Kansas oil companies scramble to increase production

Oil prices hit the floor two years ago, prompting producers to cut back. Some small oil companies went under. Now, prices are reaching record highs.

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March 14, 2022 - 2:56 PM

An oil pump jack in Kansas. Photo by SCOTT CANON/KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

To understand why oil prices are high today, you have to go back two years, to the early days of the pandemic.

Oil prices hit the floor in April 2020. In fact, they fell right through the floor. For a while, oil producers had to pay companies to take oil off their hands. One day, the price in Kansas even hit a negative $47 a barrel.

Some small oil companies went under. In Kansas alone, companies took almost 5,000 wells off-line and production plummeted.

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