Bakken Shale oil producers will likely limit annual production growth to 1-2% over the next 10 years, driven largely by concerns about natural gas capture, according to North Dakota’s top oil and gas regulator.

Department of Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms discussed the outlook, along with the state’s latest production and drilling statistics, with reporters on Monday. Helms said he met earlier this month with top executives from 10 of the state’s top operators during the NAPE Summit in Houston.

The main takeaway was that “the Bakken has been rebranded, whether we wanted it to be or not, as mature,” Helms said.

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