By JOHN P. TRETBAR
New numbers from Topeka last week show a dip in oil production in Kansas in April. The Kansas Geological Survey reports Kansas operators produced 2.97 million barrels of crude oil in April, down about 100,000 barrels from the March production total of 3.07 million barrels.
So far this year, through April, we’ve pulled just over 11.9 million barrels of crude from the ground statewide. Barton County produced 137,000 barrels in April, for a total through April of 560,000 barrels. Ellis County’s total was 856,000 barrels, after producing 210,000 barrels in April. Russell County produced 134,000 barrels for a total of 527,000 through April. Stafford County produced 86 thousand barrels, for a total through April of 346,000 barrels.
Baker Hughes reports 958 active rigs nationwide, an increase of two oil and six gas rigs. Canada has 220 active rigs this week, up 14. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 13 active rigs in eastern Kansas, down one, and 23 west of Wichita, also down one. In Barton County they’re prepping to spud at one site and moving in completions tools at two more. Ellis County producers are moving in rotary tools at one site, and moving in completion tools at another.
Two years ago at this time, operators had filed 1,410 new drilling permits across Kansas. Then prices plunged, and last year by the end of July there were only 521 new permits. We’re doing slightly better this year at 799 permits year to date. There were 17 permits filed last week for drilling at new locations, five east of Wichita, and 12 in western Kansas including one in Barton County and one in Ellis County.
Independent Oil and Gas reported just one new well completion across Kansas last week, a wildcat play that produced a dry hole in Logan County. Producers have completed 741 wells so far this year. That’s better than last year’s 655, but well below the 2,655 well completions by the time in 2015.
The Bureau of Land Management is moving ahead with efforts to rescind an Obama-era rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands. In its formal notice, the Interior Department said the Bureau is proposing to rescind the 2015 rule because they believe it is unnecessarily duplicative of state and tribal regulations, and imposes reporting requirements it called “burdensome,” and other costs on the oil and gas industry, which the bureau labeled “unjustified.”
Fuel exports from the United States are on track to hit another record this year. Last year, we sent a net 2.5 million barrels of petroleum products to foreign markets. Reuters reports that shale producers here have provided refiners with abundant and cheap domestic crude, giving them the raw material they need to produce internationally competitive fuel. Last year, the U.S. became the world’s top net exporter of fuel, a fundamental shift from the traditional U.S. role as a top importer and consumer.
Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian said delays in Senate confirmation have left the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission without a quorum. The state’s top energy regulator says the commission cannot approve or deny pipelines, and that, he says, is holding up jobs. Billions of dollars in new infrastructure are on the drawing board to tap growing production in West Texas and elsewhere. According to reporting by Houston Public Media, there are more than 40 pipeline plans that lack FERC approval, with some waiting for two years or more. Christian wrote to the state’s two senators telling them it’s “crucial” two nominees get confirmed before the August recess.
The Houston Chronicle is documenting a recurring problem in boom times. Drillers of all sizes have poured billions of dollars into the Permian Basin this year, rebuilding operations after a two-year bust. But for all the economic benefits of the industry’s high-paying jobs, the oil rush also is bankrolling an expanding market for illegal drugs. The spikes in drug seizures by the Texas Department of Public Safety are shown in the newspaper’s graphic to correlate directly with increases in the rig count in west Texas.
Voters in Spokane, Washington will decide in November whether the city should fine railroad operators for certain coal and crude oil rail shipments through its downtown core. The Spokane City Council voted Monday night to put the citizens’ initiative to voters rather than passing it. The city sees up to 19 oil trains a week. If approved by voters, the measure would make rail shipments of uncovered coal or highly flammable crude oil a civil infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $261 per rail car.
Chevron Corp. agreed to pay a $1 million fine and to make about $20 million worth of safety improvements at a refinery in Richmond, California, settling a long-running dispute with regulators over penalties levied following a 2012 fire. The company agreed to go beyond state safety requirements. They agreed to replace all carbon-steel piping used to transport corrosive liquids with chrome-alloy piping, which is more corrosion-resistant. They also agreed to set up some innovative new procedures to monitor equipment and alert operators when piping should be replaced. The fire in 2012, which triggered a widespread shelter-in-place order, injured three Chevron employees and caused hundreds of residents to complain of respiratory problems.