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Kansas Oil Production Drops Significantly In 2015

Sean Sandefur
/
KMUW/File photo

Oil production in Kansas fell sharply last year. According to the Kansas Geological Survey, oil production in the state dropped more than 8 percent in 2015.

Last year's steep decline in production and oil prices has been hard on those who work in the industry as well as those who receive royalties from mineral rights.

"When you don't have the production coming from new wells coming to replace the older wells as they decline, then overall production goes down," says Rex Buchanan, the interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey. "There's obviously a lot of people that are employed in the oil and gas industry and services and that sort of thing that it affects as well, and then landowners just don't see the royalty income that they would otherwise see, so it has kind of a ripple effect throughout the economy."

The average monthly oil price fell to $39 per barrel in 2015. The year before, it was more than double that amount.

J. Schafer is the News Director of Kansas Public Radio at the Univeristy of Kansas. He’s also the Managing Editor of the Kansas Public Radio Network, which provides news and information to other public radio stations in Kansas and Missouri. Before joining KPR in 1995, Schafer spent 10 years as a commercial radio and TV newsman. During his career, he's filed stories for nearly every major radio news network in the nation including ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, UPI, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NPR and the BBC. This seems to impress no one. At KPR, he produces feature stories, interviews and newscast items and edits the work of others. In the fall of 2000, he performed contract work for the U.S. State Department, traveling to central Asia to teach broadcast journalism at newly independent radio stations in the former Soviet Union. One of his passions is Kansas; learning about and promoting the state’s rich heritage, people and accomplishments. Schafer gives presentations about Kansas to various organizations around the state to remind residents about our awesome history and incredible people. A native of Great Bend, he studied journalism and mass communications at Barton County Community College and at the University of Kansas. He was also an exchange student to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. The “J.” in J. Schafer stands for Jeremy, but he doesn’t really care for that name. He also enjoys the pretentiousness of using just a single initial for a first name!