Welcome. Take a look back at some of our Past Top Stories.
It begins in the Bakken and reaches all of North America. Mailed Nationwide.
Permian Basin, Niobrara, Eagle Ford, Marcellus, Utica, Haynesville & more…
The Presidential Election — When it comes to energy, President Trump knows Oil, Gas and Coal carry the load.
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
The election is approaching and it’s obvious we’re in for a wild ride. Not only are the candidates at war, but due to the verification process for mail-in ballots, it seems there will be an agonizing wait till election results are available. It appears unlikely we’ll know the winner on election day. However, the winner will introduce changes that will last far longer than a single presidential term.
Therefore, it’s critical to know where the candidates stand on the issues. For our purposes, their views on energy are at the top of the list.
[Read more. Page 6]
Are You Prepared for Urban, Coastal Voters to Determine the Bakken’s Fate?
By: Kenny Stein and Jordan McGillis | American Energy Alliance
2020, what a year. And the grand finale yet to come is an election unlike any other, but we will spare you the cliches of “unprecedented” and “the most important election of our lifetimes.”
But perhaps there is some truth to these overplayed phrases.
Our country is at a crossroads and perhaps no issue is in greater contrast than energy.
[Read more. Page 10]
Cutting Red Tape on Pipelines is a Good Thing for the Economy and Environment
By: Mary Hutzler, distinguished Senior Fellow, Institute for Energy Research (IER)
It is easy to see why the “Keep it in the Ground” movement has increasingly turned their attention to pipelines rather than oil and gas wells. Constructing a pipeline requires a variety of outdated and convoluted federal and state permits, which can be more easily litigated. As a result, the nation has seen an influx of green-backed lawsuits and court rulings that put America’s large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in a state of limbo. Allowing environmentalists to hamstring energy production through our nation’s permitting rules is a sure path to raising energy costs.
[Read more. Page 12]
The Plague Year
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
This year is a year that can’t end soon enough. Before reaching the halfway point the world was beset by the COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of an oil price war, a collapse in oil prices, and a stunning drop in demand.
Where will it lead? What’s ahead for global oil demand?
Since April, more than 80 percent of the world’s working population has faced sweeping changes to employment, including no employment and reduced employment. Businesses express their desire to get everyone back to work, but clearly that won’t happen. Bankruptcies and business closures are piling up in every part of every economy.
[Read more. Page 16]
We Can Have Economic Growth and Environmental Progress
By: Thomas Pyle, President, Institute for Energy Research
At a time when the world is reeling from this global health pandemic, environmental groups gathered virtually in late April for the 50th Earth Day to celebrate the fact that closed factories and businesses, fewer flights, and homebound families forced to eliminate spring break, trips to the store, and kids’ sports practices have also resulted in reduced emissions. Some have even cheered what they claim is the Earth healing itself from the devastation of its own virus, the human race.
Welcome to the green, new future – one that the environmental extremists seek to make permanent. What these environmentalists refuse to acknowledge is that the mobile phones and laptops they used for their virtual protests are literally powered by the very energy sources they claim to despise. Not to mention the plastics that can’t be manufactured from windmills and solar panels, only ethane, a derivative of natural gas.
[Read more. Page 14]
What’s at Stake this Election Year?
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
The coronavirus has most of our attention these days. No matter what else is on our minds, we cannot escape the persistent reminders sent to us by this disease. But we must remind ourselves that a presidential election is coming this year. It will be a unique election adventure in a year of unique adventures. Everything is up in the air.
To the astonishment of many, most of America has put itself totally in the hands of the federal, state and city governments. We Americans have willingly allowed government at all levels to assume nearly full management of our lives: Our work lives and our personal lives. This is an astounding state of affairs. Everyone should stop and think about the degree of power every individual in the US has relinquished to the various governments running the country.
[Read more. Page 16]
Four Black Swan Events
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
How is the world going to handle COVID-19 and a crash in oil prices? That is the ten-trillion-dollar question. Two staggering crises striking simultaneously.
We’ve quickly become experts on the subject of social distancing. Staying out of the way of the coronavirus is, at this point, the most effective way of avoiding infection. As we know, staying home or doing our best to stay out of harm’s way is bringing the global economy to a near stand-still. Let us hope the medicine is not worse than the disease. [Read more. Page 9]
Coal, Electricity, and the Wealth of Nations
By: Robert Bryce
Author | Journalist | Public Speaker
Sanjay Kar Chowdury didn’t hesitate when I asked him about the importance of coal to India’s electricity sector. Coal, he said, “is a lifeline. It is a lifeline of all the thermal power stations. Without coal you cannot survive.”
