Bakken Shale

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had a team of investigators on the scene Tuesday near Casselton, ND, where a BNSF train carrying crude oil smashed into another train that had derailed earlier, setting off explosions and fires in nine tanker cars.

The new year in North Dakota looks like it will be another record-breaker in terms of oil and natural gas production levels, along with a few surprises that may include adding another shale formation to the prolific Bakken/Three Forks plays.

Oil and gas companies operating in North Dakota could soon be required to report the location of thousands of miles of underground gathering lines to state regulators.

North Dakota officials on Thursday approved more extensive proposed pipeline regulations and reporting requirements for the oil and natural gas industry, including provisions aimed at cutting the amount of wellhead gas flaring.

Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced Friday that bipartisan legislation they authored to help streamline oil and gas permitting on federal lands in western North Dakota has passed the U.S. Senate and is headed to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

In a flurry of activity this week, WPX Energy Inc. said farewell to CEO Ralph A. Hill, who stepped down unexpectedly, named an interim replacement, increased the size of its board of directors, and promised to add a new board member nominated by one of its major shareholders.

Dozens of requests will be heard Wednesday and Thursday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) hearing panel, reviewing operator requests for increased well densities and spacing unit changes in the Bakken/Three Forks formation.

The year-end lull that comes with the onset of winter is likely to give way next year in North Dakota to a million-barrel-a-day oil and natural gas industry that will see a number of positive changes, including decreases in production costs and amounts of flared associated gas, along with continuing technology advances in drilling operations, the state’s chief oil/gas official said Friday.

While oil and natural gas production continued on its record-breaking trajectory, North Dakota’s burgeoning Williston Basin also produced some significantly higher prices for natural gas in the most recent statistics released Friday by the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).