By JOHN P. TRETBAR
The latest crude-oil production tally from the Kansas Geological Survey shows a continuing decline. K.G.S. reported 3.05 million barrels of new Kansas production in March, for a three-month total of 8.7 million bbl. That’s about 200,000 barrels less than last year’s first-quarter total. Annual production last year was the lowest since 2006. Ellis County continues to lead the state with production of about 659,000 barrels, an improvement of nearly 90,000 barrels over the first quarter of last year. Barton County produced 423,000 barrels and Russell County produced 392,000, both about the same as last year’s three-month totals. Stafford County is down slightly to just over 256,000 barrels produced in the first quarter of this year.
Here are the top ten oil-producing counties in Kansas for the first quarter of 2018, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.
Ellis County: 658,208 bbl
Haskell County: 622,114 bbl
Barton County: 423,779 bbl
Finney County: 419,227 bbl
Russell County: 392,380 bbl
Rooks County: 381,155 bbl
Ness County: 377,193 bbl
Stafford County: 256,731 bbl
Graham County: 233,664 bbl
Butler County: 199,389 bbl
Logan County: 193,385 bbl
Baker Hughes reports 1,052 active drilling rigs across the U.S., an increase of five oil rigs. North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana were all in the plus column, while Texas reported a drop of four rigs. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 21 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, up five, and 29 west of Wichita, down two. Operators are moving in completion tools to four leases in Barton County and six in Ellis County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 56 newly-completed wells last week across Kansas, 26 east of Wichita and 30 in the western half of the state. Two wells were completed in Ellis County, and one in Russell County. Operators have completed 791 wells so far this year.
Kansas operators filed 48 new drilling permits last week, 34 in eastern Kansas and 14 west of Wichita, for a year-to-date total of 854 permits. Barton, Ellis and Stafford counties report one new permit each.
Energy regulators in Texas report big increases in that state’s oil and gas production during the month of April. Preliminary figures from the Railroad Commission of Texas showed average production of more than 2.7 million barrels per day, up from 2.6 million a year earlier.
The sticker-shock begins in Oklahoma for oil producers and drivers, as the state’s first tax hike in nearly thirty years took effect last week. Gasoline goes up three cents a gallon, and the Gross Production Tax on oil and gas wells jumps from two to five percent. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association told the Enid News & Eagle most drillers have already planned operations for this year, but suggests bearish impact in the patch could likely show up next year. The Daily Oklahoman reports the new fuel tax rates are expected to bring in $105 million during the budget year that began July 1. The changes are expected to raise an estimated $100 million from oil production and another $71 million from natural gas.
BP plans to sell its stake in a large northern Alaska oil field to ConocoPhillips. The Anchorage Daily News reports the company hopes to increase its holdings in an offshore oil field near the UK instead, and focus its Alaska operations on the Prudhoe Bay field. The company said the operators at the Kuparuk field will remain the same, and the state of Alaska will see little change in taxes and royalties.
Suncor on Monday provided an update on the company’s Syncrude oil sands facility in Alberta, Canada, following a power disruption on June 20. Power and steam systems have been fully restored, the assessment and repair for the transformer is underway, and the safe and staged return to operations has begun. Company officials hope they’ll be back to nearly 70% of capacity in August and say they could ramp up to full production by mid-September. That’s roughly two months more down time than originally announced. The outage is providing a boost to Canadian oil prices, as it temporarily creates much-needed spare capacity on the region’s pipelines.
Cenovus Energy’s acquisition of oil sands assets last year from ConocoPhillips has propelled the company to Canada’s number three energy firm in terms of production volume, behind Canadian Natural Resources and Suncor Energy. That’s according to the Dutch auditing firm KPMG. Cenovus doubled its production in May 2017 after spending $17.7 billion to become 100 percent owner of the Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects.
Despite earlier optimism, China’s independent or “teapot” refineries are not buying as much crude oil, or at least they’re not taking delivery. Reuters reports four supertankers chartered by BP have been held up or delayed off the coast of China for the last two months. That comes amid escalating global trade tensions, rising crude oil prices, an oversupplied domestic fuel market and tighter government tax scrutiny.