October wildfires impact ND oil production

MDN File Photo
North Dakota’s oil production had a recent decline largely due to the wildfires in October.

BISMARCK – Wildfires in October attributed to a decline in oil and gas production in the state that month, according to the director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

Nathan Anderson said the state produced 1.178 million barrels of oil a day in October. In September, the state produced 1.199 million barrels of oil a day.

He said the oil production numbers are down about 522,000 barrels for the month.

“This is largely due to the wildfires that occurred starting later in the first week of October and those shut-ins that remain on and off for the remainder of the month,” Anderson said. He said oil production is down 1.8% but it’s still up to the revenue forecast of 7%.

Anderson released the October production numbers this past week. The numbers are normally two months behind.

North Dakota produced 3.4 million cubic feet (MCF) a day of natural gas in October, a decrease of 4.1%. The gas capture was 94%. In September, the gas capture was 95%.

Anderson said the natural gas production was down also due to the wildfires in the state in October.

He said 97% of the state’s oil production is from the Bakken and the Three Forks formations, and 3% from the legacy pools.

On Wednesday, the price of North Dakota Light Sweet crude oil was $62.65 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $70.94 a barrel, according to the report. 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 September, 100 wells were permitted and in October, 111 wells were permitted, according to Anderson. The all-time high was 370 wells permitted in October 2012.

He said the trend over the past several years has been less 2-mile lateral wells being permitted and more 3-mile lateral permits coming in. He said most recently, there’s been probably half a dozen 4-mile lateral permits, He said the trend for longer laterals continues in the state.

The rig count in North Dakota for the month of October was 39, Anderson said. In November, there were 37 rigs. On Wednesday, he said 37 rigs were actively working in the state and two were on federal surface.

Anderson said North Dakota is fourth in the nation in rig counts. Citing Baker Hughes information, he said 589 rigs are working in the United States. In addition to the 37 in North Dakota, 284 are in Texas, 104 in New Mexico and 43 in Oklahoma.

From a basin standpoint, he said, the Permian is at 304 rigs, Eagle Ford/South Texas at 46 rigs, Williston Basin including North Dakota and Montana around 40 and the Marcelus/Utica (dry gas) at 35.

In October, he said 331 wells were waiting on completion,1,796 are inactive and remains relatively consistent month over month, and 95 were completed. In November, 98 wells (preliminary number) were completed.

He said the number of producing wells set another all-time high of 19,334 in October.

Anderson said 73 abandoned wells have been plugged and 82 sites reclaimed during 2023 through October 2024 as part of a $25 million grant. “We expect this to be closer to the 110 mark once all the grant money is all wrapped up,” he said.

On the Fort Berthold Reservation, Anderson said, oil production is at 177,000 barrels of oil per day. He said one rig is running and the reservation has 2,950 active wells. He said two wells are waiting on completion.

“Production continues to drop slightly month over month. I would likely contribute this to just less activity and a rig count that doesn’t quite add the same production as the decline,” he said, referring to Fort Berthold Reservation.

He said the drilling rig count in the state remains steady even with the mergers and acquisitions across the United States. He said this is expected to increase gradually to the mid-40s sometime over the next couple years.

He said 14 frac crews are actively operating in the state and operators continue to maintain a permit inventory of approximately 12 months.