By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Crude prices continue to spike, rising nearly 20 percent in just the first month of the year. Friday's settlement on the Nymex for the near-month benchmark crude contract was $92.31 per barrel. That's nearly six dollars more than a week earlier, and about $15 more than at the first of the year.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson jumped two dollars Friday, and will start the week at $82.50 per barrel, the best price in McPherson since September of 2014. Kansas prices are up four dollars on the week and $17 since the first of the year.
U.S. crude-oil production rose in November to more than 352 million barrels, for an average 11.1 million barrels per day. That's up 5.7% from the month before. EIA reports output in Kansas totaled 2.2 million barrels for an average of just over 76,000 barrels per day.
The government reported a million-barrel drop in US crude inventories. At 415.1 million barrels, stockpiles are about nine percent below the five-year average for this time of year. The Energy Information Administration reports imports of 7.1 million barrels per day last week, an increase of 800,000 barrels per day over the previous week. The four-week average is nearly 10 percent higher than the same four-week period last year.
EIA reported a dip in US crude production. During the week through January 28th, US operators pumped over 11.4 million barrels, down more than 200,000 barrels per day from the week before.
The Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes shows 613 active drilling rigs in the US in the week through February 4th, up two oil rigs and one gas rig from the week before. The count in Texas was up three, North Dakota was up three and Alaska was up two. New Mexico and Oklahoma both showed declines.
The Association of American Railroads reports US petroleum shipments by rail last month dropped by more than 20% compared to a year ago. Total rail traffic in January was down 9.5 percent from a year ago. Weekly oil-by-rail tallies were up slightly but still nearly 15% below last years totals. AAR reports 9,625 tanker carloads for the week through January 29th, up 17 tankers from the week before. Canada's oil-by-rail totals are 969 tankers higher than the week before and up one percent over a year ago.
The number of active operators in Kansas in January was 38, up 15% over a year ago. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 86 wells drilled so far this year, up from 50 at this time last year. The weekly Rig Count in Kansas dropped slightly. There are 18 active rigs in eastern Kansas, up one, but the count west of Wichita was down two at 24 active rigs. Operators were preparing to spud new wells in Barton and Ellis counties.
Kansas regulators okayed 43 new drilling locations across the state, 112 so far this year. Out of 13 in Western Kansas, there's one new permit in Ellis County and another in Russell County. There are 30 new permits east of Wichita. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 43 newly-completed wells in Kansas. That's 150 so far this year. Operators in Ellis, Russell and Stafford counties completed wells last week, among 22 in Western Kansas.
Operators filed 97 intent-to-drill notices across Kansas last month. The Kansas Corporation Commission reports two new intents in Barton County, six in Ellis County, and two in Russell County.
A court in Venezuela has upheld long prison sentences for six American oil executives detained on corruption charges for more than four years. Venezuela's supreme court announced the ruling late Friday. The court didn’t provide any information on its decision, and the order itself was not immediately available.
The biggest non-national oil company in the world announced significant cost-cutting moves last week. Exxon Mobil is consolidating, and moving its corporate headquarters from suburban Dallas to Houston. The move and reorganization will be complete by the middle of next year. Bloomberg reports the company will reorganize along three main business lines: upstream production, fuel and chemical production, and its low-carbon division. Top executives have worked in Irving, Texas for more than thirty years, but will soon join rank-and-file employees in its Houston-area campus.
An earthquake with aftershocks Monday morning (1/31) northwest of Medford, Oklahoma prompted regulators to rein in saltwater disposal in the area. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered disposal wells within six miles of the quake's epicenter to shut-in, and restricted volumes on other disposal wells within ten miles. There were no reports of damage or injury. The initial quake was felt across much of Oklahoma and Kansas.