North Dakota Reports Record Oil & Gas Production in December

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Late last week, North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources issued oil and gas production statistics through December 2014. The report shows that December production for both oil and gas set record highs.

The state's December oil production was more than 1.22 million barrels per day (BBL/d), or about 38.04 barrels for the month, an increase of about 2.4 million barrels from November and a new all-time high for North Dakota's oil production.

The report shows that North Dakota also had a record number of producing wells in December: 12,124. However, the number of drilling rigs in the state has fallen by more than 50 rigs since November, when there were 188 active rigs in the state. On the date of the report, February 13, the regulators reported a rig count of 137, the lowest since July 2010.

Despite the falling rig count, the state's oil production in January and February could show continued growth, as new wells continue to come online. While only 47 new wells were completed in North Dakota in November, the state preliminarily estimates that 173 wells were completed in December.

Natural gas production increased more than 77.4 million cubic feet per day (MMCF/d) in December from November, but the portion of natural gas that was flared dropped by one percentage point to 24%. The state reported that Hess' (NYSE:HES) (New York) Tioga natural gas plant, North Dakota's primary facility for processing "waste" natural gas from oil production, is now operating at 76% of full capacity.

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