By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Communications
Statewide crude production in Kansas rebounded in February, but dropped in March.
The Kansas Geological Survey reports average crude production dropped statewide in January, joining a national decline attributed largely to severe winter weather. Output rebounded the following month, but dropped again in March, the latest numbers available from KGS.
County breakouts also show declines.
Statewide production dipped to just under 73,000 daily barrels in March. The quarterly average, January through March, is 69,746 barrels per day, compared to 76,756 barrels per day in Q1 2023.
County production figures followed the statewide lead, dropping in January, ramping up dramatically in February, then falling back in March.
Ellis County dips to 5,524 barrels per day on production of 502,000 barrels for the first quarter. That's down from 543,000 barrels at 6,040 barrels per day during the first quarter of last year.
Barton County drops from 4,100 barrels per day last year to 3,700 through March this year, and drops to fourth in the county rankings behind Haskell and Finney counties.
Russell County pumped 3,400 barrels per day, compared to 3,666 barrels per day in the first three months of last year.
Stafford County weighs in with 2,200 barrels per day, down from 2,466 barrels per day a year ago.
The Energy Information Administration reports crude production last week increased 38,000 barrels a day in Alaska, and held steady in the lower 48 states, for a total of 13,322,000 barrels per day. EIA says cumulative production so far this year is up more than seven percent from a year ago.
EIA reports a big drawdown in U.S. commercial crude supplies. Inventories dropped by nearly five million barrels to just over 440 million. Commercial stockpiles are down nearly four percent from a year ago and five percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Weekly inventory reporting shows the government added another 700,000 barrels to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Price markdowns in refilling the SPR have saved the U.S. Treasury $132 million since April.
Rig counts are dropping despite steady production. The latest Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes shows 586 active rigs nationwide. The tally has steadily declined each week since reaching the high point for the year of 629 active rigs on March 15.
Crude production in the United States has held steady for six weeks at just over 13.2 million barrels per day, despite the rig count declining 12 rigs over the same six weeks.
The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil & Gas Service was down 13% from last week, dropping two rigs to eleven in eastern Kansas, and down two rigs west of Wichita to 15 active rigs. The tally is down seven percent from a month ago and 32% lower than last year at this time.
Drilling continued this week on a lease in Barton County.
Independent Oil and Gas Service reports 19 newly-completed wells in the week through July 18. That's 713 new well-completions this year, compared to 959 a year ago. Operators completed 11 new wells in western Kansas, including one in Ellis County.
Kansas regulators okayed 18 permits for drilling at new locations, with seven in western Kansas including one in Barton County. That's 537 new drilling locations approved so far this year, compared to 720 by this time last year.
Crude oil imports outpaced crude exports by more than three million barrels a day last week. Petroleum product exports exceeded imports by more than four million barrels a day. At nearly four million barrels a day, crude exports were down 35,000 barrels a day from a week earlier, but are up from a year ago, and up from two years ago. Four-week average exports are up seven percent from a year ago.
U.S. crude imports increased to seven million barrels per day, up 277,000 barrels per day. Average imports over the last four weeks are up just over one percent from the same four weeks last year.
Government regulators are asking for more information about ConocoPhillips' pursuit of Marathon Oil. Company officials were hoping to close the $22 billion deal by the end of this year, but this request could push that back.
The merger would increase production to 2.26 million barrels per day and raise ConocoPhillips' proved reserves to 6.8 billion barrels. Reuters reports both companies received the requests on July 11 and are collaborating with the FTC to review the merger.
Dozens of wildfires continued to plague the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada. The Alberta-Wildfire web site shows 161 active wildfires in the province Monday, including eight listed as out of control encircling Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta in what is roughly the center of Canada's oil sands operations. Firefighters have already put out 764 wildfires across Alberta so far this year.
An industry analyst suggests that just one of those fires is already curtailing production of nearly 200,000 barrels per day at a Suncor operation.