By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Baker Hughes reported 916 active oil and gas drilling rigs last week, an increase on 11 rigs looking for oil and a drop of five rigs targeting natural gas. There were 99 active rigs in Canada, up six for the week. Independent Oil & Gas Service tells us there were 15 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, up three, and 21 in western Kansas, which is down two. Operators report drilling ahead at sites in Barton, Russell and Stafford County. They’ve moving in completion tools and testing at four sites in Barton County, and one each in Russell and Stafford Counties.
The Kansas Corporation Commission reported 139 intent-to-drill notices filed across the state in the month of May and 640 so far this year. That’s above last year’s total through May, 2016 of 444 intents, but well below the total of 1,056 two years ago at this time.
There were 19 permits filed for drilling in new locations across Kansas, 603 year-to-date. Five of those were east of Wichita, and of the 14 in western Kansas. There was one new permit in Barton County, one in Ellis County, and four new permits in Stafford County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 19 new well completions across Kansas last week, 580 so far this year. There were four new completions in eastern Kansas and 15 west of Wichita including one dry hole in Russell County and one producing well in Stafford County.
A Kansas energy company said it’s going to build a new oil terminal in eastern Colorado. Tallgrass Energy Partners will develop the Tallgrass Grasslands oil terminal complex in Platteville for an undisclosed amount of investment money. The terminal will serve as a new pipeline origin for the Pony Express Platteville Extension pipleine to Cushing. Tallgrass said the Platteville Extension is expected to have an ultimate takeaway capacity of at least 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day and go into service next year.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners announced that the 1,200-mile pipeline carrying North Dakota crude oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois had begun commercial service. The Dakota Access pipeline and ETP’s pipeline from Illinois to the Gulf Coast together have commitments for about 520,000 barrels of oil daily.
Two officials with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe were acquitted of disorderly conduct charges that were filed during early protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. They were arrested on Aug. 12 for allegedly pushing back against a line of law enforcement officers in North Dakota. During their trial, both men said they were only trying to protect older tribal members. Jurors quickly returned not-guilty verdicts.
Some North Dakota cities near the oil patch are seeing a drop in residents as the state’s overall population continues to rise. State census director Kevin Iverson said the drop mostly is due to young, adult males moving on as job and wage situations change because of slower activity in the oil fields. The state population rose 19.2% from a year earlier, but oil patch cities such as Tioga, Minot, Williston, Watford City and Stanley saw population declines.