Helms

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale will experience 10% growth in oil and natural gas activity next year, with steady but more moderate growth in the two subsequent years, according to Lynn Helms, director of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources.

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale oil and natural gas production edged up slightly in July, despite price-related pressures that have kept operators treading water, Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) officials said Friday.

No longer playing catch up, the oil and natural gas infrastructure in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota has hit its stride, and the outlook appears sunny into early 2020, state oil and gas officials said.

Production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale remained unchanged in May from April, but that doesn’t mean the prolific sweet crude oil and natural gas area has peaked, the state’s chief oil and gas regulator said last week.

Anemic crude oil prices are sticking around even as operations ramp up on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to carry Bakken Shale supplies out of North Dakota, but the state’s chief oil and natural gas regulator doesn’t expect that to continue in the longer term.

North Dakota’s latest production statistics released Friday show the state is maintaining its 1 million b/d rate for oil production, but state officials are concerned about developments at OPEC and in Washington, DC, that could adversely impact production levels.

A pilot program launched last year between Denver-based Whiting Petroleum Corp. and North Dakota’s state-sponsored Oil/Gas Research Council (OGRC) has produced some encouraging results that have Whiting engineers and state energy officials salivating at long-term prospects for boosting oil/natural gas production in the second biggest producing state in the nation.

While reporting a return to 1 million b/d oil production, North Dakota’s top oil/natural gas official also said Thursday the much maligned Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) should help “level the playing field” for Williston Basin supplies relative to the red hot Permian Basin where most of the U.S. exploration/production is focused currently.

Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale shot up in January, but state officials still expect to see a downward trend for most of the year before another increase in the fourth quarter.