By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Communications
The fourth quarter of 2023 will reflect mergers and acquisitions in the Permian Basin worth more than $120 BILLION. Occidental Petroleum has agreed to buy CrownRock in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $12 BILLION, the latest in a string of giant fossil fuel takeovers in the Permian. The deal is expected to increase Occidental's Permian production by 170,000 barrels per day.
The government says U.S. crude production dropped from last week's record by more than 100-thousand barrels per day. Output for the week through December 1st averaged 13,131,000 barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration. That's up more than a million barrels per day from the same week a year ago.
U.S. crude-oil producers had their best month ever in September at 13,236,000 barrels per day. The Energy Information Administration says that's an increase of 1.7% from the month before, and a more than seven percent increase from a year ago.
Production in Kansas rose a little over one percent to 2.2 million barrels, or more than 75,000 barrels per day in September. Energy Information Administration now ranks the Sunflower State 12th among crude-producing states. The top five are Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado and Oklahoma. The next five include Alaska, California, Wyoming, Utah and Louisiana.
The Energy Information Administration reports domestic crude-oil inventories dropped by nearly five million barrels to 455,000 barrels as of December 1. That's about 26 million barrels more than the stockpile report a year ago.
The weekly Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes shows 626 active drilling rigs nationwide. New Mexico was down four rigs on the week. Louisiana was up three. Texas was up two rigs.
The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil & Gas Service is down slightly from a week ago. There are 15 active rigs in eastern Kansas, and 22 rigs west of Wichita. Both tallies are down one from a week ago. Drilling was underway or about to start on two leases in Russell County on Friday.
Kansas regulators okayed ten permits for drilling at new locations last week, including one in Russell County out three in western Kansas. So far this year we've seen 1,215 new drilling permits, compared to 1,556 permits by the time last year.
Operators completed 39 wells across Kansas last week, with 21 in western Kansas, including one well in Ellis County. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 1,628 completed wells so far this year, or 117 more than last year at this time.
The Energy Information Administration reports domestic crude imports rose by 1.7 million barrels per day to average 7.5 million. Over the last four weeks, imports averaged more than six percent higher than a year ago.
Annual state income in New Mexico has swelled by nearly half over the last three years, driven by exploding output in the part of the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico. When the government convenes in January they'll decide how to spend an extra $3.5 billion dollars, according to a new government estimate announced on Monday.
A U.S. government report suggests that Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion is nearly complete and could go online by early next year. They plan to increase capacity by 300,000 barrels per day, moving heavy crude from landlocked Alberta Province to the Pacific Coast. The pipeline was acquired by the Canadian government in hopes of boosting Canadian crude prices after a long string of legal and logistical setbacks.