North Dakota officials estimate that 25% of the Bakken Shale’s output could be negatively impacted by a change in energy policy under President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., threatening the 7,000 state-drawn, two-square-mile spacing units that contain all of the state’s future drilling sites. Nearly half (48%) of those units include federal-owned land and/or mineral rights,…
Topic / Bakken Shale
SubscribeBakken Shale
Articles from Bakken Shale

Black Hills Sees Natural Gas Continuing as Long-Term Choice for Customers
Natural gas is a long-term player and not a transitional fuel for the eight states in which Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. operates, CEO Linn Evans said Tuesday. During a 3Q2020 earnings call, Evans said he was not expecting any local lockdowns in the utility service areas, with the worst of the Covid-19 impacts…

Dakota Access Secures Key Regulatory Nod to Ramp Up Bakken-Fueled Oil Capacity
The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) secured the final regulatory approval needed to build a pump station and expand others in Illinois, projects that should help it nearly double oil capacity. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) this week approved Energy Transfer LP’s plan to build a pump station in Hancock County, IL, and expand other…

Natural Gas Production from Seven Key Plays to Slide to 79.2 Bcf/d in September, EIA Says
Both natural gas and oil production from seven key U.S. onshore plays is set to decline in September, continuing a downtrend that began earlier this year, according to the latest Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) published Monday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA expects natural gas production from the Anadarko, Appalachian, Denver Julesburg-Niobrara and Permian…

Hess Sees Bakken Oil Production Climb 26% in 2Q
Hess Corp. saw net production from its acreage in the Bakken Shale increase to 194,000 boe/d in the second quarter compared with 140,000 boe/d in the prior-year quarter, with net oil output up 26% to 108,000 b/d. The New York City-based independent attributed the performance to increased wells online and improved well performance. Total second…

Permian Gains Give Oomph to U.S. Drilling Permits in June, but Recovery to 2019 Levels Not in Sight
Requests for U.S. drilling permits improved in June following a brutal April and May, with the Permian Basin still the top region for operators, according to Evercore ISI. The analyst firm each month compiles permitting statistics for the Lower 48 and offshore using federal and state data. Covid-19 and low commodity prices had crushed permit…

North Dakota Reports ‘Five-Alarm Fire’ as Production Tumbles
Calling it a “five-alarm fire,” North Dakota’s chief oil and gas regulator on Friday reported record oil and gas production declines during May among a sea of inactive or under-active Bakken Shale wells. May oil production fell 30% to 26.6 million bbl (858,000 b/d), compared to 36.6 million bbls (1.2 million b/d) in April. Natural…

Dakota Access Shutdown Avoided (For Now) as Appeals Court Grants Administrative Stay
Crude oil can continue to flow on the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative stay of a lower court’s July 6 order vacating the pipeline’s water-crossing permits. The purpose of the stay, according to the appeals court, “is to give the court sufficient opportunity…

Bakken Producers Scramble to Prepare for Life Without DAPL
Producers in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale play are beginning to come to grips with operating without the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that is now under court order to shut down and be drained by early August. The immediate challenges are how to move up to 300,000 b/d to Gulf Coast refineries, and longer term up…

Court Vacates Permits, Orders Dakota Access to Temporarily Shut as Army Corps Prepares EIS
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered Energy Transfer LP to temporarily halt operations on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) within the next 30 days while an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the crude oil line is completed. The stoppage order was handed down on Monday when the court vacated the…