Oneok suspends work on ND gas processing plant
Oneok Partners LP, Tulsa, suspended construction on a gas processing plant in McKenzie County, ND, in the Williston basin along with halting construction at a plant in the Power River basin in Wyoming and the Anadarko basin in Oklahoma.
The 200-MMCfd Demicks Lake plant in McKenzie County was part of a construction project under way for 500-MMcfd processing capacity.
Oneok Partners Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Terry K. Spencer said Feb. 24 that the company will spend no more money on the Demicks Lake plant "until market conditions improve."
Oneok is ready to reschedule completion dates once commodity prices increase, he said.
Continental to reduce operated Bakken rigs
Continental Resources Inc. operated 12 rigs in the Bakken formation during February, and executives expected to reduce that number to 10 rigs during March.
For 2015, Continental plans to run an average of 10 rigs in the foreseeable future and to defer completions because of low oil prices.
Continental planned to cut the number of its Bakken stimulation crews to 4 as of early March compared with 10 crews in January.
The company's Bakken production averaged 130,783 boe/d during the fourth quarter of 2014, up 40% compared with the fourth quarter 2013. Full-year 2014 production averaged 114,715 boe/d, up 30% from 2013.
Continental completed 72 net (234 gross) operated and non-operated Bakken wells during the fourth quarter 2014. It completed 312 net (921 gross) operated and non-operated Bakken wells for full-year 2014.
Summit pipeline spills brine drilling waste
A Summit Midstream Partners LLC pipeline spilled nearly 3 million gal of saltwater drilling waste about 15 miles north of Williston, ND, the US Environmental Protection Agency estimated.
The spill was detected Jan. 6 although Summit executives said it was unclear when the spill started or what caused it.
The Summit spill was about three times bigger than a saltwater spill on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in July 2014. During 2006, state officials reported 1 million gal of saltwater waste spilled near Alexander.
North Dakota state lawmakers said they would consider legislation to mandate additional monitoring and safety for pipelines that carry drilling waste from oil fields.
ND bill seeking audit of oil agency dies
The North Dakota House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have called for an audit of the Oil and Gas Division of the North Dakota Industrial Commission.
Lawmakers rejected House Bill 1259 by a vote of 67 to 22. The bill also called for an audit of the North Dakota Department of Health.
The proposal sought performance audits of the two state agencies, but lawmakers decided an interim Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee should consider the proposed audits.
