EIA: Bakken Production Declines

Bakken Rigs and Productivity
Bakken Rigs and Productivity

Production in the Bakken Shale play decreased over the summer according to the Energy Information Administration' s latest Drilling Productivity Report.

Related: Bakken Rig Count Falls to 70

Since April, oil production in the major shale plays has decreased sharply, with total production falling by 350,000 barrels and the EIA expects that this trend will continue and for production to decline for most of the key US shales by October.

On September 14th, the EIA reported that the Bakken Shale produced 1.22 MMbpd (million barrels per day) of crude oil in August, 1.40% less than the month before but 5.10% more that a year ago. The Bakken will likely see a fall and is expected to produce 1.18 MMbpd (million barrels per day) of crude oil in October.

And the bad news gets worse. Recent data from FactSet suggests that producers in the shale industry have lost over $32 billion since January 1st and are quickly approaching the deficit of $37.7 billion reported for the whole of 2014.

Related: Shale Industry Loses Billions

The Bakken rig count has vacillated between 68-70 since July as producers remain skiddish due t low oil prices.  This is a drop of over 50% from last year when the rig count was at 189 drilling rigs in the region.

Read more at eia.gov