By JOHN P. TRETBAR
Eagle Communications
The government reports weekly output of 12.43 million barrels per day, the best performance since April, 2020. The daily average increased by more than 200,000 barrels from the week before and was nearly half a million barrels higher than a year ago.
The Energy Information Administration said crude imports dropped by 817,000 barrels per day to 6.4 million barrels per day. The four week average is about 3.5% higher than the same four weeks last year.
U.S. crude inventories dropped by half a million barrels to 459.2 million as of June 2nd. The Energy Information Administration said stockpiles were two percent below the five-year seasonal average.
Kansas operators spud 539 wells so far this year, down 94 wells from a year ago. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports total well bore footage is down nearly 25%.
The Kansas Geological Society recognized and named eight new oil fields in the state, located in Butler, Cheyenne, Pratt and Rawlins counties. That’s 25 new-field discoveries so far this year.
Operators completed 34 wells across Kansas last week. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports two new well-completions in Barton County and one in Ellis County. Kansas regulators okayed 19 new drilling locations last week, 28 in western Kansas, including two in Barton County and one in Ellis County.
The Kansas Rig Count is up more than ten percent from a week ago, up 35% from a month ago, but down 23% from a year ago. Drilling was underway Friday, June 9 on one lease in Barton County and another in Ellis County. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 12 active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas, and 30 west of Wichita.
The Rotary Rig Count from Baker Hughes was up one oil rig but down two gas rigs for a total of 695 active rigs. The count in Texas was down six rigs.
An attempt by Saudi Arabia to pump up oil prices appears to have backfired. Acting apart from its OPEC-Plus partners, state-owned Saudi Aramco last week announced a large production cut and higher prices in Asia. But the Web site Oil-Price-dot-com reports world prices soon headed the other way, and Asian refiners started looking elsewhere for crude, including West Africa, Russia, and Iran.
Russia’s oil and gas tax revenues fell almost 36% in May from the same month last year and 12% from the month before. The decline in oil income is likely to complicate an already looming budget shortfall in Moscow, as Russia pursues what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. Reuters reports a $42 BILLION budget deficit in the first four months of the year as spending rose and energy revenue fell.
It’s been a year now since national gasoline prices reached their all time high. Prices are a dollar and a half lower today, and holding steady. The auto club AAA pegs the national average price for a gallon of regular at $3.59 per gallon. In Kansas, that’s down to $3.25. Diesel prices are down nearly two dollars from a year ago. Your average fill-up price is $20 cheaper than a year ago in Hays, and $19 cheaper in Great Bend.
Monthly rail traffic in the U.S. was down nearly six percent from last year, but petroleum and fracking sand were among the commodities that posted increases. The Association of American Railroads says oil-by-rail shipments in May were up 9.4% from a year ago. The weekly tally shows a six percent increase over the same week last year, but a slight drop week over week. Canadian oil-train traffic was down six percent from last year and down more than 400 tanker carloads from last week.