N.D. oil production rises while natural gas prices fall
Kristen Jones
Farmer Staff Writer
In his April 17 Director’s Cut Address, Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, said overall the revenue seen through February exceeded the predictions in the revenue forecast. “We increased nine percent over January’s numbers and we are 16 percent over our revenue forecast… The price of oil was 3.4 percent below the revenue forecast, but the combination [with the production overage] was well above the revenue forecast.”
In February it was reported that there were 17,497 active wells, and inactive wells dropped by almost 100 from January to February, with 1,900 inactive wells reported. 487 wells were cited as waiting on completion and preliminary numbers show that 96 wells were completed.
Twenty-one frac crews are reported to be actively working in the state at this time, and 87 percent of oil production is being produced in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations through unconventional methods.