Helms

The rig counts and production moved into reverse during April in North Dakota but the number of producing wells and prices for Bakken Shale sweet crude pushed forward, the Department of Mineral Resources reported Friday.

North Dakota’s newly implemented Bakken sweet crude oil conditioning rules helped in lessening the potential fallout from the recent crude-carrying train derailment in the northeast part of the state, the state’s chief oil/natural gas official said Wednesday while reporting the state’s latest monthly production statistics.

North Dakota's newly implemented Bakken sweet crude oil conditioning rules helped in lessening the potential fallout from the recent crude-carrying train derailment in the northeast part of the state, the state's chief oil/natural gas official said Wednesday while reporting the state's latest monthly production statistics.

North Dakota has joined Wyoming in an effort to roll back the newly finalized hydraulic fracturing (fracking) rules for federal and Native American lands.

North Dakota oil and natural gas production fell sharply at the start of this year, dropping from all-time highs at the end of last year. The backlog of uncompleted wells is expected to climb as the rig count falls between now and summer.

Federal proposals to expand the definition of intrastate waters that can be regulated, along with a host of other energy issues, have the North Dakota state legislature working overtime. Up to 27 bills could impact the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), which regulates oil and natural gas activities.

Production soared in December in the Bakken Shale as prices and rig counts crumbled, but there are indications that the price bottom may have been reached in the first weeks of 2015, according to North Dakota’s chief oil/natural gas regulator, Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources.

North Dakota officials Wednesday reported a big drop in Bakken Shale sweet crude oil prices and a rig count that has fallen to 158, the lowest in six years.

Recognizing the growing gloom over sharply falling global oil prices, North Dakota’s chief oil/natural gas regulator Thursday told state lawmakers at a committee hearing in Bismarck that the situation doesn’t necessarily spell doom for the state’s robust energy production, which has set continuous growth records, elevating the state to the nation’s No. 2 spot in oil production.