April was a good month for North Dakota’s oil and gas industry.
That from state Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms. He held his monthly “Director’s Cut” briefing, where he discussed the April numbers. Helms said oil production was up around one percent in April, compared with March.
"Kind of expected a little bit more," Helms said. "But as you recall, we were still struggling to find spring back in April."
North Dakota produced 1.3 million barrels per day in April. Helms said says natural gas production set a new all-time high, at just under 3.2 billion cubic feet per day, with 95 percent of the gas being captured. Helms said he’s especially happy with the improved gas capture situation on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
"We always used to talk about the difficulty in getting right-of-way, and getting infrastructure built on Fort Berthold to capture the gas," Helms said. "The commitment of some of our companies on Fort Berthold, as well as the commitment of the operators, is really starting to show up."
And Helms said that’s despite continued low prices for natural gas.
As for the outlook for the remainder of 2023, Helms said he’s expecting close to a two percent growth in oil production.
"We think that we could see another 50,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil a day, in terms of production, by year end," Helms said.
Helms said he expects oil prices to remain in the $75 per barrel range.