About 75 percent of all the electricity in India is generated by coal-fired power plants, making it one of the world’s most coal-dependent countries. And its reliance on coal will likely continue for decades to come. In 2015, Jairam Ramesh, the former environment minister of India, told the Washington Post flatly that “We cannot abandon coal.” He went on, saying “It would be suicidal on our part to give up on coal for the next 15 to 20 years, at least, given the need.” By early 2019, India had some 36,000 megawatts of new coal-fired capacity under construction. [Read more. Page 14]
Roaring or Boring? What will the 2020s mean for the Oil Industry?
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
Is the oil market heading for a return to the roaring style of a century ago? Or are we looking at a period of relative calm? The history of oil over the last two decades should remind us that we know little about what’s ahead.
Let’s Look Back to the Preceding Decade: The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil swung wildly. It dropped to its low of about $26 a barrel in February 2016 after hitting its high in April 2011, when oil prices topped $114 a barrel. Also notable–at the start of the last decade, Brent crude was about a dollar a barrel cheaper than WTI. That changed–now Brent is several dollars per barrel more than WTI. [Read more. Page 14]
Are Bakken Producers Prepared for Phase 2 of the Big Green, Inc. Invasion?
By: Jordan McGillis and Paige Lambermont, Institute for Energy Research
In 2018, U.S. crude oil production grew 17 percent from the previous year, surpassing the existing growth record set in 1970. This continues a trend of skyrocketing U.S. oil and gas production since 2011. Much of 2018’s growth occurred in the Permian region in western Texas and eastern New Mexico, with Texas crude production averaging 4.4 million barrels per day, to account for 40 percent of the national total in 2018. But while the Permian has been the recent big climber, the Bakken region that stretches across North Dakota and Montana continues to put up huge numbers itself capping a decade of excellence with a stellar 2019. [Read More. Page 16]
An American Oil & Gas Success Story — A Woman with Drive. Lots of Drive. …Go, go, go. Ashley Barrera-Balino
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
Ashley Barrera-Balino is the founder of Black Barrel Services, an oilfield services operation that pretty much does it all. She defines her mission this way: Revolutionize oilfield operations with innovations to make them more cost effective while advancing safety culture; resulting into increased efficiency, higher productivity and improved revenue.
[Read more. Page 9]
North Dakota Ponders Spending Legacy Fund Earnings — Many Ideas on the Table, No Agreement in Sight
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
Thanks to the foresight of North Dakota voters who established an oil tax trust fund, the state now has hundreds of millions of dollars of interest income available to meet the needs of the state’s citizens. Establishing the fund was the easy part. The tough part is coming up with an agreement among policy makers about how, or even if, the money should be spent. [Read More. Page 10]
Democrat Presidential Candidates trying to Out-Trump Trump
By: Mark Mathis | President, Clear Energy Alliance
2020 election fever is sweeping the Nation as Democrat presidential candidates vie for pole positioning using energy production as a substitute for the Donald’s big, glorious wall. It’s amusing to watch because none of these candidates possess Trump’s persuasive skills, but they are giving it their best shot. [Read more. Page 13]
North Dakota and the Green New Deal
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
As the country rolls toward the 2020 presidential election, the talk among Democrats is all about the Green New Deal. Each candidate vying for the nomination has a place for the Green New Deal. Some candidates have embraced all the principles put forth in the outline that was made public earlier this year. Other candidates support only portions of the plan. But no matter what, all the Democrat candidates agree the US must curtail its use of oil, natural gas and coal. [Read More. Page 9]
New Governor, New Rules
What’s Ahead for Colorado’s Fossil Fuel Companies
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a powerful state senate bill (19-181) in April of this year. As most people in the energy industry know, the new law empowers local authorities and governments to regulate oil and gas extraction more forcefully within their boundaries. It’s big, and it has generated a lot of concerns for those in the industry. The new law imposes changes on Colorado’s oil & gas (O&G) regulatory landscape by shifting the spirit of regulation away from aiding the industry and moving it in the direction of opposing the industry.
