By JOHN P. TRETBAR
The Kansas Corporation Commission reports 167 new intent-to-drill notices filed across the state last month, compared to 140 in September of last year. The total so far this year is 1,470 intents, compared to 1,177 through September of last year. There are six new intents filed in Barton County, four in Ellis county, one in Russell County and three in Stafford County.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson closed out the month of September at $63.50/bbl after gaining a quarter on Friday. The average price for the month was $60.30/bbl, compared to an average price of $39.86 last September.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 32 drilling rigs moving in, rigging up, drilling or relocating across western Kansas Friday, down two, and 15 east of Wichita, up two. Three Kansas operators took out-of-state work, dropping the available rig count to 81 statewide. Baker Hughes reports 1,054 active rigs across the U.S., noting a drop of three oil rigs and an increase of three seeking natural gas. The counts in New Mexico and Texas each dropped two, while Oklahoma added five to its active list. Canada reports 178 active drilling rigs, down 19 from last week.
Kansas operators filed 50 new drilling permits across the state last week, including two in Barton County, two in Ellis County, and three in Stafford County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service said there were 24 new well completions statewide last week, including one in Barton County, three in Ellis County and one in Stafford County. So far this year, Kansas operators have completed 1,141 wells. The weekly report shows 11 dry holes out of 18 wells completed west of Wichita. That included one dry hole in Ellis County and one in Stafford County.
The Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude oil production reached 11,072,000 barrels per day last week, an increase of 102,000 barrels per day over the week before, and 1.55 million bpd more than last year at this time. The government says U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels last week. Stockpiles are about two percent below the five-year average. Crude imports are down 222,000 barrels per day from the week before, but are nearly ten percent higher than last year at this time. Saudi oil shipments into the U.S. reached a four-week average of one million barrels a day last week for the first time since late 2017.
The Trump administration is rolling back Obama-era oil-train safety rules. The Transportation Department announced this week that the cost outweigh the benefits of requiring railroads to equip trains with the newest electronic braking systems. Those rules were implemented in the aftermath of oil-by-rail accidents.
The government reported another seasonal build to U.S. gasoline inventories. The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday gasoline stockpiles are up 1.5 million barrels and are about 8% above the five-year average.
A lawyer in Tulsa has filed 22 new lawsuits for 168 plaintiffs claiming damages in connection with an earthquake in Oklahoma two years ago. The allegations are similar to those filed in several other cases, blaming saltwater disposal operations for the state’s strongest recorded earthquake back in 2016 near Pawnee, Oklahoma.
The State of Texas reports continued growth in oil and gas production, adding 90 million barrels of crude production in July, the latest figures available. The Texas Railroad Commission released preliminary numbers this week showing the state pumped an average 2.9 million barrels per day in July. That’s half a million barrels more than last July’s totals.
Husky Energy made an unsolicited bid for oil-sands producer MEG Energy in a $2.6 billion cash-debt-and-stock deal. MEG produces about 100,000 barrels a day of oil, mostly from a process of pumping steam into the underground oil sands formations to heat and liquefy it. Husky operates refineries in Canada and the U.S., and produces about 186,000 barrels a day in western Canada and another 322,900 barrels a day in offshore production in China and Indonesia.
The State Department says the new route for the Keystone Pipeline expansion poses “negligible to minor” threats to natural resources, in marked contrast to an earlier report from the Obama administration. TransCanada repeated earlier announcements that it will begin construction next year on the final leg of the Keystone system. The new environmental report was ordered by a judge in Montana hearing a federal lawsuit against Keystone. The supplemental report issued last week still awaits public comment before being finalized. Written comments are due by Oct. 8, and a public hearing is planned the next day in Lincoln.
Plains All American will begin operations on an expanded West Texas oil pipeline on Nov. 1, which should help ease a bottleneck that has weighed local crude prices for months. Prices in Midland are currently about $18 per barrel below those available on the coast. The company expects to completely fill the Sunrise pipeline by Oct. 31, with full operations starting the next day.