Bakken winding down

[james03]

It's looking like the Bakken is due to slow up soon.  Classic Austrian Boom, Fed prints the money and people over invest.  We've flooded the markets with oil and the WTI is dropping.  Last I checked it was around $85.  Good news for the consumer.

Right now things are still cranking, but I expect that to change.  I've started talking to people about my next hitch.

If you have been considering breaking in to the oil industry, my guess is that the next big investment boom will be LNG -- liquified natural gas.  Louisiana supposedly two going on, at Cameron/Sabine Pass, and Lake Charles.  Texas will get one at Freeport.  Maryland of all places has one around Baltimore.  And I think the PAC Northwest is getting one.

The other big areas are fertilizer plants (big one going up in Iowa), and petrochemicals, especially ethylene crackers.  The last is probably the most risky as a softening economy will hurt the demand for plastics.  I really like LNG, because as natural gas prices go lower, they will print money exporting to Europe.  And Europe needs the gas.

[Heinrich]

How does it look for Colorado in the fields northeastish of Denver?

[Jacob]

Can you be more specific on where the big plant will be in Iowa?

[james03]

How does it look for Colorado in the fields northeastish of Denver?

Same.  Crude breaks $80, and they'll cut back on drilling.  Get towards $70 and they'll lay up rigs.  I suspect they are already trimming capital budgets.

[james03]

Don't know the location, but google gave me this:

http://www.iowafertilizer.com/category/oci-iowa-fertilizer-wever-plant-updates/

Seems right.  Burlington, IA. (Wever, Iowa).

[Heinrich]

So are you in direct production type or financial management, James? Do these skills transfer into natural gas extraction?

[james03]

Currently project engineering, so I'm involved in the design and field execution.  I have backgrounds in other areas, so I can jump over to another sector of the business easily.

That's why I like industrial electrician / instrumentation for young trads starting out.  There's always some sector in the industry making money.  Next year it will be LNG, Fertilizer, and petrochem.  They'll be needing electricians. 

[Heinrich]

I spoke to an electrician who was laid off from ND two weeks ago. He's back home on unemployment: 500 dollars a week compared to a 30/hour wage for however many hours he worked a week. I heard these guys can routinely put in 20 hour days. That's a lotta money.

[james03]

My son graduated from high school and came up here and worked roustabout for two months.  He put in 70-80 hours/week with Sunday off.  Made $11,000 after tax, and will probably get a few thousand on his tax return.

He wants to come back next summer with a trad buddy.  However I think this boom is winding down if crude oil stays low.  The low price is a blessing to most Americans, but it sucks to see this good money dry up.

LNG might be the next one.  And I will get to eat cajun food and never here "youbetcha and dontchaknow" again.

[Jacob]

Thanks for the info, James.  There has been talk of a plant of some kind going up outside my hometown in NW Iowa for years.  Cargill is the company.  Not sure what they'd be doing there, so I wondered if that was the plant you mean.  It'd be cool to see that project finally get going.

[james03]

The other big project in Iowa is a new ethanol plant.  Maybe that is the one you are talking about.

[Jacob]

The other big project in Iowa is a new ethanol plant.  Maybe that is the one you are talking about.

They opened last year!  Goes to show how well my parents keep me up to date on things back home.

http://www.cargill.com/news/releases/2013/NA3080855.jsp

[Heinrich]

My son graduated from high school and came up here and worked roustabout for two months.  He put in 70-80 hours/week with Sunday off.  Made $11,000 after tax, and will probably get a few thousand on his tax return.

He wants to come back next summer with a trad buddy.  However I think this boom is winding down if crude oil stays low.  The low price is a blessing to most Americans, but it sucks to see this good money dry up.

LNG might be the next one.  And I will get to eat cajun food and never here "youbetcha and dontchaknow" again.

If things are moving: Heck, can I come? I get summers off.

[Kaesekopf]

What's wrong with dontchaknow?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[james03]

If things are moving: Heck, can I come? I get summers off.

If you are serious, remind me in April.  But watch crude oil pricing.  If it breaches $80 and stays below that, chances are the big money will be behind us.  I might be down on the Gulf by then.