By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Drilling for natural gas spiked last week despite prices at two-year lows. Baker Hughes reported an increase of nine active natural-gas rigs as of March 17. Oil rigs were down one. The Rotary Rig Count on Friday reported increases in drilling activity in the Permian and Marcellus shale plays. The closely-watched Henry Hub natural gas spot price in February averaged a dollar lower than the month before and three dollars lower than in December. Monday's futures prices are the lowest since September of 2020.
Crude prices in New York remain at 15-month lows Monday, trading below $67 after dropping more than a dollar and a half on Friday. At CHS in McPherson prices were own $1.50 to $57 per barrel.
Kansas operators have spudded 216 wells so far this year, down 20% from last year at this time. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports an estimated total depth of 667,000 feet, which is down 26.4% from a year ago. The Rig Count in Kansas was up one rig statewide, with 12 active rigs in the eastern half of the state, down two, and 27 west of Wichita, which is up three rigs.
Kansas regulators approved 34 new drilling locations in Kansas, with 20 in Western Kansas, including one new permit in Barton County and another in Stafford County. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 439 newly-completed wells statewide. Fifteen of those were in Western Kansas, including two in Barton County and two in Ellis County.
The Energy Information Administration reported a spike in US crude inventories for the week, up 1.6 million barrels to 480.1 million as of March 10th. US crude stockpiles are about seven percent above the five-year average for this time of year. The government reports a slight increase in US crude production last week, up more than 150,000 barrels to 12.244 million per day. Output is up more than 600,000 barrels per day from a year ago. EIA said US crude imports last week dropped by 55,000 barrels per day. Over the last four weeks, imports are down 1.1% from the same four weeks a year ago.
Production in the number-three crude-producing state rebounded from a big blizzard downturn. Output in North Dakota reached 1.06 million barrels per day in January, according to the state's Department of Mineral Resources. That's up 11% from the month before, when winter weather shut down about one-third of the state's oil patch. The last time statewide output dipped below a million barrels per day in North Dakota was after a pair of spring blizzards back in April of last year.
Gasoline prices across the USA Thursday were down slightly from a week earlier, up four cents from a month earlier, and down 54 cents year over year. The auto club AAA said diesel prices are down more than 77 cents a gallon from a year ago. Prices in Kansas average just over $3.46 per gallon. Several Kansas counties were below $3 on Monday.
Crude-oil exports set a record last year at 3.6 million barrels per day, a 22% increase from the year before. The Energy Information Administration says growth was driven by increased U.S. production, strategic petroleum releases, and increased global demand for alternatives to Russia’s crude. EIA says our top customers were South Korea, the Netherlands and the UK. According to the report, exports to India and China declined dramatically last year but were more than offset by increases to Europe and elsewhere.