The “Director’s Cut” report on oil and gas production for June in North Dakota is a mixed bag.
State mineral resources director Lynn Helms said oil and natural gas production in North Dakota set a new record.
"We had a two percent increase in oil production, and a two percent increase in natural gas production -- both of them new all-time highs," Helms said. "Oil production jumped by 30,000 barrels per day, to 1,425,000 barrels a day. And with the associated gas, another record."
Helms said the state also set records in the number of wells. But he said the industry has some jitters about oil prices.
"This week has been a real roller coaster," Helms said. "With the trade disagreement with China, and issues with Iran, there is just a lot of uncertainty about supply and demand, all the way through the end of next year."
And the bad news for the month? Natural gas flaring increased.
"Our current goal is 88 percent capture," Helms said. "We dropped to 76 percent."
Helms said there were some planned – and some unplanned – outages on some gas pipelines and gas processing plants. He said while most of those are back in service, July will still be a difficult month for gas capture. But he said in August, it looks like the numbers will improve.
You can find a video of the first few minutes of Helms' briefing on our Prairie Public News Facebook page.
