NVDA Earnings After Market Closes Today -- August 26, 2026

Locator: 51548B.

WTI: $8034.

New wells reporting: 

• Thursday, August 27, 2026: 54 for the month, 95 for the quarter, 439 for the year,
• 42668, conf, Oasis, Troon Federal 5602 12-23 4B, 
• 41879, conf, XTO Energy, GBU Artemis 32X-13A-S, 
• Wednesday, August 26, 2026: 52 for the month, 93 for the quarter, 437 for the year,
• 41971, conf, Devon Energy, Thunderbolt 10-12 2H, 
• 40937, conf, Zavanna Energy, Hereford 13-36 2TFH, 
• 21562, conf, Devon Energy, Borsheim Trust 32-28 2H, 

RBN Energy: commodity price swings reshape E&P earnings in 2Q26. Link here. Archived.

The second quarter of 2026 was a tale of two commodity markets for U.S. exploration and production companies. A 29% quarter-over-quarter increase in WTI oil prices to $92.53/bbl provided a more powerful tailwind for Oil-Weighted E&Ps, who experienced a pre-tax operating profit turnaround with a war-driven late Q1 price surge. In stark contrast, plunging natural gas prices wounded Gas-Weighted producers after bountiful Q1 results. In today’s RBN blog, we review the Q2 2026 results of the 37 publicly traded E&Ps we cover and analyze the remarkably wide performance gap they reveal. 

The oil price climb (gray line and right axis in Figure 1 below) from the Iran conflict and a spike in natural gas prices driven by an unusually cold winter across the eastern U.S. combined to double the average pre-tax profits for our 37-company universe from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 to $15.12/boe, the highest result since mid-2023. The continuing rise in oil prices spurred another 31% increase in pre-tax operating profits in Q2 2026 to $19.83/boe (far-right blue bar and left axis), the richest since 2022. Cash flow also reached a post-2022 peak, increasing 8% to $29.72/boe (far-right orange bar and left axis). Upstream revenues rose 6% to $44.67/boe.

Three New Permits; Two DUCs Reported As Completed -- August 25, 2026

Locator: 51547B.

Nuclear change agent: Trump exploring ways to let Saudi Arabia become a nuclear country. Turkey next?

From oilprice today, Simon Watkins: CVX and COP -- 

SPR: from Julianne Geiger over at oilprice -- 

For the week ending August 21, another 3.7 million barrels left the SPR to aid commercial inventories, bringing the new total inventory held in the SPR to 289.7 million barrels—a level that is 442 million barrels shy of maximum capacity. 

That puts the SPR at or near the minimal operational limit as suggested by many (no one really knows the minimal operational limit).

Like the strait, it certainly seems the SPR is something very few, if anybody, really cares about. Despite this news, WTI was down again today, betting that Iran would keep its word.   

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $81.14 --> $80.58. Later this evening.

Active rigs: 36. Wow. A new recent high.

Three new permits, #43250 - #43252, inclusive --

• Operator: Formentera Operations
• Field:Bluffton (Divide County)
• Comments:
• Formentera Operations has permits for three The High Road wells, lot 2, section 4-161-97, 
• to be sited 527 FNL and 2169 / 2239 FEL.

Two producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed today:

• 41820, 1,346, BR, Rolla 6H, McKenzie County;
• 41821, 1,996, BR, Rolla 6I, McKenzie County;

Starbase, Louisiana; CIA Director With Surprise Visit To Mosco -- August 25, 2026

Locator: 51546STARBASE.

Thought for the day: folks who do not understand the valuation of tech companies and the valuation of professional sports teams are not thinking hard enough. Hint: read Stanley Druckenmiller again and Geiger Capital, you don't own enough hard assets. Someday your $1 million IRA will be worth .... $10,000 in today's buying power.

Breaking today: Starbase, Louisiana. $100+ billion space port with 10+ launch pads.

Probably not there for lunch. This would be huge news no matter when this visit took place, but under President Trump it takes on much more interest:

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Picking Up Granddaughter Olivia
After Completing AF ROTC Field Training

This was a really special day for me on so many levels. Sophia, Olivia's 12-year-old sister took the photo.

Dolly Parton's Passing Announced -- August 25, 2026

Locator: 51545PARTON.

In a final interview shared days prior to her passing, Parton noted she had faced "hard times" with her health following the March 2025 death of Carl Thomas Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years.

From The September, 2026, Hearing Dockets -- Corral Creek -- August 26, 2026

Locator: 51544B.

Thursday, September 23, 2026
Link here.
12 pages.

Remember, these are cases, not permits:  

• 33188, XTO, Bear Creek-Bakken and/or Corral Creek-Bakken, Dunn County, establish a 2560-acre unit; 15 wells; terminate two existing 1280-acre unit but authorize the drilling of a well on each existing 1280-acre unit, this doesn't make sense to me. I must be missing something.

 

A neighboring well:

• 18797, 1,743, XTO, TAT State Federal 14X-36F, t3/12; cum 448K 6/26: huge jump in production in 2017; a real steady Eddy, but now down to less than 500 bbls/month.