 million bbls 5/21;
  

Recent production, pretty good for an old well, huh?

Pool	Date	Days	BBLS Oil	Runs	BBLS Water	MCF Prod	MCF Sold	Vent/Flare
BAKKEN	5-2021	31	14379	14339	3867	15486	12692	1524
BAKKEN	4-2021	25	13662	13558	5505	17961	7072	10715
BAKKEN	3-2021	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	2-2021	1	8	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	1-2021	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	12-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	11-2020	14	5955	6309	102	8201	7866	239
BAKKEN	10-2020	1	109	0	0	143	0	142
BAKKEN	9-2020	1	269	0	53	330	0	323
BAKKEN	8-2020	2	103	0	29	12	0	0
BAKKEN	7-2020	2	117	174	88	29	0	22
BAKKEN	6-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	5-2020	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAKKEN	4-2020	28	3629	3722	127	7462	3454	3813
BAKKEN	3-2020	31	6393	6437	280	7374	3014	4144
BAKKEN	2-2020	29	4905	4875	327	4385	0	4183

NBA Finals -- Game 1 -- NBC's "America's Got Talent" Tops The Sports Telecast -- However, That's Not The Worst Of It -- This Is Really, Really Bad -- July 7, 2021

Updates

July 9, 2021: apparently better than expected -- link here.

In the latest TV show ratings, the first Thursday installment of CBS‘ Love Island Season 3 drew 1.64 million viewers and a 0.3 demo rating — up 11 percent and steady versus the same night last summer, while also on par with Wednesday’s premiere leading out of Big Brother.

ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals Game 2 dominated Thursday in both total viewers and in the demo, posting 7 mil and 2.2 in preliminary numbers — up a tick from Game 1’s early tallies (which swelled significantly once Nielsen finals dribbled in).

July 9, 2021: Now this: the bad news continues to come in. Forbes. Tanked again. Outkick. Throw out 2020 -- it was a really, really bad year but it can be (falsely) blamed on the pandemic. We talked about that before. Everybody was home in 2020, had nothing to do, and sports ratings on television should have been surging. Nothing else to do. Didn't happen. But I digress. 

• 2019, apparently, was the worst year on record for the NBA with regard to television ratings. That was until this year, 2021. 

July 9, 2021: why the league is incentivized to keep end of games as slow as possible. This is not hard to figure out. Let's see. Two minutes left in the game. Championship on the line. Each team has six time-outs left. All that ad money. LOL. To paraphrase a line from Colombo: what do they do with all that money?

Original Post

Story everywhere.

This is one link.

In the latest TV ratings, ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals opener averaged 6.4 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating, down 13 and 18 percent from the preliminary numbers for last year’s Game 1 (which was pandemic-delayed until August) yet still easily topping Tuesday in the demo.

Opening ABC’s night, the Jimmy Kimmel special did 4.6 mil/1.2, followed by NBA Countdown‘s 3.8 mil/1.1.

NBC’s America’s Got Talent (6.9 mil/0.8) slipped two tenths in the demo yet managed to deliver Tuesday’s largest audience. College Bowl (2.7 mil/0.4) was steady.

One site said the NBA game edged out AGT; another site said the NBA game came in second. 

Okay, let's go back. Not mentioned:

Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat attracted 7.4 million viewers. The game was the lowest-rated NBA Finals game since Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals featuring the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks.

So,  last night's game 1 of the 2021 NBA finals had an even worse night, almost 15% fewer viewers than the incredibly low-rated game 1 last year.

Exactly as predicted. I assume the "only" ones watching were sports fans living in Milwaukee and some sports fans living in Phoenix.

Game 2 tonight.

The Mideast Is Getting A Bit Noisy -- July 7, 2021

What I'm watching now: June Bride (1948) with Bette Davis and Robert Montgomery.  Importance: The Warner Bros released marked the screen debut of Debbie Reynolds, although her appearance was uncredited. My life would have been so different had my father stayed in southern California after his US Navy discharge in 1945 rather than his returning to Sioux Falls, SD. Wow.

At the sidebar at the right, I track the unpleasantness in the mideast at this site: "Mideast On The Brink." It has not been updated in a long time. 

