By JOHN P. TRETBAR
A government agency you may not have heard of got busy over the weekend monitoring offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico as hurricane Ida blew through. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement activated its Hurricane Response Team, which works with operators and other government agencies until the storm is no longer a threat. BSEE says by Sunday afternoon personnel were evacuated from 288 production platforms and 11 drilling rigs in the Gulf. Another ten of the so-called dynamically-positioned rigs were moved out of the storm's path. The agency reports operators have shut in more than 95% of crude production and 93% of natural gas production in the Gulf.
On the heels of the worst weekly losses since May, crude-oil prices last week posted the best weekly gains in over a year. Both the New York and London benchmarks gained 11%, their biggest weekly gains since June of last year.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson is fetching $59 per barrel, after increasing a dollar and a quarter on Friday. Current prices are $5.50 higher than a week ago, but are $4.75 lower than at the first of the month.
Baker Hughes reported 508 active rigs across the U.S., an increase of five oil rigs. Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma was each up one, while the county in Wyoming was up two for the week.
The Rig Count in Kansas was up two in west of Wichita at 26 active rigs. The count east of Wichita was unchanged at eight rigs. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports drilling underway on one lease and about to commence on another in Barton County. Drilling was also underway on a lease in Ellis County.
Operators completed two wells in Barton County and one in Ellis County last week. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 20 newly-completed wells statewide, and 528 so far this year. Kansas regulators approved 33 new drilling permits, 22 east of Wichita and 11 in Western Kansas, including one new drilling location in Ellis County. There are 660 drilling permits in The Sunflower State so far this year.
The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported a decline in U.S. crude-oil inventories of three million barrels from the previous week. At 432.6 million barrels, current stockpiles are about six percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
EIA said U.S. crude production decreased slightly last week to just over 11.4 million barrels per day. That's down about 5,000 barrels per day from the week before, but nearly half a million barrels higher than the same week last year.
The government reported a decline in U.S. crude imports last week, down to 6.2 million barrels per day. Over the last four weeks, imports have averaged nearly nine percent higher than the same period a year ago.
The government reports the lowest number of drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells since November of 2017. The decline in DUCs reflects an increase in completions, while new well drilling activity remains low. The Energy Information Administration says that's contributing to increases in Permian Basin production. The report cautions dwindling DUC inventories could limit production growth in coming months.
Oil-by-rail shipments were down slightly last week. The Association of American Railroads reports 10,308 tanker cars hauling petroleum during the week through August 21st. That's down six tankers from the week before and about two percent lower than a year earlier. The spike in crude-oil shipments by rail in Canada continues, increasing 420 tankers over the week before and 43% higher than a year ago.
For the second time in two months, an offshore platform operated by Mexico's state-run PEMEX oil company exploded into flames. At least one oil worker died; five others were reported missing. Reuters reports the fire cut the company's supplies of natural gas used for re-injection, and as a result cut its total crude-oil production by 444,000 barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, was hit hard last year as oil prices plummeted. They are turning that around now as crude prices have risen by more than 30% since the start of the year. The value of Saudi Arabia's oil exports more than doubled in June. Official data cited by Reuters show Saudi oil-export income increased 123% to $16.4 billion from a year earlier. Saudi energy giant Aramco has seen its profits jump by nearly four times, boosted by rising prices. The world's biggest oil producer said net income rose by 288% to over $25 BILLION for the second quarter.
The seven-year head of Libya's embattled National Oil Corp reportedly left the country on a business trip without approval. That apparent violation of policy has reportedly cost him his job, at least for now.