WILLISTON, N.D. - North Dakota oil production fell about 1 percent in March to an average of 1.1 million barrels per day, the Department of Mineral Resources said Thursday.
Average daily oil production dropped nearly 10,000 barrels since February due to the ongoing slowdown in the industry caused by low oil prices.
Director Lynn Helms said he predicted oil production was going to drop below 1.1 million barrels per day in March, but four operators submitted amended production reports with significant production increases.
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“We had anticipated as recently as 10 days ago it was going to be much worse than that,” Helms said.
Natural gas production increased in March by 1.2 percent to a new all-time high of 1.7 billion cubic feet per day.
Helms attributed that increase to the focus on the core area of the Bakken, where the gas to oil ratio is two to four times higher than other areas.
Natural gas flaring dropped to 9.7 percent in March, the first time since December 2007 that percentage has been below 10 percent.
“Fortunately, industry has really focused a lot of gas gathering and investment in that (core) area,” Helms said.
The volume of gas flared in March was not available Thursday.
North Dakota had 27 drilling rigs active Thursday, the lowest since July 2005.
The statewide rig count is now down 88 percent down from the peak ins 2012. In Williams County, the rig count is down 98 percent since the peak of activity.
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“Most of Williams County is just not economic at today’s oil prices,” Helms said. “Just a small part of the southeastern corner of Williams County is economic.”
Helms anticipates the slowdown to last until at least the third quarter of 2016 and possibly into the second quarter of 2017.
The number of wells that have been drilled but are waiting on hydraulic fracturing crews was 920 at the end of March, an increase of 13 from the previous month. Crews completed 59 new wells in March.
The estimated number of inactive wells is 1,523, an increase of 84 since February.
Transportation of crude oil continues to shift away from rail and onto pipelines, with 56 percent by pipeline and 35 percent by rail, said Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.
About 400,000 barrels per day traveled by rail in March, down from the peak of 800,000 barrels per day two years ago, Kringstad said. Most rail shipments continue to head to the East Coast.
