When North Dakota Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms gives his monthly "Director's Cut" report on activity in the Williston Basin, he likes to have a theme.
For the October report...
"I'm calling this month 'Where's Waldo?'" said Helms. "
For that month, oil production was up about 6800 barrels a day from September – and is still over 1.1 million barrels a day. Gas production was also up by 47 million cubic feet per day. At the same time, the price of oil dropped to $27 a barrel. And Helms says the number of non-completed wells is down, but well completions are also down.
"What we think happened is, a significant number of operators, in response to the moving of the gas flaring goals, opened some wells up," said Helms. "They put some wells back into production that were restricted or shut-in in that September time frame."
And Helms says a number of wells are also in what he called “mergers and acquisitions.”
"710 wells are currently in the merger and acquisition mode," Helms said. "Nine new operators are planning to acquire North Dakota properties and become operators."
But Helms says that’s good news – because the 9 new operators show faith that the oil price will come back at some point – and when that happens, North Dakota is a good place to make money.
