By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Kansas Corporation Commission Chairman Pat Apple announced he will not seek another four-year term when his appointment expires next March. Apple plans to return to a private construction business he and his wife Debbie started in 1983. He says he’s making the announcement now to allow the Governor time to find his replacement. Apple was appointed to the Commission by Governor Brownback on March 24, 2014. He was elected Chairman on January 12, 2017.

Baker Hughes noted 930 total active drilling rigs Friday, adding three gas rigs after four oil rigs fell off the list. Canada reported 238 active rigs, an increase of 19 drilling rigs. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 12 active rigs in eastern Kansas, up one, and 22 west of Wichita, which is down three. Drilling is underway at sites in Barton and Ellis counties.

Operators filed 150 intent-to drill-notices with the Kansas Corporation Commission in November. That’s 1,661 so far this year through November. So far this month the KCC reports more 70 intents. By the end of the year we’ll be ahead of last year’s dismal total of 1,166, well behind the total in 2015 (2,303), and far short of the much higher annual totals in 2013 (6,395) and 2014 (7,014).

Kansas operators filed 34 new permits to drill at new locations across the state last week. The year-to-date permit total is 1,393. There are 22 new permits on file in eastern Kansas and 12 west of Wichita including new permits in Barton and Ellis County. For the month of November, there were 141 new permits filed statewide. There were five in Barton County, three in Ellis County, four in Russell County and two in Stafford County.

Independent Oil and Gas Service reported 32 new well completions last week, 1,275 so far this year. There were 18 completions in eastern Kansas and 14 west of Wichita, including one in Ellis County and one in Russell County. Monthly numbers show 129 newly completed wells in November.

Lawmakers return to Oklahoma City Monday for another special legislative session on the budget. During the earlier eight-week special session the Legislature failed to agree on a plan that included an across-the-board increase in the state’s gross production tax for oil and natural gas. The new order from the Governor Dec. 15 limits the second special session to patching a budget overrun at the state’s health care authority. But Gov. Mary Fallin said she would keep negotiating, and she could expand the scope of the session.

Regulators in North Dakota report a big jump in that state’s oil production, to 1.2 million barrels per day. Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said the 78,000bpd bump was the state’s largest-ever month-over-month increase. Helms says preliminary numbers for November and December are looking strong.

Canadian crude’s discount to WTI futures has widened more than $15 since August to the lowest level in nearly four years. Bloomberg reported pipeline problems were compounded by rail line disruptions. Canadian deliveries rebounded after the Keystone shutdown, and now Enbridge is rationing pipeline space again amid high Western Canadian inventories. Rail cars struggled to catch up on deliveries after line disruptions over the past two months.

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. and Japan have urged Saudi Arabia to pursue an international stock listing for oil giant Aramco. Officials fear the possible sale of a stake to China would give Beijing too much sway in the Middle East.

A pipeline system in the UK developed what was described as a “small hairline crack,” forcing the shutdown of the 450,000 barrel per day pipeline. According to the Houston Chronicle, the company expects repairs to take a couple of weeks.

Phillips 66 and Enbridge announced an open season for the Gray Oak Pipeline from West Texas to Corpus Christi, Freeport, and Houston. The Gray Oak Pipeline is expected to have an initial throughput capacity of 385,000 bpd. Phillips 66 and Enbridge will evaluate expansion of the system beyond 385,000 BPD, depending on shipper interest in the open season. The pipeline system is anticipated to be placed in service in the second half of 2019. Open season began Monday.

Less than two weeks after OPEC’s decision to extend oil production cuts, Reuters reported that Libya and Nigeria – the only two exempt members of the group – are signaling their intent to raise output next year. Oil company Total said its new Egina field offshore Nigeria was on track to start next year – adding 10 percent to the country’s production. And officials from Libya’s government, it’s national oil company and a banker met to discuss how the corporation could get more cash to raise oil output next year.

OPEC production fell to its lowest level in six months, according to the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report. The report suggests that rival U.S. production continues to surge, and that oil markets may not re-balance before the production agreement concludes at the end of next year.

What if you could run for a statewide or federal office without having to worry about whether you’ll keep your underground Statehouse parking garage slot?

Now, there are probably good reasons for those four to try for bigger offices, but those four — so far — can campaign for another job at no risk to their current posts.

The four are, of course, state senators who are in the middle of four-year terms which means they won election in 2016 to terms which don’t expire until 2020.

How’s that for a belt and suspenders?

