By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Baker Hughes reported a huge drop in its weekly rotary rig count on Friday: 1,050 active rigs. That’s down 21 oil rigs and four gas rigs. Texas was down eleven rigs and Oklahoma was down ten. Independent Oil and Gas Service reported a ten percent drop weekly count of active Kansas operators. There are five active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, down four for the week, and 28 west of Wichita, which is unchanged. Operators are about to spud two new wells in Barton County and one in Ellis County.

Out of 18 permits for drilling at new locations approved in the last week, just one was east of Wichita. There were 17 in Western Kansas, including two new permits in Barton County and one in Stafford County.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported eleven new well completions for the week in eastern Kansas. There was one producing well reported in Ellis County out of 16 completions west of Wichita. Six of those sixteen were dry holes. Of the 98 wells completed so far this year, 20 came up dry.

U.S. crude production last year saw record growth to record heights, 10.9 million barrels per day, up 1.6 million barrels per day over the year before. The Energy Information Administration now predicts U.S. production will jump to 12.1 million barrels per day this year and up to 12.9 million next year.

U.S. crude oil production spiked again last week, reaching an all-time record. The Energy Information Administration said domestic production was more than 11.9 million barrels per day, up 202-thousand barrels from the week before and more than 2.1 million barrels more than a year ago at this time.

EIA’s monthly price forecast predicts London Brent will average $61 a barrel this year, with West Texas Intermediate about eight dollars less. But by the end of the year EIA predicts that spread between benchmarks will shrink to four dollars, with WTI at $61 and London Brent at $65 a barrel by the end of 2020.

Crude oil inventories dropped 2.7 million barrels from the previous week but remained about 8% above the five year average for this time of year. The government said crude imports averaged 7.5 million barrels per day last week, down by 319,000 barrels per day from the previous week. U.S. crude oil imports last year dropped dramatically, down 1.6 million barrels per day from the year before at 2.4 million barrels per day. The government says net imports will continue to fall to an average 1.1 million barrels per day this year, and predicts less than 100-thousand barrels per day in 2020 as the U.S. As we told you back in November, the United States was briefly a net exporter of crude and petroleum products. EIA now predicts that will happen again during the fourth quarter of 2020.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says domestic refineries will be much busier by the end of this year. That’s when a new international agreement lowers the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel oil used in ocean-going vessels. EIA says total U.S. refinery runs will spike four percent to a record 17.9 million barrels per day in 2020. Beginning next year, the International Maritime Organization is lowering the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel from 3.5% to 0.5% for ocean-going vessels.

The Colorado Supreme Court says state law does not allow regulators to make public health and the environment their top priority when setting rules for oil and gas drilling. The ruling said state law requires regulators to “foster” oil and gas production, while protecting public health and the environment. But the court says regulators must take into account whether those protections are cost-effective and technically feasible. The ruling is a victory for the industry.

North Dakota reported another record month for oil and gas production. The Department of Mineral Resources says the state produced more than 1.39 million barrels per day in October, the latest numbers available. November will not be far behind, with a preliminary estimate of 1.37 million barrels per day. The state also posted records in October for natural-gas production, permits, and the number of producing wells. The statewide gas-capture rate is going down since regulators relaxed the rules. Operators burned off more than 21% of the gas produced at oil wells in the state in November.

The Association of American Railroads reports continued growth in oil-by-rail shipments in the U.S. and Canada. Domestic traffic for the week ending January 5 was up 25% over a year ago. Oil by rail in Canada is up nearly 52% over last year, as pipeline capacity shortages continue to slow deliveries.

Even going back to the ‘30s, ‘40s and early ‘50s just about every house or barn sported one or more of these gadgets on the roofs.

Lightning rods, invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, were iron rods sharpened to a point and designed to draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it could come near enough to strike. Typically, the rods measured a half-inch in diameter, and were connected to a metal cable hidden within the structure, or sometimes attached to the outside of a building.

The size of the rods varied depending on the height of the building and the type of metal. Regardless of the size, the cables crawled their way down to Earth where they were anchored. Grounded, the lightning rod directs the lightning strike’s energy harmlessly into the ground, thus sparing the building.

During the 19th Century, the lightning rod became a decorative motif. Lightning rods were embellished with ornamental glass balls (now prized by collectors). The ornamental appeal of these glass balls were also used in weather vanes.

The main purpose of these balls, however, was to provide evidence of a lightning strike by shattering or falling off. If after a storm a ball is discovered missing or broken, the property owner should then check the building, rod and grounding wire for damage.

Today, one can drive all over the countryside and never spot a lightning rod on a house. Occasionally, I spot one still sticking up on top of an old barn somewhere in rural Kansas.

