North Dakota Oil Production Drops In February

North Dakota’s top oil and gas regulator attributed a larger than expected drop in the state’s oil and natural gas production to the Texas energy crisis that occurred in February.

A winter heating crisis in Texas caused problems for the Southwest Power Pool, which forced rolling blackouts for Western Area Power Association for two days. The problems in Texas contributed to an overall 6 percent drop in oil production. The drop was from 1.083 million barrels per day from 1.147 million barrels per day in January, according to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. Natural gas dropped 5 percent.

Some gas plants also volunteered to temporarily cease operations, in a bid to help the power companies out. The voluntary moves contributed to gas capture rates dropping 2 percent, from 94 to 92 percent.

Production data are 8 percent below forecasts, but prices in February were 4 percent above forecast.

Completions are tracking well with revenue forecasts. There were 32 completions in February and 43 in March. The forecast is for between 30 and 40 between now and the first of July.