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Private midstreamer Outrigger Energy II LLC has agreed to provide long-term natural gas gathering and processing services to a subsidiary of supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. to assist in developing Williston Basin assets in North Dakota.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission plans to analyze the composition of natural gas liquids (NGL) produced in the state to weigh the feasibility of building petrochemical plants to help reduce flared and wasted natural gas from Bakken Shale production.

North Dakota officials are attempting to address the nagging problem of abandoned oil wells at a time when robust Bakken Shale growth continues unabated.

The journey by Baker Hughes, a GE Company, has been a bumpy one since it began operating two yearsago, but improvements are coming with a continued focus on innovation and technology for its global customers, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said Tuesday.

The two hottest oil and natural gas basins in the United States, the Permian and Williston, are both working through similar bottlenecks and constraints on their respective midstream infrastructure systems, according to North Dakota’s leading oil and gas regulator.

North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven and energy industry stakeholders are urging the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to undertake another comprehensive review of the Williston Basin, anticipating that an updated assessment may spur more interest in the Bakken Shale, which is producing about 1 million b/d.

Baker Hughes Inc. has been riding a bit of a rough road as it casts off its North American pressure pumping business and prepares for the mega-merger with a unit of General Electric (GE), but the destination — a broader price recovery — is in sight, CEO Martin Craighead said Tuesday.

The massive workforce reduction that pummeled the global oilfield services (OFS) sector beginning in late 2014 has begun to reverse, particularly in North America, where activity in the onshore is quickly escalating, Rystad Energy said.

Activity across North America is on the “cusp” of recovery, but pricing improvements will be muted by overcapacity that threatens a near-term, full-throttled rally, Baker Hughes Inc. CEO Martin Craighead said Thursday.