Report shows reduction in May oil production, increase in natural gas capture
Kristen Jones
Farmer Staff Writer
Oil production fell by 3.9 percent in May 2024, but the numbers still remained nine percent above the revenue forecast. Officials said during the July Director’s Cut that this decline was likely due to the amount of rain received in the state during May, and the subsequent road closures due to that precipitation.
State-wide there were 95 permitted wells in May, which is 16 more than the number of new wells in April. Preliminary numbers for June show a drop to 78 new wells, however that may change as the data is finalized.
Mark Bohrer, Assistant Director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, said, “We feel we need to be at 90-100 wells permitted to grow our production at the one to two percent level.”
There were 37 rigs active in the state, and 339 wells waiting on completion. This was down from 352 wells in April. The number of inactive wells also rose from 1,522 in April, to 1,560 in May.
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