By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Communications
Business is booming in the Texas oil patch, and so is job growth. Officials say oil-and-gas production employment in the Lone Star State surged by 6,900 jobs last month. According to the Texas Workforce Commission that's the highest single month of job growth in 33 years of reporting. The so-called "upstream" employment in Texas is now over 200,000 workers for the first time in more than three years.
U.S. crude-oil imports, inventories and production are all dropping. The Energy Information Administration reported a slight drop in U.S. crude production last week, to just over 12.2 million barrels per day. That's down 200,000 barrels per day from a week earlier, and up 200,000 barrels per day from a year ago.
Commercial crude inventories dropped by 3.8 million barrels from a week earlier, to just over 463 million barrels as of June 16. The Energy Information Administration says stockpiles are about equal to the five-year seasonal average.
Imports dropped by 200-thousand barrels per day to 6.2 million. Energy Information Administration said the four-week rolling average shows imports up more than two percent from a year ago.
Kansas regulators okayed 12 new drilling locations across the state last week, with six in western Kansas, including one new permit in Stafford County. That's 634 permits for new locations so far this year, compared to 759 last year at this time. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 28 new well-completions across Kansas. The list of 14 in western Kansas includes two completions in Barton County, one in Ellis County and two in Stafford County.
Operators have spudded 634 wells in Kansas so far this year, down 16 percent from a year ago, with total footage drilled down more then 25 percent. The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil & Gas Service is down seven percent from a week ago and 25% from a year ago. The count west of Wichita was down four at 26 active rigs.
Crude production growth in New Mexico leads all other states. A report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that half of the production growth nationwide last year came from New Mexico. According to the Energy Information Administration, New Mexico set a record for annual output of 1.6 million barrels per day last year, second best in the nation. The state's March output was over 1.8 million barrels per day. Texas leads the way with nearly five and a half million barrels per day. At number-three, North Dakota produces about 1.1 million barrels per day. Output in Kansas averages about 77,000 barrels per day.
Chinese imports of Russian oil last month reached the highest level since the invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. The Moscow Times reports overall trade between the two countries reached a record $190 billion year. The report cites customs data showing China's imports of Russian crude in May more than doubled those just before the invasion in February of last year.
Green incentives on the West Coast appear to be having an impact, as biofuels begin to displace petroleum-based diesel fuels. The Energy Information Administration says consumption of diesel, as measured by product supplied, decreased to its lowest level since 2002 last year and continues to decline this year. The Energy Information Administration says the primary cause for the decline is the parallel rise of biofuels and renewable diesel, thanks to clean-fuel programs offering incentives for their use. The government forecasts a continuing drop in petro-diesel deliveries as the use of the renewable variety continues to grow.