North Dakota setting production records

July 18, 2007
North Dakota's production averaged 120,000 b/d of oil and 190 MMcfd of gas in May, both 20-year highs, according to preliminary state figures.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 18 -- North Dakota's production averaged 120,000 b/d of oil and 190 MMcfd of gas in May, both 20-year highs, according to preliminary state figures.

About 8% of casinghead gas is flared because gas processing plant capacity is insufficient, but refits and new plants are expected to capture all the gas within a few months, the state industrial commission said.

Production and the state's rig count are expected to continue growing, mainly due to the horizontal drilling play for oil and gas in the Mississippian Middle Bakken formation in the Williston basin, officials said (OGJ, June 12, 2006, p. 27).