
By John P. Tretbar
Roughly one in five
of the manned oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are still
evacuated, according to a report Sunday from the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement. The Bureau says personnel at 137 production
platforms remain evacuated. The report also says personnel have not yet
returned to two of the 12 moored drilling rigs working in the region. The
unmoored, so-called "dynamically positioned" rigs have all returned
to their working locations. The government estimates nearly 70% of the oil
production and nearly 50% of the gas production in the Gulf remain shut in.
Baker Hughes reported 254 active drilling rigs nationwide. That's a decline of
three oil rigs but an increase of three seeking natural gas. The counts in
Texas and New Mexico were each down one. Independent Oil & Gas Service
reports five active rigs in eastern Kansas, down one from last week, and five
west of Wichita, which is also down one.
Operators in the Sunflower State completed seven wells last week, all of them
west of Wichita. Independent Oil & Gas Service reports the total so far
this year is just 612 completed wells, compared to 964 at this time last year.
Regulators approved seven permits for drilling at new locations across Kansas
last week, five of them east of Wichita and two in the western half of the
state.
Triple-A says the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline last
week was $2.20. Kansas remains just a fraction below two dollars, among just
ten states below that price. Most of the stations across Hays and Great Bend
were at $1.999 [["one ninety-nine nine"]] on Thursday. Filling up
your 15-gallon tank will cost you about four dollars less than a year ago at
this time.
The Energy Information Administration says U.S. crude-oil inventories dropped
by nearly half a million barrels last week to 507.8 million barrels. EIA
reports stockpiles are about 15% above the five-year average for this time of
year.
The government reported an increase in U.S. crude production for the third week
in a row. The Energy Information Administration reports total output of over
10.8 million barrels during the week ending August 14. That's an increase of
143-thousand barrels a day over the week before.