Bakken Shale Regional Rig Count Drops 3 To 185 - June 28, 2013

June 28, 2013 R.T. Dukes

North Dakota Bakken Region Precipitation Map May 2013

The Bakken Shale drilling rig count fell three rigs this past week to settle at 185 running. That's the first decline since mid-May and first change in June. North Dakota accounts for 175 rigs and Montana accounts for 10.

The U.S. rig count fell 11 rigs to 1,748 rigs running, of which 186 are running in the Williston Basin. A total of 353 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,390 are targeting oil in the U.S.. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

The week got off to a rough start when McKenzie County was forced to implement a truck ban on gravel roads. It was the wettest May on record and things simply haven't let up in June. More than nine inches of rain have fallen in the area before this week started. Recent rain has caused damage that could cost as much as $50 million to fix. Read more in the article Wet Weather Forcing Delays In The Bakken

Note: The NDIC reports 189 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 14 more than Baker Hughes reports. The difference is likely accounted for in the number of rigs actually working. On any given week, a certain number of rigs are in route to the next well location or idle waiting to drill the next well. Those rigs are not counted in the Baker Hughes census.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The natural gas rig count in the region fell one rig to settle at zero running. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) fell $0.20 to end the week down near $3.59/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. That's a fall of $0.80 since the high of $4.40/mmbtu in April.

The number of oil rigs running fell by two to 185 in the region. WTI futures rebounded with the broader equity markets during the week and ended near $97/bbl on Friday. Williston Basin sweet crude traded at $84.68/bbl on June 27th.

McKenzie County led development with 70 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 20 rigs running. View the full list below.

Bakken Oil & Gas News:

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Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

The Bakken Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across Montana and North Dakota. The rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Bakken formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.

Bakken Shale Rig Count Holds At 188 Rigs - June 21, 2013

June 21, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Bakken Shale drilling rig count has been unchanged at 188 rigs running over the past three weeks. North Dakota accounts for 178 rigs and Montana accounts for 10. That's right in line with the number of rigs Baker Hughes has reported working in the Bakken region for the first six months of the year.

The U.S. rig count fell twelve rigs to 1,759 rigs running, of which 190 are running in the Williston Basin. A total of 349 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,405 are targeting oil in the U.S.. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

The biggest news of the week was updated April production numbers from the NDIC. North Dakota is on pace to hit 850,000 b/d of oil production by year-end. If oil prices and weather stay friendly, the Williston Basin might surpass 1 million b/d sometime in the second half of 2014.

Note: The NDIC reports 187 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is nine more than Baker Hughes reports. The difference is likely accounted for in the number of rigs actually working. On any given week, a certain number of rigs are in route to the next well location or idle waiting to drill the next well. Those rigs are not counted in the Baker Hughes census.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at 1 rig running. It's not a Bakken well and it's not a normal occurrence in the region, so don't expect much more than zero in the future. Natural gas rallied up $0.10-0.20 on the week, but ended the week back down near $3.79/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The number of oil rigs running held flat at 187 in the region. WTI futures fell with the broader markets during the week and ended near $94/bbl on Friday. Williston Basin sweet crude traded at $81.44/bbl on June 21st.

McKenzie County led development with 67 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 25 rigs running. View the full list below.

Bakken Oil & Gas News:

Bakken Natural Gas Could Fuel New ND Fertilizer Plant

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

North Dakota Bakken Production On Pace For 850,000 b/d In 2013

June 17, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The latest director's cut from the NDIC shows oil production in North Dakota hit a record of more than 793,000 b/d in April 2013. The state is on pace to surpass 850,000 b/d by year-end.

At current levels of activity in the Bakken and Three Forks, production should grow approximately 10,000 b/d per month. That puts the state on pace to hit 760,000-780,000 b/d by year-end.

The target will be easily surpassed if operators can get the oil to market. Weather delays have been the biggest obstacle in 2013. Snow and heavy rain over the past two months has shortened the most productive time of the year (summer). April 2013 was the coldest on record and May 2013 was the wettest on record.

Lynn Helms stated, "Operators have not been able to catch a break."

The delays caused by weather have made it even harder for frac crews to keep up with the drilling rigs. It's estimated that 490 wells have been drilled and are awaiting completion. That's almost 6% of all the producing wells in the state!

There are 187 rigs working in North Dakota and Baker Hughes noted 178 of those were active in the Bakken area last week.

Other highlights from May 2013 include:

Gas production set a record at 860 mmcfd
29% of gas production was flared
211 drilling permits issued

Read the full release at dmr.nd.gov/oilgas

Bakken Shale Rig Count 188 - June 14, 2013

June 14, 2013 R.T. Dukes

QEP Resources Bakken Three Forks Acreage Map

The Bakken Shale drilling rig count held flat at 188 rigs running over the past week. That's right in line with the average number of rigs that have been working throughout 2013.

The U.S. rig count is up six to 1,771 rigs running, of which a little more than 10% are running in the Williston Basin. A total of 353 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,413 are targeting oil. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

The biggest news of the week was an operational update from QEP Resources. The company had a four wells each well produce almost 4,000 boe/d from a single pad. You can read more in the article QEP Resources Well Pad Eclipses 15,000 boe/d

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at 1 rig running. It's not a Bakken well and it's not a normal occurence in the region, so don't expect much more than zero in the future. Natural gas prices dropped further on the week and Henry Hub futures were trading near $3.75/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The number of oil rigs running held flat at 187 in the region. WTI futures increased again this week and were trading near $98/bbl on Friday. Williston Basin sweet crude traded at $84.44/bbl on June 13th.

McKenzie County led development with 67 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 25 rigs running. View the full list below.

Bakken Oil & Gas News:

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Williston Basin Rig Count at 190 on May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Williston Basin rig count is up five rigs to 190 rigs running since the end of April.

Activity should be strong throughout the rest of the year.

News from this week was highlighted by our time at Bentek's annual Benposium Conference. We came away with several Bakken highlights.

One of those is that rail is likely here to stay. Oil will begin moving back onto pipelines, but it will be a dog fight and pipeline operators will have to offer competitive prices.

It was also noted that oil production has grown nearly twice as fast as many analyst predicted.

Natural gas prices were up a little to more than $4 again at $4.06/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. It has been a mild May, so having a $4 price and not a $2 price is a nice gift for natural gas producers.

WTI futures were almost unchanged from the past two weeks at $96/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin sweet crude traded at $83.69/bbl on May 17th.

Other Bakken related news from the past week includes: