Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale fell in June from May, as Department of Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms said output was struggling following last year’s pandemic.

ND production

“The Covid-19 pandemic sort of put the industry to sleep, and it is struggling somewhat to wake up,” Helms said last week during a webinar to report the June statistics.

Crude oil production was 33.8 million bbl (1.128 million b/d) in June, down from 34.9 million bbl (1.128 million b/d) for May. Natural gas production declined to 89.4 Bcf (2.98 Bcf/d) from 92.4 Bcf (2.98 Bcf/d). 

Helms expects production to strengthen soon, but he does not anticipate strong growth until 2022. “The lull gives us some running room on infrastructure, but not a lot because after the next two...