The four, so far, are State Sens. Steve Fitzgerald, R-Leavenworth, and Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, who are running for Second District Congress to take the place of retiring U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.

Oh, and of course Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, who is running for governor, and Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, who is running for Secretary of State.

Win and they have new jobs; lose, they retain their Senate jobs for another two years.

Oh, but don’t forget that a handful of Kansas House members are running for higher office without that mid-term safety net, seeing that House members only have two-year terms. They win, or they have to return to buying their own lunches and drinks because lobbyists quickly lose interest in Kansans who can’t vote on bills they and their clients want passed.

Who is making the big bet—because re-election to the House is probably more likely than having to make friends with a much larger group of Kansans?

Well, start with House Minority Leader Jim Ward, D-Wichita, who is after the Democratic nomination for governor and who last year was re-elected to an eighth House term with 58.5% of his district’s votes—just 3,336 to land him his House seat.

Another risk-it-all candidate? Three-term Rep. Kevin Jones, R-Wellsville, who is risking it all with his U.S. 2nd District House candidacy.

Oh, and down-ballot there are two candidates for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State who are betting it all. They are seven (non-consecutive) term House Speaker pro tem Scott Schwab, of Olathe, and three-term Rep. Keith Esau, a Republican also of Olathe, who are giving up the seats that each has recently won with high-50 percent margins, for the bigger job—or more time to spend on yardwork.

Practically, everyone would like to move up to higher office, where they can have a bigger effect on Kansans’ lives, whether it is making voting faster, managing the state, or in Congress drawing a little of that federal budget to Kansas, or maybe just preventing Congress from ignoring programs that are important to us.

Put aside for a moment every candidate’s promise to make life in Kansas better, or save the water table or provide better schools, roads, care for the poor and such, which each candidate has his/her own idea of just how to do that. You might just want to consider that some candidates are risking a lot more—likely their political futures—to accomplish that.

The non-legislators who are in the races? Well, we’ll presume they are making a living now and probably are serving their communities in some way.

And, even those job-safe senators who either get bigger jobs or keep their present jobs probably have a little-thought-about effect of pulling into the campaigns for the offices they are seeking some hard-won experience that will color those campaigns.

We’ve all heard campaign promises that we know just aren’t do-able and while they look nice on a palm card or at a public forum really aren’t going to happen. Sometimes it’s the experience that some candidates bring to the campaign that brings some practical realism to the elections.

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com.

If I could request but one gift during the holiday season, I’d ask for a book. Books abound with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. They provide hours of adventure and entertainment rarely found anywhere else in today’s culture.

A couple books I would ask for on any wish list include, “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese and “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett.

“Cutting for Stone” is about Marion and Shiva Stone who are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance and bound together by a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. This novel is an unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

“Pillars of the Earth” is set in 12th-century England and the story line revolves around the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The ambitions of three men merge, conflict and collide throughout 40 years of social and political upheaval as internal church politics affect the progress of the cathedral and the fortunes of the advocates.

Another book I once read, and pick up to review from time to time, is Howard Thurman’s “The Mood of Christmas.” The message in Thurman’s book revolves around a gift he says everyone should enjoy and use in the best way. This gift is memory.

Thurman defines memory as, “one of God’s great gifts to the human spirit without which neither life nor experience could have any meaning.”

What Thurman urges in his book is to use your memory now, today and often. Think what a priceless gift it is.
What if you had no memory?

Every second, minute and hour of every day would have to begin for the first time. Learning would be impossible, and education would be meaningless.

Instead, humans have the power to store vast amounts of information and experiences throughout their lives. All we must do is think about it and we can recall these thoughts and experiences on demand with the use of our memory.

Some people store only unpleasant memories. Every slight is filed away. When a later encounter is made with the person responsible for the offense, the individual is chastised again, either mentally or verbally.
After a period, the memory storehouse is full of unpleasant thoughts. The mind is filled with suspicion, resentment and hate.

For others, only pleasant thoughts are stored for safekeeping. Such thoughts can be summoned at a moment’s notice. They restore faith and re-establish confidence in life at difficult and trying times.

Remember with the coming of the New Year, look to the future with hope – the confident expectation of good. Use the gift of memory to your benefit. Enjoy past experiences and remember life is what you make of it.

Make it good.

And as for reading or giving a book this holiday season, there are plenty of other wonderful books waiting to be read. So, go on-line, visit your favorite book store or swap books with a fellow reader. Just remember, this is the perfect time of year to read a book.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.