BY JOHN P. TRETBAR
Baker Hughes last week reported another big drop in its weekly rotary rig count to it’s lowest total in more than two years. Across the U.S. there were 822 active rigs, down five oil rigs and three seeking natural gas. Oklahoma was down three, while Texas and New Mexico each dropped two. That makes a decline of 22 oil rigs in the last two weeks.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reports a slight drop in the Kansas rig counts. There are five active rigs east of Wichita, which is down one. In Western Kansas, the count is unchanged at 24 active rigs. Drilling is underway on two leases in Barton County, and operators are about to spud one well in Barton County and two in Ellis County.
The Kansas Corporation Commission signed off on 154 new intent-to-drill notices last month, bringing the year-to-date total to 996. There are five new intents on file in Barton County, six in Ellis County, two in Russell County and two in Stafford County.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson closed out the month of October last week at $45.25 per barrel. That’s down 75 cents from the week before but $1.50 a barrel more than the price at the start of the month. The average price for October was $44.40 per barrel. Prices jumped $1.25 on Friday, so Kansas common starts the week at $46.50 per barrel.
Operators obtained 31 permits for drilling at new locations across the state last week, which makes 907 so far this year. There were nine new permits in eastern Kansas and 22 west of Wichita, including one in Barton County, two in Ellis County, and one in Russell County.
Of the 32 newly-completed wells across Kansas last week, 17 were in the western half of the state and 15 were east of Wichita. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports four new completions in Barton County (including one dry hole), two in Ellis County, and one each in Russell and Stafford County. Operators have completed 1,167 wells statewide so far this year.
The government reported a slight dip from last week’s record U.S. crude-oil production. But, at 12.55 million barrels per day, the total for the week is still the third-best ever.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports domestic crude inventories rose 5.7 million barrels on the week. Stockpiles now stand at 438.9 million barrels, about one percent above the five-year seasonal average.
EIA reported crude-oil imports of 6.7 million barrels per day last week. That’s an increase of 840,000 barrels per day from the week before. The four-week average is about 6.3 million barrels per day, down more than 16% from a year ago.
Total railroad freight traffic continues to drop, and last week oil-by-rail was also down. The Association of American Railroads reported 12,993 tanker cars laden with petroleum and petroleum products for the week ending October 26. That’s down one and a half percent from the same weekly total a year ago. The cumulative total so far this year is up more than 15% from last year.
Continental Resources of Oklahoma City, the biggest player in North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation, reports a drop in third-quarter income, prompted by lower oil prices. Data from the company’s financial report show a 20% increase in average daily production. But third-quarter earnings fell by about half to $158 million, compared to $314 million a year ago.
The decision by the Carlyle Group to abandon a crude-export project off the coast of Texas marks what Reuters called “the start of a shake out” among the nine deep water terminal proposals vying to export U.S. shale oil. The five U.S. crude-export projects currently under federal review would add a combined 8.36 million barrels per day of export capacity, or about two-thirds of current U.S. crude production. The Carlyle facility, which is under review by a different federal authority, would boost that total even more. Its construction partner, Berry Group, has vowed to continue the project.
ConocoPhillips posted higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings despite lower crude prices. This marks the company’s eighth earnings “beat” in nine quarters. BP’s profits fell sharply in the third quarter, but strong refining operations helped the company beat expectations despite a one-off $2.6 billion charge linked to asset sales.
