Regulator: North Dakota April Oil Output To Top 1 MMbpd
May 13 (Reuters) - Oil production from shale plays in North Dakota will likely top 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in April after missing expectations in March due to severe weather conditions, according to a state regulator.
The state's output hit 977,000 bpd in March, after winter weather interrupted well operations, Lynn Helms, director of the state's Department of Mineral Resources, said on a conference call on Tuesday.
Helms blamed "lingering winter weather" for the slow rise in output, 25,000 bpd more than the month before, but said he expects production to hit records in April.
Oil production in the Bakken and Three Forks shale plays in North Dakota hit a record high in March at just below 915,000 bpd, data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission showed on Tuesday.
Nearly 94 percent of North Dakota's output comes from the shale plays.
Meanwhile, natural gas flaring declined to 33 percent in March. The record high was 36 percent in September 2011.
Of this, 12 percent of the flared gas comes from wells that are not connected to pipelines and burn off their entire gas output, according to data from the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.
While that figure was characterized as "abnormally high," natural gas flaring will likely fall in April's data, after severe weather that forced delays to Hess Corp.'s plant, which came online in March.
The state expects to flare only 25 percent of the gas it produces in April and that should fall by the end of the year, Helms said.
New rules for the state's natural gas flaring set to be implemented June 1 have caused concern among some producers about how it will impact the market.
"I think it's fair to say they're extremely nervous about what this is going to mean," Helms added.
(Reporting by Catherine Ngai; Editing by Jessica Resnick-Ault and Leslie Adler)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension