By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Operators of the Keystone Pipeline announced on Friday federal regulators have OKed planning to restart the segment of pipe that spilled 14,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude in northern Kansas.
TC Energy said earlier the impacted segment of what it calls the Cushing Segment had been removed and sent to a lab for testing.
On Friday the company said the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration had approved its Restart Plan. The statement said the plan includes several days of testing and inspections.
TC Energy said activities on the spill site would continue despite the cold weather's impact on some equipment. The company reported approximately 8,395 barrels of oil had been recovered as of Friday.
TC Energy dramatically ramped up crude flows through the Keystone system in the weeks leading up to the oil spill in Washington County on Dec. 8.
That's according to a Bloomberg report citing data from an energy research firm. Wood-Mackenzie confirmed the numbers for us via email.
"The half-hourly data point Wood-Mackenzie recorded before the decrease in flows was 649,868 bpd. This occurred at 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 7," according to the Wood-Mackenzie email.
Those flows rose from a baseline of 622,000 barrels per day. The company reported in October it would raise flows to test the system's operational efficiency.
Kansas regulators approved eight new drilling permits for the week, 1,581 for the year, including three in eastern Kansas and five west of Wichita. There was one new permit filed in Barton County last week. Operators completed 38 wells last week, bringing the total for the year to 1,589, compared to 959 completions a year ago.
The Kansas Rig Count was down two rigs in eastern Kansas and down two west of Wichita. That's down 8 percent from the week before.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported two operators about to spud new wells in Ellis County. Operators completed one new well in Barton County, one in Ellis County and two in Stafford County.
The rotary rig count from Baker Hughes last week dropped by five oil rigs, with Texas dropping by three rigs, Wyoming down two, and Colorado, North Dakota and Oklahoma each down one. The rig count in Kansas from Independent Oil & Gas Service was up one east of Wichita and unchanged in western Kansas. Drilling was underway or about to begin on three wells in Ellis County and one in Stafford County Monday.
The Kansas Geology Society's Nomenclature Committee met earlier this month to recognize and name four new oil fields in Kansas. They're located in Butler, Cheyenne, Gove and Scott counties. According to a release from Independent Oil & Gas Service, that's 40 new fields in the calendar year 2022, compared to 21 last year.
The second felt earthquake in West Texas in less than a month struck northwest of Midland with a magnitude of 5.3, the fourth-largest in state history. It occurred in an area where saltwater disposal operations were halted a year ago after a string of three felt quakes in just over a year.
Another felt quake last month struck in a different seismic response area southwest of Midland. Regulators last week responded with new disposal limits there.
On Nov. 16, a 5.4-magnitude shook a desolate stretch of desert in Reeves County, Texas. The quake was the third largest in Texas history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The chief energy regulator in Texas has a new leader. Commissioner Christi Craddick was unanimously elected chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas during a meeting Dec. 13. Craddick replaces Commissioner Wayne Christian as chairman of the three-member panel.
The latest numbers from the No. 3 crude-producing state show October output dropped a fraction of a percent. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports output of 1.112 million barrels per day, down 123 barrels per day from September. The gas-capture tally statewide remains at 95 percent, with some ups and downs in the various basins and leaseholds. That means operators were able to limit the venting or flaring to just 5 percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells.
Gasoline inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels, according to a government report. The auto club Triple-A says the national average for regular gasoline has fallen by another four cents to $3.10 per gallon. Pump prices have dropped a dime a week for the last month.
Diesel stockpiles dropped slightly, and are about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year. National diesel prices dropped last week to $4.70 per gallon, down more than half a dollar from a month ago, but still more than a dollar higher than last year at this time.
A government report predicts the huge profit margins currently enjoyed by U.S. refiners will drop by almost 20 percent early next year. The EPA report also suggests refiners will maximize diesel fuel production amid a slight contraction in the U.S. economy, which could reduce historically high diesel pump prices beginning next year.
The government reported a slight uptick in U.S. crude production last week, to 12.15 million barrels per day, up from 11.5 million barrels per day a year ago. U.S. crude imports decreased by a million barrels per day last week to 5.8 million barrels per day. The four-week average is about 4 percent lower than during the same four weeks last year. Commercial crude inventories dropped by almost 6 million barrels last week. The tally as of Dec. 16 was 418.2 million barrels, or about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Oil-by-rail shipments in the U.S. dropped slightly across the U.S. but rose in Canada. Ahead of the expected holiday lull, U.S. operators originated 10,582 tanker carloads of petroleum and petroleum products in the week through Dec. 17, according to a weekly report from the Association of American Railroads.
Russia's deputy prime minister said last week they are ready to reduce Russian production by 500,000 to 700,000 barrels per day early next year, just as crude demand in China is expected to spike. The production cuts are viewed as a response to the G-7 nations' recent move to cap the price they'll pay for Russian crude.
Another fire at another Liquefied Natural Gas facility prompts another warning of the impact on winter supplies. Bloomberg reports Shell has suspended production at a floating LNG facility off the coast of Australia after a fire broke out. The move puts a crimp in supplies to Asia right as winter starts to boost consumption.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent detailed demands to Freeport LNG on 64 items following a visit to the company's Texas facility last month. Freeport shut down the plant June 8 after an explosion and fire that energy consultants blamed on inadequate procedures, human error and fatigue.
The company says they have nothing new to report on plans to restart operations this month. Reuters reports Freeport missed three previous restart targets. In November, it said it expects to be processing about 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day in January, and reach full production in March 2023.