The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Bakken crude fetched a premium to WTI in September; good for HES (among others):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443635404578036631081423440.html

The average Bakken discount since November 2011 was $7 below U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate, and reached $28 in February, according to Platts data. But in September, Bakken oil prices traded at a premium to WTI for the first time in nearly a year, and some analysts say the premium could continue for another year.

…Much of the credit goes to the newly developed system of rail lines and terminals built by Tesoro Corp., EOG, Statoil, ASA and others, which have started hauling the crude from its geographically isolated source to refineries all over the country.

… Oil production from the shale formation reached 675,000 barrels a day in July, an all-time high and more than twice as much as could be carried by pipeline, according to the latest data from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

But as more rail lines and terminals have been built in North Dakota and surrounding states, Bakken oil has still become available to more buyers, boosting its price. Statoil said in August it is leasing more than 1,000 railroad cars to carry crude oil from North Dakota to refiners across North America. Railroad crude-takeaway capacity has more than doubled in the past year, to about 400,000 barrels a day…