By JOHN P. TRETBAR
An aggressive energy acquisition and development firm has bought 40 leases in Ellis and Rooks counties that have already produced six and a half million barrels and are currently yielding more than 5,000 barrels per day. In a news release, the company said Haas Petroleum will operate the assets on behalf of wholly-owned subsidiary Mid-Con Drilling. This marks Viking’s third announced energy acquisition since Christmas, including acreage in Allen and Woodson Counties in Kansas, and in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Kansas Geological Survey reports the state produced nearly 30 million barrels of crude oil through October of last year after adding nearly three million in October. Ellis County led the way with an additional 219,000 barrels produced in October, for a running total of 2.2 million barrels. Haskell County was next, producing 224,000 barrels for a total through October of 2.03 million. Barton County was next, adding 145,000 barrels for a total of 1.42 million barrels through October. Russell County produced 136 thousand barrels and Stafford County produced 89,000 for that month. The number of active oil wells in Kansas was 51,774, down more than 800 from the year before and the lowest total since 2012.
Here are the top ten oil-producing counties in Kansas in Oct. 2017 with running totals for the year in parentheses:
Ellis County 219,000 bbl (2.21 million bbl)
Haskell County 224,000 bbl (2.04 million bbl)
Barton County 145,000 bbl (1.415 million bbl)
Finney County 146,000 bbl (1.36 million bbl)
Russell County 136,000 bbl (1.34 million bbl)
Rooks County 130,000 bbl (1.33 million bbl)
Ness County 127,000 bbl (1.25 million bbl)
Harper County 76,000 bbl (857,000 bbl)
Stafford County 89,000 bbl (871,000 bbl)
Barber County 77,000 bbl (794,000 bbl)
Owners and operators in the Oklahoma oil patch will no longer be protected from lawsuits involving the deaths and injuries of their employees after a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court last week. The high court held that there was no valid reason for special treatment of the oil and gas industry within workers compensation law. They ruled that the special protections amount to an “impermissible and unconstitutional special law.”
Baker Hughes reported an increase in the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for oil and gas across the country, but the numbers in Kansas are going the other way. There were 947 active rigs coast to coast, an increase of 12 oil rigs. Canada reported an increase of 13 to 338 active rigs. The rig counts in Kansas dropped last week. Independent Oil & Gas reported 21 active drilling rigs west of Wichita, down four, and seven in eastern Kansas, which is unchanged. The total of 28 active rigs statewide is down eight from six months ago, but up one from a year ago. Operators are drilling on leases in Barton and Stafford counties, and moving in completion tools at sites in Barton, Ellis and Russell counties. The report shows a big increase in active rigs in the Permian Basin. Texas added 13 rigs last week, and New Mexico increased by three.
Operators filed 32 permits to drill at new locations last week. Seventeen of those were in eastern Kansas, and 15 are west of Wichita, including one in Ellis County. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 39 newly completed wells across the state, two in Barton County and one in Ellis County.
Some drillers in North Dakota are cutting oil output to limit the amount of natural gas they have to burn off. In November, the state’s production of natural gas was very near the capacity of state’s gas-gathering and processing capability. The head of the North Dakota Petroleum Council says the pipelines they have now are adequate to move that gas to market. But Ron Ness says the state’s producers lack the gathering and processing facilities needed in between the pipeline and the well head.
Natural gas processing is getting a big push in North Dakota, where oil producers are testing the limits of current facilities and must burn off more than the state allows. The Governor put out a call for more gathering and processing facilities, and in two days, no fewer than four projects surfaced. All four projects are expected to come on line within the next two years.
Marathon oil will have to figure out another way, after North Dakota regulators on Wednesday denied a request for several exemptions from the state’s flaring limits. Governor Doug Burgum leads the state’s Industrial Commission, which denied the request, saying it would violate the state 85%-capture policy.
TransCanada Corp’s Keystone crude pipeline was still operating at 20 percent reduced pressure last week, more than two months after a leak forced the line to be shut. The reduced flows have contributed to inventory declines at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub and pressured Canadian crude differentials, traders said.