North Dakota

ND oil, gas production numbers down slightly

Published

2 years ago

August 19, 2024

ND oil, gas production numbers down slightly

Eloise Ogden/MDN
The most recent figures for oil and natural gas production in North Dakota show a slight decrease but those numbers are expected to rise again.

BISMARCK – North Dakota’s production of oil and natural gas declined slightly in June, according to the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources.

The June figures, released on Thursday, are the most recent figures available.

In June, the state produced 1,175,567 barrels of oil a day and in May, the state produced 1,198,086 barrels of oil a day. The all-time high was 1,519,037 barrels of oil a day in November 2019.

Mark Bohrer, assistant director of the Mineral Resources department, said the number of barrels of oil produced in June was down roughly 2%. He said it wasn’t that surprising because there were 121 fewer wells producing in June than in May and completion numbers were down slightly. He said the good news is it looks as if the July completion numbers will be up, so that will have a positive impact on production numbers.

Bohrer said natural gas production was down about 1%.

In June, the state produced 3,472,710 MCF a day of natural gas, and in May, the state produced 3,510,141 MCF a day. The all-time high was 3,582,821 MCF a day in December 2023.

On Thursday, the price of North Dakota light sweet crude oil was $64.75 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $77.87 a barrel. The all-time high was in June 2008 when N.D. light sweet was $125.62 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $134.02 a barrel.

In July, 107 wells were permitted and in June, 78 wells were permitted. The all-time high was 370 wells permitted in October 2012.

On Thursday, 37 rigs were actively drilling in North Dakota. One rig was drilling on federal surface. The all-time high was 218 rigs drilling in N.D. on May 29, 2012.

In June, 372 wells were waiting on completion.

In June, 18,973 wells (preliminary number) were producing. Of that number, 16,891 wells or 89% are now unconventional Bakken/Three Forks wells and 2,082 wells or 11% are produced from legacy conventional pools. The all-time high was 19,094 producing wells in May of this year.

On the Fort Berthold Reservation 196,135 barrels of oil a day were produced in June. Three rigs were actively drilling and 2,942 wells were active on the reservation. Ten wells were waiting on completion and 121 drilling permits were approved.

According to the Department of Mineral Resources, the drilling rig count remains low due to mergers and acquisitions but is expected to return to the mid-40s with a gradual increase expected over the next two years.

Drilling is expected to increase slightly, and operators continue to maintain a permit inventory of about 12 months.

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

5 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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