By World Oil and Texas Oil Production Today —
The state's oil and gas industry continued to strengthen in August, according to an index of key activity.
“The Texas Petro Index continued its march into record territory in
August,” said economist Karr Ingham, who developed the index.
Strong crude oil prices and improving natural gas prices helped boost
the index to 289.8, a record level that beat the old record, set in
July, of 288.2. The latter number was revised upward from 287.7 because
of ongoing revisions for the state's oil production.
Ingham prepares the monthly index for the Texas Alliance of Energy
Producers, an industry association. He began the index in January 1995
with a base number of 100.
The index measures growth in key parts of the state's energy
industry, including crude oil and natural gas prices, rig counts,
drilling permits, oil and gas production rates and employment.
Global impact: Texas pumping more oil than some OPEC countries
In August, Texas crude oil production reached an estimated 71.1
million barrels, a 16.7 percent increase over the total for the same
month one year ago.
Crude oil wellhead prices averaged $103.09 a barrel, almost 14 percent higher than the average for August 2012.
The production gains and higher wellhead prices boosted the value of
Texas-produced crude oil by almost 33 percent, to $7.3 billion, Ingham
said.
Natural gas prices averaged $3.48 per thousand cubic feet, about 14
percent more than the average price in the year-earlier period. Higher
natural gas prices helped offset year-over-year production decline of
5.8 percent.
The value of Texas-produced gas rose to $2.25 billion, 7.5 percent more than in August 2012.
Production and high prices also boosted industry hiring, as oil and
gas payrolls reached a record high of 282,700 jobs in August, according
to statistical methods based on Texas Workforce Commission data.
“We've been in record numbers in terms of industry employment for some time now,” Ingham said.
The rosy picture occurred despite fewer drilling permits. State
regulators issued 1,606 drilling permits during the month, the fewest
for any August since 2009,? when oil and gas activity was in sharp
decline.
Sweet spots: Eagle Ford producers shift gears on well spacing
Fewer drilling permits could put downward pressure on drilling
activity in the coming months, Ingham said, but he believes oil prices
will remain high and support increases in the index.
“If prices remain above $100 a barrel or even in the $90-$95 a barrel
range, the rig count will continue its steady improvement and drilling
permits will stabilize or increase, and the industry will continue to
add jobs.
“At this point all of that seems very likely,” Ingham said. “What would be a surprise now is if the index actually declined.”
Since Hubbert began plotting his bell curves to show peak oil
production and regressions over time (fueling the notion that America's
peak occured in the early 70s), energy independence has become a hot
topic of discussion. Not only is it a major concern for businesses, but
one of vital importance for our national security as well- our
government has gone to such extent as hollowing out salt domes in the
flatlands of LA, MI, and AL to fill with our black gold, as part of our
Strategic Oil Reserves plan in the case of an attack (and impeding oil
shortage) from abroad. Its no surprise then that we have been hearing
the same banalities of “energy independence” and “ending our dependence
on foreign oil” from politicians for decades ever since Hubbert began
plotting his graphs. Well friends, it looks like it is finally within
reach- with Texas leading the way:
OPEC + Texas Oil Production Rankings*
July 2013 Barrels Oil Per Day BOPD
1. Saudi Arabia Produced 9.54 Million BOPD.
2. Iraq Produced 2.99 Million BOPD.
3. Texas Produced 2.767 Million BOPD.
4. United Arab Emirates Produced 2.70 Million BOPD.
5. Iran Produced 2.70 Million BOPD.
6. Kuwait Produced 2.54 Million BOPD.
7. Venezuela Produced 2.45 Million BOPD.
World Oil Production Ranking With Texas Barrels Oil Per Day July 2013
1. Russia Produced 10.62 Million BOPD.
2. Saudi Arabia Produced 9.54 Million BOPD.
3. China Produced 4.25 Million BOPD.
4. Canada Produced 4.02 Million BOPD.
5. Iraq Produced 2.99 Million BOPD.
6. Mexico Produced 2.85 Million BOPD.
7. FSU (Without Russia) Produced 2.90 Million BOPD.
8. Texas Produced 2.767 Million BOPD.
9. United Arab Emirates Produced 2.70 Million BOPD.
10.Iran Produced 2.70 Million BOPD.
11.Kuwait Produced 2.54 Million BOPD.
12.Venezuela Produced 2.45 Million BOPD in May 2013.
As of August 1st Texas has surpassed the UAE, Iran, and Kuwait to
become one of the 8th largest Oil producing state in the world, and the
implications this has for our country and for Texas are huge. With
reserves in largely untapped formations such as the Cline, Wolfberry,
and Wolfcamp shales of the Permian; the Devonian shales lying from the
border of Brownsville to Laredo; as well as the myriad other formations
just now starting to get fracked (like the Eaglebine of NE TX), Texas
has paved the way for billions of BOE to enter into the American
marketplace from our great state. While its seems almost impossible to
get an exact answer on how much is actually below us, and until our
geological community can figure it out, it will continue to remain the
hundred-billion-dollar question.
