By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Media
The latest crude production reporting in Kansas shows another statewide decline in output, and a shakeup in the county rankings.
Last year saw the lowest production totals since record-keeping began in Kansas, and the state is currently lagging behind that pace.
The Kansas Geological Survey reports production through July of 15.6 million barrels statewide, down half a million barrels year over year. Most county totals dropped as well.
Ellis County reached 1.21 million barrels through July, down about 60,000 barrels year-over-year. Finney County passes Haskell County to take the number two spot, with total production over 930,000 barrels. That's up more than 100,000 barrels from the total a year ago.
Haskell County notched 857,000 barrels, down from 976,000 a year ago. Barton County produced 828,251 barrels, compared to nearly 870,000 last year. Russell County also dropped, pumping 756,000 barrels, down from 780,000 at this time last year. In Stafford County, operators extracted nearly 505,000 barrels, down 22,000 barrels from a year ago.
The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil and Gas Service is unchanged after a spike last week, with 15 active drilling rigs east of Wichita and 19 in western Kansas. The tally is up 17% from a month ago, but down nearly six percent from last year at this time.
Drilling continued Monday on a lease in Barton County, a lease in Ellis County, and two leases in Finney County.
The Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes is unchanged from a week ago at 585 rigs.
There were some changes from state to state, with Louisiana dropping by three rigs, Oklahoma adding two, Pennsylvania and Wyoming up one apiece and Colorado down one. The breakout for horizontal drilling is up three, vertical drops by two rigs and directional is down by one.
Kansas regulators report 163 new intent-to-drill notices in October. That's 1,034 new intents so far this year, down about 150 filings from the first ten months of last year. Barton County reports five new intents in October and 31 through October. Ellis County adds four for a year-to-date total of 14. With none to add in Russell County, the annual total remains at eight, and Stafford County inches up to 17 new intents so far this year, with three filed last month.
Last week, the state okayed 24 new drilling locations, with seven in western Kansas, including one in Barton County and one in Ellis County. That's 985 new drilling permits so far this year, compared to 1,140 new permits a year ago.
Independent Oil and Gas Service reports 46 completed wells across Kansas last week, 1,137 so far this year. That's down from 1,485 a year ago. There are 28 newly-completed wells in eastern Kansas and 18 west of Wichita, including three in Barton County, one in Russell County and one in Stafford County.
U.S. crude production dropped by about seven thousand barrels a day, but according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, output remained above 13.5 million for a fourth consecutive week, reaching the third highest weekly average ever.
Cumulative production so far this year is up nearly six percent from the same tally a year ago, topping 13.2 million daily barrels for only the second time in history.
U.S. crude imports outpaced exports by more than three million barrels a day last week. Product exports topped imports by more than six million. Crude exports dropped by nearly 1.5 million daily barrels, for a weekly average of 2.85 million barrels per day. That's about a million barrels a day less than the four-week seasonal average, and two million less than the same four weeks last year.
U.S. crude imports averaged 6.24 million barrels a day, up nearly half a million barrels a day from a week ago, and exceeding the four-week seasonal average by nearly a quarter million daily barrels.
Commercial crude inventories rose by more than two million barrels to 427.7 million barrels as of November 1. The Energy Information Administration says stockpiles are about five percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
The Energy Department took delivery on 1.4 million barrels of crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week, pushing the dip stick up to 427.7 million barrels. Strategic stockpiles are up more than ten percent from a year ago. Since April, the government has added 23.2 million barrels, at prices about $20 a barrel cheaper than what they sold it for back in 2022.