Helms

The rig count keeps going down in North Dakota, and it is going to get lower and stay down longer than previously thought, according to comments Friday by the state’s oil/gas regulator.

Low oil/natural gas prices are driving technology advances by operators in the Bakken Shale play, and lower breakeven prices are expected to develop this year as a result, according to North Dakota’s chief oil/gas regulator.

While state officials reported the “bottom of the bottom” in oil/natural gas operations, North Dakota nevertheless held steady in its oil and natural gas production in November, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) reported on Friday.

The rig count in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale started the new year at 58, the lowest level since 2009, state officials told NGI’s Shale Daily on Tuesday, adding that the count is expected to fall further during the first half of the year.

Less drilling due to low commodity prices has reduced the amount of natural gas being flared in North Dakota.

Oil-rich production is holding steady in North Dakota, but the rig count and well completions have continued to decline, which may pressure the state’s struggling producers through at least the first half of 2016, Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) Director Lynn Helms said Wednesday.

The latest oil/natural gas statistics in North Dakota’s Bakken point to a continued downtrend, and the state’s chief oil/gas regulator said Friday he expects current price and production levels to continue throughout 2016. Larger producers are slowing down as a signal to the market, he said.

As they have already done for flaring, North Dakota officials are considering relaxing their one-year deadline for operators of newly drilled wells to complete them or face loss of permits and the need to plug the well.

With oil and natural gas production essentially flat in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale play, state officials have noted an uptick in drilling interest on the Fort Berthold Reservation while a statewide effort to reduce wellhead flared gas has hit a wall.