As a result of the new legislation, the Standard & Poor’s Rating Agency believes some O&G companies will face higher and more complicated obstacles in their drilling and operating efforts. Location will play a major role. [Read more. Page 9]
IN FROM NORTH DAKOTA: Project to Reduce Oilfield Trucking Delays
Weather Stations to Provide Decision-Making Tool to Local Government
By: Geoff Simon | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. WESTERN DAKOTA ENERGY ASSOCIATION
Oil industry truckers are often frustrated by what they believe are unnecessary weather-related weight restrictions on local gravel roads, but a project has been launched in the Bakken that may alleviate their frustration.
When it rains or wet snow melts, weight restrictions are sometimes imposed on rural gravel roads to prevent rutting and other damage, and the roads remain closed to trucks until conditions improve. The need to protect roads from excessive damage is understandable, but without adequate personnel and resources to inspect all their roads, county highway managers tend to err on the side of caution and impose restrictions where they may not be necessary. [Read More. Page 12]
Female led Occidental Petroleum Surprising Buyer of Anadarko
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
In April, Anadarko Petroleum became a desired takeover target. Chevron stepped up and offered to buy the company for $33 billion. The board of Anadarko approved the deal and it looked like the union of the two companies was on the way. But suddenly, things changed. Occidental, under the guidance of CEO Vicki Hollub, made an aggressive move. In a David vs Goliath contest, Occidental (revenue of $19 billion), much smaller than Chevron (revenue of $166 billion), offered to buy Anadarko for $38 billion ($76/share), substantially topping the offer from its mammoth competitor. [Read more. Page 9]
BOOMTOWN TEXAS — More recently known as “The Last Basin Standing”
By: Paul Wiseman, Oil & Gas Industry Freelance Writer
“My boss figured out how to make lots of extra money in this boom,” he told me as we stood on his front porch in north Odessa. He’d been a truck driver, but had recently been trained as a barber. “He bought a trailer, set it up with a couple of barber chairs, and he hauls it out to Pecos twice a week.”
We think of all the money and opportunity as being in the hands of Big Oil in this Basin boom, but there are certain enterprising individuals getting their cut, too. More power to ‘em, I say. [Read More. Page 10]
The Dynamics Of: Oil, Geopolitics and Technology
By: Roger A. Leonard, MPA-MM | Principal, Lead Strategist/Analyst | RSR Development Strategies
To paraphrase the famous philosopher: “we live and suffer in interesting times” especially in the Oil Patch. With a world as complex as we presently reside within, there is not just one reason why things are as they are found…there are many aspects to fact, and they are usually always complex and interconnected. [Read more. Page 9]
Don’t Mess with Texas!
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer, Bakken Oil Business Journal
Texas is setting records of all kinds these days, and that’s great news for the economy of the state and the nation. Much of the state’s success is tied to the Oil & Gas Industry, which has been growing at high speed in recent years. Last year was a record setter for oil production in Texas. In that period, the state pumped out 1.54 billion barrels (bbl), an increase of 277 million bbl from 2017. Moreover, last year’s output exceeded the previous record of 1.28 billion bbl, which was set way back in 1973. [Read More. Page 10]
Green Pie in the Sky
By: Chris Bischof | Senior Writer
Is there any reason citizens should worry about their future if the government were put in charge of almost everything? Since the November midterm elections, citizens have heard rumblings about something known as the Green New Deal. If you haven’t heard of it, now is probably a good time to begin learning. [Read more. Page 12]
Texas ranks #1: 2018’s Best & Worst States to Drive in.
By Marianne Kaelberer, BOBJ
Everyone hates being stuck in traffic.
· It makes you late.
· It causes tempers to flare.
· AND, it’s bad for your wallet. That’s right! Congestion in the U.S costs the average driver $1,400 per year, which has 11 out of the world’s 25 worst cities for traffic. [Read More. Page 10]
Take A Look At What These Companies Have To Report: Badger Meter, C&J Energy Services Inc., City Air Mechanical, Elite Petroleum Technologies, New Leaf Hospitality, Oilfield Factoring, Ramada Williston Airport XWA, Rossco Crane & Rigging Inc., Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants, Scull Construction Service, Inc., Skylyne Machine & Supply, Inc., STV Energy Services, Inc., The Cannon Company LLC, Unit Liner Company. [Read more]
By: Chris Bischof | Executive Editor BOBJ
The Bulls Predict: The bulls, including Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, think we’ll see an average price of Brent crude oil around $85 a barrel next year.
The Bears Predict: There’s also a bear case for next year. In that scenario, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank foresee average prices for Brent at $67 to $68 a barrel. The most pessimistic is ING Bank, with its prediction of $58. [Read More]
