1,854 MMcf/d produced in May
The North Dakota Industrial Commission released its latest Oil and Gas Production Report today, outlining hydrocarbon activity in the state for May 2017.
13,876 wells producing
The NDIC reported that oil production fell in May, averaging 1,040 MBOPD. This is down slightly from the 1,050 MBOPD produced in North Dakota in April. 95% of all oil produced in May came from the Bakken and Three Forks, while only 5% was produced from legacy pools.
The number of producing wells in North Dakota continues to grow, reaching 13,876 in May. This is a new all-time high, and marks the third month in a row that the number of producing wells in the state has reached record highs.
Gas production setting records, portion flared decreases
Gas production has also broken an all-time high set last month, with 1,854 MMcf/d produced in May. This surpasses April’s record of 1,836 MMcf/d. Despite the increasing gas production, the percentage of gas flared in May decreased slightly to 10.1%. Additional gas gathering systems in a portion of the Williston basin have been approved, meaning this percentage may decrease in the future. According to the NDIC, the all-time high flared percent was 36% in late 2011.
Permitting activity is up, with 109 drilling permits, compared to 58 permits in April and 100 in May. Similarly, statewide rig count is up slightly, from 50 in April to 58 today. 99% of all drilling now targets the Bakken and Three Forks formations. The NDIC reports that the utilization for rigs capable of 20,000+ feet remains 30-35%. Well completions increased slightly from 53 in April to 58 in May, despite 16 days with wind speeds too high for completion work.
The NDIC estimates that there were 830 wells waiting on completion in North Dakota at the end of May, which is the same number as were waiting on completion at the end of April.
Williston producers coming to EnerCom’s The Oil & Gas Conference® 22
North Dakota represents a significant portion of the Williston basin and a number of oil and gas companies with Williston basin operations and assets will be presenting at the upcoming EnerCom conference Aug. 13-17, 2017 in Denver.
Presenting companies with Williston basin assets include Black Stone Minerals (ticker: BSM), EnerPLUS (ticker: ERF), Northern Oil & Gas (ticker: NOG), SM Energy (ticker: SM), WPX Energy (ticker: WPX), Denbury (ticker: DNR), Granite Oil (ticker: GXO), QEP Resources (ticker: QEP), U.S. Energy Corp. (ticker: USEG), Yuma Energy (ticker: YUMA), Earthstone Energy (ticker: ESTE), Lonestar Resources (ticker: LONE), Samson Oil & Gas Limited (ticker: SSN) and Whiting Petroleum (ticker:WLL).
To register for the EnerCom conference please visit the conference website.
