Helms

Growth in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale may be scaled back following a pick up in activity in at least one resurgent play that extends from Texas into Louisiana, according to the state’s director of the Department of Mineral Resources.

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale’s next infrastructure buildout for growing crude oil production should begin in about two years, with overall needs estimated to cost $9 billion, according to the state’s chief oil and gas regulator.

Bakken Shale natural gas production in North Dakota again set a monthly record in March as other indicators for active wells, rigs and prices all pushed higher, prompting the state’s top oil and gas official on Tuesday to predict a robust drilling effort this spring and summer.

With existing goals getting tougher to meet, North Dakota officials are primed to revise the natural gas capture rules as infrastructure companies struggle to keep up with record production growth in the Bakken Shale.

Recent predictions that the Bakken Shale may be nearing its peak are wrong and, in fact, production in North Dakota may establish a record above 1.3 million b/d by the end of the year, according to Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) director Lynn Helms.

North Dakota’s chief oil and gas regulator said Thursday he is concerned about the energy industry’s ability to meet tougher natural gas capture goals.

North Dakota, home to the Bakken Shale, may revise its policy for inactive oil and gas wells, which now allows one year before penalties can be imposed on operators.

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) decision to reassess reserves potential in the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formation, is encouraging to North Dakota officials, and they plan to contribute to it with a separate state survey.

North Dakota officials on Friday reported monthly records for oil and natural gas production, tempered with nagging concerns about growth outpacing the build-out of more takeaway infrastructure, particularly for gas, in the nation’s second largest oil producing state.