By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Media
U.S. crude production rose slightly in August to yet another record, the third in as many months.
The Energy Information Administration reports average output nationwide rose 86,000 barrels per day from the previous record set in July. Texas, North Dakota and Colorado were each down marginally. New Mexico, Oklahoma and Alaska were higher. Kansas output falls more than one percent to 70,000 barrels a day.
The government reports weekly production topped last week's all-time record high by seven thousand daily barrels to reach an average of 13,651,000 barrels per day. Output has exceeded 13.6 million barrels per day in each of the last five weekly government reports. The four-week average is another record high at 13.64 million barrels per day. Cumulative production is nearly 13-and-a-half million barrels a day.
The largest agricultural cooperative in the United States, and operator of the largest refinery in Kansas, announces a big drop in income. CHS reports income just under $600 million dollars for fiscal 2025, down from $1.1 billion the year before. The Minnesota-based agribusiness giant reported its revenues dipped about four billion dollars, due largely to lower commodity prices. The company also reported tighter refining margins and planned maintenance at its refinery in McPherson, Kansas.
September was a big month for one of the state's biggest drillers. Murfin Drilling notches two new wildcat strikes, both now recognized and named by the Kansas Geological Society. One of them is in Logan County, and the other in Cheyenne County, continuing the company's long string of successes there. The Society identified five new fields last week, or 21 so far this year.
The Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes is up three gas rigs for a total of 548. The oil count is unchanged. Reports for Texas and Wyoming are each down one; Louisiana is up two rigs for the week.
The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil and Gas Service is unchanged in eastern Kansas, but up five west of Wichita at 13 rigs. Operators were rigging up rotary tools to spud a new well in Ellis County, and drilling was underway on Friday on leases in Russell and Gove counties. Operators completed 16 wells in Kansas this week including one in Ellis County. That's 968 new well completions so far this year, compared to 1,137 a year ago.
The KCC okayed 24 new drilling locations, or 557 so far this year, compared to 961 a year ago. There's one new permit in Finney County this week.
The top five drilling contractors in western Kansas for the first three quarters of the year are Duke Drilling, Murfin Drilling, Discovery Drilling, Southwind Drilling and Pickrell Drilling. Independent Oil and Gas Service bases the ranking on total footage drilled to total depth.
The next five are Sterling Drilling, Fossil Drilling, L.D. Drilling, Lighthouse Drilling and STP Drilling. In eastern Kansas the leaders are RJ Energy, Colt Energy, C&G Drilling, McGown Drilling, and TDR Construction, along with Thornton Air Rotary, Utah Oil and Steven A. Leis.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.9 million barrels per day last week, an increase of 873,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.6 million barrels per day, 7.3% less than the same four-week period last year. Imports from Canada held steady in October at about 3.4 million barrels a day.
Crude exports topped four million barrels a day for a third week in a row. The four-week average is up 13% from a year ago. Crude imports topped exports by 1.5 million daily barrels, refined product exports topped imports by 5.3 million.
The Energy Information Administration reports a five-million barrel rise in commercial crude-oil inventories to just over 421 million barrels as of October 31. Stockpiles are about four percent below the five-year average, dipping more than six million barrels from a year ago.
The government reports another half-million-barrel addition to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is now just under 410 million. Refills in the last year total 22.4 million barrels, purchased at roughly $60 a barrel to replace barrels sold three years ago for roughly $95.