By JOHN P. TRETBAR
The Kansas Geological Survey reports statewide crude oil production for January of 2.8 million barrels, compared to 3.4 million last January. Barton County operators report 139-thousand barrels, Ellis County notched 217-thousand, Russell County had 130-thousand, and in Stafford County, January production was 85-thousand barrels.
State regulators report an increase in one of the key barometers of oil production in Kansas. The Kansas Corporation Commission says operators filed 106 new intent-to-drill notices in April, the most since last November There were 141 intents filed in April of last year. So far this year, operators have filed 334 intents, compared to 563 at this time last year. There are five new intents in Barton County, eight in Ellis County, none in Russell County and two in Stafford County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reports four active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, which is unchanged, and 25 in the western half of the state, which is down two. Drilling was underway on one lease in Ellis County.
Baker Hughes reported 990 active drilling rigs in the U.S. Friday, an increase of two oil rigs, but a decline of three exploring for natural gas. The count in Texas was down seven, while New Mexico logged an increase of two rigs. In Canada there are 61 active drilling rigs, down two for the week.
Regulators approved 21 permits for drilling at new locations in Kansas during the last week, eight of them east of Wichita and 13 in Western Kansas, including one in Ellis County. There have been 304 new drilling permits approved so far this year.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 34 wells completed over the last week, 12 of them in eastern Kansas, and 22 west of Wichita. That brings the year-to-date total to 551. There was one newly-completed well in Ellis County, one in Russell County, and four in Stafford County, including two dry holes.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported yet another all-time record for weekly crude oil production for the week ending April 26: 12.277 million barrels per day. That beats last week by 100-thousand barrels per day. The previous high was during the week ending April 5, at 12.184 million barrels per day.
The government said U.S. crude oil stockpiles increased 5.5 million barrels and remain roughly equal to the five year seasonal average.
Viking Energy Group announced last week that its subsidiary Mid-Con Development sold all of its oil and gas assets in Ellis and Rooks counties to an independent third party. According to the announcement, the sale price was just over four million dollars. The assets consist of working interests in some 41 oil leases. They were purchased by Mid-Con in 2017. Last year the owners arranged to deepen and perforate approximately fifteen wells, and also improve water disposal capacity, successfully increasing production and putting the company in a position to sell the assets at a premium. The Company continues to own other assets in across eastern Kansas, including in Miami, Franklin, Anderson, Woodson, Allen, Riley, Geary and Wabaunsee counties.
The hottest bidding war in the patch in decades got a little hotter last week, as the board of directors at Anadarko deliberate whether a takeover bid from Occidental Petroleum is superior to a lower but already agreed-to deal with Chevron. Bloomberg reports Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway on Tuesday disclosed plans to inject $10 billion into Occidental in exchange for preferred stock and warrants.