By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Delayed operator submissions cause a big zigzag in the federal government's reporting on wells drilled but uncompleted (DUC).
Last month, during a week when officials typically receive 100 completion reports, they received more than one thousand.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), some operators submitted several years' worth of unreported completions in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. The move forced big changes in EIA's ongoing reporting on DUCs. Both the number of drilled wells and the number of completed wells changed fairly dramatically. A government release suggests the government is taking a more nuanced look at well completions.
Kansas crude prices are slightly higher than a week ago but more than nine dollars lower than a month ago.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson starts the week at $61.75 per barrel, after dropping 25 cents on Friday. Crude futures prices were holding steady amid market uncertainty, with most analysts waiting for Monday's debt-ceiling talks. The June contract in New York was over $71 on the last day of trading Monday. London Brent was fetching seventy-five fifty-seven by midday.
The weekly Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes on Friday showed a drop of eleven oil rigs nationwide. The breakout for horizontal drilling was down ten rigs. The tally in Texas as down nine.
The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil & Gas Service is up six percent from a week ago, down nearly three percent from a month ago, and 35% lower than a year ago. West of Wichita there are 23 active drilling rigs. Operators on Monday were preparing to spud a new well on a lease in Barton County.
Operators in Kansas completed 32 wells last week, 694 so far this year, compared to 582 a year ago. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports ten completions east of Wichita and 22 in western Kansas, including one in Barton County, one in Ellis County and two in Stafford County. Operators have spudded 471 wells so far this year, down 632 spuds from a year ago, with an estimated 1.3 million feet of well bore drilled, down from nearly 1.7 million last year at this time.
Kansas regulators approved 20 new drilling locations across the state last week, with nine west of Wichita including one each in Barton and Ellis counties. That's 488 new drilling permits so far this year, compared to 569 a year ago at this time.
The number-three crude producing state reports a slight drop in production. North Dakota operators produced 34.8 million barrels of crude in March, or 1.12 million barrels per day, down slightly from the average in February. The Department of Mineral Resources reports the state's closely-watched gas-capture rate improved to 95%, meaning five percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells is vented or burned on site.
Inventories and imports are up; production is down. U.S. crude inventories increased by about five million barrels as of May 12th, to 467 million barrels. A weekly government tally notes current stockpiles are slightly below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA reported domestic crude imports increased by about 1.3 million barrels per day to 6.9 million barrels per day. The four-week average is slightly higher than a year ago.
EIA reported a drop in production last week of about 130-thousand barrels per day. The average for the week through May 12th was over 12.2 million barrels per day. That's a quarter-million barrels per day more than the same week a year ago.