While few people rely on lightning rods today, many select surge protection for telecommunications and cable. Twenty years ago, most people used a land-line telephone, a television and an electrical line.

Now most use high-end electronics and other technology that remains highly susceptible to any kind of electrical surge. A lightning rod system protects against a direct strike. Surge protection guards against an indirect strike.

With the new technology most of the old lightning rods wound up in the dump or continue to rust in the weather on old abandoned barns – the few remaining upright. Still, because they were once so prominent across the rural United States, people have begun collecting them. Others are being used for decoration.

Some of the more sought-after designs were once made from copper with a starburst tip, other vintage lightning rods consisted of ornate, hammered aluminum with a cobalt-blue ball. But beware, some are now replicas and made of plastic.

Any more, most folks don’t see the need to spend money on these relics from the past. Today’s modern technology has also resulted in the end of the notorious lightning rod salesmen of yesteryear.

You know those flim-flam men who used to travel the countryside, looking for houses without lightning rods. Once they spotted such a house, they’d swoop down and unleash a hard-pressure sales pitch concerning the grave dangers of lightning strikes and burning down of unprotected homes and buildings.

Following the collection of a tidy sum of money, they’d install a cheap rod on top of the house, and often not even bother to attach a ground wire. The whole business, of course, was totally useless.

Lest we forget, the world remains filled with shyster salesmen of various sorts. As far as I know however, selling lightning rods is not one of their current scams.

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

Two worlds. When a person from one country comes into a different country, it can feel to them like they have entered another world. That feeling caused one woman to create a bilingual newspaper so as to help others through such transitions. She has gone on to provide outstanding leadership for the Hispanic community in the Kansas City region.

Clara Reyes is the founder and owner of Dos Mundos, which literally translated means Two Worlds. Dos Mundos is the Spanish and English language newspaper in Kansas City.

Clara grew up in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She wanted to pursue a career as a dentist and graduated from the University of Guadalajara. In 1964, she traveled to Kansas City to explore pursuing her education in dentistry. While there, she met Manuel Reyes and a romance ensued.

After a brief courtship, he followed her to Guadalajara where they were married. Then they moved to his home area in Overland Park.

“When I came from Mexico, I didn’t know any English,” Clara said. She quickly found that tasks which came easy to a U.S. citizen, such as opening a checking account or paying a telephone bill, were monumental challenges for someone unfamiliar with the language or the culture. She wished she had a bicultural, Spanish-language aid to help her adapt to her new country.

Clara spent several years as a student, homemaker, mother of two and then a real estate agent in Kansas City. “I saw people from Mexico who wanted to buy a house but didn’t know how to get loans or sign up for utilities,” Clara said.

She set out to find assistance for them. “I went to the gas company and they said, `Yes, we want to help and we have bilingual information, but we don’t know how to disseminate it,’” Clara said. The Chamber of Commerce indicated something similar. “They said, `We need some way to communicate with the Hispanic community.’”

In 1981, with support of her husband and children, Clara began a bilingual newspaper which could help inform the Hispanic community. “We started with a typesetter in our basement,” Clara said. The newspaper was called Dos Mundos, meaning two worlds. The company logo shows two globes connecting with each other.

Rather than producing the paper only in Spanish, she chose to use both Spanish and English. “We did it in bilingual form because we wanted others to read and know our needs also,” Clara said.

Dos Mundos was the first bilingual newspaper in Kansas City. It has now grown to become the largest and most read Hispanic paper in the area. The company’s market profile shows that the circulation region extends beyond Kansas City to rural communities such as Oskaloosa, Ottawa and Mound City, population 694 people. Now, that’s rural.

Clara Reyes’ company also operates three Spanish music and language radio stations in Kansas City. She is extremely active in community affairs.

Clara has served as president of the Coalition of Hispanic Women against Cancer, was a co-founder of the Southwest Boulevard Business Association, and has been a board member for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City, the National Federation of Hispanic Owned Publications, the Salvation Army, and many more. She has also received the international Ohtli Award from the Mexican consulate in Kansas City.

“Clara Reyes was our Huck Boyd Lecture speaker several years ago, and it was so interesting to learn how she started Dos Mundos with the help of her husband and children,” said Gloria Freeland, director of the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media in K-State’s A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. “For more than 35 years, her publication has filled a real need in her community and beyond. Her work demonstrates that communication can be used to unite people and strengthen communities.”

For more information, see www.dosmundos.com.

Two worlds. Just as the Dos Mundos newspaper has helped to connect the Hispanic world with the English one, Clara Reyes has been a leader in connecting people in Kansas City. In doing so, she has made a world of difference.