For the archives:

• OPEC in disarray.
• US exits Afghanistan: Taliban set to take over Bagram Air Base.
• "Majors" announce intention to exit Iraq.
• Unexplained explosions continue to be reported across Iran (Israel has a new PM).
• Gasoline prices surging in US: White House asking Saudi Arabia to open the taps to replace the heavy oil that would have come to the US from western Canada via the Keystone XL.

Now this: soaring fuel prices in Lebanon could trigger a "social explosion." Link to Tsvetana Paraskova. 

Lebanon, which is in the midst of a severe economic crisis, is “days away” from a social explosion, the country’s caretaker prime minister warned on Tuesday, moments before renewed, violent protests broke out as people desperately search for essential medicines, gasoline, and food.

“Lebanon is a few days away from the social explosion. The Lebanese are facing this dark fate alone,” caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in a speech during a meeting with international organizations and ambassadors.

“I appeal through you to the kings, princes, presidents and leaders of brotherly and friendly countries, and I call upon the United Nations and all international bodies, the international community, and the global public opinion to help save the Lebanese from death and prevent the demise of Lebanon,” Diab added.

Earlier this month, the caretaker government in Lebanon effectively slashed fuel subsidies and raised the prices of gasoline and diesel in the Middle Eastern country which is reeling from an unprecedented economic crisis. 

The Lebanese energy ministry announced a massive increase – by 35 percent – in fuel prices after slashing fuel subsidies amid a severe economic crisis and rallying global commodity prices.

Fast And Furious -- July 7, 2021

For the conspiracy theorists: the CDC Covid-19 vaccination-tracker site appears to be down. This occurred less than twelve hours after Joe Biden mentioned he would be sending US National Park employees (who generally wear "brown shirts") door-to-door to check on folks who have not had their "Covid-19 vaccination." Next: a requirement to have the vaccine lot and vial number tattooed on the left arm.

Right on cue: Amazon and Apple are coiled springs about to explode to the upside. Over at SeekingAlpha. 

Inflation fears fading. Link here. Ten-year Treasury plummets to 1.31%. All that hand-wringing over 1.6%. LOL.

Oil's new trading range: $65 to $75. To stay there, and seem "normal" to the US consumer, US oil needs to moved to $100 for a few weeks before returning to $75.

UAE-Saudi brinkmanship threatens OPEC unity: how many times have we read "mideast county (fill in blank) - Saudi" brinkmanship threatens OPEC unity. Link here but it's behind a paywall. 

What do US shale companies know that we don't know? US shale firms hesitate to pump more, despite oil's high prices. Link here.

Are these reporters confused? Shale rushes to lock in oil rally. Bloomberg article here.

Saudi Aramco: raises crude OSP for August; higher than market expectations; supply worries linger. 

Gasoline prices: President Biden is monitoring; wants lower gasoline prices. Asking Saudi Arabia to "open the taps." Interestingly enough, Saudi oil is almost identical to western Canadian sands oil that would have come to the United States via the Keystone XL pipeline had the president not shut down the pipeline. I can't make this stuff up.

Gun violence: escalating in New York City and Los Angeles. Apparently not due to the "Defund the Police" movement.  Homicides are up 25% so far this year across Los Angeles, although the brunt of the increase has been felt in South Los Angeles, where killings have jumped 50% over the same time last year.

A star is born: the recall effort to remove Governor Newsom from office will backfire. He will become a national celebrity and run for federal office. 

Fire the regulator; that will make things right with the world. From Politico, Biden's move to fire the top US mortgage regulator is triggering falls from fellow Democrats to use the agency to expand access to loans for lower-income people, who have struggled to buy homes since the financial crisis began. This should work out well; buying houses at the top by folks who couldn't afford the houses when they were fifty percent less expensive. Link here.

What's the ten-year Treasury doing? 1.30%. Holy mackerel. 

The great Gatsbys (plural). Wealth concentration at the very top now exceeds the peak of the Gilded Age. Link here. It's quite remarkable to say the least.  Did we mention that Mike Bloomberg has sixteen houses?

Great timing: "Pelosi bought both Amazon on May 21 when it closed at $3,259.0. Fast forward six weeks and great news for Amazon after the Pentagon pulled the rug out from Microsoft's $10 billion JEDI cloud computing deal (opening the door for Bezos), and the trade is looking great." Link here.

• AMZN: after a 5% jump yesterday; up another $20 / share today.
• MSFT: up $1. 40 / share today.